Mary Hopkin
Mary Hopkin (born
3 May,
1950) is a
Welsh singer.
Born in
Pontardawe,
Wales, she grew up speaking
Welsh and began her musical career as a folk singer. She was 'discovered' by
Twiggy, and became one of the first artists to record on
The Beatles'
Apple record label.
Her single
Those Were the Days, produced by
Paul McCartney, was released in the
UK on
August 30,
1968 (catalogue number
APPLE 2). Despite competition from a well-established star,
Sandie Shaw, who released her version of the same song as a single that same year, Hopkin's version became a #1 hit in the UK singles chart, and reached #2 in the US.
On
21 February 1969 her debut album
Postcard, also produced by McCartney, was released. It included covers of three songs from
Donovan, who also played on the album, and one song each from
George Martin and
Harry Nilsson.
The next single was
Goodbye, written by
Paul McCartney (but credited to
Lennon-McCartney), released on
28 March 1969 (APPLE 10); it reached #2 in the UK singles chart. It was kept off the top of the charts by the Beatles' single
Get Back.
Goodbye has never been officially released by the Beatles, although a demo version can be found on some of the
Beatles' bootlegs.
She represented the UK in the
1970 Eurovision Song Contest singing "Knock Knock Who's There", which came second in the contest, narrowly beaten by "
All Kinds of Everything" performed by Irish singer
Dana. "Knock Knock Who's There" was released as a single (APPLE 26) on
23 March 1970, reaching #2 again in the UK singles chart. Her second, folky album
Earth Song, Ocean Song was put out by Apple in 1970. The record was produced by her soon-to-be husband
Tony Visconti and included covers of songs written by
Cat Stevens,
Gallagher and Lyle, and
Ralph McTell.
After marrying Visconti in
1971, Hopkin withdrew from the pop music scene to have a family. Although reportedly unhappy with show business, Hopkin did not stop recording. With the help of Visconti,
1972 saw the release of the Christmas folk song "Mary Had A Baby"/"The Cherry Tree Carol" on the
Regal Zonophone label, which was re-released in
1973. Later that year, the single
Summertime Summertime/
Sweet And Low was released on the
Bell record label under the name of
Hobby Horse.
Although no other singles or albums came out in her name until 1976, she sang on numerous recordings that her husband Tony Visconti produced, such as those featuring
Tom Paxton,
Ralph McTell,
David Bowie,
Bert Jansch,
The Radiators From Space,
Thin Lizzy, Carmen, Sarstedt Brothers,
Osibisa,
Sparks,
Hazel O'Connor, and
Elaine Page. On all of these recordings (and also on her husband's own album
Inventory) she is credited as
Mary Visconti. During this time, she also appeared on various TV shows such as
Cilla Black's and various radio station programmes.
In
1976, she returned to recording under her own name and released the single
If You Love Me, (originally recorded by
Edith Piaf). The B-side
Tell Me Now was an original composition by Hopkin.
Her next single was
Wrap Me In You Arms, with the B-side again written by Hopkin (
Just A Dreamer). These singles came out on Visconti's own
Good Earth label. Talk of an album featuring Hopkin's songs (tentatively titled
With You Without You), occurred, but the album did not materialise.
Two members of
Steeleye Span (Bob Johnson and Pete Knight) chose Mary to play "Princess Lirazel" on their concept album
The King of Elfland's Daughter. She also appeared at the prestigious
Cambridge Folk Festival with
Bert Jansch. 1976 also saw the birth of her second child. Before the 1970s ended,
Decca released a compilation LP of Hopkin's
Cambrian Welsh recordings called
The Welsh World of Mary Hopkin.
Hopkin's first project in the
1980s was a well-reviewed stint playing the Virgin Mary in
Rock Nativity at the Hexagon Theatre in Reading. After this,
Mike Hurst (record producer and formerly of
the Springfields) asked her to sing lead in a new group named Sundance that he had formed with
Mike de Albuquerque of
ELO. Their one single, "What's Love", allowed them to tour the UK with the
Dr. Hook, but Hopkin shortly left the group, dissatisfied with the gigs. In
2002, Hurst released recordings from this time on the
Angel Air label.
In 1981, Mary Hopkin and Tony Visconti divorced. The following year, she provided vocals on "Rachel's Song" for the
Vangelis soundtrack of
Blade Runner. Around 1984,
Peter Skellern asked Mary to join him and
Julian Lloyd Webber in a band called Oasis. The self-titled record
Oasis was released on
WEA along with two singles. A tour of the UK was planned but was brought to an abrupt end because of Hopkin took ill. The group disbanded shortly thereafter.
During the
1980s, Hopkin appeared in several charity shows, including an appearance at the
London Palladium with
Ralph McTell. In 1988, she took part in
George Martin's production of
Dylan Thomas's
Under Milk Wood. She played the character Rosie Probert and notably performed a piece called "Love Duet" with
Freddie Jones as Captain Cat. The making of the record was filmed and made into a
South Bank Show Special, where Mary and Freddie were shown rehearsing and recording "Love Duet". In
1992, the cast reunited for a performance of the play as a tribute to Dylan Thomas in the presence of
Prince Charles for the
Prince's Trust.
In 1989, Hopkin recorded a CD of songs called
Spirit. This was recorded on the
Trax label and is a collection of light classical songs, featuring the single "Ave Maria." The record was produced by
Benny Gallagher of Gallagher and Lyle, who had contributed songs to her during her days at Apple Records.
Early in 1990, she was asked to sing with
the Chieftains at the London Palladium in a charity show, and she would later join them on a tour of the UK.
Again she continued to do projects she wanted, working with people like
Julian Colbeck, she wrote the words and performed a song on his CD
Back to Bach. Also, there was
Marc Cerrone's
The Collector, a stage play/opera, for which she performed two tracks on the CD and video. She worked again with her old guitarist
Brian Willoughby and
Dave Cousins (of
The Strawbs) on their CD
The Bridge. Hopkin also appears on a
Beatles tribute album by
RAM Pietsch.
Around 1996, a Welsh label called
Sain bought Cambrian's back catalogue and released all Hopkin's Welsh recordings on a CD called
The Early Years, which removed the overdubbed drums found in the Decca recordings.
In 1999, she was again invited to join
the Chieftains on their UK tour, and later that year performed a few concerts in Scotland with Benny Gallagher and
Jim Diamond. More recently there have been three TV documentaries done about her, one each for
ITV,
BBC, and
S4C.
She has guested on
The Crocketts' album
The Great Brain Robbery, sang the theme song for
Billy Connolly's BBC TV series
The World Tour, and recorded "Those Were The Days" with
Robin Williams rapping. She also appeared in a film by
Sara Sugarman called
Very Annie Mary, and duetted with
Dolly Parton on her 2005 CD "Those Were The Days," which went to #48 on the US charts (#9 Country) and #35 in the UK (#2 UK Country).
Her most recent release was on her own label Mary Hopkin Music called
Live at the Royal Festival Hall released September 2005.
*
Apple Records*
Apple Records discography*
Mary Hopkin Friendly Society*
Official Website*
Mary Hopkin fan page 
