Renee Geyer - Live At The Basement (2001)
Presenter: Doug Mulray. Features: Jade Macrae & Mark Williams.
Presenter: Doug Mulray. Features: Jade Macrae & Mark Williams.
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MusicTranscript
00:00Rene here, back to offer up another hour of top quality music as part of our Live at the Basement series.
00:07And this week, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we've got an amazing show for you.
00:11This evening, sorry, this evening our spotlight falls on one of Australia's greatest musical treasures.
00:18I'm talking about the remarkable Rene Geyer.
00:21I don't think I'm overstating the point here when I say that Rene is the possessor of one of the most versatile and stunning voices in the history of Australian popular music.
00:29But to be honest, as big a talent as Rene is, I think we still have a tendency to underestimate her in this country.
00:35For a fair portion of the 90s, Rene lived and worked in the US and let me tell you, they loved her.
00:40She worked with some of the biggest names in the business and was in constant demand for sessions and tours.
00:45I remember sitting in an audience at a Bonnie Wright Jackson Brown gig in Sydney several years ago and those two legends couldn't praise Rene highly enough.
00:52In fact, they even got her up out of the audience to sing. It's a joy.
00:57I've known Rene for quite some time now and I think it's fair to say that she doesn't suffer fools gladly.
01:02How she gets on with me, I'll never know.
01:04She's a perfectionist when it comes to her music and I think that that shows in her recorded material and certainly her live performances.
01:11It certainly showed on this fantastic evening.
01:13You're in for a treat here, folks.
01:15This is the incomparable Rene Geyer live at the basement.
01:20I grew up in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and lapsed, left home at far too early an age and became a singer and loved soul music from when I first heard Aretha Franklin.
01:32My drug of choice in those early days was black music and that's what turned me into a singer.
01:40If not for Aretha and Ray Charles and people like that, I don't think I would have had the desire to want to stay in a business for 30 years.
01:52At a very impressionable age, 14, 15 years old, I immersed myself in those people's voices.
02:04A year in the life of a 14 year old is an eternity and I had about 4 or 5 years of that influence to have me for the rest of my life want to be involved with that kind of music.
02:20People that ended up being musicians in that era really loved their craft and meant it because the odds were not for them.
02:40The learning period wasn't as glamorous as it is now, so a very different era.
02:46Are you feeling good? I want to know, are you feeling sexy tonight?
02:58Are you really feeling sexy tonight because tonight we aim to please in that kind of a way.
03:05Tonight is a night full of, well, sex. Musical sex.
03:20I've been feeling so, trying to find the feeling for so long.
03:33And if you feel the same way, do you feel good? Come on, sing with me, help me kids.
03:44Let's get it on. Let's get it on. Sugar. Let's get it on.
04:08You know why? We're all sensitive people. So much to give. Understanding in this crazy world.
04:30Let's just leave. Sugar. There's nothing wrong with me trying to love you. No, no, no.
04:49Giving yourself to me could never be wrong if the love is true. Yeah.
05:04How sweet and wonderful life can be. All I'm asking, babe, is get it on with me.
05:26You know, I ain't gonna, I ain't gonna push. I won't push you, baby.
05:38So, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, baby. Stop being around the world.
05:50Sugar. Let's get it on. If you believe in love, let's get it on. Let's get it on, baby.
06:11Yeah. If you believe in love, everybody believes in love. Let's get it on, baby. Come on. Yeah.
06:32Let's get it on, baby. Sugar. Sugar. Sugar.
06:48You know, in all my whole life, with any boyfriend I ever had, I don't think I ever called him sugar.
06:55That's kind of nice, isn't it? Sugar. Sugar. Is that good? You like that?
07:11I'll see you a bit later. I'll come over and chat in a minute. One of the solos.
07:16One of the solos.
07:28Let's get it on. If you believe in love, let's get it on.
07:46Let's get it on, baby. I want to see you laughing, laughing, laughing.
07:58Let's get it on, baby. Yeah.
08:02Let's get it on. Sugar. Sugar. Sugar.
08:26Thank you.
08:29This was done in 1985. A reggae soul performer, Bonnie Whalen. This is called Baby, I've Been Missing You.
08:40Baby, I've been missing you.
08:52Baby, I've been missing you.
09:00Baby, I've been missing you.
09:06Baby, I've been missing you.
09:14I see you by my window, and I'm longing for you to come back home, yeah.
09:28I see you by my window, and I'm longing for you to come back home, yeah.
09:38I see you by my window, and I'm longing for you to come back home, yeah.
09:48Baby, I've been missing you.
09:58Baby, I've been missing you.
