00:00Judith Durham rocketed to stardom back in the 1960s. She's going to sell over 50
00:05million records worldwide. Now Elton John also has once said that she has the
00:09purest voice in music. To celebrate 50 years in the music industry, she's
00:14recently released a retrospective album as well as a brand new solo record.
00:18Please welcome to the circle, Judith Durham.
00:24It's such an honour.
00:26And it's great to meet you. Congratulations.
00:28So, two albums at once. Can you tell us a bit about both of them?
00:32Well this is a bit of a celebration actually because it's hard to believe that I've actually been in the industry 50 years now.
00:37So this is a chance, Universal's idea, to put out Colours of My Life.
00:42And it's something from all the decades and something from each album I've done through the years.
00:46Including a couple of Seekers songs too, of course, because it's all part of the journey.
00:50Yeah, and the other one is my own songs. I'm also a composer.
00:55And it's a great thrill to have my 10th solo album out.
00:58And this is my second that I've written all the songs on.
01:01Judith, has your voice changed over the years?
01:03People tell me it hasn't much. I mean, it has a little bit. It's got a bit richer.
01:07I've got a greater command of a range.
01:09Do you?
01:10Yeah, I've got like a broader, wider range.
01:13So it enables me to sing more ambitious songs.
01:16And of course the styles I've embraced in singing as well as composing have been very diverse.
01:21That's amazing as a vocalist, Judith, because a lot of people restrict their range as they get older.
01:25What do you put that down to? Are you preserving it really well?
01:27What do you do to preserve that incredible voice?
01:29Is it all the ciggies and the bourbon?
01:31She should mention that, isn't it?
01:33Oh, Yumi. Look, I've got to be very cautious.
01:36I have a lung condition, which I have to be cautious about.
01:39And I've found that certain foods upset me, breathing-wise.
01:43So I'm mostly fruit and vegetables.
01:45And if I'm going to be singing, I'm very, very careful.
01:47I don't eat dairy foods or starch or even protein.
01:50And I sleep. And I don't drink. And I don't smoke.
01:53That's why you look so good. Your skin's so good.
01:55Oh, thank you. Thank you.
01:57A lot of people say your voice has a very unique healing power.
02:01When people listen to it, they're transported to another place.
02:04Do you recognise that yourself?
02:05No. I can't tell what other people hear in my voice.
02:08I realise it has a different tone to it.
02:11And as you say, I've been told it.
02:13Lots and lots of emails to my website, particularly from America.
02:17And I often have these comments.
02:19So I'm very thrilled to think that there's another purpose for me to sing.
02:22Not just to enjoy myself.
02:24But, of course, to heal people would be absolutely amazing.
02:27It's such a gift and has brought so much happiness to so many people for so many years.
02:31When did you realise that you had something really special?
02:35Well, I was aware that I could sing with a sense of feeling in my,
02:40sort of, what do you call it area?
02:42Solar plexus.
02:43Solar plexus. OK.
02:44When I was about four or five.
02:46Wow.
02:47We were still living in Essendon at that time.
02:49And then when I got to school later on, they always singled me out.
02:54And I knew that I had a vibrato in my voice where other children didn't have that.
02:58So I was able to compare myself.
03:00And, of course, I was learning piano all the time and singing a lot at home
03:04because I'd play from sheet music myself and accompany myself.
03:07And I learnt a lot about all different styles of music just from reading sheet music.
03:11But the singing thing, yeah, I just kept on and on singing and singing
03:14and my voice got strength.
03:16And gradually, gradually, I was sort of singled out and people enjoyed hearing me
03:19and I was offered money eventually.
03:20Talking about being singled out, I think you were 19
03:22when you became a very successful young musician.
03:25You were sort of the first pop princess, really, weren't you?
03:28Well, I wasn't a pop princess at that stage.
03:31But, of course, the Seekers catapulting to number one, of course, made me that.
03:35Yes, when I was 19, I actually was offered a job for the first time to sing.
03:40I had been thinking of a classical career in music as a singer and a pianist.
03:45But then I was very attracted to jazz, like so many young people were in the early 60s.
03:50And I asked a band if I could sing with them and they let me
03:53and somebody offered money to come back every Saturday.
03:56So for a year I was doing that, singing with lots of different jazz bands.
04:00And then I worked in a new job and I met Athol Guy there
04:04and he said, come overseas with the Seekers.
04:06And that was it, you know, for the rest of time.
04:08Can I ask you, Judith, one thing that I admire about you in reading your career
04:12is at the height of your career you decided to give the band six months' notice
04:16and go and do what was best for you.
04:18You must have had an incredible sense of self to know what was going to make you happy.
04:22Can you explain why you did that and why you needed to do that?
04:26Well, I didn't know whether I would find happiness, of course.
04:30I mean, that's everybody's dream.
04:32But in those days there was a big expectation for girls to get married quite early in life.
04:36And I was already 24, 25.
04:39And I also knew that I loved singing all sorts of music,
04:43particularly musical theatre, for instance.
04:45So I thought, well, if ever I'm going to do these things
04:48and still leave time to find Mr. Right, maybe I need to leave.
04:51So there was a big sense of conflict.
04:53I wasn't quite sure how to go about it.
04:55But all the time I was with the Seekers we had a wonderful time.
04:58But I had this other side of me that I felt I needed to give expression to.
05:01And it's extraordinary you've been able to maintain both in your life.
05:04And I think that's something that probably a lot of musicians,
05:06a lot of people really struggle with, so congratulations.
05:08Just quickly before we go, what do you think of Susan Boyle?
05:11I think she's wonderful.
05:12Oh, yes, and how wonderful it is that a voice like that is in the charts.
05:16Brilliant.
05:17And I hear Vera Lynn is back in the charts too.
05:19Unbelievable.
05:20And Doris Day.
05:21So, you know, it's really special if that sort of music can be in the charts.
05:26Everybody needs to hear all sorts of voices and music.
05:29It's been an honour to have you back on the couch.
05:31Can you please thank Judith Durham, everyone?
