Jonathan Wright
At Kellys Records in Cardiff, a debate is taking place. Its subject is a white-label single unearthed in one of the store’s bargain bins. It appears to be, Gruff Rhys and Long Live Vinyl helpfully point out, a Welsh-language version of (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden, singer-songwriter Joe South’s country standard and a huge 1970 hit for Lynn Anderson. Job done, mystery solved… except even in a store staffed by native speakers, where the combined knowledge of Welsh music is formidable, nobody has any clear idea about the identity of the singer.