Paul Weller wants an album of soul singers covering his songs – but is worried it would seem “arrogant”.
The ‘Changingman’ hitmaker has been dreaming of the project for years but is concerned people would find it self-indulgent and not be interested.
He said: “I’d love to do a record with a few of my songs sung by soul singers.
“I don’t know how to get in touch with [the singers I’d want], but Stone Foundation managed to get Melba Moore to sing on their album and they’ve also had William Bell and Bettye LaVette.”
The former Jam frontman recalled how much it “blew [his] mind” when he first heard a soul version of one of his old songs.
The music star told Uncut: “The closest I came was when Acid Jazz put out a really old song of mine called, ‘Left Right & Centre’, which I wrote when I was 16.
“They got this American soul singer Dean Parrish to sing it. It was amazing to hear this song which I wrote as a kid trying to imagine I was f****** Otis Redding or something.
“When Dean’s version came out, I finally got to hear it as I heard it when I was writing it as a kid – it blew my mind.”
The 63-year-old rocker was happy to receive a list of suggested artists for his dream project.
He noted: “Martha Reeves, Darlene Love, Irma Thomas … Kiki Dee? Yeah I like her. Wasn’t she the first British artist signed to Motown?”