Jeannie Lewis sings "Golden Bird" from GTK in 1971.
Category
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MusicTranscript
00:00🎵
00:21🎵Walking along on a path in the mountains🎵
00:29🎵I saw a bird flying way up high🎵
00:38🎵Gold were its wings in the sun of the morning🎵
00:45🎵Winking at me as it flew through the sky🎵
00:54🎵Well its beauty was such that I felt I must have it🎵
01:02🎵Chased it all day and then into the night🎵
01:11🎵Finally anger that I could not catch it🎵
01:18🎵Determined that I would stop it in flight🎵
01:25I don't like being categorised into any group
01:28but blues singing I suppose is something that I find the most personal form of expression
01:33but then blues to me isn't just limited to 12 bar songs
01:36it's sort of anything that is just a really personal expression in that sense
01:43and in a sort of, I suppose, a rock sort of feel to that sense.
01:46You started off mainly as a folk singer at university
01:49was this because you were involved in political or social issues at the time?
01:53Partly, partly because I used to go and see Andy in Band of Bon Marches and sort of play
01:58but it wasn't the only thing, I've always liked folk music
02:01like sort of the poetry of folk music as well as just the sounds
02:06and I suppose a lot of the early folk music I heard was
02:12was sort of associated with protest movements of various sorts.
02:16Jean you recently held your own concert
02:18is this the only way that you get some sort of musical satisfaction in the city?
02:22Not the only way, but it's the way that I can do the variety of things I want to do
02:26unless you can sort of offer something to musicians
02:28I can't sort of drag them all along just sort of night after night to small places
02:32and sort of say well you know there's no bread but you know I'd be really gassed to do this
02:36but that way at least I could sort of, we could get some money for it
02:39and I could work with classical musicians and pop musicians and do all the sort of things I want to do
02:43but you know the blokes I work with are really gassed you know, I sort of really worked at it.
02:47For a person with such an enormous vocal range as you have you don't seem to be constantly employed.
02:52I don't know I suppose the sort of places I like working at which you'd call financially fruitful
03:00but the only place I think that you can really make a lot of bread here is in the club circuit
03:05and I wouldn't mind doing a little bit but it's not the sort of thing I really want to do
03:10nor I don't think it's more important as a material that I want to do acceptable on the club circuit.
03:35It was the arrow, my arm was the bow
03:45Then a fluttering of wings and a cry pierced the air
03:53It fluttered and fell on the rocks at my feet
04:02Weeping I lifted the thing that had fallen
04:09Blood stained my hands and tears wet my cheeks
04:18I'll probably go to England but I want to go to South America you see
04:21I'm not just in, I'd like to work but I'm also interested in listening and sort of seeing places.
04:25Some friends of mine just travelled up the Amazon on a cargo boat
04:29and I read their letters and I really get green on the go.
04:33It must be really difficult though for a female vocalist who has no permanent backing group for herself
04:37particularly when everything is practically hard rock now.
04:40Yeah it is and I sometimes feel that musicians don't like backing female vocalists all the time
04:48because they feel they are backing them.
04:50I'm quite prepared to become part of a group but it just seems hard to find a group.
04:55I don't know, there are a lot of things I want to do, not just rock
04:58and it's very hard to find musicians who are prepared or who seem to want to do different styles.
05:04Fair enough, but my sin is I want to do different things.
05:07But they're always going to be sort of subordinate to you.
05:09I think sometimes, it seems to me that quite a few female singers in this country
05:13have difficulty finding a permanent group to work with.
05:16Is Jean-Louis really scared before she goes on stage?
05:19Depends what it is.
05:21Depends what it is, when we did Love 200 last year she was almost unable to stand up on stage.
05:27So it depends what I'm doing.
05:30If I'm working with a group like I've been working with I'm usually quite happy
05:34but doing that with the orchestra, it was a real challenge but I was absolutely petrified.
05:51The room became filled with a warm golden glow
05:58I opened my eyes and a woman stood there
06:07Didn't you know when you hurt me so cruelly
06:14I was your lover, I was your friend
06:22When you couldn't stand it that I was so free
06:29Now you will never see me again
06:44Now you will never see me again