Aled Jones
Singer, actor, radio and television presenter, Arsenal supporter, Welshman… Aled Jones has been a household name for 25 years now. And to mark his silver jubilee in the limelight he’s recorded the first ‘rock’ album of his career. “Don’t worry – I haven’t gone thrash metal or anything,” laughs Aled. “But I did think it was about time I tried something new.” That ‘something new’ is Reason to Believe, a selection of songs old and new, secular and (occasionally) devotional, showcasing the voice that has been entrancing audiences since he was a choirboy.
The album – Aled’s first with a band, and his first since a close brush with death last Christmas - includes a duet with Cerys Matthews that’s sure to become a radio favourite, and other notable collaborations with Leona Daly and Gretchen Peters. “I’ve been singing hymns for years and I’m 36 years old now,” explains Aled. “So I’ve gone looking for songs with the same inspirational quality as a hymn, but not necessarily the same subject matter. And I think I’ve found them.”
Cerys added on her participation with the project, "I've always loved The Drifters' version of 'Some Kind Of Wonderful' and it's been eight years since I recorded 'Baby It's Cold Outside' with Tom Jones so it was good to do another duet with a fellow countryman. I did my vocals in Nashville, where I've been living, and Aled did his in London so I'm looking forward to us singing it together after I move back to the UK with my two children in September."
Many will already be familiar: Cat Stevens’s ‘Father And Son’ has also been taken to the top of the charts by Boyzone, while Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ has become a standard in the hands of Jeff Buckley. Likewise, ‘If’ is equally well known by Bread and ‘Kojak’ star Telly Savalas who took it to number one in 1975, while Rod Stewart has stamped his mark on Tim Hardin’s ‘Reason To Believe’ just as surely as James Taylor is the definitive voice of Carole King’s ‘You’ve Got A Friend’.
One thing is for sure: they are all given fresh life by Aled, whose distinctive voice, still as pure as when he was winning eisteddfods as a boy in Anglesey, stamps its mark on everything he sings. Of course he’s come a long way since ‘Walking In The Air’ brought him to public attention at the age of 12.
Aled was the first artist to sign for Universal Classics & Jazz – ahead of Jamie Cullum – when the label was formed at the turn of the 21st century in 2002 to pioneer the then-new genre of ‘crossover’ music. “When I started doing this no one else was doing this kind of crossover material,” he says, “and now everyone is having a go.” He adds: “I’ve had more fun making this album than any other in my career. And what I loved most was actually finding the songs to sing - that’s always been my favourite part.”
Another highlight was the chance to record with British ‘super-producer’ Jon Kelly, whose remarkable CV ranges from Paul McCartney and Kate Bush to Deacon Blue and Prefab Sprout, Chris Rea and Tori Amos. “That’s the music I grew up listening to so it was truly a dream to go and work with him,” says Aled. “We did it in his tiny home studio in his house in west London and it was just as great as I hoped it would be.”
So why the move towards rock and pop after 25 years and 23 albums – every one of which has gone platinum or gold? “It’s a way of moving the goal posts without alienating the people who like my music,” he replies. “Every record I’ve made before has been made for a Classic FM audience and this is a record to be played across the board… except, perhaps, by Classic FM!”
If there’s a sense that Aled has found a fresh lease of life with Reason to Believe then it’s no surprise – for he almost lost his life during a bizarre health scare last Christmas. “I was doing panto in Richmond and during the last dress rehearsal I got ‘stabbed’ in my Achilles heel by another performer’s high heel,” he recalls. “I instantly heard it snap so I went straight to hospital and they put a cast on it, which put an end to my panto plans.
“Three days later it was hurting so much I thought my leg was going to explode so I went back to hospital – and they told me I had a blood clot caused by DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) and that it could kill me! For three months I was on blood-thinning drugs and had to have an injection in my stomach every day, which wasn’t very nice. What’s worse, I almost lost the will to live, having to stay at home watching daytime TV.”
Happily, Aled made a full recovery – “though it still takes me two minutes to start walking when I get up in the morning” – and is now back at work with his astonishing schedule of radio and television work. Currently he presents ‘Songs Of Praise’ (BBC1), ‘Good Morning Sunday’ (BBC Radio 2), ‘Friday Night Is Music Night’ (BBC Radio 2), The Choir (BBC Radio 3), and his own musical chat show on BBC Radio Wales. He is also a team captain on BBC 1’s new quiz show ‘What Are You Like?’ hosted by Fiona Bruce and will be presenting the nightly BBC 1 Proms highlights shows during August.
