Max Boyce's Big Birthday

70 years ago, a boy was born who would grow into a Welsh icon.

He couldn't have had a tougher start in life.

His father was killed in a pit accident before he was born,

leaving his mother to raise her only child alone.

The village of Glynneath became their extended family

and this close-knit world of mining, rugby, chapel and song

shaped his life and career.

In comedy, poetry and music, he began to capture a changing Wales.

King Coal was dying, but at least Barry John was King.

Then came the album that changed his life - the big break

that launched a career spanning 40 years

and more than two million record sales.

It was the start of a journey that would take him

from Royal Command performances to the stage of the Sydney Opera House.

And it's a journey that's take him into the hearts of the Welsh people

and fans across the world.

This is the remarkable story and big birthday celebration

of the legend that is Max Boyce.

APPLAUSE

MUSIC: "Cwm Rhondda"

So...that was your life in 30 seconds. How did that feel?

It was very emotional, watching that and seeing my mother

and me at a young age, it was...

yeah, it was quite emotional.

40 years, eh? It's a long time. Yeah, it doesn't feel like that.

It feels like 10 years, but people are aware, I think, now,

how long I've been performing and they come up to me in the streets

and they talk to me as if I'm a clock.

"You're still going, then?"

LAUGHTER

Do you have any recollection...I'm sure people watching that footage

at the start may not have know the back history.

Do you have any recollection of how hard

your first years might have been?

I don't remember the early, early years, obviously,

but it wasn't hard for me because...

the close-knit community that Glynneath is,

they helped my mother, and she'd had a terrible time.

She'd lost a baby the year before as well

and then my father was killed in a mining explosion

in Onllwyn number four a month before I was born.

But I don't remember that and, in those days, people didn't have much money.

I wasn't any different to any other child really.

But, for my mother, it was a terrible time.

So, from five, six, seven, eight, were you the natural joker

and funster, and were you the star of the nativity play and that stuff?

No, I wasn't at all. I was really shy. GIGGLING

I was, honest. I was really shy and quiet.

Most comedians are like that.

You'll find that... Dual personality?

Possibly. What it is, the stage...

the stage gives us a license to rid ourselves of any insecurity or shyness

and we become...we're only complete on the stage.

It might be a psychological thing,

so, yeah, I was very shy when I was young.

When did you buy your first guitar?

Erm, I don't know. I must have been about, I don't know, 16, 18.

I saw this sign in the local paper, "Acoustic guitar for sale." Price?

Four guineas. LAUGHTER

I went to this guy's house and pretended I knew everything about the guitar and I bought it.

I never put it down.

I remember buying these chord charts with all the strings and the frets

and black dots where you put your finger

and there was G and C and then I found F.

Eight dots! I've only got five fingers.

So I found it very hard to learn the guitar properly

but I never put it down, I never looked back,

and I loved it, I loved playing the guitar.

But if you were instinctively wanting to be a performer,

at 15 you went down the mine. What did your mum think about that?

Oh, she broke her heart, yeah.

I didn't want to go, but I had to leave school to be the bread earner

and, erm, yeah...it's, it's...

it was a terrible place to work, it was awful.

If my mother had known the conditions I worked under, it would have been worse, but I never told her.

It must have been an extraordinary life, being down a mine in daytime

and, at nighttime, going on the folk club circuit.

What age were you when the Welsh folk world suddenly took notice of Max Boyce?

Well, I suppose I was... I don't know, mid-20s, I guess.

I dabbled in workmen's clubs and it wasn't working.

I wasn't getting anywhere, really.

I went back to folk clubs and they allowed me to evolve

and they listened to songs and I could experiment with songs.

And if I forgot, it didn't matter,

so they played a huge importance in my life, folk clubs, at that time.

Well, we're going to take you back now half a century

to a song that you used to perform many, many moons ago

but performed for us tonight by a great friend of Max's, Cerys Matthews.

APPLAUSE

# Mi sydd fachgen ieuanc ffol

# Yn byw yn ol fy ffansi

# Myfi'n bugeilio'r gwenith gwyn

# Ac arall yn ei fedi

# Pam na ddeu di ar fy ol

# Rhyw ddydd ar ol ei gilydd?

# Gwaith rwy'n dy weld

# Y feinir fach

# Yn lanach, lanach beunydd

# I rose at dawn's waking light

# And wandered midst the flowers

# And longed that you were by my side

# In the early morning hours

# To take my hand a walk a while

# And watch the new day dawning

# And kiss you gently on your cheek

# As dawn kissed the morning

# Tra fo dwr y mor yn hallt

# A thra fo 'ngwallt yn tyfu

# A thra fo hiraeth dan fy mron

# Mi fyddai'n ffyddlon i ti

# Dywed i mi'r gwir dan gel

# Neu rho dan sel d'atebion

# P'un ai myfi

# Neu arall wen

# Sydd orau gan

# Dy galon. #

APPLAUSE

That takes you back, eh? I'd like to tune that!

