THERE was never a plan to engage Judy Garland's daughter in debate.

But conversation quickly danced in that direction.

Lorna Luft, the daughter of Garland and Sid Luft, was grief-stricken by the death of her mother. For years, she fought to come to terms with the loss, while being over-shadowed by the star's legacy.

And indeed, Lorna developed her own problems with dependency.

Next week however Lorna, now 61, is appearing in Glasgow in The Songbook of Judy Garland, a tribute to the legend who took the world to Kansas in The Wizard of Oz.

But if her mother's memory is so painful, why go back and re-live the trauma of growing up with an alcoholic?

"That's not the whole story," says Lorna in defiant voice. "The story we tell is what she left us, the library of music for example.

"We're asking why we're listening to her sing Get Happy on TV ads. We're asking why her legacy is so enduring."

Lorna isn't offering answers, but rather lots of superlatives.

"Why is Simon Cowell's favourite song Over The Rainbow? It's because it's such a brilliantly structured song. And it's about hope.

"In this show, we wanted to show her artistry."

It's easy to understand why an audience will love this show, which features X Factor star Ray Quinn.

"We've not had a show without a standing ovation at the end," says Lorna, in proud voice.

"The audiences love the fact they're taken back to the time they saw my mom, and they're introducing this world to their children and grandchildren."

But none of them knew Judy personally, the impact she had on her family?

Lorna had to contend with being cast opposite her mega star mother and Dirk Bogarde in the 1963 film I Could Go On Singing as an eight year-old.

She had to contend with her mother's depression and drug problems.

"Every child has drama in their life," she says, downplaying the point. "Every kid has problems with their moms."

But most 'moms' are not film stars. Most 'moms' make the tea and hoover the carpets, and tuck the kids in at night?

"In the fifties and sixties, mom's stayed at home and made the dinner. But my mother didn't because of the business she was in. And she'd been in that business since she was a child, supporting her own mother.

"What you've also got to consider is women didn't have the voice they have now.

"Having said all that, she loved making the films. She loved her audiences. She never complained. She never said 'Poor me.'"

Yet, as a teenager, Lorna kicked back at her mother. For attention?

"As a young woman I wanted to make my own footsteps in the sand.

"I did die my hair purple, I sang backing vocals on Blondie albums, I strived to make my own sound.

"But in your forties you realise you have to make friends with the ghost. And my mother's legacy is now my children's legacy."

The mother-of-two adds, smiling; "I understand my mother now. And here's the thing (to factor in) she was a working mother and so ahead of her time.

Interestingly, Lorna claims she learned so much about her mother's mindset from a book, Garland On Garland, (where the writer has collected all of Judy's key interviews).

"I learned how she felt as a fourteen year-old for example, how she spoke about her own mother."

In weighing up all the detail, looking at this woman who loved her work and audiences, why does her daughter believe the wheels came off train?

How did this 'happy' woman who was once fed drugs by film studio to fulfil unrealistic demands become such as a tragic figure?

Lorna's voice darkens as she answers. "Look, anybody you talk to in the business says all the stuff about being tragic is just a myth.

"She was hilariously funny, and we show that in the show."

Lorna adds; "My mother was Scottish you know. Her mother was a Milne, from Aberdeen."

It's hard not to feel that Lorna Luft hasn't re-written the Judy Garland Story a little in her own head.

But that's understandable. Why carry the dark plot around with you when can think about rainbows, when you can get happy by recalling the sheer talent of the icon.

And what's clear is Judy Garland's second daughter (her half sister is Liza Minelli) has been through her emotional catharsis. She's written her (1998) autobiography Me And My Shadows.

And she's embraced her mother's legacy, going on to appear for example in the stage show The Wizard of Oz, playing The Wicked Witch of the West.

Now, she's reliving Garland's music on stage. But Lorna still hasn't answered the key question - why did Judy leave us so young? (Judy Garland died in London, aged 47, in 1969, from "an incautious over dosage" of barbiturates.)

"Perhaps she did set the bar too high for herself," she says, her voice softening.

"She couldn't simply walk through a performance. She had to give a thousand per cent every time."

Perhaps it's too much?

"Yes, and that's what Whitney Houston gave. And I give that too. I've learned that's what you should do.

"And I'm proud of my mom. I'm so happy for what she's given me."

Yet, she misses her dreadfully, every day of her life.

"Yes, when you lose a parent it takes a long time to get over that, whether they're famous or not.

"It never gets better. It just gets different."

€¢ The Songbook of Judy Garland, the Theatre Royal, June 2-6,