Max on St David's Day

0:00:02 > 0:00:0570 years ago, a boy was born who would grow into a Welsh icon.

0:00:05 > 0:00:07He couldn't have had a tougher start in life.

0:00:07 > 0:00:10His father was killed in a pit accident before he was born,

0:00:10 > 0:00:14leaving his mother to raise her only child alone.

0:00:14 > 0:00:17The village of Glynneath became their extended family

0:00:17 > 0:00:21and this close-knit world of mining, rugby, chapel and song

0:00:21 > 0:00:23shaped his life and career.

0:00:23 > 0:00:28In comedy, poetry and music, he began to capture a changing Wales.

0:00:28 > 0:00:31King Coal was dying, but at least Barry John was King.

0:00:31 > 0:00:35Then came the album that changed his life - the big break

0:00:35 > 0:00:37that launched a career spanning 40 years

0:00:37 > 0:00:40and more than two million record sales.

0:00:40 > 0:00:42It was the start of a journey that would take him

0:00:42 > 0:00:46from Royal Command performances to the stage of the Sydney Opera House.

0:00:47 > 0:00:51And it's a journey that's taken him into the hearts of the Welsh people

0:00:51 > 0:00:54and fans across the world.

0:00:55 > 0:00:59This is the remarkable story and big birthday celebration

0:00:59 > 0:01:02of the legend that is Max Boyce.

0:01:02 > 0:01:04APPLAUSE

0:01:06 > 0:01:08MUSIC: "Cwm Rhondda"

0:01:28 > 0:01:33So...that was your life in 30 seconds. How did that feel?

0:01:33 > 0:01:38It was very emotional, watching that and seeing my mother

0:01:38 > 0:01:40and me at a young age, it was...

0:01:40 > 0:01:43yeah, it was quite emotional.

0:01:43 > 0:01:47- 40 years, eh? It's a long time. - Yeah, it doesn't feel like that.

0:01:47 > 0:01:50It feels like ten years, but people are aware, I think, now,

0:01:50 > 0:01:54how long I've been performing and they come up to me in the streets

0:01:54 > 0:01:56and they talk to me as if I'm a clock.

0:01:56 > 0:01:58"You're still going, then?"

0:01:58 > 0:02:01LAUGHTER

0:02:05 > 0:02:09Do you have any recollection...? I'm sure people watching that footage

0:02:09 > 0:02:12at the start may not have known the back history.

0:02:12 > 0:02:15Do you have any recollection of how hard

0:02:15 > 0:02:17your first years might have been?

0:02:17 > 0:02:20I don't remember the early, early years, obviously,

0:02:20 > 0:02:23but it wasn't hard for me because...

0:02:23 > 0:02:26the close-knit community that Glynneath is,

0:02:26 > 0:02:28they helped my mother, and she'd had a terrible time.

0:02:28 > 0:02:31She'd lost a baby the year before as well

0:02:31 > 0:02:35and then my father was killed in a mining explosion

0:02:35 > 0:02:38in Onllwyn number four a month before I was born.

0:02:38 > 0:02:42But I don't remember that and, in those days, people didn't have much money.

0:02:42 > 0:02:45I wasn't any different to any other child really.

0:02:45 > 0:02:47But, for my mother, it was a terrible time.

0:02:47 > 0:02:50So, from five, six, seven, eight, were you the natural joker

0:02:50 > 0:02:53and funster, and were you the star of the nativity play

0:02:53 > 0:02:54and all that sort of stuff?

0:02:54 > 0:02:57No, I wasn't at all. I was really shy. GIGGLING

0:02:57 > 0:03:01I was, honest. I was really shy and quiet.

0:03:01 > 0:03:04Most comedians are like that.

0:03:04 > 0:03:07- You'll find that... - Dual personality?

0:03:07 > 0:03:10Possibly. What it is, the stage...

0:03:10 > 0:03:14the stage gives us a licence to rid ourselves of any insecurity or shyness

0:03:14 > 0:03:17and we become...we're only complete on the stage.

0:03:17 > 0:03:19It might be a psychological thing,

0:03:19 > 0:03:22so, yeah, I was very shy when I was young.

0:03:22 > 0:03:24When did you buy your first guitar?

0:03:24 > 0:03:28Erm, I don't know. I must have been about, I don't know, 16, 18.

0:03:28 > 0:03:32- I saw this sign in the local paper, "Acoustic guitar for sale."- Price?

0:03:32 > 0:03:35Four guineas. LAUGHTER

0:03:35 > 0:03:40I went to this guy's house and pretended I knew everything about the guitar and I bought it.

0:03:40 > 0:03:42I never put it down.

0:03:42 > 0:03:47I remember buying these chord charts with all the strings and the frets

0:03:47 > 0:03:50and black dots where you put your finger

0:03:50 > 0:03:53and there was G and C and then I found F.

0:03:53 > 0:03:57Eight dots! I've only got five fingers.

0:03:57 > 0:04:00So I found it very hard to learn the guitar properly

0:04:00 > 0:04:03but I never put it down, I never looked back,

0:04:03 > 0:04:06and I loved it, I loved playing the guitar.

0:04:06 > 0:04:09But if you were instinctively wanting to be a performer,

0:04:09 > 0:04:13at 15 you went down the mine. What did your mum think about that?

0:04:13 > 0:04:16Oh, she broke her heart, yeah.

0:04:16 > 0:04:21I didn't want to go, but I had to leave school to be the bread earner

0:04:21 > 0:04:24and, erm, yeah...it's, it's...

0:04:24 > 0:04:26it was a terrible place to work, it was awful.

0:04:26 > 0:04:31If my mother had known the conditions I worked under, it would have been worse, but I never told her.

0:04:31 > 0:04:35It must have been an extraordinary life, being down a mine in daytime

0:04:35 > 0:04:38and, at night-time, going on the folk club circuit.

0:04:38 > 0:04:42What age were you when the Welsh folk world suddenly took notice of Max Boyce?

0:04:42 > 0:04:46Well, I suppose I was... I don't know, mid-20s, I guess.

0:04:46 > 0:04:50I dabbled in workmen's clubs and it wasn't working.

0:04:50 > 0:04:52I wasn't getting anywhere, really.

0:04:52 > 0:04:56I went back to folk clubs and they allowed me to evolve

0:04:56 > 0:05:00and they listened to songs and I could experiment with songs.

0:05:00 > 0:05:02And if I forgot, it didn't matter,

0:05:02 > 0:05:05so they played a huge importance in my life, folk clubs, at that time.

0:05:05 > 0:05:09Well, we're going to take you back now half a century

0:05:09 > 0:05:12to a song that you used to perform many, many moons ago

0:05:12 > 0:05:16but performed for us tonight by a great friend of Max's, Cerys Matthews.

0:05:16 > 0:05:20APPLAUSE

0:05:29 > 0:05:33# Mi sydd fachgen ieuanc ffol

0:05:34 > 0:05:38# Yn byw yn ol fy ffansi

0:05:38 > 0:05:43# Myfi'n bugeilio'r gwenith gwyn

0:05:44 > 0:05:49# Ac arall yn ei fedi

0:05:50 > 0:05:53# Pam na ddeu di ar fy ol

0:05:53 > 0:05:58# Rhyw ddydd ar ol ei gilydd?

0:06:00 > 0:06:02# Gwaith rwy'n dy weld

0:06:02 > 0:06:05# Y feinir fach

0:06:07 > 0:06:13# Yn lanach, lanach beunydd

0:06:15 > 0:06:20# I rose at dawn's waking light

0:06:20 > 0:06:25# And wandered midst the flowers

0:06:25 > 0:06:30# And longed that you were by my side

0:06:32 > 0:06:37# In the early morning hours

0:06:39 > 0:06:43# To take my hand and walk a while

0:06:43 > 0:06:48# And watch the new day dawning

0:06:50 > 0:06:55# And kiss you gently on your cheek

0:06:57 > 0:07:01# As dawn kissed the morning

0:07:17 > 0:07:21# Tra fo dwr y mor yn hallt

0:07:21 > 0:07:25# A thra fo 'ngwallt yn tyfu

0:07:25 > 0:07:29# A thra fo hiraeth dan fy mron

0:07:29 > 0:07:33# Mi fyddai'n ffyddlon i ti

0:07:34 > 0:07:38# Dywed i mi'r gwir dan gel

0:07:38 > 0:07:42# Neu rho dan sel d'atebion

0:07:44 > 0:07:47# P'un ai myfi

0:07:47 > 0:07:51# Neu arall wen

0:07:53 > 0:07:59# Sydd orau gan

0:08:00 > 0:08:04# Dy galon. #

0:08:07 > 0:08:09APPLAUSE

0:08:22 > 0:08:24- That takes you back, eh? - I'd like to tune that!

0:08:24 > 0:08:26LAUGHTER

0:08:26 > 0:08:32So when did you actually join the comedy with the folk music?

0:08:32 > 0:08:35Well, again, that evolved.

0:08:35 > 0:08:38I, erm, I was singing folk songs

0:08:38 > 0:08:42and then people came down, professional folk singers came down

0:08:42 > 0:08:44from Newcastle and from Lancashire

0:08:44 > 0:08:46and they were singing songs of Tyneside

0:08:46 > 0:08:49and I thought, well, I'd love to sing that type of song

0:08:49 > 0:08:51about the industrial South Wales,

0:08:51 > 0:08:55but to link the songs, I started writing anecdotes

0:08:55 > 0:08:58about stories of working underground, humorous stories,

0:08:58 > 0:09:02and over a period of time the anecdotes got longer and longer

0:09:02 > 0:09:05and the songs became more infrequent.

0:09:05 > 0:09:08I ended up a story-teller who sung songs along the way.

0:09:08 > 0:09:11But it evolved over many years, really.

0:09:11 > 0:09:15We actually have here some of the very first footage of Max

0:09:15 > 0:09:17in action on television.

0:09:18 > 0:09:20LAUGHTER

0:09:24 > 0:09:29# Ond nawr rwy wedi tyfu lan

0:09:29 > 0:09:33# Yn ateb dros fy hun

0:09:33 > 0:09:38# Rwy'n gweld y byd r'un peth a nhw

0:09:39 > 0:09:43# Felly'n teimlo'n flin. #

0:09:47 > 0:09:53# We paid our weekly shilling for that January trip

0:09:53 > 0:09:57# A long weekend at Twickers I without a bit of kip

0:09:57 > 0:10:03# There's a seat reserved for beer By the boys from Abercarn

0:10:03 > 0:10:07# There is beer, pontoon, crisps and fags

0:10:07 > 0:10:15# Aye, and a croaking Calon Lan. #

0:10:24 > 0:10:26Had you borrowed those sideburns from Englebert

0:10:26 > 0:10:28cos they were very much of their time?

0:10:28 > 0:10:31- When you look at that now, do you...?- I cringe!

0:10:31 > 0:10:36- Do you not look back on those early years with fondness?- No, I don't.

0:10:36 > 0:10:38LAUGHTER

0:10:38 > 0:10:42I mean, I wasn't ready for television in those days, crumbs.

0:10:42 > 0:10:45No, but you have to start somewhere.

0:10:45 > 0:10:50Fel'na Mae is the first song I ever wrote, so it's nice to hear that.

0:10:50 > 0:10:53In fact, that's the first time I ever sung hymns and arias

0:10:53 > 0:10:54and I forgot the chorus.

0:10:54 > 0:10:56LAUGHTER

0:10:56 > 0:10:58I did.

0:10:58 > 0:11:01From that small acorn, this big forest grew,

0:11:01 > 0:11:03largely because of this.

0:11:03 > 0:11:07This is my... This is my personal copy.

0:11:07 > 0:11:11- I was given this for my 16th birthday...- Well, well, well.

0:11:11 > 0:11:13..with David Bowie's Hunky Dory.

0:11:13 > 0:11:17On the decks, I could mix and match the two.

0:11:17 > 0:11:22- This changed your life, didn't it? - Yeah, it did. It was a remarkable night.

0:11:22 > 0:11:26I mean, I made a conscious decision,

0:11:26 > 0:11:30I recorded a folk album in the valley folk club in Pontardawe...

0:11:30 > 0:11:33ONE OR TWO CHEERS LAUGHTER

0:11:33 > 0:11:35They're both in tonight.

0:11:35 > 0:11:36LAUGHTER

0:11:36 > 0:11:39What was wrong with it was the fact that they all knew my songs

0:11:39 > 0:11:42backwards so there were no spontaneous reactions.

0:11:42 > 0:11:46So I made a conscious decision to take it to a village

0:11:46 > 0:11:49that I thought would identify with my songs -

0:11:49 > 0:11:52because Treorchy's very much like Glynneath - and thought it would work

0:11:52 > 0:11:56and I took a chance and gambled that the songs would work.

0:11:56 > 0:11:58And they worked with a vengeance.

0:11:58 > 0:12:02We've got lots of famous people with us tonight and some of them

0:12:02 > 0:12:05are going to ask questions during the course of the next hour or so.