LAUGHTER

So when did you actually join the comedy with the folk music?

Well, again, that evolved.

I, erm, I was singing folk songs

but, to link the songs, I started writing anecdotes

about stories of working underground, humorous stories,

and over a period of time the anecdotes got longer and longer

and the songs became more infrequent.

I ended up a story-teller who sung songs along the way.

But it evolved over many years, really.

We actually have here some of the very first footage of Macs

in action on television.

LAUGHTER

# Ond nawr rwy wedi tyfu lan

# Yn ateb dros fy hun

# Rwy'n gweld y byd r'un peth a nhw

# Felly'n teimlo'n flin. #

APPLAUSE

When you look at that now, do you... I cringe!

Do you not look back on those early years with fondness? No, I don't.

LAUGHTER

I mean, I wasn't ready for television in those days, crumbs.

No, but you have to start somewhere.

Fel'na Mae is the first song I ever wrote, so it's nice to hear that.

From that small acorn, this big forest grew,

largely because of this.

This is my... this is my personal copy.

I was given this for my 16th birthday... Well, well, well.

..with David Bowie's Hunky Dory.

On the decks, I could mix and match the two.

This changed your life, didn't it? Yeah, it did. It was a remarkable night.

We've got lots of famous people with us tonight and some of them

are going to ask questions during the course of the next hour or so.

Opera star Rebecca Evans is first.

Hello. Penblywdd hapus. Diolch yn fawr. Happy birthday.

Macs, I must say, in the '70s and even now, you've so enriched our lives,

culturally, musically, with... you always uplift our spirits.

And I know for sure, when you were on television, Pontrhydyfen was deserted.

Nobody behind the net curtains, because we were all watching you.

I'd love to know about Live at Treorchy.

Was it really all recorded live in one evening in the Rhondda

and if you have any special memories of the occasion?

Before I answer the question, I think the world of Rebecca as well.

If you go through Pontrhydyfen, there's a big wooden sign as you enter...a bog wooden sign,

and it says, "You are now entering the village of Pontrhydyfen,

"the birthplace of Ivor Emmanuel, Richard Burton

"and world famous soprano, Rebecca Evans."

APPLAUSE

And you come into Glynneath, there's a big sign that says,

"You are now entering the village of Glynneath."

Underneath is says, "Please drive carefully."

LAUGHTER

I'm envious of you.

But, in answer to your question, you've recorded, I know, many times,

and it was remarkable that that night was just one take.

Now, if I did it now,

I'd record it over three nights and pick the best of the three nights.

But that night, the audience, there was a conspiracy between

me and that audience, and I think they so wanted me to do well.

Gareth Edwards is in our audience tonight.

Gareth, I know you want to ask a question

about one song in particular on the album.

As a miner's son, one of my favourite songs from Live at Treorchy

has always been, as you know on many a trip, Duw, it's Hard.

What inspired you to write that song?

Well, I remember looking at the Western Mail one day

and there was an advert for carpets...

LAUGHTER

..and it said, Carpet Kingdom,

and the address was, the old pithead baths, Cwm Colliery, Ebbw Vale.

I thought, there's a song there. "The pithead baths is a supermarket now."

But in the song I wanted to tell of the bitter-sweet, love-hate relationship

the miners, like your father, had with the mining industry.

People who worked underground, there was such a close-knit camaraderie,

despite the conditions, and people who went on to work in factories,

they said it was never the same as working underground.

I wanted to show that in the song and that's why I called it, Duw, it's Hard.

And here is the song and some pictures that really are from another age.

# My clean-clothes locker's empty now, I've thrown away the key

# Sold my boots and muffler and my lampcheck 153

# But I can't forget the times we had, the laughing midst the fear

# Cos every time I cough I get a mining souvenir

# Cos it's hard

# Duw, it's hard

# Harder than they will ever know

# And it's they must take the blame

# For the price of coal's the same

# But the pithead baths is a supermarket now. #

APPLAUSE

And that's real social commentary as well.

Is that Max Boyce the politician, there?

I've never been a political animal but, if my songs give a message, then so be it.

I didn't want to drum it down anybody's throat or anything.

Talking about messages, there are lots of well known people who would love to be here

but, for various reasons, can't be, but they've all sent messages.

# Oh, Macs, the entertainer

# We know him so well

# He keeps us all laughing with jokes he do tell

# His songs we have sung for many a year

# But this one's quite special and so we should cheer

# So it's down to Cardiff for the night

# To miss would be a shame

# They'll sing Happy Birthday and Hymns and Arias

# Damn, I'm sure they'll sound the same

# Someone from a corner dark is bound to shout, "Ogi!"

# But one a year would take some beer

# Now that Max has reached 70

# And we were singing

# Happy birthday

# I hope it's a great day

# Penblwydd hapus i it! #

It's going to be a great night tonight.

