Geno Washington knows a thing or two about life and about working a crowd into a frenzy. Vicky Anderson reports

THERE are certain ideas of what to expect from a soul man. And there’s no doubt Geno Washington is the complete package. This is obvious from the moment he picks up the phone and replies to the usual bog-standard opener “How are you?”.

“I’m feelin’ good, I’m feelin’ like a fat pig rollin’ in mud,” he says, letting the last syllable linger.

Everything in the veteran entertainer’s life seems to be about positivity and encouragement, from his outlook on the world to his booming, frequent laugh that often borders on the maniacal.

It shows great promise for his two up-coming Liverpool concerts – a low-key club date next week, and a full-on theatre show with contemporary PP Arnold in January.

“People know it’s going to be a Mardi Gras atmosphere,” he says.

“It’s going to be the best party, a Mardi Gras type party. You go to your office parties, and I don’t know why they call them that, ‘cause they ain’t doing nothin’!

“We keep it real. You can’t take an audience for granted. You gotta go out and work them into a state of frennnnzy,” he cackles.

So far, so Geno is always “on”. But there’s another, more unexpected side to him, too.

When he’s not on stage singing, you might find him up there doing hypnosis instead. And, if he’s not doing that, you might find him teaching his students in life coaching, or speaking in schools about violence.

After making his name in the Sixties, performing on bills with everyone from Clapton to Hendrix, the singer took time out from music in the 1970s and 1980s to pursue study in those areas.

“I could see things happening,” he says.

“People were changing, acting all crazy, some of them were dying.