0:12:05 > 0:12:07Opera star Rebecca Evans is first.

0:12:07 > 0:12:11- Hello. Penblywdd hapus. - Diolch yn fawr.- Happy birthday.

0:12:11 > 0:12:17Max, I must say, in the '70s and even now, you've so enriched our lives,

0:12:17 > 0:12:22culturally, musically, with... You always uplift our spirits.

0:12:22 > 0:12:28And I know for sure, when you were on television, Pontrhydyfen was deserted.

0:12:28 > 0:12:31Nobody behind the net curtains, because we were all watching you.

0:12:31 > 0:12:34I'd love to know about Live At Treorchy.

0:12:34 > 0:12:39Was it really all recorded live in one evening in the Rhondda

0:12:39 > 0:12:43and if you have any special memories of the occasion?

0:12:43 > 0:12:48Before I answer the question, I think the world of Rebecca as well.

0:12:48 > 0:12:52If you go through Pontrhydyfen, there's a big wooden sign as you enter, a big wooden sign,

0:12:52 > 0:12:56and it says, "You are now entering the village of Pontrhydyfen,

0:12:56 > 0:13:00"the birthplace of Ivor Emmanuel, Richard Burton

0:13:00 > 0:13:03"and world famous soprano, Rebecca Evans."

0:13:03 > 0:13:05APPLAUSE

0:13:09 > 0:13:13And you come into Glynneath, there's a big sign that says,

0:13:13 > 0:13:15"You are now entering the village of Glynneath."

0:13:16 > 0:13:19Underneath it says, "Please drive carefully."

0:13:19 > 0:13:21LAUGHTER

0:13:23 > 0:13:25I'm envious of you.

0:13:25 > 0:13:30But, in answer to your question, you've recorded, I know, many times,

0:13:30 > 0:13:33and it was remarkable that that night was just one take.

0:13:33 > 0:13:35Now, if I did it now,

0:13:35 > 0:13:38I'd record it over three nights and pick the best of the three nights.

0:13:38 > 0:13:41Because, sometimes, if a song works really well,

0:13:41 > 0:13:44it impacts on the song that comes after

0:13:44 > 0:13:45and it suffers because of it.

0:13:45 > 0:13:49But that night, the audience, there was a conspiracy between

0:13:49 > 0:13:54me and that audience, and I think they so wanted me to do well.

0:13:54 > 0:13:56And if you listen to that album now,

0:13:56 > 0:13:59if you listen to 100 times, it doesn't really matter

0:13:59 > 0:14:04because the audience there are always hearing it for the first time.

0:14:04 > 0:14:06I owe a great deal to the people there that night

0:14:06 > 0:14:08and it was a remarkable evening.

0:14:08 > 0:14:10I tell you something - another famous Welsh face

0:14:10 > 0:14:14and voice claims a fair amount of credit, actually, for the success.

0:14:14 > 0:14:16In fact, for launching your whole career.

0:14:16 > 0:14:19One of my rare claims to fame is that I am partly responsible

0:14:19 > 0:14:24for the fact that Live At Treorchy became a bestselling LP

0:14:24 > 0:14:29because when it went on sale in Carmarthen in August 1974,

0:14:29 > 0:14:34I was working at a shop which had a stand on the field.

0:14:34 > 0:14:38It was the only stand where Max's record was on sale

0:14:38 > 0:14:41and there were queues outside this stand every day.

0:14:41 > 0:14:46It sold hundreds of copies, but I'd like Max to just realise today that

0:14:46 > 0:14:50part of that bestselling sale was down to MY skills as a salesman.

0:14:50 > 0:14:52LAUGHTER

0:15:00 > 0:15:02And actually, staying with Live At Treorchy,

0:15:02 > 0:15:05Gareth Edwards is in our audience tonight.

0:15:05 > 0:15:07Gareth, I know you want to ask a question

0:15:07 > 0:15:10about one song in particular on the album.

0:15:10 > 0:15:14As a miner's son, one of my favourite songs from Live At Treorchy

0:15:14 > 0:15:18has always been, as you know on many a trip, Duw, It's Hard.

0:15:18 > 0:15:22What inspired you to write that song?

0:15:22 > 0:15:25Well, I remember looking at the Western Mail one day

0:15:25 > 0:15:27and there was an advert for carpets...

0:15:27 > 0:15:30LAUGHTER

0:15:30 > 0:15:33..and it said, Carpet Kingdom,

0:15:33 > 0:15:37and the address was, the old pithead baths, Cwm Colliery, Ebbw Vale.

0:15:37 > 0:15:42I thought, there's a song there. "The pithead baths is a supermarket now."

0:15:42 > 0:15:47But in the song I wanted to tell of the bitter-sweet, love-hate relationship

0:15:47 > 0:15:50the miners, like your father, had with the mining industry.

0:15:50 > 0:15:54where they resented the fact that people coming down from London

0:15:54 > 0:15:57and closing collieries without knowing or realising the effect

0:15:57 > 0:15:59it had on the community.

0:15:59 > 0:16:01But I wanted to show, in the song,

0:16:01 > 0:16:03I wanted to show that love-hate relationship because

0:16:03 > 0:16:08people who worked underground, there was such a close-knit camaraderie,

0:16:08 > 0:16:12despite the conditions, and people who went on to work in factories,

0:16:12 > 0:16:15they said it was never the same as working underground.

0:16:15 > 0:16:18I wanted to show that in the song and that's why I called it, Duw, It's Hard.

0:16:18 > 0:16:22And here is the song and some pictures that really are from another age.

0:16:23 > 0:16:29# My clean-clothes locker's empty now, I've thrown away the key

0:16:30 > 0:16:36# Sold my boots and muffler and my lampcheck 153

0:16:37 > 0:16:42# But I can't forget the times we had, the laughing midst the fear

0:16:43 > 0:16:49# Cos every time I cough I get a mining souvenir

0:16:49 > 0:16:51# Cos it's hard

0:16:51 > 0:16:54# Duw, it's hard

0:16:55 > 0:16:59# Harder than they will ever know

0:17:00 > 0:17:04# And it's they must take the blame

0:17:04 > 0:17:06# For the price of coal's the same

0:17:06 > 0:17:11# But the pithead baths is a supermarket now

0:17:13 > 0:17:15# I took my helmet home with me

0:17:15 > 0:17:18# I filled it full of earth

0:17:19 > 0:17:22# Planted little flowers there

0:17:22 > 0:17:25# They grew for all their worth

0:17:26 > 0:17:29# It's hanging in the glasshouse now

0:17:29 > 0:17:32# A living memory

0:17:33 > 0:17:36# Reminding me they could have grown

0:17:36 > 0:17:38# In vases over me

0:17:38 > 0:17:41# Cos it's hard

0:17:41 > 0:17:43# Duw, it's hard

0:17:45 > 0:17:49# Harder than they will ever know

0:17:49 > 0:17:53# And it's they must take the blame

0:17:53 > 0:17:55# Cos the price of coal's the same

0:17:55 > 0:18:00# But the pithead baths is a supermarket now

0:18:01 > 0:18:04# But I know the local magistrate

0:18:04 > 0:18:06# She's got a job for me

0:18:07 > 0:18:09# Filling little cardboard boxes

0:18:09 > 0:18:12# In a local factory

0:18:14 > 0:18:16# We get coffee breaks and coffee breaks

0:18:16 > 0:18:19# And coffee breaks and tea

0:18:20 > 0:18:22# And now I know those dusty mines

0:18:22 > 0:18:24# Have seen the last of me

0:18:24 > 0:18:27# Cos it's hard

0:18:27 > 0:18:29# Duw, it's hard

0:18:31 > 0:18:34# Harder than they will ever know

0:18:34 > 0:18:38# And if ham was underground

0:18:38 > 0:18:41# Would it be 12 bob a pound?

0:18:41 > 0:18:45# Cos the pithead baths is a supermarket now

0:18:45 > 0:18:51# Cos the pithead baths is a supermarket now. #

0:18:57 > 0:18:59APPLAUSE

0:19:06 > 0:19:09And that's real social commentary as well.

0:19:09 > 0:19:12Is that Max Boyce the politician, there?

0:19:12 > 0:19:14I've never been a political animal

0:19:14 > 0:19:17but when I did write that, and during the miners' strike they asked me

0:19:17 > 0:19:20to sing the song, and at the last minute they stopped me

0:19:20 > 0:19:23- singing it because they considered it too political.- Really?

0:19:23 > 0:19:26So you were like Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

0:19:26 > 0:19:29Were there times when you felt you could have got more involved

0:19:29 > 0:19:32or do you think you, hid behind is wrong phrase, that you said,

0:19:32 > 0:19:36"I'm an entertainer, I don't want to get involved in the grind of politics"?

0:19:36 > 0:19:39Yeah, I'm not, by nature, I'm not a political animal.

0:19:39 > 0:19:42If my songs give a message, then so be it

0:19:42 > 0:19:44but I didn't want to drum it down anybody's throat or anything.

0:19:44 > 0:19:48Talking about messages, there are lots of well known people who would love to be here,

0:19:48 > 0:19:52but for various reasons, can't be, but they've all sent messages.

0:19:52 > 0:19:54# Oh, Max, the entertainer

0:19:54 > 0:19:57# We know him so well

0:19:57 > 0:20:01# He keeps us all laughing with jokes he do tell

0:20:01 > 0:20:05# His songs we have sung for many a year

0:20:05 > 0:20:09# But this one's quite special and so we should cheer

0:20:09 > 0:20:12# So it's down to Cardiff for the night

0:20:12 > 0:20:14# To miss it would be a shame

0:20:14 > 0:20:16# They'll sing Happy Birthday and hymns and arias

0:20:16 > 0:20:19# Damn, I'm sure they'll sound the same

0:20:19 > 0:20:23# Someone from a corner dark is bound to shout, "Ogi!"

0:20:23 > 0:20:26# But one a year would take some beer

0:20:26 > 0:20:29# Now that Max has reached 70

0:20:29 > 0:20:33# And we were singing

0:20:33 > 0:20:36# Happy birthday

0:20:36 > 0:20:40# I hope it's a great day

0:20:40 > 0:20:44# Penblwydd hapus i it! #

0:20:44 > 0:20:47It's going to be a great night tonight.

0:20:47 > 0:20:50Penblwydd hapus, Max. Ogi, ogi, ogi!

0:20:50 > 0:20:52APPLAUSE

0:20:57 > 0:21:00So you're now a pop star.

0:21:00 > 0:21:03Live At Treorchy, you're looking in the charts,

0:21:03 > 0:21:06and the difficult second album, We All Had Doctors' Papers,

0:21:06 > 0:21:09and suddenly, you're top of the charts.

0:21:09 > 0:21:12- How did that happen?- I don't know.

0:21:12 > 0:21:16Live At Treorchy, they thought was like a flash in the pan,

0:21:16 > 0:21:20so when we did Doctors' Papers, it came it at number nine, then it went to three,

0:21:20 > 0:21:22but to see it at number one...!

0:21:22 > 0:21:27I was on tour at the time and whatever city I was in, I used to buy the Melody Maker,

0:21:27 > 0:21:32look at the charts, and I was up there above The Beatles and Elton John.

0:21:32 > 0:21:34I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it.

0:21:34 > 0:21:38Where did the leek come from? Was that your idea?

0:21:38 > 0:21:41No, not really. That evolved, again.

0:21:41 > 0:21:44I was singing at a rugby club in West Wales one night

0:21:44 > 0:21:47and somebody threw the colours of the club on, I put that on,

0:21:47 > 0:21:50and somebody gave me a bobble hat and I put that on,

0:21:50 > 0:21:52and then somebody threw a leek on.

0:21:52 > 0:21:55But the week after, I wasn't in a rugby club

0:21:55 > 0:21:58and I thought, what can I do to colour the act, as it were?

0:21:58 > 0:22:01Your first appearance on stage is all important.

0:22:01 > 0:22:05I'd just been to Twickenham to see Wales play so I thought,

0:22:05 > 0:22:09I'll write a song about that and I'll wear the red and white and I'll have a leek,

0:22:09 > 0:22:13as if I'm this character, and it went from there.

0:22:13 > 0:22:16But it evolved over a long time as well.

0:22:16 > 0:22:20- Did the leek grow? - It got bigger and bigger, yeah!

0:22:20 > 0:22:23The whole village was growing them for me!

0:22:23 > 0:22:27The thing about... The great signature of success in those days,

0:22:27 > 0:22:32was to be invited on Michael Parkinson's chat show and that's what happened to you.

0:22:32 > 0:22:36Do they have any other, sort of, parodies of your dress?

0:22:36 > 0:22:41Erm, the maddest thing I've seen, and I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it,

0:22:41 > 0:22:44I was in... the early part of the tour,

0:22:44 > 0:22:46we were in Buxton in Derbyshire.

0:22:46 > 0:22:49This lovely lady turned up

0:22:49 > 0:22:53and she'd gone, apparently, to the local carnival -

0:22:53 > 0:22:56a fete and gala, in a little village called, erm, Ashbourne,

0:22:56 > 0:22:58near Buxton in Derbyshire.