10:08Baby, I've been missing you.
10:16Shared our love, now it's gone. Like a stranger in a big old town, I feel so alone.
10:32Oh, baby, I love you so much. I could never do without your touch.
10:50Baby, I've been missing you.
11:00Baby, I've been missing you.
11:20Baby, I've been missing you.
11:30Baby, I've been missing you.
11:40There's so much joy. My heart is so full. You're my brand new toy.
11:58Baby, I've been missing you.
12:08Baby, I've been missing you.
12:18Baby, I've been missing you.
12:28Baby, I've been missing you.
12:38I won't sing anything that I don't want to sing. If I feel like I'm doing something just out of duty, it's not going to sound very good anyway, so I don't do that.
13:07So, I'm pretty good. As I said to the audience last night, someone did shout out something last night, and I said, I didn't get this far anonymously, like, you know, being not famous all around the world by being not difficult, by giving people what they want.
13:37This is a little tune that was originally done by an artist called Junior Wolfman. Great saxophonist. Great singer, songwriter, musician.
14:03It's all about peace and understanding. Peace, peace, peace. Talking about peace, yeah.
14:29Peace, peace, peace. Talking about peace, yeah.
14:53Why is everybody in the world running wild? I ain't no murderer, I ain't no thief. Don't you remember on the street? People are crazy in this whole wide world. Why is everybody always looking out for a girl?
15:15It's all about peace and understanding. It's hard to find.
15:45I'm a lonely in the midst of the world. You fell in love with a lonely girl. Everybody always wanna have fun, but you can't do that, get work done.
16:10Peace and understanding. It's hard to find. Say it again. Peace and understanding. It's hard to find.
16:40Peace and understanding. It's hard to find.
17:10Peace and understanding. It's hard to find.
17:40Peace and understanding. It's hard to find.
18:08I'm a lonely in the midst of the world. You fell in love with a lonely girl. Everybody always wanna have fun, but you can't do that, get work done.
18:28Peace and understanding. It's hard to find.
18:58I'm a lonely in the midst of the world. You fell in love with a lonely girl. Everybody always wanna have fun, but you can't do that, get work done.
19:28I'm a lonely in the midst of the world. You fell in love with a lonely girl. Everybody always wanna have fun, but you can't do that, get work done.
19:58I'm a lonely in the midst of the world. You fell in love with a lonely girl. Everybody always wanna have fun, but you can't do that, get work done.
20:26Show me the way to go home. Show me the way to go home.
20:53That's where I, that's where I belong.
21:04Show me the way to go someday. Show me the way to go home. Show me the way to go someday. That's where I belong.
21:34I wanna go to Slovenia. Show me the way to go home. Show me the way to go to Slovenia. That's where I belong.
21:47They say they make sweet love every day. Sounds good. That they eat so good all day long. That'll make you limber. That'll make you quick. That'll make you jump over the candlestick.
22:06Show me the way. Show me the way to go home. I got to go to Slovenia. That's where I belong.
22:36They say they make sweet love every night. How would you be? They get to eat so good all day long. It'll make you limber. It'll make you quick. It'll make you jump over the candle.
23:06Show me the way to Slovenia. Show me the way to go home. I wanna go to Slovenia. That's where I belong.
23:19I wanna go to Slovenia. I go to Slovenia. Slovenia. Slovenia. I go to Slovenia. I go to Slovenia. I go to Slovenia. I go to Slovenia.
23:47Show me the way to go to Slovenia. Show me the way to go home. Show me the way to go to Slovenia. That's where I, that's where I, that's where I, that's where I.
24:17See when I go like this, it means no more. Where was I? So, what was the last word I said? Ah. What? That's where I.
24:47If it takes me forever, I know I'm gonna get there. Even though I'm a white Australian Jew from Dover Heights. Somebody's gonna take me there.
25:00Show me the way.
25:30One, two, three, four.
25:57Stripper music.
26:06I put a spell on you.
26:12Because you're mine. Yeah.
26:26You better stop the things you do. I ain't lying. I ain't lying.
26:41I can't stand it. The way you put me down. You know better, baby, than to run around. I put a spell on you.
27:05Because you're mine.
27:35I just love you. I just love you. And I love you anyway.
28:00I don't care what they say. I'm gonna love you right now. I put a spell on you.
28:14Because I know, I know, I know, I know you're mine.
28:33I put a spell on you.
28:40I put a spell on you, spell on you, spell on you.
28:48Thank you.
28:56When I first went to live in America, and I had a thing where I was, I sounded very black to a lot of people who looked very white, and all the black musicians would just come up and just go, wow, how did that happen?
