Carousel (Instrumental)

Music: Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook

The Players
Charles Jenkins: ukulele
Mark Shobbrook:  guitar, percussion
Jim Granville: bass guitar

Arranged by Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook. Produced by Mark Shobbrook at Dragon Jam Studios, Bridgend.  


Carousel

Myfanwy’s Kitchen
Strange things happen in Myfanwy’s kitchen.  Cross the bridge to where dreams become reality and reality becomes a dream.   Take a stroll around your mind and who knows what you may find.

Lyrics: Charles Jenkins
Music: Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook

The Players
Charles Jenkins: vocals, ukulele
Mark Shobbrook: guitar, percussion, backing vocals
Jim Granville: bass guitar

Arranged by Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook.  Produced by Mark Shobbrook at Dragon Jam Studios, Bridgend.


Myfanwy's Kitchen

The Margam Bando Boys
Bando was a team game similar to hurling or shinty, played in Wales in the nineteenth century.  Hockey type sticks, bandos, were used to strike a ball between markers which served as goals. The Margam Bando Boys were one of the most famous teams.  In 1817, a game between Margam and Newton-Nottage attracted a crowd of more than three thousand at Sker beach.  Onlookers would first gather at the Angel Inn in Maudlam to sample the local ale and place bets on the match. The Margam Bando Boys were celebrated in a nineteenth century poem, from which this song takes its inspiration:
Due praises I'll bestow
And all the world shall know
That Margam valour shall keep its colour
When Kenfig's waters flow

Our master, straight and tall
Is foremost with the ball
He is, we know it, and must allow it
The fastest man of all

Lyrics: Charles Jenkins
Music: Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook

The Players
Charles Jenkins: vocals, ukulele
Mark Shobbrook:  backing vocals, guitar, percussion
Jim Granville: bass guitar

Arranged by Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook. Produced by Mark Shobbrook at Dragon Jam Studios, Bridgend.  


The Margam Bando Boys

Harbour Lights
This song is based on the wrecking of the steamship Samtampa during a terrible storm at Sker Point, South Wales on 23 April 1947.  The Mumbles lifeboat was called out but was beaten back by the tumultuous seas and returned to base. Undeterred, the lifeboat returned for a second time and used an area of calm water created by oil from the ship to pull alongside and attempt a rescue.  However, all eight members of the lifeboat were drowned along with the entire crew of 39 from the ship.   

Lyrics: Charles Jenkins
Music: Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook

The Players
Charles Jenkins: vocals, guitar, ukulele
Mark Shobbrook:  backing vocals

Arranged by Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook. Produced by Mark Shobbrook at Dragon Jam Studios, Bridgend.  


Harbour Lights

White Wheat
Ann Thomas, the Maid of Cefn Ydfa, was born in the village of Llangynwyd in 1704.  When her father William died in 1706, she was placed in the care of local lawyer Anthony Maddocks.  At the age of 21, she was forced to marry Maddocks’ son Anthony, though she had fallen in love with local poet and thatcher Wil Hopcyn.  Ann and Wil continued to communicate by letter, but when this was discovered by her mother her writing materials were taken away.  Legend has it that she continued to write to Wil using her own blood on ivy leaves, secreted away by servants.  Ann pined so badly for Wil that she was confined to a locked room to prevent further communication, but eventually she fell desperately ill.   On her deathbed, she asked to see Wil and when he arrived she died in his arms.  The story of the Maid of Cefn Ydfa is commemorated in the traditional Welsh folk tune Bugeilio’r Gwenith Gwyn (Watching the White Wheat) which provided the inspiration for this song.

Lyrics: Mark Shobbrook
Music: Mark Shobbrook & Charles Jenkins

The Players
Mark Shobbrook: vocals, guitar, keyboards
Charles Jenkins: ukulele 

Arranged and produced by Mark Shobbrook at Dragon Jam Studios, Bridgend.


White Wheat

The Beast of Bala
Llyn Tegid or Bala Lake is Wales’ largest, nestling amongst the green hills of Snowdonia.  Tales of a mysterious monster ‘Teggie’ inhabiting the lake have abounded since ancient times.  She was filmed prowling the waters in 1976, so we know that she really does exist.  A team of Japanese researchers went looking for her in 1999, but the wily beast gave them the slip.  Some believe that she is actually the ‘Pontrhydfendigaid witch Mari Berllan Biter’ who can transform herself into any shape or form. 
A fishy tail indeed.