0:22:58 > 0:23:01She'd gone as me,

0:23:01 > 0:23:06with the white trousers and the red coat and the rosette

0:23:06 > 0:23:10and the cap and the scarf, and her mother had gone as my leek.

0:23:11 > 0:23:14- We've got a picture of the leek. - Honest!

0:23:14 > 0:23:16LAUGHTER

0:23:18 > 0:23:23I don't know if the people can see it, but her mother went as the leek,

0:23:23 > 0:23:27and the story she told me that the problem they had with her mother...

0:23:27 > 0:23:30They made it too small and she couldn't breathe.

0:23:31 > 0:23:36There was no air, and the trouble was that her glasses kept misting up.

0:23:37 > 0:23:39And she kept bumping into things.

0:23:39 > 0:23:43Everywhere she went, someone had to walk around with a chair

0:23:43 > 0:23:47and stand by her, and every time she knocked her head against the leek,

0:23:47 > 0:23:51they had to go inside the leek and wipe her glasses to see where she went.

0:23:51 > 0:23:53It was absolute chaos.

0:23:53 > 0:23:57But the funniest thing of all was, when they came to the adjudication,

0:23:57 > 0:24:00- they'd entered the Best... - Best Dressed Leek?

0:24:00 > 0:24:03No, the Best Pair, and when they came to the adjudicator,

0:24:03 > 0:24:06the adjudicator had never heard of me but the leek came second.

0:24:06 > 0:24:08LAUGHTER

0:24:08 > 0:24:10Her mother came second.

0:24:10 > 0:24:12APPLAUSE

0:24:18 > 0:24:21So, at this stage everything is going swimmingly

0:24:21 > 0:24:26and you are on Parkinson and you're kind of a Welsh member of the Bay City Rollers

0:24:26 > 0:24:29and then you do the Royal Command Performance which wasn't

0:24:29 > 0:24:34- one of your finest hours, was it? - No, it was very difficult.

0:24:34 > 0:24:38Royal Command is a very different audience to what you will ever play.

0:24:38 > 0:24:41And I'd just done sort of 40, 50 nights in all of the country,

0:24:41 > 0:24:46from Aberdeen to Plymouth and all nights ending in standing ovations.

0:24:46 > 0:24:51So they asked me, I'd done Royal Command in the New Theatre in Cardiff

0:24:51 > 0:24:53with Lady Anna and Prince Charles, and that had gone brilliantly.

0:24:53 > 0:24:57They asked me to top the bill in the London Palladium for the next

0:24:57 > 0:25:00Royal Command and it was a big ask.

0:25:00 > 0:25:05I played it slightly wrong, looking back, and the audience,

0:25:05 > 0:25:10some of them, I don't think they knew who I was, some of them.

0:25:10 > 0:25:13I remember running on with the leek and there was a couple in the front.

0:25:13 > 0:25:18This tall, stiff, haughty woman and she looked at me

0:25:18 > 0:25:20and she turned to her husband and she said...

0:25:20 > 0:25:25IN POSH ENGLISH ACCENT: "I say, darling, what's that he is carrying?"

0:25:25 > 0:25:28He said: "I don't know.

0:25:28 > 0:25:30"I think it's a spring onion."

0:25:30 > 0:25:33LAUGHTER

0:25:36 > 0:25:40And she said, "What do you think he's going to do with it?"

0:25:40 > 0:25:45He said, "I don't know." And he whispered something in her ear

0:25:45 > 0:25:48and she said, "Oh, I do hope so."

0:25:48 > 0:25:51LAUGHTER

0:25:51 > 0:25:54The very next night then I was in this massive concert

0:25:54 > 0:25:56in the Theatre in Ipswich

0:25:56 > 0:26:00and I walked on to a standing ovation so I got it out of my system.

0:26:00 > 0:26:03The ups and downs of the entertainment industry.

0:26:03 > 0:26:06Now, let's go back out to the audience. Roy Noble's in the house.

0:26:06 > 0:26:11- Roy, what's your question?- Well, Max, happy birthday first of all.

0:26:11 > 0:26:13Of course, under the new maths, if all previous years had

0:26:13 > 0:26:18been 15 months not 12, you'd now be 56, so be sort of content with that.

0:26:18 > 0:26:21But I first saw you when you bounced on stage

0:26:21 > 0:26:24in Abercynon to a standing ovation.

0:26:24 > 0:26:29With your leek, with your Mac, and with your big scarf, of course.

0:26:29 > 0:26:33And you had such vigour that full pints were shaken up

0:26:33 > 0:26:35as far as Mountain Ash.

0:26:35 > 0:26:38I thought, now, here's a man who is in touch with his hinterland

0:26:38 > 0:26:42- or he is out without his nurse. - The second one.

0:26:43 > 0:26:47But from places like Abercynon you went global, of course,

0:26:47 > 0:26:50and I just wondered really, you've travelled

0:26:50 > 0:26:55so well to the furthest reaches of the planet, has there ever

0:26:55 > 0:26:59been a problem when you go to far, you know, far off climes?

0:26:59 > 0:27:03Because, beyond the expats, have people found it a bit difficult?

0:27:03 > 0:27:06How did you get people to come to your shows?

0:27:06 > 0:27:10Well, that was the difficult thing. Once I got them there, it was OK.

0:27:10 > 0:27:14But to get an audience in a country you'd never even been before, you had

0:27:14 > 0:27:20to do the chat show circuit and be on every programme you could find.

0:27:20 > 0:27:23When I first went to Australia, I was in the gardening programme.

0:27:23 > 0:27:25With your leek?

0:27:25 > 0:27:30No, no, cos I had a nine-foot leek, yes. I was on everything.

0:27:31 > 0:27:33And I remember,

0:27:33 > 0:27:37I was on this programme in Australia called Fat Cat And Friends,

0:27:37 > 0:27:42which is the most popular children's programme in Australia.

0:27:42 > 0:27:43But children won't come.

0:27:43 > 0:27:45"No, no, but their parents will be up in the morning,

0:27:45 > 0:27:49"the whole of Australia watch it. You'll sell hundreds of tickets."

0:27:49 > 0:27:51So I went to the studio and I said...

0:27:51 > 0:27:55And Fat Cat was a big, like, a six foot yellow cat with whiskers

0:27:55 > 0:27:59and big eyes and I said,

0:27:59 > 0:28:02"Can I speak to Fat Cat and we can discuss what to talk about?"

0:28:02 > 0:28:05And the producer said, "No, he won't speak to you."

0:28:05 > 0:28:08LAUGHTER

0:28:08 > 0:28:10He said, "He comes in the studio very early

0:28:10 > 0:28:14"and once he gets in the costume, he really believes he's a cat."

0:28:14 > 0:28:17LAUGHTER

0:28:19 > 0:28:23"Look," he says, "he's over there in the corner now with a saucer of milk."

0:28:23 > 0:28:25So I went over to speak to him and I said,

0:28:25 > 0:28:29"Fat Cat, listen, I know you're not a cat...

0:28:30 > 0:28:35"And you must know you're not a cat, can we discuss the programme?"

0:28:35 > 0:28:38And he went, "Wagh!"

0:28:38 > 0:28:42The producer said, "Don't worry, Max, Percy will speak to you.

0:28:42 > 0:28:45"He's been on the show for ten years. He's in dressing room two."

0:28:45 > 0:28:48I said, "OK." I went to dressing room two, knocked on the door,

0:28:48 > 0:28:50he said "Come in."

0:28:50 > 0:28:52I walked in and it was a nine foot penguin.

0:28:55 > 0:29:01So I had to go through all sorts of things to get people to come

0:29:01 > 0:29:05and see the show. But once they came, Australia was brilliant.

0:29:05 > 0:29:10There was a lot of expats, but I built up a following over the years

0:29:10 > 0:29:12so I could play the biggest theatres in the end.

0:29:12 > 0:29:15If humour is universal, in Wales,

0:29:15 > 0:29:19is an audience in Anglesey the same as it is in Chepstow?

0:29:19 > 0:29:22Not totally, no. LAUGHTER

0:29:26 > 0:29:28I've got to be careful here!

0:29:28 > 0:29:30LAUGHTER

0:29:30 > 0:29:34But there is a difference in humour all over Britain.

0:29:34 > 0:29:38There's an industrial humour and there's a folky humour.

0:29:38 > 0:29:41You get the industrial humour of the South Wales Valleys

0:29:41 > 0:29:44and there's a folkiness of Welsh-speaking West Wales.

0:29:44 > 0:29:47There is a difference but it's very subtle.

0:29:47 > 0:29:51One specific Welsh character you've created is Berwyn

0:29:51 > 0:29:54and here's an isolated incident from a programme,

0:29:54 > 0:29:57I think it's nearly two decades old, but this is just fantastic.

0:29:59 > 0:30:03Berwyn, right, all his life, all he loved was aeroplanes.

0:30:03 > 0:30:07He didn't have footballers and cricketers or girls on his wall -

0:30:07 > 0:30:10aeroplanes. All over the wall, aeroplanes.

0:30:10 > 0:30:14So, when he's 18, he said, "Dad, I'm 18, what can I have for my birthday?"

0:30:14 > 0:30:16"Right", he said, "What do you want now?"

0:30:16 > 0:30:22"Oh, Dad," he said, "I'd like a ride in a helicopter."

0:30:22 > 0:30:25"Right," he said, "We'll go to Cardiff Airport," he said,

0:30:25 > 0:30:29"We'll go to Cardiff Airport. There's helicopter rides there.

0:30:29 > 0:30:33"20 minutes, £25. It's a lot of money, but you are 18."

0:30:33 > 0:30:36"Thanks, Dad." Up they go in the helicopter.

0:30:36 > 0:30:38They come back.

0:30:38 > 0:30:40"Enjoyais i mas draw!

0:30:40 > 0:30:44"Dad, I enjoyed that, but it went so quick.

0:30:44 > 0:30:47"Dad, Dad, can we have another ride?"

0:30:47 > 0:30:51"Listen, I'm a farmer," he said. "I can't afford another ride."

0:30:51 > 0:30:53"But, Dad, I'm 18."

0:30:53 > 0:30:56"We're going through a hard time. I can't afford it."

0:30:56 > 0:30:59This chap, Captain Timkins, overheard the conversation.

0:30:59 > 0:31:03He came over and he said, "I couldn't hear...

0:31:03 > 0:31:08"I couldn't help overhearing you, Mr Morgan, and your son Berwyn..."

0:31:08 > 0:31:10LAUGHTER

0:31:12 > 0:31:16"..speaking, and I understand you haven't got the money.

0:31:16 > 0:31:19"I'll tell you, I've got a little Cessna," he said.

0:31:19 > 0:31:22"A little Cessna, and I'll tell you what I'll do,

0:31:22 > 0:31:26"you can come for a ride with me and if you remain...

0:31:26 > 0:31:31"if you remain absolutely silent during the flight,

0:31:31 > 0:31:37"I won't charge you, but you must remain absolutely silent.

0:31:37 > 0:31:38"during the flight."

0:31:38 > 0:31:41Moc said, "Let me get this right, now."

0:31:41 > 0:31:43LAUGHTER

0:31:43 > 0:31:47"What you're saying, if me and Berwyn don't say a word, we won't have to pay."

0:31:47 > 0:31:49"That's quite right."

0:31:49 > 0:31:53"Right, Berwyn, gwranda nawr.

0:31:53 > 0:31:55"Dim gair.

0:31:55 > 0:31:57"Not a word!"

0:31:57 > 0:32:00They taxi to the end of the runway.

0:32:00 > 0:32:02They took off.

0:32:02 > 0:32:05This steep climb through the clouds to 15,000 feet.

0:32:05 > 0:32:08Terrible turbulence.

0:32:08 > 0:32:10They just miss the Aberthaw Power Station tower.

0:32:10 > 0:32:12Just over.

0:32:12 > 0:32:16They head east over Bristol, down the Severn Estuary,

0:32:16 > 0:32:18under the Severn Bridge,

0:32:18 > 0:32:22back again, pulling 4G.

0:32:22 > 0:32:25Poor Moc's face!

0:32:25 > 0:32:29Then they go on a series of flat spins and belly loops,

0:32:29 > 0:32:31just missing the houses.

0:32:31 > 0:32:34They land back at Cardiff Airport, right.

0:32:34 > 0:32:39Captain Timkins gets out and says, "Well, can I say, Mr Morgan...

0:32:40 > 0:32:46"Can I say, I've been pulling this stunt for some 20 years," he said,

0:32:46 > 0:32:51"and no-one ever before has remained absolutely silent

0:32:51 > 0:32:52"during the flight.

0:32:52 > 0:32:56"Tell me, was there any point, I mean, like, when we went under the Severn Bridge

0:32:56 > 0:33:01"or we just missed those trees, was there any point when you nearly said something?"

0:33:01 > 0:33:06"Oh, yes. There was one moment." "When was that?"

0:33:06 > 0:33:08"When Berwyn fell out."

