Child star turned TV presenter Aled Jones is releasing his first recording almost 40 years after it was made – after it was discovered by an old friend while clearing his house.
The Walking In The Air singer, now 46, released 16 albums between the ages of 12 and 16.
But his first recording, as he sung aged nine to test acoustics at Bangor Cathedral, has been hidden away until now.
It was rediscovered nearly four decades after it was made by one of Jones’s old choir friends.
Tenor Brian Saunderson, who found the tapes, had helped choirmaster Andrew Goodwin record Jones singing.
The 78-year-old stumbled across the original reel-to-reel tapes – the very first time that Jones recorded a track and made before he signed a record deal – while clearing his house.
“I was nine and three quarters!,” Jones, who has sung for the Pope and the Queen, told the Press Association. “I have no memory of doing these.
“Apparently they were checking out where would be good in the cathedral for acoustics… the choirmaster asked me to do it, we recorded three songs on a reel-to-reel tape.
“The man who recorded them… found the tapes on his shelf… I’m such a tiny little baby, I sound so young in them. They’re not perfect but it is nice to have the first recording that I ever made.”
The songs – How Beautiful Are the Feet, Pie Jesu (Faure) and Y Lili Ddwr (the Welsh version of The Lotus Flower by Schumann) – are being released as bonus tracks on Jones’s latest album.
The Classic FM presenter and breakfast TV host is also joined by his 12-year-old son, Lucas, on the album.
He duets on the hymn The Lord Is My Shepherd, arranged by Howard Goodall.
Announcing @realaled's brand new album, 'One Voice: Believe' – order your copy here: https://t.co/HmumtzHAE9 pic.twitter.com/Ed1cdinpmZ
— Classic FM (@ClassicFM) September 22, 2017
“He’s never had a lesson in his life, he’s never wanted to sing,” Jones said of his son. “He said to me, ‘I think my voice is going to break soon because I’m getting quite tall. It’s a shame we’ve never done anything together’.
“So I invited him into the studio. He sounds just like a child, he’s not a professional singer but it’s beautiful and we’ve got something we’ve done together.”
Jones said he was unscathed by child fame because he had “nothing to rebel against”.
There were no “downsides”, he said. “There was no pressure. It was brilliant. I went to fantastic places and got to meet my heroes.
“It was so alien to me and my parents. We were from a little village in North Wales where there was only one clothes shop so whenever I was on TV, off I went to Burton’s to buy a new outfit.”
The final instalment in his One Voice album trilogy – One Voice: Believe – is released on the Classic FM label on November 3.
