Petula Clark has enjoyed a career that has spanned over seven decades and is one of this country's greatest recording stars.
The singer/songwriter is back with a new album Lost In You and we caught up with her to chat about the new record.
- You are about to release your new album Lost In You so what can your fans expect from this latest record?
It is a mixture of new songs, mainly from young writers. The first track that we recorded was Cut Copy Me and I liked it and so did my producer and we thought ‘why don’t we just carry on in that mode?’
So that is what we did as we carried on working with new writers. But then John said ‘maybe we should do some covers’ but once you start trying to think of covers there is just so much to choose from.
So we talked about doing a Beatles song, we looked at Blackbird, but then I thought that I would like to do something of John’s (Lennon). I had met him and he was absolutely adorable with me and apparently I was one of his favourite singers.
Imagine is such a pure song, maybe a bit naive, but it is certainly very John and I just thought ‘yes, lets do that’.
- Some of the tracks are quite stripped back using just a piano and they really do allow your vocal to come through - so what kind of record were you looking to make when you went into the studio?
I don’t know if we were looking to make anything. It was all recorded in this Wendy house at the bottom of John’s garden; he has this lovely house in West London with a lovely English garden and at the bottom of the garden is this sort of Wendy house.
But when you walk in you are in this state of the art studio and that is where we made the record. It is a very stripped back kind of place - at the same time it was very cosy - and my mic was right next to a window and so I could look out and see flowers and you can hear birds coming through on my mic on a couple of songs.
So it was a very special atmosphere and I don’t know if that had anything to do with the way that it came out - it just felt right. It is not a big studio… at one point we thought about going to Abbey Road and we didn’t. There was no mater plan of ‘let’s do something contemporary’ it is just the way that it came out.
- You have mentioned John Williams already and he has served as producer on the record so how did that collaboration come about?
We had worked together a few years back on a few titles that we recorded here and then we lost contact. Then I was back in London and he was like ‘why don’t we just go into the studio and try something?’ So we did and Cut Copy Me came out of it and that was when we decided to just go ahead.
We just got on really well and he is very laid back but at the same time he nudged me into a few things. He nudged me into Crazy, which I didn’t think was for me or I was for it, but said ‘go ahead and try and sing it’.
I did a couple of go’s at it and I realised that I loved it and it now really is one of my favourite songs to sing.
When he suggested Downtown I said a flat ‘no’. Then I had to go to Paris and when I came back three days later I went into the studio and he was like ‘just listen to this’.
When he pressed the button it was this lovely track, there was no melody on it it was just this lovely track, and I was like ‘what is that?’ And he said ‘It is Downtown’ and I was like ‘Really?’ When I got up to the microphone and started singing it I had this weird feeling as it was like I was singing a totally new song.
- What was it like going back to that track and putting a new spin on it as it is completely different to your original?
I don’t know how many times I have sung it and I thought I knew it backwards and forward and up and down. I had always thought that when you sing a song often enough you really start listening to it - I think a lot of people think that it is a jolly song about going out and having fun on the town and really is not that at all.
It isn’t really until you slow down the tempo and sing it slightly differently that you realise that there is something really rather melancholy about it and quite lovely. I was reluctant at first but I am so glad that I have done it now.
- You have mentioned Crazy by Gnarls Barkley already and there is a rendition of Love Me Tender by Elvis Presley so how did that cover come about?
I decided that all the covers should mean something to me and Love Me Tender is connected to Elvis and I met him a few time.
I had been working in Vegas and I must have had a night off and Karen Carpenter was in town so we went out for a girly night our.
Neither of us knew Elvis but he was making a bit of a comeback and was playing at the Hilton Hotel and we went along. He was very excited that we were in the audience and he introduced us to the audience before we were invited back to his dressing room.
He kind of fancied us both and he was flirting quite heavily with us. Karen was quite a naive young lady and suddenly I felt very responsible for her and I got us out of there before things got a bit too heavy (laughs).
Elvis was very amused as he watched us scuttle out. I saw him a few times after that and he always thought that it was amazing.
- How have you found the response to the new tracks so far?
The response has been amazing. When you are in the studio you are in a very confined space and you are enjoying it - it sounds pretty good to us of course - but it is not until it is out and other people listen to it that you realise that it is good. It is other people who decide whether they like it or not.
- You have mentioned already that the album saw you work with some new and young writing talent so exciting was it for you to be able to work with people like that?
Well it was great. They would come into the studio and… Sarah had done a demo of Cut Copy Me and it was very good but I remember thinking to myself ‘I am not sure if I can sing this’ (laughs).
I was slightly intimidated but on the whole there was such a great vibe in the studio and everyone seemed pleased to meet everyone else; they were excited in meeting me and I was interested in what they were doing.
We also had this great young engineer and there was this great feeling in this Wendy house. There were lots of cups of tea coming in and visits from the cat from time to time.
- You have enjoyed a long and incredibly successful career so what has kept you in the industry for so long?
I don’t know, I don’t think I can answer that. It has been an organic career and there was never a master plan. I have done theatre, acting and I write - I have written some of the tracks on the album.
There is a track on the album called Reflections and I wrote the lyrics with Johann Sebastian Bach, who I could feel breathing down my neck as I was writing the lyrics. I like to vary things and that may have something to do with being around for so long but I honestly don’t know.
- And how have you seen the industry change during the years you have been in it? Has it changed for the better?
There was always good and bad - there were good and stupid things going on in the sixties and it is the same thing now. Of course the whole reality show has changed the face of pop as you can become a pop star literally over night.
It is great that kids have the opportunity to do that but there is the other side that can be a bit scary. I never went through that experience, I probably never will, as I am not in that business.
But I do sometimes wonder what that must be like, to suddenly become a kind of overnight star worldwide, but then what?
- Finally what is next for you - are we going to be seeing you do any live shows to support the release of the album?
I am doing a tour of the UK in October, we will start in Manchester and we will do about ten dates. I am really looking forward to that as live performance is what I like best.
Lost In You is released 25th February.
Click here to pre-order the album Lost in You