0:33:08 > 0:33:10LAUGHTER

0:33:12 > 0:33:15APPLAUSE

0:33:25 > 0:33:29Is it right that's the only time that story has ever received an airing?

0:33:29 > 0:33:33I'd never told that story before and I haven't told it since.

0:33:33 > 0:33:38It's such a long winding story, I'm afraid someone will shout out the end before I get there.

0:33:38 > 0:33:43- And does Berwyn still exist? - He's very well.- Oh, good.

0:33:43 > 0:33:46And he's still trying to save money whatever way he can.

0:33:46 > 0:33:50And he goes out to car-boot sales...

0:33:52 > 0:33:55..and he's selling bric-a-brac and candlesticks

0:33:55 > 0:33:59and Ewenny pottery and Swansea china and old books of photographs

0:33:59 > 0:34:02and he had a human skull there two years ago

0:34:02 > 0:34:06and this American came past and said,

0:34:06 > 0:34:11"I was hoping to ask you, sir, whose skull is that?"

0:34:11 > 0:34:16He said, "That's the skull of Owain Glyndwr,

0:34:16 > 0:34:18"the last native prince of Wales.

0:34:18 > 0:34:21"You mean Owain Glendower?" "The very man."

0:34:21 > 0:34:26"I'd like to purchase that skull. We'd like to take that back to the States with us.

0:34:26 > 0:34:28"How much is it?"

0:34:28 > 0:34:31"Oh," he said, "I think it'll be too much for you, bach.

0:34:31 > 0:34:35"It's £1,000." "I'll pay the £1,000 for the skull of Owain Glendower.

0:34:35 > 0:34:41"My God, wait till I take that back. The skull of Owain Glendower!"

0:34:41 > 0:34:43He puts it in a box and takes it away.

0:34:43 > 0:34:48Two years later, Berwyn's back at the car-boot sale, still

0:34:48 > 0:34:52selling his bric-a-brac, and his candlesticks and his Ewenny pottery

0:34:52 > 0:34:54and his Swansea china and his rare books and

0:34:54 > 0:34:58this time he's got a small skull.

0:34:58 > 0:35:03The same American comes and says, "May I ask you, sir, whose skull is that?"

0:35:03 > 0:35:07And Berwyn said, "That's the skull of Owain Glyndwr,

0:35:07 > 0:35:10"the last native prince of Wales."

0:35:10 > 0:35:13The American says, "That can't be. I was here two years ago.

0:35:13 > 0:35:16"I bought the skull of Owain Glendower. That one's smaller."

0:35:16 > 0:35:19"Oh, yes, that was when he was a boy."

0:35:19 > 0:35:20LAUGHTER

0:35:32 > 0:35:38Right, let's have some glamour and a message from somebody you know very well.

0:35:38 > 0:35:41Max, sending you all my love.

0:35:41 > 0:35:44If you remember, the first time we met was when you kindly invited me,

0:35:44 > 0:35:48right at the start of my career, to be part of the show you put on

0:35:48 > 0:35:51for the World Cup in the Sydney Opera House.

0:35:51 > 0:35:55That was one of my best memories. You made a dream come true for me.

0:35:55 > 0:35:59And it was really special to be able to share the stage with you that night.

0:35:59 > 0:36:02Max, we all love you. You're such a legend.

0:36:02 > 0:36:05It's an honour to be able to call you my friend.

0:36:05 > 0:36:08Have a wonderful time and hopefully I'll see you soon.

0:36:09 > 0:36:11APPLAUSE

0:36:17 > 0:36:21Ten years, of course, since England won the World Cup.

0:36:21 > 0:36:25I was in the Opera House that night to see you.

0:36:25 > 0:36:27It was an extraordinary evening, wasn't it?

0:36:27 > 0:36:32Yeah...it was probably one of the greatest concerts of my life.

0:36:32 > 0:36:35I never thought we'd sell it out and we did.

0:36:35 > 0:36:38It's such an iconic building.

0:36:38 > 0:36:41That's the only time I've been intimidated by a building.

0:36:41 > 0:36:44I was all right inside,

0:36:44 > 0:36:47but when I was outside, I was thinking, "What am I doing here?"

0:36:47 > 0:36:51I had such a welcome when I walked on stage, it was just overwhelming.

0:36:51 > 0:36:57It was brilliantly choreographed and stage set and, as you say, the entrance was pretty dramatic.

0:36:58 > 0:37:02'Ladies and gentlemen, live at the Sydney Opera House,

0:37:02 > 0:37:07'the legend that is Max Boyce!'

0:37:07 > 0:37:09CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:37:25 > 0:37:30# Waltzing Matilda Waltzing Matilda

0:37:30 > 0:37:35# "You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me"

0:37:35 > 0:37:40# And he sang and he watched and he waited till his billy boiled

0:37:40 > 0:37:46# "You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me." #

0:37:46 > 0:37:48CHEERING

0:37:54 > 0:37:58Watching that, does that feel like your World Cup final, almost?

0:37:58 > 0:38:00It was, erm...

0:38:00 > 0:38:05Graham Henry came to the concert and he came to see me afterwards

0:38:05 > 0:38:09and he didn't know how to express in theatrical terms how well I'd done.

0:38:09 > 0:38:13He said, "Max, you just won the first Test."

0:38:13 > 0:38:15Watching that now it's like...

0:38:15 > 0:38:18It makes my hair stand on end now. Cos I'd worked so hard for it

0:38:18 > 0:38:22and I had months and months of preparing for it

0:38:22 > 0:38:26and I had no way of trying material out so I was going up to

0:38:26 > 0:38:29complete strangers to say, "Can I tell you some stories?"

0:38:29 > 0:38:31Walking away from me.

0:38:31 > 0:38:35So, but it was, yeah, it was a big gamble to take it on

0:38:35 > 0:38:39and satisfy two audiences, the other side of the world, but,

0:38:39 > 0:38:41yeah, it was a great, great night.

0:38:41 > 0:38:45Here's somebody else who knows a fair bit about playing Sydney Opera House.

0:38:45 > 0:38:49Max, yn gyntaf oll, yn anffodus, galla i ddim bod yna hefo chi heno

0:38:49 > 0:38:53i wneud llwnc destun am y 70 mlynedd.

0:38:53 > 0:38:55Max, think of those opera singers.

0:38:55 > 0:38:58Callas, Tito Gobbi,

0:38:58 > 0:39:01Pavarotti, Placido Domingo.

0:39:01 > 0:39:05What do they have in common, these iconic voices, when you hear them on the radio?

0:39:05 > 0:39:10You know there can only be one person that is.

0:39:10 > 0:39:14For me, you are exactly the same.

0:39:14 > 0:39:16Your humour, your songs,

0:39:16 > 0:39:19the way you can do it in both languages.

0:39:19 > 0:39:21It's pretty impressive.

0:39:21 > 0:39:25And that's one word in Welsh, isn't it? Chwerthin.

0:39:25 > 0:39:30To make people laugh, and you've done that in abundance.

0:39:30 > 0:39:33I'm sorry I can't be with you to have a glass of wine,

0:39:33 > 0:39:36but hopefully I'll see you on the golf course. Hwyl.

0:39:37 > 0:39:39APPLAUSE

0:39:44 > 0:39:47Great man. Great man.

0:39:47 > 0:39:50And you may have spotted that Bryn did that yesterday for us

0:39:50 > 0:39:53on his own smartphone, by himself.

0:39:53 > 0:39:55So, no expense spared.

0:39:55 > 0:39:58We're going to talk golf a bit later on as well.

0:39:58 > 0:40:03From one great voice, if we talk about the serious singing part of your life,

0:40:03 > 0:40:04as a composer as well,

0:40:04 > 0:40:07and it's one of those cliched questions people always ask,

0:40:07 > 0:40:10but if there's one song that you've written

0:40:10 > 0:40:13that you're particularly proud of, what would that be?

0:40:13 > 0:40:18It's hard to pick one song, especially if you compare the comedic songs with the serious songs,

0:40:18 > 0:40:24but because of my mining background, I would probably have to pick Rhondda Grey.

0:40:24 > 0:40:29It tells a story of the legacy that mining has had in these communities,

0:40:29 > 0:40:31but it is told through the eyes of a child.

0:40:31 > 0:40:35And he comes home from school and his homework is to paint the valley.

0:40:35 > 0:40:37He is told, he asks, "What colour is the valley?"

0:40:37 > 0:40:40Perhaps the real, the real colour of the valley

0:40:40 > 0:40:42is not found in the terraced streets,

0:40:42 > 0:40:44but only in the faces of old colliers

0:40:44 > 0:40:46who have spent so much time underground,

0:40:46 > 0:40:48robbed of their daylight.

0:40:48 > 0:40:52I have called that song and that colour Rhondda Grey.

0:40:52 > 0:40:54And here it is.

0:40:54 > 0:41:00MUSIC: "Rhondda Grey"

0:41:08 > 0:41:11# One afternoon from a council school

0:41:13 > 0:41:17# A boy came home to play

0:41:19 > 0:41:23# With paint and coloured pencils

0:41:23 > 0:41:26# And his homework for the day

0:41:29 > 0:41:32# "We've got to paint the valley, Mam,

0:41:32 > 0:41:35# "For Mrs Davies, Art

0:41:38 > 0:41:41# "What colour is the valley, Mam,

0:41:41 > 0:41:45# "And will you help me start?"

0:41:53 > 0:41:57# BOTH:"Shall I paint the Con Club yellow

0:41:57 > 0:42:00# "And paint the Welfare blue?"

0:42:02 > 0:42:06# "And paint old Mr Davies red

0:42:06 > 0:42:09# "And all his pigeons too?"

0:42:12 > 0:42:15# "And paint the man who kept our ball

0:42:15 > 0:42:18# "And paint him looking sad?"

0:42:21 > 0:42:24# "What colour is the valley, Mam,

0:42:24 > 0:42:28# "What colour is it, Dad?"

0:42:36 > 0:42:39# Well, his father took him by the hand

0:42:39 > 0:42:43# They walked down Albion Street

0:42:45 > 0:42:48# Down past the old Rock Incline

0:42:48 > 0:42:52# To where the council put a seat

0:42:55 > 0:42:58# Where old men say at the close of day

0:42:58 > 0:43:01# "Dy'n ni wedi gwneud ein siar."

0:43:03 > 0:43:07# And the colour in their faces says

0:43:09 > 0:43:12# The tools are on the bar

0:43:15 > 0:43:18# The tools are on the bar

0:43:20 > 0:43:24# "And that's the colour that we want

0:43:25 > 0:43:29# "That no shop has ever sold

0:43:32 > 0:43:35# "You can't buy that in Woolies, lad

0:43:35 > 0:43:39# "With your reds and greens and golds."

0:43:40 > 0:43:44# "It's a colour you can't buy, lad

0:43:44 > 0:43:47# "No matter what you pay

0:43:50 > 0:43:53# "But that's the colour that we want

0:43:55 > 0:43:58# "Some call it Rhondda Grey

0:44:01 > 0:44:04# "They call it Rhondda Grey

0:44:06 > 0:44:08# "They call it

0:44:09 > 0:44:12# "Rhondda

0:44:12 > 0:44:15# "Grey." #

0:44:23 > 0:44:27APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

0:44:39 > 0:44:42That was West End star and Rhondda girl Sophie Evans.

0:44:42 > 0:44:47There's a strange romanticism, almost, about the old days.

0:44:47 > 0:44:50And yet, you outlined earlier on how bad things were.

0:44:50 > 0:44:54How much richer and how much poorer is Wales as a country now,

0:44:54 > 0:44:56do you think, because of the changes that have happened?

0:44:56 > 0:44:59Well, it's much changed. I think the big difference,

0:44:59 > 0:45:02certainly South Wales, is people in those days, when I was growing up,

0:45:02 > 0:45:05people, um, everybody worked together

0:45:05 > 0:45:07and everyone went on holiday together

0:45:07 > 0:45:11and, um, but now, it's, it's so different.

0:45:11 > 0:45:15People have to travel to work and I think that's the big difference.

0:45:15 > 0:45:18The communities, perhaps, are not as close knit as they were.

0:45:18 > 0:45:21They are still special places, but, um,

0:45:21 > 0:45:24travel has changed them, more or less. They have to travel to work.

0:45:24 > 0:45:26OK, well, we have to travel from Wales to England now.

0:45:26 > 0:45:29Here is a knight of the realm with a message for us.

0:45:29 > 0:45:34Well, well, well, Jack, 70. Who'd have thought you'd have got to 70!

0:45:34 > 0:45:36That's a miracle in itself.

0:45:36 > 0:45:39All those years, the King and Jack all over the country.

0:45:39 > 0:45:41But I seem to remember Bradford,

0:45:41 > 0:45:43when we did the Alhambra Theatre, Jack.

0:45:43 > 0:45:45Do you remember that little pub next door?

0:45:45 > 0:45:48There was Fleshcreep, me, you, regulars in there.

