Judith Durham - Pictures Of You (July 2012)
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00Our next guest is a woman widely regarded as this country's first genuine pop star.
00:11As lead singer of The Seekers, she scored top ten hits both here and overseas.
00:16Before we get into the photos, I wanted to ask you, was there a time when you realised
00:45that you had a voice that could move people?
00:49Not really.
00:50No, I didn't understand there was that dimension to my voice that hit people sort of in the
00:54gut somehow or however.
00:56I don't know how to express it, but because I don't get it myself, you know, when I hear
01:00myself sing, of course I don't experience it.
01:03So it's been a lovely, lovely find, you know, discovery.
01:06I like the explanation, hit in the guts.
01:09Perfect.
01:10All right, let's go to our first photo.
01:15Now this is you.
01:16I think you're the smaller.
01:18I'm the smaller one.
01:19Of the two.
01:20Yes.
01:21You and your mum.
01:22Yes.
01:23Tell us about your mum.
01:24Oh, bless mum.
01:25What a wonderful influence on my life she was.
01:27It's amazing I can see the similarity in our faces too at this age.
01:31Yeah, mum struggled with lung problems, mainly asthma in her case and emphysema.
01:37So all my life I didn't know her as a well person.
01:40It's very interesting seeing her looking so well in that photograph.
01:43And I remember mum would be doing the housework in the kitchen and I'd be at the piano and
01:46she'd say, sing, oh, one of her favourites, It Had To Be You, oh, sing It Had To Be You
01:52for me, you know, and she'd be calling out for her requests.
01:55And of course, you know, that's what developed me as a musician in every sense, for hours
01:59on end, in fact.
02:00And what did she think when you're suddenly in London, touring America, top of the charts?
02:06Was she proud as punch?
02:08Mum would have loved to travel.
02:09Because of her ill health, she couldn't come over to England, but I really wanted to come
02:14and to experience what the life was that I was leading with The Seekers, because we were
02:18sort of top of the charts and we were doing all the prestigious things that stars do.
02:23And so my dearest wish would have been that she could have been beside me seeing all that
02:27happen.
02:28But she couldn't.
02:29Well, let's go to dad very conveniently.
02:32We have Bill here.
02:35Now, Bill, am I right in suggesting he was away for the first couple of years?
02:39Yes, he was.
02:40I didn't ever meet him.
02:41Imagine, you know, two years of my life.
02:44And dad was at war.
02:45I mean, he was serving his time in the Air Force, but literally he couldn't come back
02:49to Australia till I was two.
02:52And you had an older sister, who we'll get to in a moment, but I also read somewhere
02:58that you thought perhaps your dad was hoping for a boy.
03:02Oh, yes, he did say that to us, yes.
03:04Did he?
03:05I should have been the boy, I think, yes.
03:07And you were a tomboy?
03:09Yeah, I was.
03:10I kind of wanted to be beside dad if he was fixing the car or mowing the lawn or whatever.
03:15Yes, he had two girls.
03:17I mean, how wonderful, though, that I had a sister.
03:19Here they are.
03:20Yeah, there's my sister Beverly.
03:22She was my dearest friend and still is.
03:25We had Greek background, and my great-grandfather was the Greek.
03:30And so his son, who was my grandfather, had adopted the name of his mother's second husband.
03:38So that's where the Durham came in.
03:40So I took mum's maiden name, in fact.
03:42But they've called the street Durham Place, where the old homestead used to be, down in
03:47Rosebud.
03:48Wow.
03:49So it was just very close to that slide.
03:50I don't know if the slide's still there.
03:51It might be.
03:52Yeah.
03:53We can only hope.
03:54Yes.
03:55We went there every year.
03:56Every single summer we went to Rosebud.
03:57Yeah.
03:58Just have a look.
03:59Early musical leanings.
04:00Just have a look.
04:01Mum made that outfit because it was fancy dress.
04:02I was meant to be a gypsy, actually.
04:03And now is this in Tasmania?
04:04In Tasmania.
04:05We lived in Taruna, which was south of Hobart.
04:06And some of you may know Princess Mary, of course.
04:07She was in a school called Taruna High School.
04:08And they built that on the property opposite where we were living.
04:09So, you know, we literally, that was our view for five years.
04:10Yes.
