THE chance to interview John Lennon – even if he’s confusingly really called Paul – was really too good to turn down, particularly when it’s 50 years since The Beatles stopped touring and there was that controversial quote about the band being “more popular than Jesus now”.

The John-playing Paul in the touring tribute to the greatest band in music history Let It Be is a 37-year-old called Canning, from Wolverhampton.

“I wish I could say I wrote the songs myself, but unfortunately I didn’t,” he jokes. “The Beatles stopped touring because they couldn’t hear themselves (over the screaming of fans), but they’d been performing on-stage for years. There was Hamburg and The Cavern, all around the UK, then America and the world. I think they just thought they’d had enough. I think Paul (McCartney) was the only one that wanted to carry on,” he says.

The show which follows The Fab Four’s career from beginning to end, and features more than 40 hits, heads to Darlington Civic Theatre next week after conquering the West End, Broadway, Germany and Japan.

On the plus side, in 1966, there was the album Revolver, the singles of Paperback Writer and Rain, plus the recording of double A-side Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane and When I’m Sixty-Four – heralding the landmark Sgt Pepper’s album in 1967. The down side was The Beatles final concert at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, on August 29, 1966; the band being attacked at Manila International Airport, because they’d turned down a breakfast meeting with Imelda Marcos and “that” comment from Lennon which saw records being burnt in the Alabama bible belt.

“In the Philippines, they were basically beaten up and thrown out of the country. George Harrison said they’d have a few weeks off and then get beaten up by the Americans... and he wasn’t far wrong. We don’t include John’s Jesus quote in the show, but it caused a stir. He wasn’t wrong in what he said. They were more popular. John said in response, ‘If I’d have said TV, I’d have got away with it’,” says Canning.

He is one of two performers sharing the role of John. I can’t help wondering if you’re portraying such a legendary band whether there is a pecking order in terms of being a tribute Beatle.

“I think we are all paying homage to the best band that was. There are the Bootleg Beatles who are phenomenal and a couple of lads in that show used to be in Let It Be. And a couple of guys from The Sessions (which tours Abbey Road studios recorded albums to Newcastle MetroRadio Arena on Saturday) used to be in Let It Be as well. So, there’s no rivalry,” he replies.

Canning reveals that he almost missed the chance to play John. “I had a friend who was in the show and he phoned me up in 2013 and said, ‘They are looking for more Lennons because the show is going to Broadway'. I auditioned. Auditioned again the week after and waited 12 weeks to have another audition and got the job. I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy because I’m a big Beatles fan. The opening night was in July 2013 and the Savoy Theatre was full. As soon as the curtain went up, and we sang I Saw Her Standing There I thought, ‘This is great’,” Canning says.

Fans are aware that Lennon-inspired songs are a tough sing, particularly the single Twist and Shout.

“The Pauls are vocally up in the high register and John has his moments. There are 40-plus songs, but they are a pleasure to sing. Twist and Shout does put my voice on the line and it comes quite early in the show. Then I’m straight into A Hard Day’s Night. It’s one of the hurdles and you have to keep you voice tip-top,” Canning says.

He’s been playing guitar and composing his own songs since he was 15 and got a recording deal with Virgin and Warner leading to appearances at Wembley Arena, Hyde Park and Shepherds Bush Empire plus BBC Radio 2 and ITV’s This Morning.

“I was trying to be a pop star in my Twenties and it’s so hard. You’ve got to have so much luck. I’ve got friends who have made it and other friends who didn’t. It gets to a stage when you are not 22 anymore and people don’t really care. I still write songs and record them with the intention of doing something with them, but it would be in a different capacity. When Let It Be came along I thought, ‘Why not? What a great job and I don’t have to worry about people liking the songs’. All my old mates know what I’m doing and they tell me it’s perfect for me because I’d always loved The Beatles. It does take up a lot of time, particularly when you’re touring and, at the beginning, when there’s a lot of learning to do. I also had to learn to sing the songs properly, rather than the pub version that I used to play. I still write and record because you can use a music app like Garage Band and carry the studio around with you. Nowadays, I’m hoping to have songs published.

“If you make it you’ve got the golden goose. If you don’t make it, you still have the dream which is sometimes as nice as the golden goose,” says Canning.

Lennon would have been 75 now and Canning was thrilled to be part of the Let It Be show invited to celebrate the occasion at Liverpool’s Royal Court Theatre. “We did Imagine and songs that were a tribute to him. He’s such an icon. It’s difficult sometimes because people have their own perceptions of him, whether he was grumpy or sarcastic. Initially, he was bad cop to McCartney’s good cop and did things like make fun of the disabled. But, times were different then. He was a nasty piece of work sometimes, as well as a lovely fellah with a good heart. The sarcasm and wit were a defence mechanism because he’d had a troubled life.

“In 200 years time, he and McCartney will be likened to Beethoven and Mozart.”

n Darlington Civic Theatre, Monday, May 9, to Saturday, May 14.