0:45:48 > 0:45:51But because we didn't get there until about 11.30 at night,

0:45:51 > 0:45:54you made us tap on the door

0:45:54 > 0:45:57and we had to give the password. Do you remember what the password was?

0:45:57 > 0:46:02- Yes.- "Cardigan Bay is frozen. It will be hell for the seagulls."

0:46:02 > 0:46:05Jack, you're a star. You're one of the best friends I've ever had

0:46:05 > 0:46:08and mate, have a great, great 70th.

0:46:08 > 0:46:12APPLAUSE

0:46:19 > 0:46:21So, how was panto with Beefy?

0:46:21 > 0:46:23A nightmare.

0:46:23 > 0:46:24LAUGHTER

0:46:24 > 0:46:27He's a terrible, terrible, wonderful, wonderful man.

0:46:27 > 0:46:33But in pantomime, his, his, his, his boredom threshold was nil.

0:46:33 > 0:46:35We were in Jack And The Beanstalk, as he said.

0:46:35 > 0:46:39He was the king and I was playing Jack, the poor wood cutter's son.

0:46:39 > 0:46:42And there was this scene to end the second half.

0:46:42 > 0:46:46The scene was in the giant's kitchen and the giant, this huge giant,

0:46:46 > 0:46:50and his head was on the table, fast asleep. Snoring.

0:46:50 > 0:46:53And there was all goblets. I think it was to scale.

0:46:53 > 0:46:56Big goblets so wide and big knives and forks.

0:46:56 > 0:46:59And Beefy, he'd been thrown in this dungeon with the princess, right.

0:46:59 > 0:47:04But he was so bored, right, he'd built a bar in the dungeon.

0:47:04 > 0:47:08He'd built a bar. And I was left to get...

0:47:08 > 0:47:11to get the hen that laid the golden eggs.

0:47:11 > 0:47:14And I was crawling up this ladder, reaching for the hen that laid

0:47:14 > 0:47:18the golden eggs and all the children in Bradford Alhambra, all the kids

0:47:18 > 0:47:21are like this, and I'm going...

0:47:21 > 0:47:24And kids are just... And I'm reaching, reaching out,

0:47:24 > 0:47:27reaching out and the giant's... HE GRUNTS

0:47:27 > 0:47:30Reaching for the hen that laid the golden eggs. Absolute silence.

0:47:30 > 0:47:32And all I could hear was "Pop",

0:47:32 > 0:47:34Beefy opening bottles of wine in the dungeon.

0:47:34 > 0:47:35LAUGHTER

0:47:35 > 0:47:40Pulling pints of beer. "Come on, Jack. Come on, Jack."

0:47:40 > 0:47:45He was, um, but he's a, yeah, he's a very great, loyal friend.

0:47:45 > 0:47:48But at this stage, life has very much changed from the folk clubs

0:47:48 > 0:47:51and all that sort of stuff. Now we're moving into celebrity world,

0:47:51 > 0:47:53and Bryn mentioned it a few moments ago as well,

0:47:53 > 0:47:56and what goes with that, if you can vaguely,

0:47:56 > 0:47:58vaguely being the operative word here,

0:47:58 > 0:48:00if you can vaguely swing a golf club,

0:48:00 > 0:48:02there's something of a poisoned chalice

0:48:02 > 0:48:04that you get invited to all these fantastic events.

0:48:04 > 0:48:06Well, coming back to Beefy again.

0:48:06 > 0:48:09He invited me, he said he'd bring some friends...

0:48:09 > 0:48:10Gareth was one, I remember.

0:48:10 > 0:48:13He invited me on this Pro-Celebrity golf circuit.

0:48:13 > 0:48:15He told everybody I was off scratch.

0:48:15 > 0:48:18I'd only played six weeks.

0:48:18 > 0:48:22I played in this tournament - The Bob Hope Classic in Moor Park.

0:48:22 > 0:48:24It was, it was terrifying.

0:48:24 > 0:48:28It's an absolutely terrifying place to be on that first tee of a Pro-Am.

0:48:28 > 0:48:30- On the tee, Max Boyce!- Yes.

0:48:30 > 0:48:31I've got to stand up to do this.

0:48:31 > 0:48:35You're on, you're on the tee and for some reason,

0:48:35 > 0:48:37God...

0:48:37 > 0:48:38LAUGHTER

0:48:38 > 0:48:41For some reason, only known to himself,

0:48:41 > 0:48:44gives me somebody else's arms...

0:48:44 > 0:48:47LAUGHTER

0:48:48 > 0:48:50..who has never played before.

0:48:50 > 0:48:51LAUGHTER

0:48:51 > 0:48:54And all these doubts come in to your mind.

0:48:54 > 0:48:58You woke up that morning and you're a perfectly sane, confident person.

0:48:58 > 0:49:03You're on the tee and all these doubts and insecurities

0:49:03 > 0:49:04come flooding into your mind.

0:49:04 > 0:49:06And you start talking to yourself.

0:49:06 > 0:49:10And you're asking yourself ridiculous questions like,

0:49:10 > 0:49:12"Am I right-handed?"

0:49:12 > 0:49:15LAUGHTER

0:49:17 > 0:49:20"Of course you are. How do you know? You've got a right-handed club."

0:49:20 > 0:49:22LAUGHTER

0:49:22 > 0:49:26And the first pros I played with were Nick Faldo and Howard Clark.

0:49:26 > 0:49:27GASPS

0:49:27 > 0:49:30Howard Clark never spoke to me.

0:49:30 > 0:49:34They're on, they're on the first tee and he goes first.

0:49:34 > 0:49:37250 yards. "Good shot, good shot."

0:49:37 > 0:49:39Then Nick Faldo goes with a 1-iron.

0:49:39 > 0:49:41Bang. "Oh, good shot, good shot."

0:49:41 > 0:49:43Then it's my turn.

0:49:43 > 0:49:45And I say, "Watch yourselves!"

0:49:45 > 0:49:48LAUGHTER

0:49:48 > 0:49:50But no-one, no-one believes you.

0:49:50 > 0:49:53And there's, you're looking up, you're looking up

0:49:53 > 0:49:56and there's, there's thousands of people as far as you can see,

0:49:56 > 0:49:58all leaning over the barricades.

0:49:58 > 0:50:00And I say, "Watch yourselves!"

0:50:00 > 0:50:02And they don't believe you until you've swung the club.

0:50:02 > 0:50:04"Jeez!"

0:50:04 > 0:50:05LAUGHTER

0:50:05 > 0:50:07There were people, they were,

0:50:07 > 0:50:09there were people scattering everywhere, right.

0:50:09 > 0:50:12And this bloke, this warden with an orange bib goes,

0:50:12 > 0:50:15"Attention, please, please, please don't panic.

0:50:15 > 0:50:17"Please don't panic.

0:50:17 > 0:50:22"Make your way to the fairways, you'll be safe there."

0:50:22 > 0:50:26LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:50:31 > 0:50:33I said again and again, "I'm not going to play.

0:50:33 > 0:50:35"Beefy, you've got me in trouble.

0:50:35 > 0:50:37"I'm not going to play in these Pro-Celebrity things."

0:50:37 > 0:50:41They ring up, they ring up. Would I play at the Epson in St Pierre?

0:50:41 > 0:50:44"Max, will you play?" I said, "No, no.

0:50:44 > 0:50:47"I'm not going to play in these Pro-Celebrity things."

0:50:47 > 0:50:50He said, "It's in Wales. Please. You'll draw the crowds.

0:50:50 > 0:50:54"It'd be brilliant." "OK," I said, "But don't put me with Howard Clark."

0:50:56 > 0:50:58He said, "Funny you should say that."

0:51:01 > 0:51:04- What did he say? - He said the same thing.

0:51:04 > 0:51:05LAUGHTER

0:51:07 > 0:51:10It was so... It was so embarrassing. So embarrassing.

0:51:10 > 0:51:12I said, "I'm not playing ever again.

0:51:12 > 0:51:16"I'm not playing with Howard Clark." So I went to see who I'd drawn.

0:51:16 > 0:51:20It said, "Howard Clark..." Oh! "Tim Brooke Taylor." Yes, yes, yes!

0:51:20 > 0:51:24I looked down, "Max Boyce..." Oh, no! Oh, no! "Seve Ballesteros!"

0:51:24 > 0:51:26LAUGHTER

0:51:26 > 0:51:28Oh, no, no, no!

0:51:28 > 0:51:30He was my hero.

0:51:30 > 0:51:37At the time, he was playing with Slazenger clubs and he had the emblem

0:51:37 > 0:51:38on his navy jersey

0:51:38 > 0:51:42and this wonderful signature on the blade of his club: Severiano...

0:51:42 > 0:51:44On every Slazenger club.

0:51:44 > 0:51:48And as it happened, honestly, on my children's life, right,

0:51:48 > 0:51:50I was playing with Slazenger clubs.

0:51:50 > 0:51:54So, anyway, after a bit of a break in play, I noticed,

0:51:54 > 0:51:59I looked at his bag and said, "Mr Ballesteros," I said,

0:51:59 > 0:52:00"I notice you've got two wedges."

0:52:00 > 0:52:04He said, "Yeah, one for 60 yard and one

0:52:04 > 0:52:08"I file down to a razor's edge to play on links courses and cut through

0:52:08 > 0:52:12"the turf." I said, "That's where I'm going wrong - I've only got one."

0:52:12 > 0:52:14LAUGHTER

0:52:14 > 0:52:16And... And...

0:52:16 > 0:52:18LAUGHTER

0:52:18 > 0:52:21..I was OK off the tee but with a wedge...

0:52:21 > 0:52:24For some reason I couldn't use the wedge. Terrible.

0:52:24 > 0:52:28So I was walking off, walking off the course and he said,

0:52:28 > 0:52:31"My friend, your problem is you try too hard."

0:52:32 > 0:52:37But he said, "Before you go, give me your wedge. Give me your wedge.

0:52:37 > 0:52:39"And we go and find a file."

0:52:39 > 0:52:41I thought, "God, he's going to...

0:52:41 > 0:52:46"He's going to file my wedge to a razor's edge. I'll keep this forever.

0:52:46 > 0:52:49"We'll put it in a glass case in Royal Gwynedd Golf Club

0:52:49 > 0:52:52"and we'll play for as long as golf is played in my village."

0:52:52 > 0:52:54And he got...

0:52:54 > 0:52:59He got the club and got a file and went to the pro shop and he put

0:52:59 > 0:53:02the club in the vice, he tightened the thing and got the file...

0:53:02 > 0:53:04and he filed his name off my club.

0:53:04 > 0:53:07LAUGHTER

0:53:07 > 0:53:08APPLAUSE

0:53:17 > 0:53:18How sad is that?

0:53:20 > 0:53:23A year later, Epson ring me up again and they say,

0:53:23 > 0:53:24"Will you play again?"

0:53:24 > 0:53:27I said, "No. No." "Oh, please,"

0:53:27 > 0:53:31they said, "Everybody's talking about you and Seve." I said, "I know.

0:53:31 > 0:53:32"I'm not playing again."

0:53:32 > 0:53:35But they said, "OK, but it's the last one, Max.

0:53:35 > 0:53:37"Please. It's the last Epson. It is in Wales.

0:53:37 > 0:53:41"Please play." I said, "OK, but don't put me with Seve. Don't put..."

0:53:41 > 0:53:45He said, "OK, OK, OK." I went and looked again.

0:53:45 > 0:53:49Oh, no. Another Spaniard. Olazabal this time.

0:53:49 > 0:53:53So I knew Ian Woosnam. I said, "What's he like?" He said, "He's...

0:53:53 > 0:53:56"What a lovely man. Don't worry about last year.

0:53:56 > 0:53:59"Everyone gets timid playing with Seve but Olazabal's a lovely man.

0:53:59 > 0:54:02"Whatever help you need, he'll help you.

0:54:02 > 0:54:09"But whatever you do, get his name right. It's Maria Jose Olazabal.

0:54:09 > 0:54:12"They call him all sorts. Oily-boy, they call him all sorts."

0:54:12 > 0:54:14LAUGHTER

0:54:14 > 0:54:16"He takes great umbrage in the fact that people haven't got

0:54:16 > 0:54:20"the common decency to call him by his name - Olazabal.

0:54:20 > 0:54:23"Practice that." Olazabal, Olazabal, Olazabal.

0:54:23 > 0:54:25Olazabal, Olazabal, Olazabal.

0:54:25 > 0:54:27Maria Jose Olazabal, Olazabal, Olazabal.

0:54:27 > 0:54:30Good morning, Mr Olazabal. Good morning, Mr Olazabal.

0:54:30 > 0:54:32I practised for weeks and weeks.

0:54:32 > 0:54:36So we got to the second hole, I hit my drive out to the right in some...

0:54:36 > 0:54:38In the rough, right.

0:54:38 > 0:54:42I'm looking for my ball now and the team went on to putt out.

0:54:42 > 0:54:45Who's coming behind me? I'm holding up play. It's Seve.

0:54:45 > 0:54:48He says, "Hey, Max, you no improve!"

0:54:48 > 0:54:50LAUGHTER

0:54:53 > 0:54:56So you've got five minutes to look for your ball,

0:54:56 > 0:54:59five minutes are up so I walked on,

0:54:59 > 0:55:01walked on where the team are waiting for me.

0:55:01 > 0:55:06Olazabal turns to me and says, "Hey, Max, why you no play this hole?"

0:55:06 > 0:55:08I said, "I-lost-a-ball, Mr Olazabal."

0:55:08 > 0:55:10LAUGHTER

0:55:10 > 0:55:11APPLAUSE

0:55:11 > 0:55:14He said... He said...

0:55:15 > 0:55:17He said, "Seve tell me about you!"

0:55:17 > 0:55:18LAUGHTER

0:55:19 > 0:55:21True story, that is.

0:55:27 > 0:55:31- True story, I promise you. - That is a great story.

0:55:31 > 0:55:33So, listen, you know...

0:55:33 > 0:55:36People find themselves playing Pro-Celebrity golf.

0:55:36 > 0:55:41People do not find themselves doing Pro-Celebrity Rodeo Riding.

0:55:41 > 0:55:43So, how did that come about?

0:55:43 > 0:55:47Well, the BBC were anxious for me to be on television.

0:55:47 > 0:55:50So, they came up with these adventure specials.

0:55:50 > 0:55:53I actually played in the World Elephant Polo Championships.

0:55:53 > 0:55:54LAUGHTER

0:55:54 > 0:55:57- Sorry, where are they staged? - In Kathmandu.- Are they?

0:55:57 > 0:56:00- And it was...- Annually?- Annually.

0:56:00 > 0:56:03I, I, my team was Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach,

0:56:03 > 0:56:05Billy Connolly and myself.

0:56:05 > 0:56:07That was, that was quite the week that was, I tell you.

0:56:07 > 0:56:08LAUGHTER

0:56:08 > 0:56:12And they tried me out as a rodeo cowboy, essentially a bull rider.

0:56:12 > 0:56:15Well, listen, here are some of the moments, some of the best bits,

0:56:15 > 0:56:17of Max Goes West.

0:56:18 > 0:56:22COUNTRY MUSIC

0:56:27 > 0:56:30- Grab the saddle, the horn, the horn!- Oh, the horn.

0:56:35 > 0:56:36LAUGHTER

0:56:38 > 0:56:39GASPS

0:57:08 > 0:57:11Come on. Ride, Max, ride! Ride!

0:57:13 > 0:57:16STUTTERED BREATHING

0:57:28 > 0:57:30Ride, Max, ride!

0:57:30 > 0:57:31Hang on, Max.

0:57:34 > 0:57:36WHISTLE BLOWS

0:57:36 > 0:57:37GASPS

0:57:37 > 0:57:39I was a bit too old but I was the right size

0:57:39 > 0:57:42and right structure for a rodeo cowboy.

0:57:42 > 0:57:47But riding, riding wild bulls, that was the most incredible...

0:57:47 > 0:57:51I wish I could... You'll have to see it because it was the most...

0:57:51 > 0:57:52I can't put it into words.

0:57:54 > 0:57:59You're sat on this thing like that... I can't show you.

0:57:59 > 0:58:01LAUGHTER

0:58:01 > 0:58:03No, you're a bit too small.

0:58:03 > 0:58:04LAUGHTER

0:58:05 > 0:58:09- But you...- It's very suggestive, I have to tell you.

0:58:09 > 0:58:12- They're as wide as this chair, right? And you sort of...- Yeah.

0:58:15 > 0:58:17You sort of...

0:58:18 > 0:58:22There's a rope tied around... tied around the bull.

0:58:22 > 0:58:24You hang onto it like that.

0:58:24 > 0:58:25And you squeeze.

0:58:25 > 0:58:27You try pulling something in when you're...

0:58:27 > 0:58:28LAUGHTER

0:58:30 > 0:58:33You just hang on to rope like that and your hand is there

0:58:33 > 0:58:34and the nod, you see...

0:58:34 > 0:58:36There's a guy with the gate here

0:58:36 > 0:58:40and there's a rope tied to the gate and...

0:58:40 > 0:58:42when you nod...

0:58:42 > 0:58:43It looks terrible, I know.

0:58:43 > 0:58:48When you nod your head, they pull the gate and you're out.

0:58:48 > 0:58:50LAUGHTER

0:58:50 > 0:58:54You can laugh. I wasn't laughing at all. It's an eight-second ride.

0:58:54 > 0:58:55All you've got to do it is...

0:58:55 > 0:58:58AMERICAN ACCENT: All you do, boy, is stay on for eight seconds.

0:58:58 > 0:59:00It's like eight years.

0:59:00 > 0:59:02And it's so much like...

0:59:02 > 0:59:05I couldn't ride before I'd gone out there so I'm thinking

0:59:05 > 0:59:09so much about this. The producer is there and the director.

0:59:09 > 0:59:13They're ready and all the cameras are in slow motion and I'm all ready.

0:59:13 > 0:59:15The nod is, right, to say you're ready.

0:59:15 > 0:59:17And the bull's head has got to be in the right place

0:59:17 > 0:59:20and I'm watching his horns and...

0:59:20 > 0:59:21Please, God.

0:59:23 > 0:59:27And the director says to me, "Are you nervous, Max?" And I go, "Yeah."

0:59:27 > 0:59:28HE SCREAMS

0:59:28 > 0:59:30LAUGHTER

0:59:30 > 0:59:32APPLAUSE

0:59:41 > 0:59:44So, you're dying to know if Max managed to last eight seconds

0:59:44 > 0:59:46and here's what happened.

0:59:47 > 0:59:51CLANGING BELL

0:59:53 > 0:59:55GASPS AND GROANS

1:00:01 > 1:00:03How much did that hurt?

1:00:03 > 1:00:06Yeah, I was in hospital for two days after that, yeah.

1:00:06 > 1:00:12But that was 4.2 seconds, that was, that ride. I came now...

1:00:12 > 1:00:16I so much wanted to do eight seconds. I'm very competitive.

1:00:16 > 1:00:19I'd spent months training with the bull riders

1:00:19 > 1:00:20and I so much wanted to do it.

1:00:20 > 1:00:26I came to the last rodeo - Pikes Peak Or Bust in Colorado.

1:00:26 > 1:00:28And I said to the cowboy, Preacher Paul,

1:00:28 > 1:00:33who was teaching me to ride, "Can you get me an old bull..."

1:00:33 > 1:00:34LAUGHTER

1:00:35 > 1:00:37"..or one that hasn't been very well?"

1:00:37 > 1:00:39LAUGHTER

1:00:42 > 1:00:47He said, "Max, you ain't gonna win no silver buckles riding an old bull."

1:00:47 > 1:00:51Because the bull, the bull gets marked out of 50

1:00:51 > 1:00:55and the rider gets marked out of 50 so if you get a really wild bull,

1:00:55 > 1:00:56you've got a chance of winning.

1:00:56 > 1:01:02I said, "I don't want to win but I want to stay on for eight seconds."

1:01:02 > 1:01:06I said, "That bull there, what's that one?" He said, "That's Lollipop.

1:01:08 > 1:01:13Anybody can ride Lollipop." I said, "That's the one I want, Lollipop."

1:01:13 > 1:01:17So they brought Lollipop out and he was just...brilliant.

1:01:17 > 1:01:20So they put Lollipop in the chute and they got the rope

1:01:20 > 1:01:23and they got the resin and got me on and he was all quiet.

1:01:23 > 1:01:25"Good boy, Lollipop. Good boy."

1:01:25 > 1:01:27So they pull the gate open,

1:01:27 > 1:01:32Lollipop stood up on his back legs like that, turned, he bucked.

1:01:32 > 1:01:35There was saliva streaming from his mouth, right.

1:01:35 > 1:01:38I stayed on for ten seconds, right?

1:01:38 > 1:01:41I went back to Preacher Paul, the cowboy, and said, "What happened?

1:01:41 > 1:01:43"What happened to Lollipop?"

1:01:43 > 1:01:46He said, "We just helped him along a little."

1:01:46 > 1:01:48He had a six volt battery, right,

1:01:48 > 1:01:50with two prongs and he stuck them up...

1:01:52 > 1:01:54LAUGHTER

1:01:54 > 1:01:57Lollipop had 40, I had four - came seventh!

1:01:57 > 1:01:58LAUGHTER

1:01:58 > 1:02:00APPLAUSE

1:02:09 > 1:02:12I'm not sure if riding bulls qualifies as real sport,

1:02:12 > 1:02:14but we haven't really spoken about sport very much.

1:02:14 > 1:02:16We've got so many great sportsmen in the audience.

1:02:16 > 1:02:19Robert Jones, over there, what do you want to say?

1:02:19 > 1:02:22Penblwydd hapus, first off, Max.

1:02:22 > 1:02:23It's a real pleasure to be here tonight

1:02:23 > 1:02:25to celebrate this fantastic occasion.

1:02:25 > 1:02:27It's a simple question, really.

1:02:27 > 1:02:30I've experienced the highs and a lot of the lows

1:02:30 > 1:02:32in rugby at the highest level.

1:02:32 > 1:02:37Um, what's the nearest you've ever come to sporting greatness?

1:02:37 > 1:02:39MAX CHUCKLES

1:02:39 > 1:02:41Not very close, Rob.

1:02:41 > 1:02:42LAUGHTER

1:02:42 > 1:02:46But I, I did play for the Dallas Cowboys.

1:02:46 > 1:02:47America's team.

1:02:47 > 1:02:52And they'd been told... They wanted to do this documentary for Channel 4

1:02:52 > 1:02:56to introduce American football to the discerning British public.

1:02:56 > 1:02:58And they used me to introduce it.

1:02:58 > 1:03:00And the Dallas Cowboys had been told

1:03:00 > 1:03:02I was the biggest thing in British rugby.

1:03:02 > 1:03:04LAUGHTER

1:03:04 > 1:03:06They assumed I was a player.

1:03:06 > 1:03:11So, I got off the plane and, and all these camera crews and news people

1:03:11 > 1:03:13and press and all that.

1:03:13 > 1:03:16And, he saw me, I got off the plane and he said,

1:03:16 > 1:03:17"You're kind of small, ain't ya?"

1:03:17 > 1:03:20I said, "I haven't been very well."

1:03:20 > 1:03:22LAUGHTER

1:03:22 > 1:03:23And, and, and they...

1:03:23 > 1:03:25They sent me on this, the day after,

1:03:25 > 1:03:28they sent me on this ten-mile run in all the gear.

1:03:28 > 1:03:31And, um, and they set out and I hadn't trained or anything.

1:03:31 > 1:03:33I hadn't done anything for 20 years.

1:03:33 > 1:03:37These guys were coming back in like 28 minutes, 29 minutes, 31 minutes.

1:03:37 > 1:03:39When I came back, it was dark.

1:03:39 > 1:03:40LAUGHTER

1:03:40 > 1:03:43But I tell, we've got the opening titles

1:03:43 > 1:03:45of that programme from Channel 4 here.

1:03:45 > 1:03:49Just the end, just watch the end of this. You'll love it.

1:03:49 > 1:03:51MUSIC

1:03:55 > 1:03:58LAUGHTER

1:04:03 > 1:04:05Longer, longer, good. Longer.

1:04:05 > 1:04:09That's it. Now, hard back. All the way back. All the way back.

1:04:16 > 1:04:17Hang on.

1:04:19 > 1:04:20LAUGHTER

1:04:25 > 1:04:26Do you feel that?

1:04:26 > 1:04:27Aargh!

1:04:44 > 1:04:47- This is Billy Jo.- How are you doing, Buddy?- I'm fine, thanks.

1:04:47 > 1:04:49It's a bit hot. A bit hot.

1:04:49 > 1:04:52Come over here. Just stand there and lean down a little bit.

1:04:52 > 1:04:55And when the ball is snapped, when I snap the ball,

1:04:55 > 1:04:57this is what a defender, usually, will do to me.

1:04:57 > 1:05:00He'll come in and strike me. I won't do it real hard,

1:05:00 > 1:05:02but, you know, I'll show you a little bit what he does.

1:05:02 > 1:05:04He comes in and...

1:05:04 > 1:05:06Max, Max, you weren't concentrating.

1:05:06 > 1:05:08LAUGHTER

1:05:08 > 1:05:11You're supposed to be my friend!

1:05:11 > 1:05:13You just, you just weren't ready.

1:05:13 > 1:05:15I mean a lot of friends will come up

1:05:15 > 1:05:18and, you know, just hit you on the side of your head.

1:05:18 > 1:05:21LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

1:05:29 > 1:05:30So...

1:05:31 > 1:05:36..from that inauspicious start, did you actually ever get picked?

1:05:36 > 1:05:37Well, I did, actually, yeah.

1:05:37 > 1:05:42When they picked, this Coach Landry, he took, he really respected me

1:05:42 > 1:05:45for how hard I tried when I was up against impossible odds.

1:05:45 > 1:05:46Because I was like...

1:05:46 > 1:05:49They were the pick of America's athletes and I was nearly 40.

1:05:49 > 1:05:52You know, and he did, he respected me for it.

1:05:52 > 1:05:56When they picked the team, the offence for the first game,

1:05:56 > 1:05:58against Green Bay Packers,

1:05:58 > 1:05:59I was, I was in the team.

1:05:59 > 1:06:01It was just, absolute, nobody could believe...

1:06:01 > 1:06:03So this is the proper match?

1:06:03 > 1:06:06Yes, yes, proper game, the Texas stadium, 80,000 people

1:06:06 > 1:06:08and, and, like, I couldn't believe it.

1:06:08 > 1:06:12And, and, and the stadium announcer would announce the offence

1:06:12 > 1:06:15and you'd run on on your own. You'd run on from the...

1:06:15 > 1:06:17right across the field to the centre circle.

1:06:17 > 1:06:19And then, the, the stadium announcer goes,

1:06:19 > 1:06:25"Wearing number, wearing number 33 from UCLA, Tony Dorsett."

1:06:25 > 1:06:29And all these cheerleaders would be dancing and things blowing.

1:06:29 > 1:06:33"Wearing number 45 from Kentucky High, Butch Johnson."

1:06:33 > 1:06:35"Hooray!"

1:06:35 > 1:06:39"And wearing number ten, from Trefforest School and Mines..."

1:06:39 > 1:06:41LAUGHTER

1:06:41 > 1:06:43"..running back Max Boyce."

1:06:43 > 1:06:46They're all going, "Yay... Who's that?"

1:06:46 > 1:06:47LAUGHTER

1:06:47 > 1:06:50What a privilege, you know? They'd never...

1:06:50 > 1:06:54The Cowboys had never let anyone in their dressing room ever before.

1:06:54 > 1:06:59But this Coach Landry he did, he used to say to me, "Max, number ten."

1:06:59 > 1:07:00He never called me Max.

1:07:00 > 1:07:05"Number ten, you got enough want to make it."

1:07:05 > 1:07:06APPLAUSE

1:07:13 > 1:07:16- Was it a coincidence you had number ten?- It was, actually.

1:07:16 > 1:07:19When I heard the number ten, I thought, "Yes! I love that."

1:07:19 > 1:07:22Because we've got a kind of Phil Bennett moment here.

1:07:22 > 1:07:24You may not have actually got on the real field

1:07:24 > 1:07:27but actually on the training ground. I know Phil's in the audience.

1:07:27 > 1:07:30Phil, just, you know, don't you wish you could have done this?

1:07:30 > 1:07:32SHOUTING

1:07:49 > 1:07:51LAUGHTER

1:07:51 > 1:07:52APPLAUSE

1:07:57 > 1:08:00We haven't really mentioned rugby very much,

1:08:00 > 1:08:02but do you think you're lucky to have been

1:08:02 > 1:08:03brought in to the rugby fraternity

1:08:03 > 1:08:06or born into it, obviously from start,

1:08:06 > 1:08:08so that there's such a rich array of stories

1:08:08 > 1:08:12and such an extraordinary variety of people that have produced,

1:08:12 > 1:08:14I guess, an awful lot of material for you?

1:08:14 > 1:08:17Great characters and I've had lots of stories,

1:08:17 > 1:08:20some I've invented, but some are true.

1:08:20 > 1:08:24One true story which people don't, I've embroidered it a little,

1:08:24 > 1:08:27but not much really, because there's so much happens

1:08:27 > 1:08:30on these great occasions that are the Six Nations.

1:08:30 > 1:08:33I went to, I remember, it's a long time ago now, in Ireland,

1:08:33 > 1:08:37I had my, I had my wallet stolen and my ticket, my return ticket.

1:08:37 > 1:08:40And this, I went up to this young girl in the Aer Lingus desk

1:08:40 > 1:08:42and she didn't know who I was.

1:08:42 > 1:08:44I said, "I've, I've had my wallet stolen,"

1:08:44 > 1:08:48I said, "And I, I," and I said, "And my, and my, my return ticket.

1:08:48 > 1:08:51"But my name, Max Boyce, is in, it's in the manifest," I said,

1:08:51 > 1:08:52"You'll see it in the manifest."

1:08:52 > 1:08:55She said, "Sure, sure, it's in the manifest here. Max Boyce.

1:08:55 > 1:08:59"But there's no telling who you are, I can't leave you on the plane."

1:08:59 > 1:09:02I said, "Well, I didn't invent it, I couldn't invent a name."

1:09:02 > 1:09:04"Sorry, sir, that's rules and regulations.

1:09:04 > 1:09:07"I can't leave you on the plane unless you've got a ticket."

1:09:07 > 1:09:10So, I said, "See all those supporters over there?

1:09:10 > 1:09:13"Any one of those Welsh supporters, just pick any one of those

1:09:13 > 1:09:17"and bring them over, and if he says, if he says that's my name,

1:09:17 > 1:09:19"will you leave me on the plane?"

1:09:19 > 1:09:21She said, "Well, that sounds fair enough to me, sir.

1:09:21 > 1:09:24"I'll, I, I think that's fair enough now."

1:09:24 > 1:09:27So, I, she said, "That wee man there."

1:09:27 > 1:09:29I can see this, this bloke comes over. I can see him now.

1:09:29 > 1:09:35He was dressed in a Welsh flag. He had a plastic daffodil under one arm

1:09:35 > 1:09:37and a sheep under the other arm.

1:09:37 > 1:09:38LAUGHTER

1:09:38 > 1:09:41And I said, I said, "Do you know who I am?"

1:09:41 > 1:09:42He said, "Of course I do."

1:09:42 > 1:09:45I said, "Will you tell this girl who I am?" He said, "Brad Pitt."

1:09:45 > 1:09:47LAUGHTER

1:09:51 > 1:09:53"Ah, Mr Pitt, is it now, sir?"

1:09:53 > 1:09:56I said, "Now, then, now, will you leave me on the plane?"

1:09:56 > 1:09:58"I'm sorry, Mr Pitt..." Mr Pitt!

1:09:58 > 1:10:01"I'm sorry, Mr Pitt, I can't leave you on the plane."

1:10:01 > 1:10:03I said, "You're telling me

1:10:03 > 1:10:05"that you wouldn't leave Brad Pitt on the plane?"

1:10:05 > 1:10:06"That's right, sir." I said, "Why?"

1:10:06 > 1:10:08She said, "In case Mr Max Boyce comes late."

1:10:08 > 1:10:13LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

1:10:13 > 1:10:14And that, that...

1:10:17 > 1:10:21That, that, that was true, but I, I just embroidered the end a bit.

1:10:21 > 1:10:22LAUGHTER

1:10:22 > 1:10:25We come bang up-to-date with one of the great names of Welsh rugby

1:10:25 > 1:10:28in the room at the moment. I think he's got a question for you. Adam.

1:10:28 > 1:10:29Hi, Max. Happy birthday.

1:10:29 > 1:10:32Um, just a quick one. I won't keep you too long.

1:10:32 > 1:10:34Us, in the Welsh team,

1:10:34 > 1:10:37we all love the songs you write about the '70s boys.

1:10:37 > 1:10:38Are you ever going to do one about us?

1:10:38 > 1:10:43Well, I have. I wrote it about the Grand Slam of two years ago.

1:10:43 > 1:10:48And, er, because as you know, that was, um, the Year of the Dragon.

1:10:48 > 1:10:51And we nearly lost two games in the last minute.

1:10:51 > 1:10:53It seemed to me that God was on our side.

1:10:53 > 1:10:55So, it's called, The Year Of The Dragon.

1:10:55 > 1:10:57It looks back at, like, all the games

1:10:57 > 1:11:00in which you played such a prominent part.

1:11:00 > 1:11:04We flew out to Dublin where the Liffey still flows

1:11:04 > 1:11:06Passed the Temple Bar's pubs of renown

1:11:06 > 1:11:09Where a fiddler played me The Cliffs of Dooneen

1:11:09 > 1:11:12And we sang as the black stuff went down

1:11:12 > 1:11:14When we left for the game, well, we all looked the same

1:11:14 > 1:11:17For all my old Donegal tan

1:11:17 > 1:11:19That a moment of blame at the end of the game

1:11:19 > 1:11:21Meant we dreamt of another Grand Slam

1:11:21 > 1:11:23With Faletau, Lydiate and Sam

1:11:23 > 1:11:25We dreamt of another Grand Slam

1:11:25 > 1:11:27It can't be denied

1:11:27 > 1:11:28We had God on our side

1:11:28 > 1:11:31And Faletau, Lydiate and Sam

1:11:31 > 1:11:34We then went to London where this new English side

1:11:34 > 1:11:36CHUCKLING

1:11:36 > 1:11:39LAUGHTER

1:11:39 > 1:11:41APPLAUSE

1:11:41 > 1:11:44Had sworn to put discipline right

1:11:44 > 1:11:47The wild drinking parties were a thing of the past

1:11:47 > 1:11:49And the dwarves have gone back to Snow White

1:11:49 > 1:11:53LAUGHTER

1:11:56 > 1:11:58In a game full of tension it went to the end

1:11:58 > 1:12:01And we all felt their anguish and pain

1:12:01 > 1:12:04LAUGHTER

1:12:05 > 1:12:09When we all watched that replay played over again

1:12:09 > 1:12:10And again

1:12:10 > 1:12:12And again

1:12:12 > 1:12:13And again

1:12:13 > 1:12:16When Les Bleus came to Cardiff after losing in France

1:12:16 > 1:12:18The Tricolore fluttered in shame

1:12:18 > 1:12:21But the Dax bands were playing to the emptying streets

1:12:21 > 1:12:24And they drummed us in time to the game

1:12:24 > 1:12:26They had the roof open to the wind and the rain

1:12:26 > 1:12:29To sully the gold in our crown

1:12:29 > 1:12:31But the silence for Merve

1:12:32 > 1:12:34Was so hard to observe

1:12:34 > 1:12:36Like the sadness that fell on the ground

1:12:37 > 1:12:40Looking back I remember at the start of the year

1:12:40 > 1:12:42No-one thought of another Grand Slam

1:12:42 > 1:12:45The first game in Dublin, the hardest of starts

1:12:45 > 1:12:47Where the lion lies down with the lamb

1:12:48 > 1:12:50But the moment of blame at the end of the game

1:12:50 > 1:12:52Meant we danced in the pubs and the bars

1:12:52 > 1:12:55In the Year of the Dragon

1:12:55 > 1:12:56It was just meant to be

1:12:56 > 1:12:58It was written as such

1:12:58 > 1:12:59In the stars.

1:12:59 > 1:13:05APPLAUSE

1:13:15 > 1:13:17Would you have swapped everything you've had

1:13:17 > 1:13:19- and everything you've done for one Welsh cap?- Yes.

1:13:19 > 1:13:21LAUGHTER

1:13:21 > 1:13:25- Playing at, in what position? - Outside-half.- Outside-half.

1:13:25 > 1:13:27And who would have been your nine?

1:13:27 > 1:13:28Gareth.

1:13:28 > 1:13:29And in the centre?

1:13:31 > 1:13:34- Oh, so many of those. I can't... John Dawes.- Yeah.

1:13:34 > 1:13:37It's so difficult to pick over different eras

1:13:37 > 1:13:41but I was very fortunate to watch those boys play and the present

1:13:41 > 1:13:45side and now to call them friends and to have them here tonight is...

1:13:45 > 1:13:48- Thank you. ..it's a privilege. Thank you.- That is great.

1:13:48 > 1:13:50APPLAUSE

1:13:56 > 1:13:58So, Hymns And Arias.

1:13:58 > 1:14:00You know, you mentioned earlier, actually, that

1:14:00 > 1:14:02you went up to Twickenham and it sort of came to you.

1:14:02 > 1:14:04Was it a blinding flash of inspiration or did it

1:14:04 > 1:14:08- sort of just seep through the mind slowly?- No, I was so...

1:14:08 > 1:14:11I'd never been. It was the first time I'd ever been

1:14:11 > 1:14:14and to go behind that stand and see all those Rolls-Royces

1:14:14 > 1:14:19and Bentleys with the hampers full of, like, finest clarets

1:14:19 > 1:14:22and pate, it was a world I'd never seen before.

1:14:22 > 1:14:28And I just...I just wanted to capture that wonderful, wonderful

1:14:28 > 1:14:32sort of weekend we had and so I wrote Hymns And Arias because of that.

1:14:32 > 1:14:34I never... I never thought it would last 40 years.

1:14:34 > 1:14:38It was just another song, another topical song I wrote at the time.

1:14:38 > 1:14:40In many ways, that's your legacy to Wales,

1:14:40 > 1:14:41that song, in many ways.

1:14:41 > 1:14:43Well, I don't know about that, but,

1:14:43 > 1:14:46as a singer-songwriter who started out in folk music,

1:14:46 > 1:14:49it's part of what I call "the folk song process"

1:14:49 > 1:14:54where a song, for whatever reason, is adopted by a nation or by a country.

1:14:54 > 1:14:57Like in Ireland, The Fields Of Athenry,

1:14:57 > 1:14:59and Flower Of Scotland in Scotland.

1:14:59 > 1:15:04And for my song to join songs like that is, you know, is humbling

1:15:04 > 1:15:07and something... I'll never do anything greater than that.

1:15:07 > 1:15:13When I hear that being sung, wherever it is, it's a great thrill.

1:15:13 > 1:15:16But my favourite story about Hymns And Arias is...

1:15:16 > 1:15:18It's self-deprecating, really,

1:15:18 > 1:15:20but it was a Scottish game about four years ago

1:15:20 > 1:15:25and I was sat next to two really polite lads from Musselburgh

1:15:25 > 1:15:28and they didn't know who I was and I was...

1:15:28 > 1:15:32They were, like, in the kilt and sporran and the blue and white

1:15:32 > 1:15:35cross of St Andrew and they were there singing Flower Of Scotland.

1:15:35 > 1:15:38I was signing autographs before the game and one of them said to me,

1:15:38 > 1:15:42"Hope you don't mind me asking you this, sir, but who did you play for?"

1:15:42 > 1:15:44LAUGHTER

1:15:44 > 1:15:47So I said, "Well, nobody," I said, "Nobody of any...

1:15:47 > 1:15:51"Nobody you'd ever have heard of, anyway." So half-time came down.

1:15:51 > 1:15:55There's about 30 people, "Oh, Max, gimme a photo. A photo!

1:15:55 > 1:15:56"Speak to my mother.

1:15:56 > 1:15:59"Sign my programme, sign my ticket, Max, sign my broken leg."

1:15:59 > 1:16:02About 30, all around me, signing autographs.

1:16:02 > 1:16:04So they went away and he said, "I hope you don't mind me

1:16:04 > 1:16:08"asking again, sir, but who did you play for?"

1:16:08 > 1:16:11I said, "Nobody, really. Nobody you'd ever heard of."

1:16:11 > 1:16:13And then Shane Williams scored in the corner

1:16:13 > 1:16:16and 78,000 people are singing Hymns And Arias so I said,

1:16:16 > 1:16:19"See that song?" He said, "Aye." I said, "I wrote that song."

1:16:19 > 1:16:21He said, "Aye, but who did you play for?"

1:16:21 > 1:16:23LAUGHTER

1:16:23 > 1:16:24APPLAUSE

1:16:30 > 1:16:33One of the great things about it is that it is a song

1:16:33 > 1:16:35almost for every occasion.

1:16:36 > 1:16:38# Here's to this Assembly

1:16:38 > 1:16:40CHEERING

1:16:40 > 1:16:42# That they built along the shore

1:16:42 > 1:16:45# They'll build it here in Cardiff

1:16:45 > 1:16:47# Though Cardiff voted no...#

1:16:47 > 1:16:49LAUGHTER

1:16:51 > 1:16:52You did!

1:16:52 > 1:16:53LAUGHTER

1:16:54 > 1:16:57# Swansea fought a long campaign

1:16:57 > 1:17:00CHEERING AND LAUGHTER

1:17:00 > 1:17:03# And well it must be said

1:17:03 > 1:17:05# But all they offered Swansea was

1:17:05 > 1:17:07# A swimming pool instead

1:17:07 > 1:17:09LAUGHTER

1:17:09 > 1:17:13# And we were singing

1:17:13 > 1:17:17# Hymns and arias...# Let's hear you Cardiff!

1:17:17 > 1:17:21# Land of my fathers...# On your own!

1:17:21 > 1:17:24# CROWD: Ar hyd y nos. #

1:17:26 > 1:17:29# And so farewell to Wembley

1:17:29 > 1:17:33# And to this foreign clime

1:17:33 > 1:17:35# The next game's back in Cardiff

1:17:35 > 1:17:38CHEERING

1:17:39 > 1:17:42# If they finish it on time

1:17:43 > 1:17:46# They say it's got a sliding roof

1:17:46 > 1:17:49# That they can move away

1:17:49 > 1:17:52# They'll slide it back when Wales attack

1:17:52 > 1:17:56# So God can watch us play

1:17:56 > 1:18:01# And we'll be singing

1:18:01 > 1:18:05# Hymns and arias

1:18:05 > 1:18:12# Land of my fathers

1:18:12 > 1:18:20# Ar hyd y nos! #

1:18:20 > 1:18:21CHEERING

1:18:21 > 1:18:23Thank you!

1:18:23 > 1:18:27CHEERING AND APPLAUSE DROWNS SPEECH

1:18:35 > 1:18:37Who'd have thought that these days, you know,

1:18:37 > 1:18:39it gets sung at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge?

1:18:39 > 1:18:41I never thought that would happen.

1:18:41 > 1:18:44I went, I went to see the Swans play Man United last year.

1:18:44 > 1:18:46To hear them singing it continually before kick-off

1:18:46 > 1:18:47was, I couldn't believe it.

1:18:47 > 1:18:49We've got a quick message here, actually,

1:18:49 > 1:18:51from some of the Swansea players.

1:18:51 > 1:18:52Happy birthday, Max.

1:18:52 > 1:18:55Thanks for bringing Hymns And Arias to the Liberty Stadium.

1:18:55 > 1:18:57LAUGHTER

1:18:57 > 1:18:59I said it was quick. They were brief.

1:18:59 > 1:19:00LAUGHTER

1:19:00 > 1:19:01Brief but heartfelt.

1:19:01 > 1:19:04LAUGHTER

1:19:04 > 1:19:06But, even by your own admission, actually,

1:19:06 > 1:19:09you're not the best exponent of that song

1:19:09 > 1:19:11because, because your granddaughter is.

1:19:11 > 1:19:12CROWD: Aah!

1:19:12 > 1:19:14You'll love this, you really will.

1:19:14 > 1:19:19# And we were singing

1:19:19 > 1:19:23# Hymns and arias

1:19:23 > 1:19:27# Land of my fathers

1:19:27 > 1:19:31# Ar hyd y nos. #

1:19:31 > 1:19:36APPLAUSE

1:19:39 > 1:19:41And in those rock'n'roll years in the '70s and beyond

1:19:41 > 1:19:44was it the family that sort of kept you grounded?

1:19:44 > 1:19:46Yes, they sacrificed everything, really.

1:19:46 > 1:19:51You know, they took a back seat and let me follow my dream.

1:19:51 > 1:19:54And, um, yeah, without them, I wouldn't have achieved anything.

1:19:54 > 1:19:57They are...I have a fixed back.

1:19:57 > 1:19:59Can you imagine not performing?

1:20:02 > 1:20:05Yeah. I can. I don't mind.

1:20:05 > 1:20:08I can go months and months without singing or whatever then if I go

1:20:08 > 1:20:12and see a show and I think, "Yeah." Especially

1:20:12 > 1:20:17if it's in the West End of London, a big show, it makes me

1:20:17 > 1:20:21want to perform then but I think I could do without it, you know,

1:20:21 > 1:20:25I've done it for long enough. But... it's a difficult question, that.

1:20:25 > 1:20:28Difficult question. Very difficult question.

1:20:28 > 1:20:32But coming back to my family, I remember, in the early days,

1:20:32 > 1:20:38it was like, it was so difficult.

1:20:38 > 1:20:42My wife used to take me round these little clubs in the valleys

1:20:42 > 1:20:47and we had a 1954 black Ford Popular. I'll always remember it.

1:20:47 > 1:20:51It had one light working in the front and when it went uphill

1:20:51 > 1:20:53the windscreen wipers wouldn't work

1:20:53 > 1:20:55so she used to lean out the window

1:20:55 > 1:20:58and clean the windows to see where I was going.

1:20:58 > 1:21:02So, yeah, they sacrificed a lot, my wife and my children

1:21:02 > 1:21:08so that I could pursue my dream and I owe them a great deal, yeah.

1:21:08 > 1:21:10Well, their contribution to you is superseded, I think,

1:21:10 > 1:21:13only by the contribution you've made to the Welsh nation.

1:21:13 > 1:21:14It's been fantastic.

1:21:14 > 1:21:16As a final thing, because we could be here for hours,

1:21:16 > 1:21:18but the clock has beaten us,

1:21:18 > 1:21:21we've got, if you like, the next generation of Welsh performers,

1:21:21 > 1:21:22Only Boys Aloud,

1:21:22 > 1:21:26who are going to sing a medley of Max's greatest hits.

1:21:26 > 1:21:28So, would you welcome, Only Boys Aloud.

1:21:28 > 1:21:30APPLAUSE

1:21:30 > 1:21:34MUSIC: "Sosban Fach"

1:21:42 > 1:21:43# Oi, oi

1:21:43 > 1:21:45# Mae bys Meri-Ann wedi brifo

1:21:45 > 1:21:48# A Dafydd y gwas ddim yn iach

1:21:48 > 1:21:49# Oi, oi

1:21:49 > 1:21:52# Mae'r baban yn y crud yn crio

1:21:52 > 1:21:55# A'r gath wedi sgrapo Joni bach

1:21:55 > 1:21:59# Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tan

1:21:59 > 1:22:02# Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr

1:22:02 > 1:22:05# A'r gath wedi sgrapo Joni bach

1:22:05 > 1:22:08# A'r gath wedi sgrapo Joni bach

1:22:09 > 1:22:12# Dai bach y sowldiwr

1:22:12 > 1:22:15# Dai bach y sowldiwr

1:22:15 > 1:22:18# Dai bach y sowldiwr

1:22:18 > 1:22:21# A gwt ei grys e mas

1:22:25 > 1:22:28MUSIC: "The Pontypool Front Row"

1:22:28 > 1:22:31# Now I'll tell you all a story about some lads I know

1:22:31 > 1:22:35# Who are known throughout the Valleys as the Pontypool front row

1:22:35 > 1:22:38# They got a certain chorus and that chorus you all know

1:22:38 > 1:22:40# So tell me are you ready

1:22:40 > 1:22:42# Up and under, here we go

1:22:42 > 1:22:45# Up and under, here we go

1:22:45 > 1:22:49# Are you ready, yes or no?

1:22:49 > 1:22:52# Up and under, here we go

1:22:52 > 1:22:55# It's the song of the Pontypool front row

1:22:55 > 1:23:00MUSIC: "Hymns And Arias"

1:23:00 > 1:23:05# And we were singing

1:23:05 > 1:23:10# Hymns and arias

1:23:10 > 1:23:14# Land of my fathers

1:23:14 > 1:23:17# Ar hyd y nos

1:23:19 > 1:23:25# We paid our weekly shilling for that January trip

1:23:26 > 1:23:31# A long weekend in London aye, without a bit of kip

1:23:32 > 1:23:39# There's a seat reserved for beer by the boys from Abercarn

1:23:40 > 1:23:43# There's beer, pontoon crisps and fags

1:23:43 > 1:23:46# And a croakin' "Calon Lan"

1:23:48 > 1:23:53# And we were singing

1:23:53 > 1:23:56# Hymns and arias

1:23:56 > 1:24:01# Land of my fathers

1:24:01 > 1:24:05# Ar hyd y nos

1:24:06 > 1:24:09# Now Max has reached the milestone

1:24:09 > 1:24:12# Our tribute must be paid

1:24:13 > 1:24:16# He's done as much for rugby

1:24:16 > 1:24:19# As anyone who's played

1:24:19 > 1:24:22# So on his special birthday

1:24:22 > 1:24:26# Let us raise our bitter ales

1:24:26 > 1:24:30# And celebrate the legend

1:24:30 > 1:24:33# That is Boyce, the Bard of Wales

1:24:33 > 1:24:35APPLAUSE

1:24:35 > 1:24:39# And we were singing

1:24:39 > 1:24:43# Hymns and arias

1:24:43 > 1:24:48# Land of my fathers

1:24:48 > 1:24:53# Ar hyd y nos

1:24:53 > 1:24:58# And we were singing

1:24:58 > 1:25:02# Hymns and arias

1:25:02 > 1:25:07# Land of my fathers

1:25:07 > 1:25:13# Ar hyd y nos... #

1:25:14 > 1:25:19APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

1:25:21 > 1:25:22# Oi, oi! #

1:25:22 > 1:25:25APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

1:25:26 > 1:25:28Ladies and gentlemen,

1:25:28 > 1:25:31happy birthday to the one, the only, the incomparable

1:25:31 > 1:25:32Max Boyce!

1:25:32 > 1:25:36CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

1:25:36 > 1:25:41# And we were singing

1:25:41 > 1:25:45# Hymns and arias

1:25:45 > 1:25:50# Land of my fathers

1:25:50 > 1:25:54# Ar hyd y nos

1:25:54 > 1:25:59# And we were singing

1:25:59 > 1:26:03# Hymns and arias

1:26:03 > 1:26:08# Land of my fathers

1:26:08 > 1:26:13# Ar hyd y nos. #

1:26:13 > 1:26:18CHEERING AND APPLAUSE