Great Scot

Never knowingly understated, the diminutive singing legend, known to the world as Lulu, is getting back to her musical roots – which, she says, all began in church.

“I am a soul girl,” she gasps. “I have always loved gospel and soul. My influences, growing up, were mainly black. And they used to tell me off in church because I would sing riffs.”

She demonstrates with an extraordinary blast of embellished gospel straight out of the Deep South, rather than Glasgow. And it’s because of the enduring power of that voice that, five decades on, this 60s icon turned soul diva remains one of our best, if underrated, singers.

I caught up with her on one of the few genuinely warm days so far this summer. And am surprised to find she has been busy in the garden.

“I have been picking roses,” she says, “They are beautiful.”

I admit I didn’t expect her to be the gardening type. “I’m not!” she laughs. “I don’t really have green fingers, but I do potter around – and I’m good at telling people what to do.”

Few artists have the longevity of Lulu.

And even fewer look as good on it as this twice-divorced 63 year-old grandmother.

She was a precocious teen when she hit the national consciousness with the song by which she is still best known. Shout, a cover of an Isley Brothers tune, transfixed the record-buying public, delivering a homegrown soul anthem every bit as impressive as the Motown hits then flooding across the Atlantic.

“We-e-e-e-ll…” she sings with genuine delight, when I mention the song, unable to resist the temptation to let rip with that iconic intro – which could once strip paint from ceilings, and still sends a tingle down the spine. “…you make me wanna shout…”

She was 15 when she released the hit – and admits she had no idea where it would lead. “The difficult thing about being a childhood star is knowing how to keep it real,” she says.

“I was always balancing my life on stage with my life off, and it was hard to get right. It was a case of, when I saw a camera, the real me would go and Lulu would take over. It’s hard to know who you are.

“I’ve tried to be me without being the performing side of me, but it’s hard.”

Lulu was discovered at the age of 14 by her manager Marion Massey, who had spotted her in a Glasgow club owned by Massey’s brother. The pair went on to forge a working relationship which lasted for a quarter of a century. A family business, it was Massey’s husband Mark London who helped write many of her songs, including her biggest hit of the 60s – To Sir With Love, the theme to the 1967 film of the same name starring Sidney Poitier.

“Marion was an amazing influence on my life,” she says. “She was family to me. But there have been times when I’ve felt like I’ve been in the wilderness of the record business, and that led to me splitting with Marion after 25 years. She wanted me to do the same things, while I wanted to change.

“My first record was a big hit at the age of 15, but my second was a flop. I was left wondering what to do; it was shocking. Realising no one has got the answers when you are at that age was frightening. But I loved it – and I loved the songs.”

Now, she is paying tribute to the music of her childhood, with a new collection of the soul tunes that mean so much to her.

The album of songs from the 60s and 70s, features gems first performed by the likes of Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and the Four Tops. It is called A Little Soul In Your Heart and its executive producer is another national treasure – Elton John.

“I think I’m misunderstood,” she says, before lapsing back into song with a tantalising taste of a Nina Simone classic, bellowing: “Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood!”

“When I sang Shout, it was rock & roll and gospel all in one,” she says. “And that’s the sound I love. The problem was, I was cute, small and white, and not black and American. I wanted to sing soul, and tried to argue the point, but was too young.

“I have struggled,” she adds. “But I have had an incredible career and am still doing it today – and love it.

“I’m one of the luckiest people, but I’m just doing my job. I have to remember I’m not special, I’m just a worker – but with a gift. The bottom line is, I love to sing.”

And, boy, has she sung. With a string of number one hits, a Eurovision song contest winner in Boom Bang-a-Bang and the title song for the James Bond movie The Man with The Golden Gun. She even became the first British female singer to perform behind the Iron Curtain, touring Poland with the Hollies in 1966.

Along the way, she has worked with many of the greats, either singing alongside them, or welcoming them onto her TV show Happening for Lulu. They include The Beatles, David Bowie and The Monkees (having a romance with the band’s Davy Jones), and the Bee Gees – who’s singer Maurice Gibb she went on to marry.

She has also duetted with Elton John, Sting, Paul McCartney, Ronan Keating and Bobby Womack, and recorded a number one hit, Relight My Fire, with Take That.

So who, I ask, made the biggest impression? “I don’t like saying who my favourite people are,” she says.

“But everyone has a special moment. And for me Bowie was the coolest cat.

“He was the coolest guy on the planet and I couldn’t believe he was giving me attention as I thought I was ‘Miss Middle of the Road’ at that point.

“He was so revolutionary and so flattering. I was drowning in Saturday night TV, but that was not where my soul sat.

“He said I had an amazing voice and that he would give me a hit record!”

The song, The Man who sold the World, reached number 4.

On July 7 Lulu heads to Oxfordshire for a headline slot at the Henley Festival. Her appearance on the Saturday party night of the festival’s 30th anniversary, is part of the five-day event’s most consistently big-hitting line-up of pop and classical acts so far.

It also features Sting, Tim Minchin, Katherine Jenkins, Olly Murs, Alfie Boe, Laura Wright and, Lulu’s guests for the night, reformed boy band Blue.

She is relishing the chance to get back to Oxfordshire, which she says she has always loved.

“I remember being in panto in Oxford when I was pregnant with my son Jordan (with ex-husband, celebrity hairdresser John Frieda) – and he’s 35 now. But I’ve been going there even longer than that – touring with the Walker Brothers, Beach Boys and Gene Pitney.

“I have some very fond memories of the place,” she says.

“And I can’t wait to go to Henley – especially taking Blue with me. They are cool, talented and fun. It’s going to be a real party.”

* Lulu plays the Henley Festival on Saturday, July 7. Festival tickets start at £35 a day, with all profits going to local charities. Go to henley-festival.co.uk or call 01491 843404.