Paul Weller's little-known Welsh connection to Merthyr's Jonny Owen
For years, filmmaker Jonny Owen had been saying that his hero, singer Paul Weller, was Welsh. And not just Welsh - more importantly than that, The Jam lead vocalist had roots in Owen's beloved hometown of Merthyr Tydfil.Then, to mark Weller's 60th birthday, a national newspaper asked 20 well-known figures to pose any question they wanted to the star, known as The Modfather.Actress Vicky McClure, Owen's wife, was asked to contribute. Without him knowing, she decided to put an end to the debate with her husband about Weller's Welsh roots.
"She asked him, without telling me, which is quite funny," Owen told Lucy Owen. "She said, 'my husband is obsessed with you, to the point where he actually claims you're Welsh. Not only that, he actually claims you're from Merthyr Tydfil'. "And he came back confirming that his grandmother was indeed from Merthyr Tydfil and lived in Aberdare as a young girl. I was over the moon."
Owen has since got to know Weller and they text and meet up every now and then. And when he played the Town Called Malice star some music by an up and coming singer from Merthyr called Nancy Williams, it proved to be a hit."He gave her a week free in his barn studios, he said 'get her down to my studios and let her record'," Owen said. "That's the kind of guy he is, he supports not just new artists but Welsh artists as well, so he hasn't forgotten his roots. What a guy."
As part of a season across BBC Wales celebrating Merthyr Tydfil and the 200th birthday of Cyfarthfa Castle, Owen has been discovering more about the place where he grew up in a documentary series for BBC Radio Wales called Merthyr Made Me.He said his favourite thing he discovered from a historian he spoke to as part of the documentary was how the famous Welsh valleys accent was born in Merthyr. "There was no Welsh accent [when speaking English] before, because people spoke Welsh. All these people came together from Ireland, west, north Wales, England, Italy, Spain, as part of the industrial revolution there," he said. "And this accent was sort of created. It's the accent I've got, the accent people know all over Wales, all over the world know, a valleys accent. It was born in Merthyr. I thought that was fascinating."
As part of the documentary series, Owen returns to his roots to learn about his own family history as well as the town's history - even going back to his old primary school in Heolgerrig. "They traced all my generations back and I'm almost a perfect example of someone from Merthyr," Owen said, speaking about relatives like his great-grandfather who left Ireland for the "goldrush" town in search of work during the industrial revolution."There was even a saying in west and north Wales that if someone disappeared for whatever reason, they would say they've gone to Merthyr," he said. "People would just turn up in Merthyr because there was work there."
Owen and McClure now return to Merthyr Tydfil as often as possible, organising their Day Fever daytime disco events in the town as well as watching Merthyr Town FC, which they sponsor. "[Vicky] loves Merthyr," Owen said."We try to do as much as we possible can in our hometowns. We film stuff there and try to create a positive impression of both places."She's an adopted Merthyr girl, the people there love her and she loves the town as well." You can catch up with Lucy's full interview with Jonny Owen on BBC Sounds.
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