Shakin’ Stevens

ROCK AND ROLLER

What music are you currently grooving to? I’ve spent the last year finishing off an album, so that’s what I’ve been filling my head up with. You have to try and switch off, so I dug out Bob Dylan’s Modern Times, a great album. And I’ve been listening to Roy Orbison and k.d. lang duetting on Crying. It’s phenomenal, they’re like Don and Phil [Everly], their voices blend so well.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Johnny Cash’s American IV: The Man Comes Around. He’d been going through bad times and he must’ve realised he only had so many years to live… he was just pouring his heart out. Hurt is great, Personal Jesus, you can feel the emotion in his voice. And it’s so stripped down. Very haunting.

What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? It was Fats Domino, Blueberry Hill, on EP, possibly from Spillers records in Cardiff, which is still there, though it’s moved now. And a Chuck Berry album. I bought that from a second-hand shop in Canton. All the bands used to play those songs!

Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? If I’m honest, I’d most like to be myself back when my success first started, but with the knowledge I have now.

What do you sing in the shower? Tony Joe White’s Steamy Windows. I’m a sucker for swamp rock, and for me he’s the king of it.

What is your favourite Saturday night record? Ray Charles, What’d I Say. Again, it’s a record every band used to do – strong piano intro, rousing solo, and at the end that participation when everyone can join in and party away.

And your Sunday morning record? Depends on my mood – anything from Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, some blues records, Creedence [Clearwater Revival]. And again, Roy and k.d.’s Crying.

Shaky’s Echoes Of Our Times is out on HEC.