Jim Davidson musical celebration for an old friend will raise charity cash

While the other kids were swatting up, Jim worked at a local hairdressers, where he’d brush the floor and listen to reggae. Another band caught his ear. They were called The Nice. “I loved them,” he says.

His affection was short-lived as The Nice split up a year later. But their keyboardist, Keith Emerson, formed a new band – Emerson Lake and Palmer – and Jim fell in love again. “I was a fanatic,” he says. “And I mean that. I was an absolute fanatic. When I worked for Radio Rentals, I used to drive round to their place in Fulham and go through the bins to find bits of paraphernalia. I used to phone them up just in case Keith was there and he answered the phone.”

When Jim became famous, he hung out with Page 3 Girls at Tramp Nightclub. One night, a bloke walked in and tapped him on the shoulder. “He said ‘I understand you’re a fan of my band’.” It was Keith Emerson. And so began a lifelong friendship.

“I couldn’t speak to him at first,” says Jim. “I just sat there, starstruck. Then I went outside and sat in my car. Keith came out and found me and told me to come back inside.”

The two hung out, Keith staying at Jim’s gaffe and Jim staying at Keith’s. “I’d be in his dressing room before big shows in America. It was just great. When he died – he took his own life with a gun – his girlfriend called me first. The police had just come and taken him away. And the person she called was the guy who used to go through his bins. I must have meant so much to him.”

Jim will pay an affectionate tribute to Keith at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall next Friday, on July 28, in an event that will raise thousands of pounds for ex-soldiers. Keith Emerson – A Musical Celebration Of His Life, will feature his one-time rival and friend, Rick Wakeman, alongside a vast orchestra and other special guests.

Jim says: “In 1978, ELP were going to play in Montreal with a 60-piece orchestra. I called my manager and told him I was going to go. He told me not to but I said I was going. And then I got offered a TV series by Thames Television so my fanaticism went out the window and I ended up missing the gig. So this night at Birmingham brings things full circle. I finally get to see Keith’s music with that massive orchestra.”

The evening will feature both Keith’s son and his grandson, respectively playing Fanfare For The Common Man and a solo piano piece. There’ll be a keyboard prodigy, Rachel Flowers, from California, a Parisian jazz trio, a symphony orchestra and more – as well as Rick Wakeman.

“It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever organised,” says Jim. “It’ll be fantastic. We’re spending £54,000 on it – but there will be some proceeds and all of those will go to the servicemen and women’s charity, Care After Combat.”

Keith was obsessed with music. Over dinner, Jim would frequently observe him as he zoned out of conversations and started writing dots on napkins – his latest compositions. He was as extravagant as any self-respecting 70s rock star ought to have been. “When I asked him if I should buy a Bentley, he said ‘Nah, buy two’.

“He was the best man at one of my weddings, the third wife, I won’t mention her name. He told me after that he felt he hadn’t performed his duty properly – by talking me out of it. I once had a party in my garden. Roy Wood played guitar and Keith played keyboards. They were magic times.”

These days, Jim has a day job. It’s the first time he’s held down a proper job since he worked in the Co-Op, before becoming famous. It’s for Care After Combat, the charity he formed with Falklands hero, Simon Weston, and a former SAS Sergeant known only as Goose. Jim is looking forward to raising money for former soldiers.

“This is my day job now. And I think it’s relevant because there’s a similarity between Keith and the people leaving the military – it’s the problem of transition. Later in his life, Keith’s arms started to go a bit funny and his little finger got clawed-up. If you look at some of the later videos, you’ll see him hardly using his right hand. He was used to being the best but then he couldn’t really play like he used to and that hit him hard. He was a delicate person when it came to the slagging-off, which all of us get in this business. And the problem was that as he got older he started to believe he’d lost his relevance. I think it was too much and circumstances led to his death.

“A similar thing happens with the military. They come out of service after being in the military family for 20 years and they’re getting older. They can’t compete and they lose their relevance – that’s when they start drinking.”

That problem of losing relevance is a topic Jim has discussed with Simon Weston. “I visited him in hospital when he was being patched up. We got on well. We were aware that there are 3,500 veterans in prison and Simon said: ‘You don’t just stop being a noble warrior without there being a good reason’. So we’re trying to find answers, we’re trying to help veterans after they’ve been involved in combat, so they can live full and rewarding lives.”

The money raised from next Friday’s concert will do just that. It will help people who’ve served in war zones around the world. And Jim is thrilled that he’ll be doing it in Birmingham – which, like the Black Country, has always been a home-from-home.

“I don’t know what it is about your neck of the woods, but I love the people round there. Let me tell you a last story. I once had a really good mate called Slim. He was a million stone. He was a doorman at The Night Out and he loved his pint. He was very basic and very loud, as well as being terribly overweight. He sadly died and I drove from Norfolk to Birmingham for his funeral.

“There were 200 people outside the crematorium and another 200 inside, he was so popular, and I bumped into other mates, like Big Albert, who ran the Elbow Rooms. I knew everyone. It was like being in my home village. When they brought Old Slim out, they started playing his favourite song – it was one I’d recorded. Watching Over You, a Greg Lake song. Big Old Slim had chosen to check out with something I’d done – it made me as proud and humble as I’ve ever been. So, yes, I’ve always loved Birmingham and the Black Country.”