Lyrics: Mark Shobbrook
Music: Mark Shobbrook & Charles Jenkins

The Players
Mark Shobbrook: vocals, guitar, piano, percussion
Charles Jenkins: ukulele
Jim Granville: bass guitar

Arranged and produced by Mark Shobbrook at Dragon Jam Studios, Bridgend.


The Beast Of Bala

Eyes Upon You
This song is based on the legend of Myfanwy of Dinas Bran, set at Dinas Bran castle, Llangollen.  A penniless young bard Hywel ap Einion falls in love with the most beautiful woman in Powys Myfanwy, the daughter of the Earl of Arundel.  Hywel is granted an audience to court her, by playing his harp and singing, during which she is enraptured by his performance.  However, when a richer and more handsome man comes along, he is quickly discarded and forgotten by Myfanwy.

Lyrics: Charles Jenkins
Music: Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook

The Players
Charles Jenkins: vocals, ukulele
Mark Shobbrook:  backing vocals, guitar, penny whistle, percussion
Jim Granville: backing vocals, bass guitar

Arranged by Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook. Produced by Mark Shobbrook at Dragon Jam Studios, Bridgend.  


Eyes Upon You

Too Drunk Tonight
A cautionary tale of the perils of drinking to excess.  Boy meets girl and a bottle of whiskey, and it all goes downhill from there.

Lyrics: Charles Jenkins
Music: Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook

The Players
Charles Jenkins: vocals, ukulele, mandolin
Mark Shobbrook:  guitar, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
Jim Granville: bass guitar

Arranged by Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook. Produced by Mark Shobbrook at Dragon Jam Studios, Bridgend.  


Too Drunk Tonight

The Ballad of Twm Sion Cati
Twm Sion Cati , often referred to as the Welsh Robin Hood, was an illegitimate son born in the village of Tregaron around 1530 and named after his mother Cati Jones.  Growing up as a Protestant, he turned to highway robbery to make a living as an outcast under the rule of the Catholic queen Mary.  He fled to Switzerland until pardoned by the Protestant queen Elizabeth.  Legendary tales tell of his quick wittedness and sharp-shooting through which he tricked the good and the bad alike.
On his return, he married a rich widow by threatening to cut her hand with a dagger, unless she agreed to his terms.  He is said to have lived out the rest of his days as a magistrate and highly respected member of society.  

Lyrics: Charles Jenkins
Music: Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook

The Players
Charles Jenkins: vocals, ukulele
Mark Shobbrook:  vocals, guitar, penny whistle, percussion
Jim Granville: bass guitar

Arranged by Charles Jenkins & Mark Shobbrook. Produced by Mark Shobbrook at Dragon Jam Studios, Bridgend.  


The Ballad of Twm Sion Cati

Abercarn
Just after midday on 11 September 1878, a huge explosion ripped through the Prince of Wales Colliery in Abercarn, South Wales.   Of the 325 men and boys working underground, 268 were killed.  The colliery’s steam whistle blew to signal that an emergency was underway, drawing families and loved ones to the pithead.   Of those killed, only 12 bodies were recovered, leaving 256 entombed.  Many blamed the disaster on the mine owners’ greed for profit and scant regard for safety.

Lyrics: Mark Shobbrook
Music: Mark Shobbrook & Charles Jenkins

The Players
Mark Shobbrook: vocals, guitar, percussion
Charles Jenkins: ukulele
Jim Granville: bass guitar

Arranged and produced by Mark Shobbrook at Dragon Jam Studios, Bridgend.


Abercarn

The Bando Boys are a South Wales based folk rock band, featuring Mark Shobbrook on  vocals, guitar, keyboards & penny whistle, Charles Jenkins on vocals, guitar, ukulele & mandolin and Jim Granville on bass guitar & backing vocals.   Their unique sound veers from Celtic influenced foot tappers with driving rhythms and big harmony sing-along choruses to quiet and reflective ballads, blending traditional and contemporary instrumental styles. 
Their first album ‘Too Drunk Tonight’ was inspired by stories and legends from around Wales, from mining disasters to mysterious monsters.  Ten original tracks, written by Mark Shobbrook and Charles Jenkins, will take you on a musical tour through Welsh folklore.  With songs to make you smile, contemplate or just tap your feet and sing along, we hope you enjoy. 


The Bando Boys

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