The Mountain Men of Gilfach Goch

The Mountain Men were a mid-sixties musical combo from Gilfach Goch who specialised in playing wild, hairy-arsed, Rhythm and Blues. To reinforce their Rousseauesque image they sported goatskin jackets and matching boots on stage. Their primitivism wasn't just confined to questionable sartorial tastes. These noble savages took the whole goat concept to its logical conclusion by adopting a real one as their mascot. Its name was Caradog and it lived at Barry Zoo (long-since shut down). In 1965 when the band went to London to record Cell 39 / Bald-Headed Woman they took the goat with them. I have a picture of them performing at an outdoor concert - on stage with the band is the goat. Later in 1965 the Mountain Men independently released Too Many People / Without You on the EOS label. So collectable is this vinyl rarity that it will cost you northwards of £250 (if you are lucky) to get hold of a copy. The Mountain Men were Huw Chappell, Michael Mogg, Michael Edwards, Dennis Langmead, and Gerald Dendle.

*Drummer from the band Mike Edwards (Aubrey) - now a successful Tom Jones tribute act - would like to hear from you if you have a copy of the demo disc Cell 39 / Bald-Headed Woman. There are one or two copies knocking about apparently. You can contact Mike here.