Penblwydd hapus, Max. Ogi, ogi, ogi!

APPLAUSE

So you're now a pop star.

Live at Treorchy, you're looking in the charts,

and the difficult second album, We All Had Doctor's Papers,

and, suddenly, you're top of the charts.

How did that happen? I don't know.

Live at Treorchy, they thought was like a flash in the pan,

so when we did Doctors' Papers, it came it and number nine, then it went to three,

but to see it at number one...!

I was on tour at the time and whatever city I was in, I used to buy the Melody Maker,

look at the charts, and I was up there above The Beatles and Elton John.

I couldn't believe it.

Where did the leek come from? Was that your idea?

No, not really. That evolved, again.

I was singing at a rugby club in West Wales one night

and somebody threw the colours of the club on, I put that on,

and somebody gave me a bobble hat and I put that on,

and then somebody threw a leek on.

But, like, the week after, I wasn't in a rugby club

and I thought, what can I do to colour the act, as it were?

Your first appearance on stage is all important.

I'd just been to Twickenham to see Wales play so I thought,

I'll write a song about that and I'll wear the red and white and I'll have a leek,

as if I'm this character, and it went from there.

But it evolved over a long time as well.

Did the leek grow? It got bigger and bigger, yeah!

The whole village was growing them for me!

The thing about...the great signature of success in those days,

was to be invited on Michael Parkinson's chat show and that's what happened to you.

Do they have any other, sort of, parodies of your dress?

Erm, the maddest thing I've seen, and I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it,

I was in... the early part of the tour,

we were in Buxton in Derbyshire.

This lovely lady turned up

and she'd gone, apparently, to the local carnival -

a fate and gala, in a little village called, erm, Ashbourne,

near Buxton in Derbyshire.

She'd gone as me,

with the white trousers and the red coat and the rosette

and the cap and the scarf, and her mother had gone as my leek.

We've got a picture of the leek. Honest!

LAUGHTER

I don't know if the people can see it, but her mother went as the leek,

and the story she told me that the problem they had with her mother...

they made it too small and she couldn't breathe.

There was no air, and the trouble was that her glasses kept misting up.

And she kept bumping into things.

Everywhere she went, someone had to walk around with a chair

and stand by her, and every time she knocked her head against the leek,

they had to go inside the leek and wipe her glasses to see where she went.

It was absolute chaos.

But the funniest thing of all was, when they came to the adjudication,

they'd entered the Best... Best Dressed Leek?

No, the Best Pair, and when they came to the adjudicator,

the adjudicator had never heard of me but the leek came second.

LAUGHTER

Her mother came second.

APPLAUSE

If humour is universal, in Wales,

is an audience in Anglesey the same as it is in Chepstow?

Not totally, no. LAUGHTER

I've got to be careful here!

LAUGHTER

But there is a difference in humour all over Britain.

There's an industrial humour and there's a folky humour.

You get the industrial humour of the South Wales Valleys

and there's a folkiness of Welsh-speaking West Wales.

There is a difference but it's very subtle.

One specific Welsh character you've created is Berwyn

and here's an isolated incident from a programme,

I think it's nearly two decades old, but this is just fantastic.

Berwyn, right, all his life, all he loved was aeroplanes.

He didn't have footballers and cricketers or girls on his wall,

all over the wall, aeroplanes.

So, when he's 18, he said, "Dad, I'm 18, what can I have for my birthday?"

"Right", he said, "What do you want now?"

"Oh, Dad", he said, "I'd like a ride in a helicopter."

"Right", he said, "We'll go to Cardiff Airport", he said,

"We'll go to Cardiff Airport. There's helicopter rides there.

"20 minutes, £25. It's a lot of money, but you are 18."

"Thanks, Dad." Up they go in the helicopter.

They come back.

"Enjoyais i mas draw!

"Dad, I enjoyed that, but it went so quick.

"Dad, Dad, can we have another ride?"

"Listen, I'm a farmer", he said. "I can't afford another ride."

"But, Dad, I'm 18."

"We're going through a hard time. I can't afford it."

This chap, Captain Timkins, overheard the conversation.

He came over and he said, "I couldn't hear...

"I couldn't help overhearing you Mr Morgan and your son Berwyn..."

LAUGHTER

"..speaking, and I understand you haven't got the money.

"I'll tell you, I've got a little Cessna", he said.

"A little Cessna, and I'll tell you what I'll do,

"you can come for a ride with me and if you remain...

"if you remain absolutely silent during the flight,

"I won't charge you, but you must remain absolutely silent.

"during the flight."

Moc said, "Let me get this right now."

LAUGHTER

"What you're saying, if me and Berwyn don't say a word, we won't have to pay."

"That's quite right."

"Right, Berwyn, gwranda nawr.

