CHARLOTTEHEATHCOTE
first came to me and said ‘There’s a group called the Gorillaz and they want you’, I said ‘Absolutely not’,” he said. “I thought they were talking about African-Americans and it’s like an insult.”
Once that misunderstanding was cleared up, Benson, 76, delivered a contribution that surpassed Albarn and co’s expectations.
“I said ‘You mean to tell me they actually liked what I played?’ I don’t think I played anything good at all,” he grins.
Modest George’s latest album Walking To New Orleans, in line with his past tributes to Nat King Cole and Ray Charles, The legendary actor shares everything he’s learned during 60 years of highs and lows since his film debut. He has earned two Oscars and made undisputed classics from Get Carter to The Italian Job and here he extols old-fashioned virtues such as hard work, punctuality, learning your craft and respecting others. He illustrates his point with entertaining anecdotes and pays affectionate tribute to the people who have meant most to him, from Laurence Olivier to Jack Nicholson. His love for his family shines like a beacon and he also writes movingly about the challenges of ageing. This is a little thin compared to previous Caine memoirs but there is enough charm and wit to make it thoroughly engaging. salutes two late great rock ’n’ roll originators – Fats Domino and Chuck Berry.
“When I met Chuck I had been doing his duck walk in my show. So I asked him, ‘Do you mind if I’m doing that in my show?’ just to create a conversation.
“He looked around very briefly, surprised, and said ‘Can you?’. That’s all he asked. ‘Can you?’ I thought that was so funny, man.”
Unusually for a long-distance touring and recording star, George and his wife Johnnie Lee have stayed together since 1965.
“Musicians have a hard time in marriage. Separation. My children made a difference,” he admits.
“I’m not going to let my children
■ Former England striker Crouch casts a wry eye over the “strangest, funniest, most baffling world” of football and its players. There are outlandish outfits and tattoo sleeves, bizarre rituals and mind-boggling extravagances. He’s relatively indiscreet, pokes gleeful fun at himself and shares thoughtful insights. But, above all, he’s hilarious with endless laugh-out-loud anecdotes.
Ebury Press, £8.99 The second album from this exuberant UK-based Afro Jazz outfit is taut yet all-encompassing in its colourful musical scope. When Mulele Matondo (bass) signed on for a Leeds music course and ended up teaching tutor John Kelly (guitar) the joyful intricacies of Soukous guitar styles. Kongo was born. Their propulsive blend naturally mixes jazz, reggae, polyrhythmic Afrobeat beauty and gorgeously warm, unified vocals. Now brass-boosted, it is seven years since they released Seben Steps To Heaven. The wait has been worth it.
I asked about doing the duck walk and he just briefly said ‘can you?’
The popular historian tells the story of Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB colonel who was Russia’s top man until 1973 when he began covertly working for MI6. Did he switch sides because he saw the Western light or because he was an attention seeker? Although our spy lacks an engaging personality, you can rely on Macintyre to tease out the fascinating details.