Heather Jones - Mae’r olwyn yn troi - 1LP

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This is the second in the new series of the label's reissue albums on vinyl. 'Mae'r Olwyn yn Troi' (The Wheel Turns), Heather Jones' first album, was released in 1974, and Sain is proud to celebrate the record's 50th year in 2024. It is regarded as one of the classic albums of the 70s - the songs, the instrumentation, the arrangements, the musicianship and the production reaching such a high standard. It is now possible to pre-order the vinyl on Sain's website and the first 20 albums will be signed by Heather herself. The album is already available to stream and download. 

From the mid 60s onwards Heather has been a crucial part of the Welsh language music scene. By the time she released her first record in 1968 on the Welsh Teldisc label, 'Caneuon Heather Jones', she had already made a name for herself through her sincere folk singing to her own guitar accompaniment and had appeared many times on Welsh television programmes such as 'Hob y Deri Dando'. She was part of the female bands 'Y Cyfeillion', 'Y Meillion' and 'Yr Eirlysiau' when a student at Cathays High School in Cardiff and by 1968 she was one of the most well-known and most popular contemporary solo artists in Wales. As well as performing in concerts and gigs across the length and breadth of Wales she also appeared in the celebrated Welsh pop gig 'Pinaclau Pop' at Pontrhydfendigaid in 1968, where young people from all over Wales came to enjoy and to listen to new music in the Welsh language. Heather also sang in English at this time and performed at many of the folk clubs in south Wales. She released another single in 1969, this time on the Cambrian label, and after studying to be a Welsh teacher for a year she left college and decided to go full time as a singer. Many television opportunities followed and by 1972 she had her own Welsh tv series. While performing in a music show with folk and ballad singer Meic Stevens at the Bangor Eisteddfod in 1971 she met the rock group James Hogg, from Bridgend. The band featured on two of her singles on the Sain label - 'Colli Iaith' in 1971 and 'Pan Ddaw'r Dydd' in 1972, records which also featured some classic, now well-known songs, by Geraint Jarman. 

But it was in 1974 that she released her first album, 'Mae'r Olwyn yn Troi' - the first album of original Welsh pop music to be released by Sain and it came about through the collaborations between Heather and James Hogg at the National Eisteddfod. The album showed a definite maturity in Heather's musical style with the songs a mix of folk and rock and James Hogg members, Greg Harris (guitar), John Lloyd (drums), and Rob Ash (bass) and other musicians Heather had worked with at the BBC or had met at the folk clubs also contributing, namely Gary Rickard (guitar), Phil Mignaud (guitar), Vivien Hubbard (recorder), Wayne Warlow (obo) and Betty Rees (strings). The album had a new, striking sound, with instruments such as the recorder and the oboe adding something very different to the Welsh pop sound at the time. Kingsley Ward was the sound engineer and the whole album was recorded at his Rockfield Studio in Monmouthshire. Heather, together with her partner Geraint Jarman and singer-songwriter and co-founder of Sain, Huw Jones co-produced the album. Some well-known names in the Welsh pop scene also took part with Geraint Jarman being a co-driving force behind the project, as well as taking a prominent role in composing and choosing many of the songs. Welsh folk group Ac Eraill can be heard as backing vocals on the opening song, 'Glyndŵr' and on piano is Hefin Elis, member of ground-breaking Welsh rock group Edward H Dafis and many other groups during the 70s. Long time friend of Heather, musician and composer Catrin Edwards wrote the song 'Dan y Dŵr' especially for this album and also played guitar and harmonica on the track. They both met at the Conway pub in Cardiff and went on to perform together in the humorous folk group Neli.

Huw Jones notes that the whole project was a "commercial and creative gamble because we had to book a lot of studio time at Rockfield, but it was clear that Heather, with her stunning voice, was the right choice for this venture. The album was so influential. Apart from showing us and everyone what was possible, it also showed us what was needed in order for us to move on to work on similar ambitious projects with other artists and groups, and of course we then went on to set up our own studio as part of Sain, at Gwernafalau, Llandwrog, near Caernarfon, a studio where we could have the freedom to spend time working on sound and content. The album is a really important part of Welsh Pop music history and it's an extraordinary collection of songs that I still enjoy listening to today." 

The real star of the album is, of course, Heather herself. Her amazing pure voice and her direct and subtle style shines through. She also showed her composing skills on songs such as 'Mynd yn ôl i'r Dre' (Going back to the town) and 'Nos Ddu' (Black Night) and her spell-binding arrangements of folk songs 'Tra bo dau' (While there are two) and 'Aderyn Pur' (Gentle Dove), songs she had sung since her school days. Heather has always enjoyed a mixture of styles and has been able to move freely and successfully from folk to rock and jazz, as this album shows. She was also one of the first female solo artists in Wales to front a band, although she also often performed solo.  

Five solo albums followed 'Mae'r Olwyn yn Troi' - 'Jiawl' in 1976, a rock based album with Heather working with musicians such as guitar genius Tich Gwilym, 'Petalau yn y Gwynt' in 1990, 'Hwyrnos' in 2000 and 'Enaid' in 2006, all released on the Sain label. Then came 'Dim Difaru' in 2006 on Recordiau'r Graig. She worked with rock-jazz band Red Brass in the 70s, which also featured Annie Lennox, and then came back to her folk roots in the 80s while working with the group Hin Deg. But her very first album is definitely a milestone in Welsh music history and a gem in the Welsh music archive.

Dafydd Iwan says that Heather has made an enormous contribution and has also been able to stand her ground for over 50 years, giving us folk, rock, musicals, protest songs and country, with her singing still engaging and enthralling audiences. Her enthusiasm and passion can be heard on every record and in every live performance. As Heather herself once said: "music is everything to me - I need to live and sing music from the bottom of my heart."