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‘Havana’ by
Geraint Griffiths.
Diwedd Y Gwt DYG
CD072
This
new recording from Geraint Griffiths is the tenth collection of his
songs. These
are rock songs and the electric guitar takes centre stage. Since his
days with Eliffant, Injaroc and Edward H Dafis, rock music is
Geraint’s first love. The album was recorded at his studio in
Carmarthen.
HAVANA
is a musical journey that takes us from the Caribbean islands of the
Bahamas and Cuba to the shores of Venezuela. From Wales, over the
mountains of Umbria, following the paths of the saints to the walls of
Rome. The songs have a strong sense of place, which are the locations
for events past and present.
The
songs are intensely personal, they speak of loss, of love, of hope and
war time experiences. There is also a tale of tragedy in Garnant in the
twenties that touched Geraint’s family. These are powerful rock songs
without doubt.
The
CD closes with a new version of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Land Of My Fathers).
Not only because it’s the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its
first performance but also because it’s a beautiful song, rarely heard
in its full version.
HAVANA
is released on the Diwedd Y Gwt label and is available in your local
Welsh music shop and over the Internet. For more information go to
Geraint’s website:
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www.geraintgriffiths.com
Background
of Gof Cwrt, Siop Star and Meddwl Am Hedy Lamarr
Cwrtycadno remembered in song.
Cwrtycadno
was once an important crossroads on the route from Cardiganshire to the
stockyards of England. This is where the drovers would rest on the long
journey to Smithfield market. Where they would have the cattle shod to
protect their hooves and where there would be water and grazing for the
herd. The Jones family had been blacksmiths at Cwrt and Nant Gwasanaeth
for generations but with the arrival of the railroad the world changed
forever. The story of William Jones is told in the song Gof Cwrt
(The Cwrt Blacksmith). William decides that a life in the smithy is not
for him and he leaves
Cwrtycadno for the modern world outside to join the new technological
revolution. He becomes a railway man. Gof Cwrt is one of
eleven tracks on HAVANA by Geraint Griffiths, the great grandson
of William Jones.
A black day in Garnant remembered in song.
In
1921 Garnant was rocked by a terrible crime that was never fully solved.
The Star Supply Stores, in the centre of the village, was managed by
Thomas Thomas, a young man from Llangyndeyrn. One Saturday night as he
was counting the week’s takings someone broke in to the shop, stole
the money and left Thomas for dead. The culprit was never caught in
spite of the best efforts of two Scotland Yard detectives. Although
there is anecdotal evidence of a deathbed confession many years later
far away in the USA (or Australia). The story is told in Siop Star
one of eleven tracks on a new CD by Carmarthen recording artist Geraint
Griffiths. Thomas Thomas was the nephew of Geraint’s great
grandfather.
Hedy Lamarr and the man from the Afan valley.
They
said that Bryn Griffiths had a good war. He spent the closing years
sunning himself on the beaches of the Bahamas. He was based there as
part of the team that trained pilots for the RAF. But the truth was very
different. Bryn may have been in the Caribbean but his heart was with
his young wife back in Wales. Bryn’s story is told in Meddwl Am
Hedy Lamarr, one of eleven tracks on HAVANA, a new CD by
Carmarthen recording artist Geraint Griffiths. Bryn was Geraint’s
father.
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