It’s rarely been off the radio, or the music channels over the last few months and it has made its creator an overnight star.
‘You Give Me Something’, James Morrison’s catchy and eminently hummable blue-eyed soul hit has topped both the download and regular charts, while his debut album, Undiscovered, hit the number one slot immediately on its release. With his bashful, shy-boy demeanour and designer scruffiness, his appeal extends from teenage girls, who pack out his live appearances, to BBC Radio 2 listening housewives who have bought his album in droves.
That he has talent is not in doubt; with his raspy, lived-in voice he’s been compared to the soul greats, Otis Redding, Al Green and Stevie Wonder, although less kindly reviewers have cited Paul Young, Terence Trent D’Arby and even James Blunt as more apt comparisons.
Sitting in a Dublin hotel before yet another promotional performance – this time on The Late Late Show – Morrison is genial, likeable and seemingly unaffected by his burgeoning fame. But surprisingly, he reveals his growing distaste for the song that is likely to pay his bills for some time to come.
“I’m sick of it,” he announces, wearily. “I’m getting to the point where I don’t want to hear it no more. I know it’s my song and I’m still proud of it but I’ve heard it God knows how many times by now. Which is a shame ‘cos obviously you want people to like it, but you don’t want it to be overplayed either. It’s like any song that you hear too much. I mean I used to love ‘Hotel California’ but I’ve heard it so many times, I never want to hear it again. Right now I’m more excited about the next single, ‘Wonderful World’. It’s more organic as a track and as a song. I think ‘You Give Me Something’ is a nice introduction to the album, but this is more what I’m about.”
He’s not the first artist burdened by the weight of just one song and he certainly won’t be the last. Despite the contempt that the familiarity with ‘You Give Me Something’ has bred in him, he accepts it’s all part of the deal.
“I’m not going to complain too much about it,” he says. “Because I’m doing a job that I’m really enjoying. If people are responding, well that’s what you want isn’t it? I mean I’ve got friends in a band and they’ve been trying to get a deal for a long time without success. They’re really pleased for me but at the same time I always get stick off them. Every time we meet they start on me singing, ‘You give me something’, I’m like, ‘Oh shut up.’”
Morrison has hardly had time to sleep such has been his gruelling schedule over the past six months. Has he been tempted by the trappings of rock and roll lifestyle?
“I’m a young man, of course I’m tempted by all that,” he laughs “But the drugs side of things, no way. I’ve seen enough of that. It’s not that I’m against drugs as such but I’ve got to do my work every day and if I’m doing drugs, I’m not going to be able to work am I?”
James Catchpole (Morrison is his middle name) was born 22 years ago and lived in a variety of English towns before settling by the sea in Cornwall at the age of 13. It was here that he first discovered a love of classic blues and soul, learning to play guitar, thanks to a musical uncle.
“It was the happiest place I lived when times were the best,” he says. “The places I lived before weren’t that good. My dad left when I was young and my mum wasn’t coping with it at all. Me and my brother and sister were having to look after ourselves from a pretty young age. It made me go a little bit more inward, definitely. The whole thing with me learning to play guitar was ‘cos I loved music and it was cool just to be able to play your favourite songs. Coupled with what I was going through at the time it was a good way to escape.
“But I kept my music quiet at school,” he continues. “I didn’t tell anyone I liked Stevie Wonder or the other old stuff. I thought they’d just laugh at me. My mates were into dance music and garage and hip-hop and the stuff that was in the charts. I liked some of it but most of the time I was listening to the old 60s stuff.”
Morrison left school with a vague idea that he’d like to pursue a career in music. Thanks to a government-sponsored deal for young musicians he received a grant to buy a decent guitar and he attended a music course (which he failed to complete)
He had just been fired from his job a van cleaner when he made a demo that made its way to David Gray’s old A&R Man . A deal with Polydor soon followed and the rest is recent history.
“It has all happened pretty quickly,” he says. “Two years ago I was on the dole and now I’m number one in the charts. The album came out straight after the single. I wanted it to come out early to let it grow and build but when it went straight in at number one it was a bit of an anti-climax. I’m like, ‘hold fire I’ve got some more songs to give you yet’. Obviously I’m pleased I’m at number one. But I think it makes it look more of a commercial album when it does that so quickly. It’s been commercially successful before it’s been successful listening-wise and people have taken it in and absorbed it. It would have been nice to see it grow.”
How does he feel being compared to a raft of soul legends, including his hero Stevie Wonder?
“To be honest all those references are great, they’re all people I think are amazing singers. But it’s a lot to live up to. I’m only 22 years old. I’ve been inspired by other people but I wouldn’t say I’m like Otis Redding because that’s just bollocks. At the same time, people need to compare you to something and I’d rather be compared to those sort of people than to say Chris De Burgh.”
Morrison is clearly no fool and will soon reap the financial rewards of his success (he even expressed an interest in Ireland’s artists tax exemption asking about the recent cap). How have the money and fame affected his relationship with his friends and family?
It’s only other people who treat you differently. I act the exactly the way I’ve always acted. My mates have been great – one of them is a pro-surfer and he’s used to being bigged up.
Another is a drummer in a band and the rest all work in banks and jobs like that. But some of my own family treat me differently. I didn’t think about all that side of things when I was doing the writing and recording. I just wanted to make a good album. And then when it came out it went mad. And everyone else went mad.”