The Man With The Golden Voice - Paul Carrack Interview

Andy Howells spoke to The Man With The Golden Voice, Paul Carrack in December 2012 prior to his appearance at St David's Hall, Cardiff in January 2013.

It’s fair to say Paul Carrack is a music legend in his own right. His career has been going strong for over four decades. Among his CV of successes are the 1974 hit How Long? with Ace, lead vocal on Squeeze’s 1981 track Tempted and singing Mike and The Mechanics 1988 worldwide hit The Living Years.

Paul’s career was recently documented in a BBC Four documentary The Man with the Golden Voice. “There was an amazing response to it” he says, commenting that he probably reached more people in their living rooms through that programme than he ever could at any music venue. Is it difficult to get exposure on TV these days? I ask. “We don’t depend on it,” states Paul before continuing “We live and die by hard slog”.

Paul certainly maintains his hard slog attitude to work, although he is currently taking a break from his successful tour he is visiting Germany this Christmas to perform with SWR Big Band over the festive season. He recorded a Christmas album with them a few years back “We’ll be performing some old chestnuts, which is good fun and they’re a hot band” he enthuses.

“If the second half of the tour goes as well as the first it will be brilliant,” Paul said of his January 2013 date in Wales,“We’ve had a really good response so far. I’ve played St David’s Hall a few times and it’s always a good venue.”

The show will span music from Paul’s long career, although he jokes he won’t be doing everything, otherwise he’ll be there all night and his wife will be none to happy if he gets home late. “There’s a mixture of old and new,” he says “including How Long, The Living Years and Over My Shoulder with a good proportion of new material.”

Some of the new material heralds from Paul’s latest release Good Feeling which follows the good tradition of melodic inspiration fans have come to expect from him over the years. “I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel,” he says, “I follow a traditional style of two choruses and a middle bit. I just want to spread good vibes. I have no political axe to grind and am happy to spread the love!”

Following the tour, Paul will then be out on the road with Eric Clapton, are there any more plans for 2013 for Mr. Carrack? “I’ve got some shelves to put up,” he jokes, “but I think that’s enough to be going on with!”

• A version of this interview originally appeared in The Guide supplement during December 2012
• For the latest news on Paul Carrack visit his official website.