Quickfire: Kenny Young.

From the Boardwalk to Buena Vista, classic songwriter Kenny Young discusses a lifetime in the business and a new green charity album

You've worked as a writer and producer since the 1960s, most famously writing Under The Boardwalk. Do you feel you've evolved from a musician into more of a curator role?

I wouldn't take the role of a company executive, that's not my thing. I'm a creative person first and anything that would interest me I would do. I wouldn't say I'm evolving from being a writer and a musician, rather I'd say I'm evolving as a person with concern about what's happening on a global level. I'd like to see more musicians take greater responsibility in their work. It would be nice to hear songs that say something more than just, `I want to slash my wrists.'

How did the idea come about to mix an album of Cuban musicians with contemporary alternative artists?

I was in Sundance at the film festival and I heard some Cuban music and thought, `What about the Buena Vista Social Club, whatever happened to them?' We hadn't heard from them in about eight years. At first the idea was just to do some popular Western songs with them, and I guess it evolved from that.

What was the motivation behind raising money for the Natural Disaster Relief and Climate Change Awareness programmes?

I was in Sri Lanka the previous year writing some music and the village where I stayed in the southern coast got hit by the tsunami a few months later and completely destroyed. That's what really triggered off the whole thing. I wanted to do something for the people and for the whole village and help them get them back on their feet.