"Dim gair.

"Not a word!"

The taxi to the end of the runway.

They took off.

This steep climb through the clouds to 15,000 feet.

Terrible turbulence.

They just miss the Aberthaw Power Station tower.

Just over.

They head east over Bristol, down the Severn Estuary,

under the Severn Bridge,

back again, pulling 4G.

Poor Moc's face!

Then they go on a series of flat spins and belly loops,

just missing the houses.

They land back at Cardiff Airport, right.

Captain Timkins gets out and says, "Well, can I say, Mr Morgan...

"Can I say, I've been pulling this stunt for some 20 years", he said,

"and no-one ever before has remained absolutely silent

"during the flight.

"Tell me, was there any point, I mean, like, when we went under the Severn Bridge

"or we just missed those trees, was there any point when you nearly said something?"

"Oh, yes. There was one moment." "When was that?"

"When Berwyn fell out."

LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

Is it right that's the only time that story has ever received an airing?

I'd never told that story before and I haven't told it since.

It's such a long winding story, I'm afraid someone will shout out the end before I get there.

And does Berwyn still exist? He's very well. Oh, good.

And he's still trying to save money whatever way he can.

And he goes out to car boot sales...

..and he's selling brick-a-brack and candlesticks

and Ewenny pottery and Swansea china and old books of photographs

and he had a human skull there two years ago

and this American came past and said,

"I was hoping to ask you, sir, whose skull is that?"

He said, "That's the skull of Owain Glyndwr,

"the last native prince of Wales.

"You mean Owain Glendower?" "The very man."

"I'd like to purchase that skull. We'd like to take that back to the States with us.

"How much is it?"

"Oh", he said, "I think it'll be too much for you, bach.

"It's £1,000." "I'll pay the £1,000 for the skull of Owain Glendower.

"My God, wait 'til I take that back. The skull of Owain Glendower!"

He puts it in a box and takes it away.

Two years later, Berwyn's back at the car boot sale, still selling his brick-a-brack.

This time he's got a small skull.

The same American comes and says, "May I ask you, sir, whose skull is that?"

And Berwyn said, "That's the skull of Owain Glyndwr,

"the last native prince of Wales."

The American says, "That can't be. I was here two years ago.

"I bought the skull of Owain Glendower. That one's smaller."

"Oh, yes, that was when he was a boy."

LAUGHTER

Right, let's have some glamour and a message from somebody you know very well.

Max, sending you all my love.

If you remember, the first time we met was when you kindly invited me,

right at the start of my career, to be part of the show you put on

for the World Cup in the Sydney Opera House.

That was one of my best memories. You made a dream come true for me.

And it was really special to be able to share the stage with you that night.

Max, we all love you. You're such a legend.

It's an honour to be able to call you my friend.

Have a wonderful time and hopefully I'll see you soon.

APPLAUSE

Ten years, of course, since England won the World Cup.

I was in the Opera House that night to see you.

It was an extraordinary evening, wasn't it?

Yeah...it was probably one of the greatest concerts of my life.

I never thought we'd sell it out and we did.

It's such an iconic building.

That's the only time I've been intimidated by a building.

I was all right inside,

but when I was outside, I was thinking, "What am I doing here?"

I had such a welcome when I walked on stage, it was just overwhelming.

It was brilliantly choreographed and stage set and, as you say, the entrance was pretty dramatic.

'Ladies and gentlemen, live at the Sydney Opera House,

'the legend that is Max Boyce!'

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Waltzing Matilda Waltzing Matilda

# "You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me"

# And he sang and he watched and he waited 'til his billy boiled

# "You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me." #

CHEERING

Watching that, does that feel like your World Cup final, almost?

It was, erm...

Graham Henry came to the concert and he came to see me afterwards

and he didn't know how to express in theatrical terms how well I'd done.

He said, "Max, you just won the first Test."

Here's somebody else who knows a fair bit about playing Sydney Opera House.

Max, yn gyntaf oll, yn anffodus, galla i ddim bod yna hefo chi heno

i wneud llwnc destun am y 70 mlynedd.

Max, think of those opera singers.

Callas, Tito Gobbi,

Pavarotti, Placido Domingo.

What do they have in common, these iconic voices, when you hear the on the radio?

You know there can only be one person that is.

For me, you are exactly the same.

Your humour, your songs,

the way you can do it in both languages.

It's pretty impressive.

And that's one word in Welsh, isn't it? Chwerthin.

To make people laugh, and you've done that in abundance.

I'm sorry I can't be with you to have a glass of wine,

but hopefully I'll see you on the golf course. Hwyl.

APPLAUSE

Great man. Great man.

And you may have spotted that Bryn did that yesterday for us

on his own smartphone, by himself.

So no expense spared.

We're going to talk golf a bit later on as well.

