The Kid's alright

Kid Rock's monster hit All Summer Longhas helped him shake off his "tabloid freak" image. The former Mr Pamela Anderson tells Jim Carrollwhy his multimillion- selling album was what he was waiting for

SOMETIMES, it's the simple ideas that have the biggest impact. When Kid Rock stuck out his Rock'N'Roll Jesusalbum late last year, there was one tune that people kept returning to. It didn't matter that the idea behind All Summer Long was as obvious as the fact that night follows day; but people were buzzed about it anyway.

On All Summer Long, the dude born Robert James Ritchie took Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabamaand added Warren Zevon's Werewolves of Londonto it. Both tunes got on like a house on fire and Kid Rock found himself looking at the biggest hit of his career.

To the Kid, it made perfect sense - the real wonder was that no one else had done this particular compare and contrast before.

"Man, I was blatant about it. It wasn't deep or crafty, it just made sense. Like, rappers have been rapping over mash-ups like that for years and acts have always borrowed riffs from all over so I looked to do something similar. I took Sweet Home Alabama, took Werewolves of London, put some new beats to it and wrote a lyric on top. It's something old and something new and everyone gets paid."

For many (especially on this side of the Atlantic), All Summer Longwas their first opportunity in quite some time to actually hear what this good ol' boy was all about. Sure, we've read plenty about him and his late-night brawls in Waffle Houses, his marriage to Pamela Anderson, his punch-ups with her ex-husband Tommy Lee, his refusal to give iTunes his tunes and the other celebrity news snips that combine to paint him as the redneck troublemaker of the decade.

Many had probably dismissed Rock years ago as another overgrown adolescent from the Fred Durst school of pop-rap based on his early records and pimp persona. They would have been hugely surprised, then, to come across All Summer Longand learn that Rock is still very much engaged in the business of making music. Rock appreciates that his celebrity was out of all kilter to his music.

"I felt this time around that it was time to move away from that celebrity bullshit because I was kind of spooked about becoming a tabloid freak. That's not what I wanted to be seen as. I wanted to go back to doing what I really do best and that is making a really great record and writing good songs. That's what I want to be known for, not some guy going around busting heads and fighting with people."

Over the past few albums, Rock has been recalibrating his sound and taking steps in a new direction. The hip-hop that was his calling card when he was the new kid on the block is still bobbing around in the background, but it's back-to-basics southern rock and country twangs that dominate the picture nowadays. It's not just those Kings Of Leon who believe in a new dawn for southern rock, you know.

Rock himself feels all these sounds have always been part of his musical make-up but just took their time to come to the surface.

"I've always loved all music, all genres, from rock to rap to Motown. That's how I was when I was young. I was into everyone, like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Run-DMC and Bob Seger. They were writing about the things they knew and who they were and I got that. When I saw them live, they touched me. I'm trying to get back to that honesty which is missing from so much music nowadays and I think that's why a lot of people connect with what I'm doing."

The current Rock sound is nothing like what he was making back in Michigan. Then, Rock was a teenager from the rich side of the tracks who had acquired the bug for hip-hop and decided that the rap game was for him. He got a debut album, Grits Sandwiches For Breakfast, away on Jive Records in 1991 before the Vanilla Ice storm broke and all white rappers were considered to be damaged goods. Exit the Kid to lick his wounds.

It took him the best part of a decade to recover from that knock before his Devil Without A Causealbum saw him taking a pew in the rock-rap frame. Since then, he's always stayed in the spotlight, with each successive album seeing him heading more and more for the Yankee rock heartland.

These days, he's just as comfortable headlining a country festival such as Stagecoach alongside Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley and Kenny Chesney as he is planning a collaborative album at some future date with Rev Run from Run DMC or selling out the big sheds around the States.

One Rock constant down through the years has been a fondness for political incorrectness. "I think most people are tired of the far left and the far right. Our country has been misrepresented and we don't get anything done, because there's too many extremists. I've voted Republican most of my life, but I'm friends with people who vote Democrat because our friendships are more important than any of that. But we're misrepresented by all these freaks. I know exactly who I am and I won't be defined by any symbol or political correctness. I'll do everything to break down those barriers."

Rock says he is wary of celebrities getting involved in endorsing politicians. "I think celebrities hurt politicians because people only see the celebrity not the politician. I don't think working guys really want to hear someone who's making millions of dollars telling them what's wrong with the world.

"People like myself, people who are entertainers really, should keep their mouths shut when it comes to politics. I'm good at writing songs and singing, but I don't know shit about politics or running a country."

yyy Kid Rock plays Dublin's Olympia on November 29. www.kidrock.com