QUEEN B

Ladies and gentlequeens, please be upstanding for our favourite power-voiced soul sista, the lovely Beverley Knight. Ahead of her live P.A. at Queer Nation this weekend and G-A-Y at the end of June,…we sent fellow Wolverhampton gurl Lee Dalloway (he and Bev were born in the same hospital!) for a chinwag… both of their West Midlands accents became stronger as the interview went on…

LEE: We’re certainly looking forward to your gig at Queer Nation. Are you?

BEVERLEY: Definitely! I haven’t been clubbing for ages, since the days of Substation down in “Sarf” London – the days of condensation dripping on your hair and messing it up! It’s going to be wicked! I used to be able to get mash-up for so much longer, maybe not so much now.

You don’t have to get home at 9am to have fun…

Oh yes, must make a note to self to remind me of that [laughs].

What will you be singing?

Well, you have to do some of the oldies, but there will be some stuff from the new album too – it’s an album of old skool British R&B soul classics.

We’ve heard your version of ‘Mama Used To Say’ and it’s fab! Were you worried you wouldn’t be able to top the Richard Blackwood version?

[Laughs] Bless, I know Richard so well, love him. I think I’ll be doing my best to smash up that version. I’ll be working hard to make sure all my lovelies down there will be appreciating it. Some of them will remember them first time round, and the younger crowd who don’t know the songs will hopefully just enjoy it for what it is – good choons!

What was the urge to do this record rather than an album of original songs?

Well, you know those late night conversations where you’re putting the world to rights? Y’know, “Soul music in this country does not get the love that it deserves.” Our manager said it would be really cool to get an album where British soul classics are all gathered together and bring them all up to date. I wasn’t sure as I’ve never done covers before, but then I realised the only way some of these great songs are going to be heard is if they are covered. I’m glad I bit the bullet and did it.

A few years back you commented at the MOBO Awards that if British record labels invested in UK hip-hop and soul, we could have the same calibre of artists as the US. Do you think that’s changed for the better?

I think you’re getting a few of that calibre coming through, like Dizzee Rascal. For someone like him to have a number one twelve years ago would have been unthinkable. He’s had phenomenal success, that to me that is the proof of the pudding. For people who are doing soul like I am, it’s still a struggle – but it’s definitely easier now than it was before.

How do you feel things have changed in the music industry since you started back in ‘95 with The B-Funk?

The internet and digital age has changed everything. When I started it was reel to reel and vinyl! The internet means we can hear something from a far flung country and download the album. But it’s also harder; there are more artists around than there ever has been. I hate to say ‘competition’, as it’s not a race, but the area is really saturated. Getting your voice heard is very difficult.

There’s also generally less money in the music industry…

Exactly. The bottom has fallen out the ability to make music pay. Albums are almost like a marketing tool to go on tour now, but touring isn’t making the music like it used to. People are being selective about what tours they see. But then there are things that make you smile, like Adele’s success. When things like that happen my faith is restored.

There were also certain sections of the black press that claimed you ‘sold out’ with your poppier albums. Did that hurt you?

It didn’t hurt, it made me very angry. I thought, how dare you put limits on what I should do musically because of the stereotype you have in your head about me and people like me. So, black people are only allowed to make ‘X’ music and if they make ‘Y’ that means somehow they’re not black anymore? I’ve noticed that every single artist worth their salt who’s stepped out of the box, the first accusation has been from their own, and it’s been ‘sell out’. It kind of coincided with me being very vocal about the rights of gays, lesbians and transgender people. I got hell from that. Old fashioned ideas of what it is to be a black person, a black musician. I thought, what will happen is, I’ll come out with an album you like and all will be forgiven? It’s a trial by fire you have to go through.

You’ve certainly come out smiling; you’ve got a bloody MBE, bird!

That was mad, going to the palace… from one queen to another, honey! [Laughs].

You’ve always been very supportive of the gay community…

… and I will always will be, no matter what they say!

 


Catch Beverley at Queer Nation on Saturday 28th May at Area, 67 Albert Embankment, SE1 7TP, and G-A-Y on Saturday 25th June at Heaven, Villiers Street, WC2N 6NG..




 

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