From one great voice, if we talk about the serious singing part of your life,

as a composer as well,

and it's one of those cliched questions people always ask,

but if there's one song that you've written

that you're particularly proud of, what would that be?

It's hard to pick one song, especially if you compare the comedic songs with the serious songs,

but because of my mining background, I would probably have to pick Rhondda Grey.

It tells a story of the legacy that mining has had in these communities,

but it is told through the eyes of a child.

And he comes home from school and his homework is to paint the valley.

He is told, he asks, "What colour is the valley?"

Perhaps the real, the real colour of the valley

is not found in the terraced streets,

but only in the faces of old colliers

who have spent so much time underground,

robbed of their daylight.

I have called that song and that colour Rhondda Grey.

And here it is.

MUSIC: "Rhondda Grey"

# One afternoon from a council school

# A boy came home to play

# With paint and coloured pencils

# And his homework for the day

# "We've got to paint the valley, Mam,

# "For Mrs Davies Art

# "What colour is the valley, Mam,

# "And will you help me start?"

# BOTH:"Shall I paint the Con Club yellow

# "And paint the Welfare blue?"

# "And paint old Mr Davies red

# "And all his pigeons too?"

# "And paint the man who kept our ball

# "And paint him looking sad?"

# "What colour is the valley, Mam,

# "What colour is it, Dad?"

# Well, his father took him by the hand

# They walked down Albion Street

# Down past the old Rock Incline

# To where the council put a seat

# Where old men say at the close of day

# "Dy'n ni wedi gwneud ein siar."

# And the colour in their faces says

# The tools are on the bar

# The tools are on the bar

# "And that's the colour that we want

# "That no shop has ever sold

# "You can't buy that in Woolies, lad

# "With your reds and greens and golds."

# "It's a colour you can't buy, lad

# "No matter what you pay

# "But that's the colour that we want:

# "Some call it Rhondda Grey

# "They call it Rhondda Grey

# "They call it

# "Rhondda

# "Grey." #

MUSIC

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

That was West End star and Rhondda girl Sophie Evans.

There's a strange romanticism, almost, about the old days.

And yet, you outlined earlier on how bad things were.

How much richer and how much poorer is Wales as a country now,

do you think, because of the changes that have happened?

Well, it's much changed. I think the big difference,

certainly South Wales, is people in those days, when I was growing up,

people, um, everybody worked together

and everyone went on holiday together

and, um, but now, it's, it's so different.

People have to travel to work and I think that's the big difference.

The communities, perhaps, are not as close knit as they were.

They are still special places, but, um,

travel has changed them, more or less. They have to travel to work.

OK, well, we have to travel from Wales to England now.

Here is a knight of the realm with a message for us.

Well, well, well, Jack, 70. Who'd have thought you'd have got to 70!

That's a miracle in itself.

All those years, the King and Jack all over the country.

But I seem to remember Bradford,

when we did the Alhambra Theatre, Jack.

Do you remember that little pub next door?

There was you, me, regulars in there.

But because we didn't get there until about 11.30 at night,

you made us tap on the door

and we had to give the password. Do you remember what the password was?

Yes. "Cardigan Bay is frozen. It will be hell for the seagulls."

Jack, you're a star. You're one of the best friends I've ever had

and mate, have a great, great 70th.

APPLAUSE

So, how was panto with Beefy?

A nightmare.

LAUGHTER

He's a terrible, terrible, wonderful, wonderful man.

But in pantomime, his, his, his, his boredom threshold was nil.

We were in Jack and the Beanstalk, as he said.

He was the king and I was playing Jack, the poor wood cutter's son.

And Beefy, he'd been thrown in this dungeon with the princess, right.

But he was so bored, right, he'd built a bar in the dungeon.

And all I could hear was "Pop",

Beefy opening bottles of wine in the dungeon.

LAUGHTER

Pulling pints of beer. "Come on, Jack. Come on, Jack."

He was, ur, but he's a, yeah, he's a very great, loyal friend.

But at this stage, life has very much changed

from the folk clubs and all that sort of stuff.

Now we're moving into celebrity world,

and Bryn mentioned it a few moments ago as well,

and what goes with that, if you can vaguely,

and vaguely being the operative word here,

if you can vaguely swing a golf club,

there's something of a poisoned chalice

that you get invited to all these fantastic events.

Well, coming back to Beefy again.

He invited me, he said he'd bring some friends...

Gareth was one, I remember.

He invited me on this Pro-Celebrity golf circuit.

He told everybody I was off scratch.

I'd only played six weeks.

I played in this tournament - The Bob Hope Classic in Moor Park.

It was, it was terrifying.

It's an absolutely terrifying place to be on that first tee of a Pro-Am.

On the tee, Max Boyce! Yes.

I've got to stand up to do this.

You're on, you're on the tee and for some reason,

God...

LAUGHTER

For some reason, only known to himself,

gives me somebody else's arms...