REASON TO BELIEVE
The opening song No Frontiers illustrates what Aled means when he says he’s looking for songs with the same inspirational quality as a hymn. “It’s just as spiritual and uplifting as ‘Abide With Me’,” he says. Aled admits he was “a little scared” to attempt his own version of a song that Irish singer Mary Black has made her own - perhaps that’s why he shares the burden with Gretchen Peters! At one point in the song, Aled has changed the lyric to alter the name ‘Amelia’ to that of his own daughter ‘Emilia’. “I know it’s corny,” he laughs, “but I just couldn’t resist it!”
Next up is a version of Reason to Believe, a song written by Tim Hardin but popularised by Rod Stewart during the early days of his solo career. “That’s the version I know and love,” says Aled, whose pure voice and perfect enunuciation could hardly be further removed from Rod’s gravely rasp. “I loved it as a kid and I like the dual meaning of the lyrics – it’s a song to put a smile on your face.”
Some Kind of Wonderful sees Aled team up with Cerys Matthews, now a solo singer following her rise to fame with Catatonia. “I’m a huge fan of Cerys,” he confesses. “I first met her on a Welsh chat show and we’ve run into each other now and again since then. She has such a childlike quality to her voice. When I first played this back at home my daughter asked me why I hadn’t got her to sing on it if I was going to record it with a little girl!”
Most music fans will know David Gates’s song If through the performance by his group Bread, though it actually became a UK number one single in the hands of ‘Kojak’ star Telly Savalas in 1975. “I didn’t know that until after I’d recorded it,” chuckles Aled, who could be forgiven for his ignorance – he would only have been four at the time. “It has a hymnal quality to it. I do it in concert all the time now with just an acoustic guitar and it seems to have become the one that everyone likes more than everything else.”
Father and Son is making its second appearance on an Aled Jones album. “I recorded it for my first album as a man, ‘From The Heart’, and I wanted to have another go. I would have loved to get Cat Stevens – or Yusuf Islam as he is now - to do the question and answer section in the middle, but sadly it wasn’t possible.”
Hallelujah is simply “a beautiful piece of music,” whether it’s being sung by its composer, Leonard Cohen, or Jeff Buckley, who has turned it into a modern-day standard. “I just tried to be honest with the words,” says Aled, “though there were a few dodgy lyrics I couldn’t do because of the sort of programmes I make!”
There’s a similar quality of beauty to Sarah Maclachlan’s Angel, another song that’s been performed by many different singers. “I think it’s a song you need to have had some sort of experience in life to sing,” says Aled. “We’ve changed it a little by bringing in drums on the third verse to give it a bit of rhythm and I think it’s the first time it’s been done like that.”
All My Trials Lord is another song Aled has been thinking of recording since he first sang it on ‘Songs Of Praise’ four years ago – and now he’s finally had his opportunity.
Always There is by Secret Garden’s Rolf Lovland, the composer of another Aled favourite, ‘You Raise Me Up.’ In fact, jokes Aled, “it’s almost ‘You Raise Me Up’ backwards! Actually I think it’s an even better song. It has an anthemic quality and I do it in concert a lot now.”
Aled’s approach to The Rose is to confound expectations. “It’s always been a big tune with people like Bette Midler and Michael Ball,” he says – not to mention Westlife’s 20067 chart topper – “but I do a really quiet one because the words are so emotive,” he says. “All I’m aiming for here is a really honest vocal.”
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s how Aled approached You’ve Got a Friend, a song written by Carole King but synonymous with James Taylor’s 1971 hit version. “Everyone knows this and there is nothing you can do except sing it,” he says. “There’s no point trying to put your own stamp on it in any way apart from the voice.”
“There are two versions of Be Still My Soul and I’ve done the Sibelius/Finlandia version,” says Aled. “I love this piece, it’s a massive anthem. Other people go huge but once again, I’ve gone the other way, which works well with Simon Law’s subtle string arrangements.”
Whenever God Shines His Light, a Christmas hit for Cliff Richard and Van Morrison in 1989, is another song Aled has recorded before, on ‘From The Heart’. It’s also another duet, this time with Leona Daly. “She’s fantastic – she’s one of those white girls with a voice that sounds black.”