29:10What church do you go to? And I'd be like, I just never thought up a good answer to give them. I just sort of went, I don't know. Just this really sort of dumb Australian girl with this freakish sort of idiot savant ability to sound like a, you know, a wailing old black man from Alabama, you know.
29:30My sessions came from me knowing the producers of the dates. And so I would do one thing, and then people would hear it, word would get around, and then I'd get a whole bunch of other producers to ask me to do that type of thing. And I did Sting, and I did the We'll Be Together Tonight thing. Things like that were incredible.
29:52I worked with Chris Christopherson, I worked with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Brown, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Neil Diamond. Love Neil Diamond. Everybody goes, really? I'm like, yeah, he was really great. Julio? He was interesting.
30:13Those sessions I loved. But in order to sort of pay the rent and get by, there was a lot of demos I would have to do to people. People get good singers to sort of come and do their demos that they've been giving out to publishing companies to try to get deals and stuff. You know, they could get you for a hundred bucks.
30:36I remember in New York, when I was living in New York, because two years of that was New York, and it was snowing, and some money hadn't arrived from Australia, and I was really wanting some money. And one of my best friends, Connie, just a block away from me, we were both going, what do we do, what do we do? I said, oh, I'll call this guy. I hate working for him, but he always exploits me, but I'll do it, because I can do it really quick. And I go in there, and I was really mean to him. Hurry up, I haven't got much time. He gave me 50 bucks to sing a song.
31:06It's all going to come back to bite my bum one day. One day, if ever, one day when I die, and they'll find these old demos of mine. But anyway, actually, they'll do it when I'm alive to really pay me back.
31:36Proved too much for the man, too much for the man. He couldn't take it, so he's going back to a life he once knew. He said he's going, said he's going back to fight, going back to fight.
31:58Ooh, simpler place in town, a world he left behind not so long ago. He's leaving on the midnight train to Georgia, on the midnight train, yeah.
32:23He said he's going back to fight, going back to fight. Ooh, simpler place in town, a place that's going to be right by his side. I'm going to be there with him, I love him, on that midnight train to Georgia.
32:40I'd rather live in his world than live without him in mine. He kept dreaming that someday he'd be a star, a superstar, but it didn't get far.
33:05And he sure found out the hard way that dreams don't always come true. So he burned all his homes, and he even sold his own car for a one-way ticket back to a life he once knew.
33:32He said he's leaving on that midnight train to Georgia, on the midnight train, yeah. He said he's going back to fight, going back to fight. Ooh, simpler place in town, a place that's going to be right by his side.
33:56I'd rather live in his world than live without him in mine. He's leaving on that midnight train to Georgia, on the midnight train, yeah.
34:26Going back to fight, going back to fight. Ooh, simpler place in town, a place that's going to be right by his side. I'd rather live in his world than live without him in mine.
34:56He's an easy load on a boat, on a love, on a boat, a midnight train to go. On a love, on a boat, a midnight train to go. On a love, on a boat, a midnight train to go.
35:13On a love, on a boat, a midnight train to go. On a love, on a boat, a midnight train to go. I got to go, I got to go, I got to go, on a love, on a boat, a midnight train to go.
35:34I got to go, I got to go, on a love, on a boat, a midnight train to go. On a love, on a boat, a midnight train to go.
36:04On a love, on a boat, a midnight train to go. On a love, on a boat, a midnight train to go. On a love, on a boat, a midnight train to go.
36:35Well I have to say Man's World's special because I've been singing it at every gig for the last 26 years. Such a great song. We've got James Brown obviously and it did so well for me and it's just a pleasure to sing every night because it's kind of a blues so it's easy to sing.
36:54It's easy to mould and do different things with each night. Everybody in the band gets to have a great play in it and it's a wonderful piece that dynamically shows everything that the band and myself do on stage.
37:16This is a man's world. This is a man's world. But it would be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl.
37:46You see, man made the car, take us on the road.
38:01Man made the train, carried a heavy load. Man made the electric line, take us out of the dark.
38:21Like Noah made the ark and I know you know. It's a man's world but it's nothing, it's nothing without a woman or a girl.
38:51Man makes a mama baby girl and a baby boy. He makes them happy when he buys a toy.
39:13And after everything, he makes everything he can. He makes mama happy.
39:32Yeah, it's a man's world.
40:02Yeah, it's a man's world.
40:32Yeah, it's a man's world.
40:50Woman.
41:05Sit down.
41:15Sit down.
41:25Sit down.
41:35Sit down.
41:40Sit down.
41:45Sit down.
41:50Sit down.
41:55Don't it feel good?