LAUGHTER

..who has never played before.

LAUGHTER

And all these doubts come in to your mind.

You woke up that morning and you're a perfectly sane, confident person.

You're on the tee and all these doubts and insecurities

come flooding into your mind.

And you start talking to yourself.

And you're asking yourself ridiculous questions like,

"Am I right handed?"

LAUGHTER

"Of course you are. How do you know? You've got a right-handed club."

LAUGHTER

And the first pros I played with were Nick Faldo and Howard Clark.

GASPS

Howard Clark never spoke to me.

They're on, they're on the first tee and he goes first.

250 yards. "Good shot, good shot."

Then Nick Faldo goes with a 1-iron.

Bang. "Oh, good shot, good shot."

Then it's my turn.

And I say, "Watch yourselves!"

LAUGHTER

But no-one, no-one believes you.

And there's, you're looking up, you're looking up

and there's, there's thousands of people as far as you can see,

all leaning over the barricades.

And I say, "Watch yourselves!"

And they don't believe you until you've swung the club.

"Jeez!"

LAUGHTER

There were people, they were,

there were people scattering everywhere, right.

And this bloke, this warden with an orange bib goes,

"Attention, please, please, please don't panic.

"Please don't panic.

"Make your way to the fairways, you'll be safe there."

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

True story that was!

True story, I promise you. That is a great story.

So, listen, you know...

People find themselves playing Pro-Celebrity golf.

People do not find themselves doing Pro-Celebrity Rodeo Riding.

So, how did that come about?

Well, the BBC were anxious for me to be on television.

So, they came up with these adventure specials.

I actually played in the World Elephant Polo Championships.

LAUGHTER

Sorry, where are they staged? In Kathmandu. Are they?

And it was... Annually? Annually.

I, I, my team was Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach,

Billy Connolly and myself.

That was, that was quite the week that was, I tell you.

LAUGHTER

And they tried me out as a rodeo cowboy, essentially a bull rider.

Well, listen, here are some of the moments, some of the best bits,

of Max Goes West.

COUNTRY MUSIC

Grab the saddle, the horn, the horn! Oh, the horn.

GASPS

GASPS

LAUGHTER

CLANGING BELL

GASPS AND GROANS

APPLAUSE

I'm not sure if riding bulls qualifies as real sport,

but we haven't really spoken about sport very much.

We've got so many great sportsmen in the audience.

Robert Jones, over there, what do you want to say?

Penblwydd hapus, first off, Max.

It's a real pleasure to be here tonight

to celebrate this fantastic occasion.

It's a simple question, really.

I've experienced the highs and all the lows

in rugby at the highest level.

Um, what's the nearest you've ever come to sporting greatness.

MAX CHUCKLES

Not very close, Rob.

LAUGHTER

But I, I did play for the Dallas Cowboys.

America's team.

And they'd been told, they wanted to do this documentary for Channel 4

to introduce American football to the discerning British public.

And they used me to introduce it.

And the Dallas Cowboys had been told

I was the biggest thing in British rugby.

LAUGHTER

They assumed I was a player.

So, I got off the plane and, and all these camera crews and news people

and press and all that.

And , he saw me, I got off the plane and he said,

"You're kind of small, ain't ya?"

I said, "I haven't been very well."

LAUGHTER

And, and, and they...

They sent me on this, the day after,

they sent me on this ten-mile run in all the gear.

And, ur, and they set out and I hadn't trained or anything.

I hadn't done anything for 20 years.

These guys were coming back in like 28 minutes, 29 minutes, 31 minutes.

When I came back, it was dark.

LAUGHTER

But I tell, we've got the opening titles

of that programme from Channel 4 here.

Just the end, just watch the end of this. You'll love it.

MUSIC

LAUGHTER

Longer, longer, good. Longer.

That's it. Now, hard back. All the way back. All the way back.

Hang on.

LAUGHTER

Do you feel that?

Aargh!

This is Billy Jo. How are you doing, Buddy? I'm fine, thanks.

It's a bit hot. A bit hot.

Come over here. Just stand there and lean down a little bit.

And when the ball is snapped, when I snap the ball,

this is what a defender, usually, will do to me.

He'll come in and strike me. I won't do it real hard,

but, you know, I'll show you a little bit what he does.

He comes in and...

Max, Max, you weren't concentrating.

LAUGHTER

You're supposed to be my friend!

You just, you just weren't ready.

I mean a lot of friends will come up

and, you know, just hit you on the side of your head.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

So...

From that inauspicious start, did you actually ever get picked?

Well, I did, actually, yeah.

When they picked, this Coach Landry, he took, he really respected me

for how hard I tried when I was up against impossible odds.

Because I was like...

They were the pick of America's athletes and I was nearly 40.

You know, and he did, he respected me for it.

When they picked the team, the offence for the first game,

against Green Bay Packers,

I was, I was in the team.

