Funniest Man to Travel Through Hirwaun
February 6, 2007
Some people say Max Boyce is the funniest man to travel through Hirwaun…
Thirty three years ago he travelled from his home town of Glynneath over the Rhigos Treherbert Mountain for the gig that would bring him fame as a folk singer, comedian and entertainer.
‘Live at Treorchy’ was recorded at Treorchy Rugby Club. It includes many of Max Boyce’s greatest songs including ‘Duw it’s hard’, ‘Ten thousand instant Christians’, ‘Hymns and Arias’ and the surreal comedy of ‘The Outside Half Factory’.
On the journey from Glynneath to Treorchy, Max Boyce would have passed the Hirwaun Industrial Estate. In the mid seventies, this industrial estate employed many thousands of workers, there are today barely a few hundred workers there.
Max Boyce recorded these changes in Valleys life in witty songs like ‘Duw it’s Hard’ :
In our little valley
They closed the colliery down,
And the pithead baths is a supermarket now.
Empty gurneys red with rust
Roll to rest among the rust
And the pithead baths is a supermarket now.CHORUS
‘Cos it’s hard, Duw, it’s hard
Harder than they will ever know.
And it’s they must take the blame,
The price of coal’s the same.
And the pithead baths is a supermarket now
You can rediscover MAX BOYCE at The Coliseum Theatre on Saturday 3 March at 7.30pm where he makes a welcome return to Aberdare. Tickets cost £18.50 (concessions £17.50) and are available from the Coliseum Box Office on 01685 881188.
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