42:03Just like that when it sits there.
42:13Now go to sleep now.
42:17Boo.
42:25Don't it feel good?
42:41Don't it feel good?
42:46When it sits there.
43:16Don't it feel good?
43:38He's lost.
43:44In the wilderness.
43:47He's lost.
43:53Bitter, bitter, bitter.
43:57Lord have mercy.
44:02Lord have mercy.
44:07Lord have mercy.
44:17He's lost.
44:21In the wilderness.
44:26He's lost.
44:29Bitter, bitter, bitter.
44:32Bitter, bitter, bitter.
44:57He's lost.
45:00He's lost.
45:03He's lost.
45:07He's lost.
45:10He's lost.
45:13He's lost.
45:16He's lost.
45:19He's lost.
45:22He's lost.
45:25He's lost.
45:28He's lost.
45:31He's lost.
45:34He's lost.
45:37He's lost.
45:40He's lost.
45:43He's lost.
45:45He's lost.
45:48He's lost.
45:51He's lost.
45:54He's lost.
45:57He's lost.
46:00He's lost.
46:03He's lost.
46:06He's lost.
46:09He's lost.
46:12He's lost.
46:16He's lost.
46:19He's lost.
46:32I am not big on rehearsals.
46:37I do them when I have to,
46:40lot of what we do is spontaneous and based on cues and intuition between the
46:44musicians and myself and and I know that that's not a way to do you know when
46:49you do a new new material you've got to sit there and hone it and and I admire
46:54Paul Kelly's work ethic because he's great at that and he has a spontaneous
46:58thing as well but I still have a little bit to learn on the on that sort of the
47:02the more academic side of music
47:18gotta have a little bit of Otis Redding
47:24one of the most beautiful not only most incredible singers in the world when he
47:33lived but what a specimen have anybody seen any of those Monterey videos
47:54what I would say sugar
48:03don't get on the plane don't get on the plane don't get on the plane don't get
48:07on the plane
48:10sugar
48:22sittin' in the morning sun
48:28sittin' when day never comes
48:33Watchin' ships roll in, watchin' them roll away again
48:45Sit on the dock of the main, watchin' the tide move
48:58Sit on the dock of the main
49:03Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Mr. Mark Williams
49:09I left my home, Georgia
49:15Hey, that's all there is to it
49:22I had nothin', nothin' before
49:28Looks like nothin', looks like nothin'
49:31When I come my way
49:34Sit on the dock of the main, watchin' the tide
49:45Sit on the dock of the main
49:50Waste of time
49:58Looks like nothin' gonna change
50:04Everything will still remain the same
50:09I can't do what people tell me to do
50:15Looks like nothin' ain't the same
50:20I sit here, restin' my bones
50:26Loneliness won't leave me alone
50:32Two thousand miles I roam
50:37Just to make this dock my home
50:43Sit on the dock of the main, watchin' the tide
50:53Oh, sit on the dock of the main
51:00Waste of time
51:04Let me see
51:13Let me see
51:43Oh, yeah
51:54Looks like nothin' gonna change
51:59Everything remains the same
52:05I can't do what they tell me to do
52:11Loneliness won't leave me alone
52:27Two thousand miles I roam
52:32Just to
52:35I'm gonna sit on the dock of the main, watchin' the tide
52:48Rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'
52:51Sit on the dock of the main, watchin' the tide
53:01Oh, I'm gonna sit on the dock of the main, watchin' the tide
53:11One more time, one more time
53:14Sit on the dock of the main, watchin' the tide
53:23Rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'
53:26Whistling
53:47Give me that donation
53:49Whistling
54:15Ladies and gentlemen, James Greening on the trombone
54:21Andy Beakers on the sax
54:26Stuart Cohen on the trumpet
54:32Mark Williams on the vocals
54:37Jane McRae on the vocals
54:41On the drums, Mr. Peter Luskin
54:47On the bass, Harry Bruce
54:54On guitar, Marley Barrington
55:01On the keyboard, Mr. Bruce Haynes
55:10Thank you very much, good night
55:13I'm sure you want to touch people
55:15That's why you do it
55:17And that's the gift you have
55:19Otherwise you wouldn't be in it for 30 years
55:21You obviously have some kind of a gift to touch people
55:23In my case, the general reason I'm still around
55:26Is because I've managed to just, I guess, keep it real
55:30And I keep it real just by not trying to think too hard
55:34About how to manipulate a crowd
55:38Or how to, you know, plan a note
55:42It's pretty much off the top of my head
55:45And my head seems to still be working
55:48Much to many people's surprise
56:04Thank you very much
56:34Thank you