It was just, absolute, nobody could believe...

So this is the proper match?

Yes, yes, proper game, the Texas stadium, 80,000 people

and, and, like, I couldn't believe it.

And, and, and the stadium announcer would announce the offence

and you'd run on on your own. You'd run on from the...

right across the field to the centre circle.

And then, the, the stadium announcer goes,

"Wearing number, wearing number 33 from UCLA, Tony Dorsett."

And all these cheerleaders would be dancing and things blowing.

"Wearing number 45 from Kentucky High, Butch Johnson."

"Hooray!"

"And wearing number ten, from Trefforest School and Mines..."

LAUGHTER

"..running back Max Boyce."

They're all going, "Yay...Who's that?"

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

We haven't really mentioned rugby very much,

but do you think you're lucky to have been

brought in to the rugby fraternity

or born into it, obviously from start,

so that there's such a rich array of stories

and such an extraordinary variety of people that have produced,

I guess, an awful lot of material for you?

Great characters and I've had lots of stories,

some I've invented, but some are true.

One true story which people don't, I've embroidered it a little,

but not much really, because there's so much happens

on these great occasions that are the Six Nations.

I went to, I remember, it's a long time ago now, in Ireland,

I had my, I had my wallet stolen and my ticket, my return ticket.

And this, I went up to this young girl in the Aer Lingus desk

and she didn't know who I was.

I said, "I've, I've had my wallet stolen",

I said, "And I, I," and I said, "And my, and my, my return ticket.

"But my name, Max Boyce, is in, it's in the manifest," I said,

"You'll see it in the manifest."

She said, "Sure, sure, it's in the manifest here. Max Boyce.

"But there's no telling who you are, I can't leave you on the plane."

I said, "Well, I didn't invent it, I couldn't invent a name."

"Sorry, sir, that's rules and regulations.

"I can't leave you on the plane unless you've got a ticket."

So, I said, "See all those supporters over there?

"Any one of those Welsh supporters, just pick any one of those

"and bring them over, and if he says, if he says that's my name,

"will you leave me on the plane?"

She said, "Well, that sounds fair enough to me, sir.

"I'll, I, I think that's fair enough now."

So, I, she said, "That wee man there."

I can see this, this bloke comes over. I can see him now.

He was dressed in a Welsh flag. He had a plastic daffodil under one arm

and a sheep under the other arm.

LAUGHTER

And I said, I said, "Do you know who I am?"

He said, "Of course I do."

I said, "Will you tell this girl who I am?" He said, "Brad Pitt."

LAUGHTER

"Ah, Mr Pitt, is it now, sir?"

I said, "Now, then, now, will you leave me on the plane?"

"I'm sorry, Mr Pitt..." Mr Pitt!

"I'm sorry, Mr Pitt, I can't leave you on the plane."

I said, "You're telling me

"that you wouldn't leave Brad Pitt on the plane?"

"That's right, sir." I said, "Why?"

She said, "In case Mr Max Boyce comes late."

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

And that, that...

That, that, that was true, but I, I just embroidered the end a bit.

LAUGHTER

We come bang up to date with one of the great names of Welsh rugby

in the room at the moment. I think he's got a question for you. Adam.

Hi, Max. Happy birthday.

Um, just a quick one. I won't keep you to long.

Us, in the Welsh team,

we all love the songs you write about the '70s boys.

Are you ever going to do one about us?

Well, I have. I wrote it about the Grand Slam of two years ago.

And, ur, because as you know, that was, um, the Year of the Dragon.

And we nearly lost two games in the last-minute.

It seemed to me that God was on our side.

So, it's called, The Year of the Dragon.

It looks back at, like, all the games

in which you played such a prominent part.

We flew out to Dublin where the Liffey still flows

Passed the Temple Bar's pubs of renown

Where a fiddler played me The Cliffs of Dooneen

And we sang as the black stuff went down

When we left for the game, well, we all looked the same

For all my old Donegal tan

That a moment of blame at the end of the game

Meant we dreamt of another Grand Slam

With Faletau, Lydiate and Sam

We dreamt of another Grand Slam

It can't be denied

We had God on our side

And Faletau, Lydiate and Sam

We then went to London where this new English side

CHUCKLING

LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

Had sworn to put discipline right

The wild drinking parties were a thing of the past

And the dwarves have gone back to Snow White

LAUGHTER

In a game full of tension it went to the end

And we all felt their anguish and pain

LAUGHTER

When we all watched that replay played over again

And again

and again

and again

When Les Bleus came to Cardiff after losing in France

The Tricolore fluttered in shame

But the Dax bands were playing to the emptying streets

And they drummed us in time to the game

They had the roof open to the wind and the rain

To sully the gold in our crown

But the silence for Merve

Was so hard to observe

Like the sadness that fell on the ground

Looking back I remember at the start of the year

No-one thought of another Grand Slam

The first game in Dublin, the hardest of starts

Where the lion lies down with the lamb

But the moment of blame at the end of the game

Meant we danced in the pubs and the bars

In the Year of the Dragon

It was just meant to be

It was written as such

In the stars

APPLAUSE

Would you have swapped everything you've had

and everything you've done for one Welsh cap. Yes.

