To call MAX BOYCE a legend is an understatement, in fact legendary is not something we easily throw around, but in the case of Max, he is and we do.
There is no questioning Max’s Welsh credentials. He was born in Glynneath in Port Talbot and has lived there pretty much all his life. It’s fair to say that the people and places around Wales have been the true source of his inspiration and success over the last 50 years.
Now, as a way to celebrate those years, and one incredible career, Max will be performing an unmissable 50th Anniversary Concert at the Congress Theatre in Cwmbran this Saturday, Pontardawe Arts Centre on the 14th, Treorchy Park& Dare on the 15th, Aberdare Coliseum on the 22nd and then Wales Millennium Centre on Friday 6th and Sunday 8th October. All shows are completely sold out (apart for Pontardawe), so you’ll need to keep an eye out for returns at the venues.
So let’s take you back 50 years, to a time when Max crossed the Rhigos Mountains from his home in Glynneath (November the 23rd 1973 to be precise). He went to record an album ‘Live at Treorchy Rugby Club’, little did he know it would change his life forever.
This wasn’t his first recording of course, Max had earlier put down songs at the Valley Folk Club in Pontardawe, and when EMI heard the album and subsequently saw Max perform live in concert, he was invited to sign a contract to record two live albums of his songs and stories. The musicians for that evening were dragged together that very afternoon, then, without almost any rehearsal, the songs and stories were recorded. The rest, as they say, is Max’s musical history.
And as you can hear on the clip below – the Oggy Oggy Oggy chant became a part of the Max Boyce live experience……
Max has never stopped over the last 50 years. During the pandemic he put his lockdown time to good use performing a musical version of his lockdown poem When Just the Tide Went Out.
Since its release in 2020 it has been something of an internet sensation and been viewed nearly 8 million times. It was titled ‘Pick of the Week’ on Radio 4 and features in his number 1 best-selling book, Hymns and Arias.
Max has had a few ‘public’ celebrations over the years. BBC Wales marked his 70th birthday with a special programme, filled with star guests, and of course a massive cake.
Early on in his career, Max got treated to a similar retrospective on This Is Your Life back in 1978, just four years after the Live At Treorchy LP had made him a household name.
Max said……
“That came too soon in my career really.”
“It all happened as a result of the disastrous turn I did on Opportunity Knocks several years before, where I sang a song about council bin men.
“I came second but, without being able to do a humorous preamble beforehand to help put the song in context, it just bombed.
“Because of that three minute slot I started getting bookings cancelled left right and centre – it really hurt me.”
With so much to look back on, and a catalogue of material to choose from, the MAX BOYCE 50th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT will be something really special, and of course, you’ll be able to say ‘I WAS THERE!’
Max will be performing an unmissable 50th Anniversary Concert at the Congress Theatre in Cwmbran this Saturday, Pontardawe Arts Centre on the 14th, Treorchy Park& Dare on the 15th, Aberdare Coliseum on the 22nd and then Wales Millennium Centre on Friday 6th and Sunday 8th October. All shows are completely sold out (apart for Pontardawe).
All ticket information can be had HERE.
On a personal note, my first introduction to Max wasn’t the Treorchy album but in fact the 1975 album ‘We All Had Doctors’ Papers’ which came out on the Beatles Apple label. It was in my Dads record collection and from the moment I played it, I was hooked.
Again, it really is a love song to all things Wales with song such as…..
- Rhondda Grey
- Swansea Town
- A’r Lan Y Mor
- The Pontypool front row
You can still download the album and I can highly recommend you give it a listen.
