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To understate is to deceive the listener to praise unduly is
less than honest to the artiste. In this particular instance
one must pay Max Boyce with the coin he pays humanity -
sincerity.
"For years now to outsiders the Valleys have been surrounded by doom,
dismay and disaster. Now the engaging Welsh-speaking Max looks like
lifting the imaginary siege of sadness. His wit, warmth and humour put
into perspective the varying aspects of life in the Valleys."
Terry Campbell writing in the South Wales Echo : -reprinted with their
kind permission.
I first heard him sing his songs in the Valley Folk Club and recognised
a rare talent in that his vision sees us as we are. His prodigious
overstatements
and their humour are underlaid with a deep sympathy for people and the
problems that daily overtake them. Since then radio and television,
record and concert have enhanced his reputation as an
entertainer. Poets and Pints and the The Camera and the Song" series
on BBC-2 have given the nation the chance to learn that people are
the same the country over.
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He is at best with a live audience,
and this LP recorded in concert at Treorchy Rugby Club in the Rhondda
confirms the fact. It echoes the "still sad music of humanity" which in
adversity finds relief in humour. Max is an avowed Rugby fanatic but his
song Ten Thousand Instant Christians is equally true of Wembley when
Abide
With Me rings out at a Cup Final.
Is there really a factory in Wales making
outside-halves on a conveyor-belt system ? Did Morgan the Moon really go
into orbit ? These are questions that only time can answer, but meanwhile
let it be clear that Rugby enthusiasts travel to Twickenham and Murrayfield,
from Tokyo to Tonypandy, often with the dire results this record portrays. Common
experiences unite people and the miner, the trawlerman in icy seas and the
city commuter rocked in a crowded train can all, with equal honesty,
say "Duw it's hard". Nature never works in straight lines, and life being
natural has for all tears and laughter, sorrow and joy in varying degrees.
This record underlines that truth. Keep singing, Max, for you laugh with us - not at us.
IEUAN LEWIS |
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