LAUGHTER

Playing at, in what position? Outside-half. Outside-half.

And who would have been your nine?

Gareth.

So, Hymns and Arias!

In many ways, that's your legacy to Wales,

that song, in many ways.

Well, I don't know about that, but,

as a singer-songwriter who started out in folk music,

it's part of what I call "the folk song process"

where a song, for whatever reason, is adopted by a nation or by a country.

I never thought it would last, like, you know, 40 years.

It was just another song, another topical song I wrote at the time.

One of the great things about it is that it is a song

almost for every occasion.

# Here's to this Assembly

CHEERING

# That they built along the shore

# They'll build it here in Cardiff

# Though Cardiff voted no...#

LAUGHTER

You did!

LAUGHTER

# Swansea fought a long campaign

CHEERING AND LAUGHTER

# And well it must be said

# But all they offered Swansea was

# A swimming pool instead

LAUGHTER

# And we were singing

# Hymns and arias...# Let's hear you Cardiff!

# Land of my fathers...# On your own!

# CROWD: Ar hyd y nos. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Who'd have thought that these days, you know,

it gets sung at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge?

I never thought that would happen.

I went, I went to see the Swans play Man United last year.

To hear them singing it continually before kick-off

was, I couldn't believe it.

We've got a quick message here, actually,

from some of the Swansea players.

Happy birthday, Max.

Thanks for bringing Hymns and Arias to the Liberty Stadium.

LAUGHTER

I said it was quick. They were brief.

LAUGHTER

Brief but heartfelt.

LAUGHTER

But, even by your own admission, actually,

you're not the best exponent of that song

because, because your granddaughter is.

CROWD: Aah!

You'll love this, you really will.

# And we were singing

# Hymns and arias

# Land of my fathers

# Ar hyd y nos. #

APPLAUSE

And in those rock'n'roll years in the '70s and beyond

was it the family that sort of kept you grounded?

Yes, they sacrificed everything, really.

You know, they took a back seat and let me follow my dream.

And, um, yeah, without them, I wouldn't have achieved anything.

They are...I have a fixed back.

Well, their contribution to you is superseded, I think,

only by the contribution you've made to the Welsh nation.

It's been fantastic.

As a final thing, because we could be here for hours,

but the clock has beaten us,

we've got, if you like, the next generation of Welsh performers,

Only Boys Aloud,

who are going to sing a medley of Max's greatest hits.

So, would you welcome, Only Boys Aloud.

APPLAUSE

MUSIC: "Sosban Fach"

# Oi, oi

# Mae bys Meri-Ann wedi brifo

# A Dafydd y gwas ddim yn iach

# Oi, oi

# Mae'r baban yn y crud yn crio

# A'r gath wedi sgrapo Joni bach

# Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tan

# Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr

# A'r gath wedi sgrapo Joni bach

# Dai bach y sowldiwr

# Dai bach y solwdiwr

# Dai bach y sowldiwr

# A gwt ei grys e mas

MUSIC: "The Pontypool Front Row"

# Now I'll tell you all a story about some lads I know

# Who are known throughout the Valleys as the Pontypool front row

# They got a certain chorus and that chorus you all know

# So tell me are you ready

# Up and under here we go

# Are you ready yes or no?

# Up and under here we go

# It's the song of the Pontypool front row

MUSIC: "Hymns and Arias"

# And we were singing

# Hymns and arias

# Land of my fathers

# Ar hyd y nos

# We paid our weekly shilling for that January trip

# A long weekend in London, aye, without a bit of kip

# There's a seat reserved for beer by the boys from Abercarn

# There's beer, pontoon, crisps and fags

# And a croakin' "Calon Lan"

# And we were singing

# Hymns and arias

# Land of my fathers

# Ar hyd y nos

# Now Max has reached the milestone

# Our tribute must be paid

# He's done as much for rugby

# As anyone who's played

# So on his special birthday

# Let us raise our bitter ales

# And celebrate the legend

# That is Boyce, the Bard of Wales

APPLAUSE

# And we were singing

# Hymns and arias

# Land of my fathers

# Ar hyd y nos

# And we were singing

# Hymns and arias

# Land of my fathers

# Ar hyd y nos... #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

# Oi, oi! #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Ladies and gentlemen,

happy birthday to the one, the only, the incomparable

Max Boyce!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# And we were singing

# Hymns and arias

# Land of my fathers

# Ar hyd y nos

# And we were singing

# Hymns and arias

# Land of my fathers

# Ar hyd y nos. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd