Cliff Richard
It's a bit of a shift of gear for Cliff Richard, who has hooked up on the new record with a veritable hall of fame from the heyday of '60s and '70s soul for a string of duets, old and new, sharing the mic with greats including Percy Sledge, Roberta Flack, Freda Payne and Candi Staton.
And in this exclusive Q&A Cliff, and Soulicious producer Lamont Dozier, the writer of countless soul classics as one third of the legendary Holland-Dozier-Holland Tamla Motown triumvirate, spoke to Andy Stevens about this exciting project recorded in one of America's most iconic music cities, Memphis:
A soul album. Something of a departure, isn't it, Cliff?
Cliff: Well, I don't know how much of a departure it is, really. I know all this stuff so well, the Motown stuff, the Detroit sound. But working with new producers is always a challenge.
These songs we've recorded, well the feel has got to be right. It's the feel that's so important. Of course, I don't want to sing out of tune either! But it's not an alien art form to me. We cut our teeth listening to Muddy Waters and stuff like that, way, way back, and the blues.
What does soul mean to you?
Cliff: Every artist has their own kind of soul. When I sing Miss You Nights, for example, I've had so many letters. I've often seen girls crying in the audience, which means your soul, your feeling for that song, has touched them in some way.
How do you approach doing a duet with famous artists you've never worked with before?
Cliff: What you have to do is stop being competitors. You have to blend. Their soul and my soul: we find a blend. Let's face it, when I release a record I want to have a bigger hit than him or her, whoever he or she may be, and he or she wants a bigger hit than me. When you make a duet, you have to strive for the very best you can. Because, after all, these are pretty darn good songs.
So Memphis, Tennessee, then. Soul city central. Home to some of the finest musicians around.
Cliff: I was very excited about recording in Memphis; for me, because of the connection with Elvis Presley. Elvis was my big inspiration. I'd been to Memphis a long time ago with The Shadows, before Elvis died. He wasn't there though, sadly. But I saw his home - his father took us round.
Memphis means a lot to me because of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and all those great musicians of that time. It's great to be able to say we recorded this in Memphis. And great to have that on the album sleeve! It's as big in music terms as recording an album in Nashville, which I have actually done.
You're making a bit of habit of this, aren't you, these changes of direction?
Cliff: Yes, I suppose you mean my concerts last year at the Royal Albert Hall, where I sung with a 20-piece swing band from Nashville, the Orchestra de Ville. I was lucky enough to work with some fantastic jazz musicians and arrangers.
After I've done the tour I'd love to do an album of original rock'n'roll classics, and record it in Nashville; do it raw and live in the way the songs were sung in the first place.
Are there any particular soul stormers you've always had a burning desire to record?
Cliff: Some of those on the album! There are new and old songs, and my fans will know many of them. These are classic pop songs.
If only you'd been born in Detroit, Cliff.
Cliff: Yes, if I'd been born there I might have made it!
So, Lamont, how did you get involved in the whole Soulicious thing?
Lamont: It started with David Gest. He pulled it all together. As for Cliff, he always wanted to make a bit of a noise in the States. He's had a few hits there, but nowhere near as many as in the UK, and I felt it was long overdue for him to take the States by storm.
There are some well known old tunes on the album, and others that I wrote and prepared, using some iconic people along the way.
Cliff in Memphis. Was it case of "Cliff in the 'hood"?
Lamont: Cliff in the 'hood! Maybe that's what we should have called the album. We took him down there, to feed him up with some real soul food...grits and neckbones, ham hocks...
Did you and Cliff ever run into each other in the '60s, when Motown ruled the charts? On Ready, Steady, Go, perhaps, or Top Of The Pops?
Lamont: We didn't, incredibly. The first time I heard Cliff was in the late '70s. In the '80s I heard him more as I started to spend a lot more time in the UK - I call it the 'Mamaland' - working with Pete Waterman of Stock, Aitken and Waterman fame, and writing for people like Simply Red, Alison Moyet, Phil Collins.
Big names. Big voices. So what is it about Cliff?
Lamont: I've always loved his voice. He has something special. He deserves this recognition, and I hope he receives it at long last in the States. It's about time. The man's voice is like fine wine.
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