Meredydd Evans (9 December 1919 – 21 February 2015), known colloquially as Merêd, was a collector, editor, historian and performer of folk music of Wales.
Evans served as Head of Light Entertainment at BBC Wales between 1963 and 1973; in this role, he has been credited with discovering performers including Meic Stevens and Ryan Davies.
[3][4][5][6] Richard, a socialist and engineer, worked at the Foel granite quarry whilst Charlotte fostered a cultured homelife, encouraging her children to read widely and singing to them, giving Evans his first exposure to Welsh folk songs.
[3][7] When Evans was fourteen, he left school after his father became too ill to work and supported his family with a job at the Co-op, where he stayed for seven years.
[9] He began a career as a solo folk singer and also formed a close harmony group, Triawd y Coleg, with Cledwyn Jones and Robin Williams.
[5][nb 1] After coming to the attention of BBC producer Sam Jones, Triawd y Coleg were recruited to be the stars of the Welsh-language light entertainment radio programme Noson Lawen.
[11] Broadcast monthly from Bangor, each edition of the show was bookended by performances by the group; they were nurtured by Jones, who was known to lock Evans in a room until he produced words for a tune.
[3] The group were the first musical performers in the Welsh-language achieve fame through the medium of radio, and their success made Evans a household name.
[14][15] Triawd y Coleg starred in a short film based upon the programme in 1950, with Evans playing a farmer's son who dreams of greater things.
[3][20] In March of that year, he met Phyllis Kinney, an American singer, whilst she was touring as lead solo with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in the UK.
[1][5] Evans left Coleg Harlech in 1950 and joined Hughes and Son's editorial staff in Oswestry as an assistant editor for the Welsh newspaper Y Cymro.
[1][22] Whilst studying at Princeton, Evans received a letter from Moe Asch, founder of Folkways Records, who was curious to hear Welsh folk songs.
[3][4] During his time in America, Evans was active in promoting Welsh music in the country, taking part in Gymanfa Ganu festivals, giving addresses and performing concerts, often with Kinney.
"[28] In 1962, Evans recorded a new album, A Concert of Welsh Songs, with Kinney, the Russian harpist Maria Korchinska and several backing musicians and singers conducted and arranged by Robert Docker.
[30] Evans later composed music to Harri Webb's patriotic poem "Colli Iaith" (Losing a Language), which has achieved the status of a traditional air.
[1] In 1976, Sain released Merêd, a new album of 28 traditional Welsh folk songs sequenced by theme and introduced by musicologist D. Roy Saer.
"[31] As head, Evans produced numerous popular television programmes including Fo a Fe, Ryan a Ronnie, Disc a Dawn, Lloffa and Hob y Deri Dando.
[10] Evans' support for the society's sometimes controversial campaigns "almost certainly cost him the job of controller of BBC Wales", a role he was widely tipped for, according to the journalist Meic Stephens.
[4][9] The three were found guilty at Carmarthen Crown Court of illegally switching off the transmitter, but the campaign has been widely credited as contributing to the 1982 launch of the Welsh language broadcasting service S4C.
[3] In 1999, Evans appeared in court after refusing to pay his TV licence, stating there had been a decrease in the amount of Welsh broadcasting over the proceeding decade.
[44] In 2013, Evans was awarded Tywysydd (guide) in the first ever Parêd Gŵyl Dewi Aberystwyth (St David's Day Parade) for his services to Wales and the Welsh language.