04:11And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:12And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:13And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:14And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:15And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:16And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:17And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:18And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:19And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:20And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:21And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:22And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:23And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:24And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:25And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:26And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:27And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:28And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:29And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:30And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:31And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:32And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:33And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:34And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:35And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:36And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:37And it was a wonderful upbringing for me.
04:38And here we are.
04:39Oh, there we go.
04:40Perfect timing.
04:41Yep.
04:42Farm School.
04:43In Sandy Bay Hobart.
04:44That's me.
04:45There I am.
04:46Look at you there.
04:47Yeah.
04:48And I wonder whether anybody would recognise the person on that end of the row.
04:51Who is that?
04:52That's Robin Nevin.
04:53The wonderful actress Robin Nevin.
04:55Yes.
04:56And director.
04:57And in the school play.
04:58You were classmates?
04:59We were very much classmates.
05:01And the school headmistress, Audrey Morford, she wrote the school plays.
05:05And one of them was Snow White.
05:07And Robin Nevin played Snow White.
05:09And I had an equally glamorous role, actually, Brian.
05:12Who were you?
05:13I was the mirror.
05:18So when Snow White said, mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?
05:22I sang the reply.
05:23One of those shows, perhaps your first, you were late for your call?
05:28I was down in the dressing room playing cards and I missed my cue.
05:32Hang on.
05:33How old are you?
05:34Oh, I would have been ten.
05:35Ten?
05:36In the dressing room playing cards.
05:38Yeah, well, not gin rummy or something.
05:42Drinking bourbon.
05:43Oh, sure.
05:44No, I probably was playing patience.
05:46I know I used to do that a lot.
05:48And you missed your cue.
05:49Totally missed my cue.
05:50But I remember the audience was making a noise because they were starting to go out.
05:53It was interval.
05:54And then they heard this little voice, I suppose, from behind the curtain.
05:57And they all went very quiet while I finished the song.
06:00And I bet you never missed a cue again.
06:02Never again.
06:03I learned a big lesson there because it's so important to keep the continuity up.
06:06Of course.
06:07Judith, we've got to take a break.
06:08We will be back because we might get into the Seekers' territory.
06:13Ladies and gentlemen, Judith Durham.
06:15Welcome back to Pictures Of You with our special guest, Judith Durham.
06:33Now, Judith, we're going glamorous here.
06:36Oh, goodness me.
06:39Never would I have dreamed in a million years that that photo would be on television.
06:45Oh, my gosh.
06:46It's a Hollywood pose.
06:47Oh, look, I would have had glamour in my eyes, wouldn't I, at that stage?
06:51It's a great rock, isn't it?
06:54It's the thing on the rock.
06:57What sort of girl was Judith Durham at that age?
07:00Were you a confident girl?
07:02My life was sheet music.
07:04I'd sit at the piano and play for hours and hours and sing along.
07:07And if I went out, I'd take my bundle of sheet music with me
07:10and I'd be the life and soul of the party.
07:12When I got to the age of 13, I went to another party and they played Postman's Knock.
07:17Explain Postman's Knock.
07:19Well, it's one of those flirty things, you know.
07:22I don't know quite how it works now,
07:24but I think the idea is somehow the boys selected a girl and you go out and kiss them.
07:27Right.
07:29And he kissed me and I remember I heard him say when he went back in the room,
07:32I was like kissing my sister.
07:35Oh, no.
07:37And it totally destroyed me.
07:38So, look, I may look like a confident young miss there,
07:41but honestly, there was a lot going on of insecurities.
07:43The words of Georgie Girl were perfect for me.
07:46You know, it was like singing a song about myself.
07:49Shake out the...
07:50Yeah, you know, fly a little bit.
07:52All your self-esteem.
07:53Those are beautiful lyrics.
07:54Everyone should listen to those lyrics.
07:56Yeah, the Dowdy Feathers.
07:57Yeah, Dowdy Feathers.
07:58Which I always thought was Downy Feathers.
08:00Oh, OK.
08:02Now, we're in London.
08:04You joined the Seekers.
08:05You'd made a record.
08:07You travelled to England on the fair sky.
08:10We did.
08:11I mean, everybody worked their passage in those days,
08:13as you probably know.
08:14It was much cheaper to sail than fly.
