More Oddly-Shaped Balls

Following on from my previous post, I am indebted to my friend Huw Spink, curator of the Teatles Book – a magazine about the Beatles and their love for tea. Huw saw that post and kindly sent me a copy of the disc you are now (hopefully) enjoying, the solitary release from Maralene and Gareth. 

Gareth is, of course, Welsh rugby hero Gareth Edwards. Maralene was Maralene Powell, who later became Maralene Nash after marrying Welsh singer Ryder Nash.

 

Issued by Cambrian Records of Swansea in 1972, the A-side of the disc, Wyt Ti Weithiau (Do You Sometimes), is a Welsh-language version of the 1971 Lee Hazelwood-Nancy Sinatra hit Did You Ever, although the original composer of the song – Bobby Braddock - gets zero credit on the sleeve or the disc itself. Likewise the flip, Maralene’s solo performance of the country hit Rose Garden, sung again in Welsh as Gardd O Flodau (A Garden of Flowers), does not credit songwriter Joe South: the only composer credit on either side of the release is ‘geiriau’ (‘words’) ‘D. Elwyn Davies', and neither original publisher receives a credit either. Presumably, the team at Cambrian assumed that they would sell so few copies that they would get away without paying the piper, as it were. Naughty!

 

An aside, but one that my donor might find interesting: Joe Jones, the managing director of Cambrian, signed Welsh singer Mary Hopkin while she was still a teenager. Mary recorded several sides for Cambrian, but only issued by the company after the phenomenal success of her Apple Records debut, Those Were The Days. Between 1968 and 1971 several Eps and a 45 were released (none of which bore any credit for Apple), and in 1979 all ten of the tracks she recorded for the company would be licensed to Deca for the album The Welsh World of Mary Hopkin.

 

The backing act on Wyt Ti Weithiau and Gardd O Flodau is an unnamed, but eager, cabaret five-piece consisting of electric guitar, bass, drums, cheesy Farfisa-style keyboards and the most hyper tambourine player you’re ever likely to come across. My guess is that at least some of the players were members of Maralene’s family band, the 4 Ps, which included brother Aubrey Powell, sister Denise and brother-in-law John Price. Maralene has a pleasant early 70s pop voice, but Gareth should not have been let loose in a recording studio. God love him, he’s game for having a go, but he really should have stayed on the rugby pitch: the star player was the country’s youngest-ever captain, and formed a brilliant partnership with Barry John (see the previous blog post).

 

Between 1967 and 1978 Edwards won 53 caps for Wales, including 13 as captain, and during his tenure the Welsh side dominated the Five Nations Championship, winning the title seven times, including three grand slams. In 1969, Edwards was named Player of the Year in Wales, and in 1974 Edwards was named BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year. The following year he was awarded the MBE.

 

Maralene, who sadly died in 2011 aged just 60, released several recordings over her career, all in Welsh, either solo or with the 4 Ps. Luckily for us, Edwards would never sing (at least, not for general release) again.

 

Here are both sides of this wonderful little record. Enjoy!

 

Download Wyt Ti Weithiau HERE 

Download Gardd O Flodau HERE