08:16But my first thought was I'm going to miss the sewing machine
08:19because I was making everything.
08:20I didn't even knit all my jumpers.
08:22So, that's my early purchase when I first got to London,
08:25even though we were only going to be there ten weeks.
08:27So, at first, I was wearing my homemade clothes on the stages
08:30with the Seekers and everything
08:32because I thought I'd look slimmer if I could nip my waist in a bit more.
08:35It's always weight and orientated, yeah.
08:38Right.
08:39And what would the boys, you know, Bruce and Athol and Keith,
08:42would they say...?
08:43They didn't make their suits for Iron Man.
08:45LAUGHTER
08:48I imagined that.
08:50Well, here they are.
08:51There they are.
08:52Perfect timing.
08:53Bless them, yes.
08:54So, gold record for Georgie Girl.
08:56But, I mean, so many hits.
08:58A World Of Our Own, I'll Never Find Another You, Morningtown Ride.
09:02Is there one of those Seekers songs that you cherish the most?
09:07Look, probably The Carnival Is Over, I suppose,
09:09feels the most personal for me.
09:11I mean, I mentioned before, of course, the lyric for Georgie Girl
09:13and I do love that record.
09:15I love the production of it, just everything about it.
09:17It's a real pop record.
09:19But The Carnival Is Over hits me on a very emotional level
09:22and it did the very first time Tom Springfield sang it to us.
09:25So, I'm very grateful for that song.
09:27It meant a lot to me.
09:29All right.
09:30Well, you left The Seekers
09:32and, of course, broke millions of hearts around the world
09:36but we won't dwell on that.
09:39This is the next phase.
09:40This is your beloved Ron.
09:42My word, there he is.
09:44What a guy.
09:45Ron Edgeworth.
09:46Married in Melbourne at the Scots Church.
09:48There we are, yes.
09:49For the next 25 wonderful happy years.
09:51We were hardly apart.
09:53There is another one and this is my favourite shot,
09:56I think possibly of you and Ron.
09:59Oh, God.
10:00Look at you now.
10:03Look at me.
10:04A hot jazz duo, which is what you were called.
10:08Yeah, I did.
10:09And you spent a lot of the 70s touring and playing in America.
10:13But Ron was very interested in spiritual matters.
10:18Yeah.
10:19He had a master.
10:20Yeah, that's right.
10:21Who you became a devotee of.
10:24Yes, absolutely.
10:25But with Ron I got the whole package just all at once.
10:29All my questions seemed to be answered on every level.
10:32And, of course, he was a great mentor for me as well.
10:34You know, the real positive thinking.
10:36And he just did not entertain any negative thinking whatsoever.
10:41And that was fantastic for me, you know,
10:43because I've been a big worrier.
10:45So my life literally was transformed.
10:47And I think really he was ahead of his time
10:49because there's a lot of talk about the environment now
10:51and alternative thinking.
10:53He was exemplary at that time of my life.
10:55Yeah.
10:56All right, one more.
10:58And there's always a favourite shot.
11:01I think this is mine.
11:04That was a special moment.
11:06Four Seekers and a Royal.
11:09Yeah, the Queen Mother and there were other.
11:11So it's a performance in London.
11:13Yes, at the Palladium.
11:14Yes.
11:15Which it is, I still believe, is every year.
11:17So it's a televised performance.
11:19An incredible line-up.
11:20The Seekers on the bill with Jerry Lewis.
11:23That's right.
11:24Wayne Newton.
11:25Sammy Davis Jr.
11:26Sammy Davis Jr., indeed.
11:28And Juliette Greco was on then.
11:30She'd been a real wonderful icon for me as I grew up.
11:33I wanted to emulate her at one stage.
11:35But I was standing next to Henry Mancini.
11:37I think he must have been on this side of me.
11:39And I remember discussing with him,
11:41should I leave my gloves on?
11:42Because I had special silver gloves to match my silver dress.
11:45And should I leave the gloves on to shake her hand or not?
11:48Yes.
11:49Yeah, a very special thing to have that photograph.
11:51It was a great big thrill for me.
11:53Well, a great thrill for us, Judith, to have you here.
11:56Thank you so much.
11:57It's been absolutely wonderful.
11:59Ladies and gentlemen, Judith Garland.