Sir Tom Jones speaks to Richard Stubbs about his love of performing, his pre and post-show routine and what it was like working with different artists on his new album '24 Hours'.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2010/02/26/2831455.htm?site=melbourne&program=melbourne_afternoons
Listen to Tom Jones interview with South Africa's 702 Talk Radio:
http://www.pod702.co.za/podcast/bestofjohn/2010310Bestofa.mp3
Welsh music superstar Sir Tom Jones is in New Zealand for a series of four concerts. 
After releasing his first single in 1964, Jones has sold over 100 million records.
His career highlights included a BRIT Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, a Silver Clef Award for Lifetime Achievement and a knighthood in 2006.
Today he held a media conference in Auckland and David Farrier attended and had the chance to ask a question he has always wanted to.
Watch the full media conference here: Press Conference
The Welsh wonder is back on the road! That's right, legendary crooner Tom Jones is back on tour entertaining the masses his classic songs. Tom is a living legend who has befriended, collaborated and hung out with practically every key character in the music and showbiz worlds. He has the rare ability to cut across generations and genres, appealing to young and old, mainstream and cutting edge alike. If you'd like to see him in action, here's where he'll be performing:
October 2009 UK tour
We all recognize his voice, we all know his face. He’s one of the biggest entertainers in music history, having sold over 100 million albums worldwide since he hit the scene in the ’60s. If he’s not performing 15-20 shows in Las Vegas, he’s making another memorable cameo somewhere in the film industry. Call him magical, call him unusual, but without a doubt, he’s out of this world. They call him Sir Tom Jones and after 40 years he continues to champion on. His relevancy is hardly questionable, as he’s endlessly cited as an influence by every other new singer to hit the market. His most recent studio foray, last year’s 24 Hours, charmed critics and fans alike. Songs like the soul-grasping “I’m Alive” or the funky swooning sensation “Give A Little Love” remind listeners why the Welsh legend has always found a place in their record collection.
Having said that, we’re pretty psyched about our recent interview with Sir Jones. That’s an understatement, really. Truth is, we’re still in disbelief. Here’s a guy that could (arguably) put Frank Sinatra to the test, who could walk into any establishment and tear down the walls piece by piece, without ever using anything but his voice. Here’s a guy who could survive an alien invasion (a la 1996’s Mars Attacks!) and yet still find the time to sing by the end of the chaos. Well, that last part might be fictional, but hey, it benefits our own argument.
So, wait no more, and listen to what the real boss has to say… http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/09/01/interview-tom-jones/
Is there anyone alive who's as cool as Tom Jones? I mean, what other singer's voice sounds fuller and more robust at age 69 than it did at 29? Who else would have not only the talent but the balls to share the stage with Janis Joplin in the '60s and cover an Iggy Pop tune with Chrissie Hynde in the '90s? And can you think of anyone else in recent history who may be best known for having multiple generations of women throw their underwear at him? I didn't think so.
Sure, the primary cause of the hysteria that's followed the man from stage to stage all over the world for the last 45 years is his voice -- that thunderous, booming instrument that, defying nature and all logic, keeps getting more powerful with each passing year. But Sir Tom is not just a one trick pony. The man's got style. He's a hell of a dancer. Some '70s excesses aside, he's a swanky dresser -- he can wear a tux or an open-necked silk shirt with a gaudy medallion, and look just as comfortable in either. He even makes his leonine white man 'fro look hot. And when he decided to lose the hair dye last year, his white hair made him look sexier, not older.
We mere mortals may never be able to possess Sir Tom's lung power, but with enough schooling, who's to say that dudes such as myself couldn't learn to channel our inner Tom Jones and use that mojo to turn otherwise sane women into panty-flinging hysterics? I decided to go to the source and learn the secrets of being Tom Jones from the man himself.
After several leads proved fruitless, I was finally able to schedule an interview through his British publicist, with two caveats: I had 20 minutes to do my job; and I had to spend at least part of the interview asking Mr. Jones about his latest album and tour. The album, 24 Hours, is his first to come out in America in 15 years. But it's now more than six months old, and despite my glowing review in HuffPost, it didn't exactly set the charts on fire Stateside, making it a rather less-than-newsworthy topic. But something was better than nothing, so I eagerly agreed.
The big day arrived, and I was as nervous as a kitten in a dog pound. A lot of friends asked me if I flung my underwear at him when we met. I didn't, not only because I have more use for my boxer briefs than he does, but because it was a phone interview. But Sir Tom was charming and put me at ease instantly; when I asked if I should call him "Sir Tom" or "Mr. Jones," he chuckled and said, "Just call me Tom."
OK, Sir... I mean Tom! We spent the first part of the interview discussing his recent gig at the opening party for Mardan Palace, the ultra-opulent Turkish resort which supposedly sports the largest swimming pool in all of Europe. "They had a dance floor in front of the stage -- it was all built for the event, so it was open-air. Thank God there were quite a few British people there, especially press, a lot of young members of the British press. And a lot of them were girls. So I said 'Come on, dance!' I didn't have to say it to them, though. When I started singing, they came forward and started dancing, and I said, 'That's great, do more of the same.'"
Then on to the new album, almost all of which he co-wrote -- quite a feat for a guy who's rarely penned his own tunes. "I've written songs before, but not so many. I mean, I co-wrote them with songwriters -- I'd be there, and I'd give them ideas, for what kind of thing I wanted, and then they'd put it together. And then I'd alter things. So I worked with some really good songwriters." When you've achieved Tom Jones' station in life, I guess that's how you do things -- call up the experts, tell 'em what you want, and give the results the thumbs-up or down. An important lesson for all us Sir Tom wannabes.
I asked him what new artists he's been listening to. "I like Duffy, Duffy's a Welsh singer, I think I could do something with her. But I like bands as well. I love the Kings Of Leon. That kid can sing." Damn, this guy really is pretty hip!
I asked the question that's been puzzling me all these years -- how the hell does he keep his voice in such good shape at his age? "When I first went to Vegas, I lost my voice one night. That was in 1968. This doctor came in and he said, 'You're too dry, you need humidity.' And he put humidifiers in the dressing room -- in those days I was doing two shows a night. Well, it was back by the second show. And it was all to do with humidity. I carry humidifiers with me, I've got a humidity gauge that I use to make sure that the humidity is right -- especially when you sleep. You shouldn't sleep in a dry atmosphere. It's very bad for the throat." (For the record, immediately following the interview, I installed a humidifier in my bedroom, but I'm still off-key and raspy when I try to sing "Daughter Of Darkness.")
My obligations having been met, and with a mere 10 minutes of interview time left, I pounced. "On behalf of all the men who want to get in touch with their inner Tom Jones, but don't have your voice, what are some of the secrets to your mojo?" I held my breath and waited for the wisdom to be handed down. For the torch to be passed to a new generation of hipsters. And I got... this:
If I didn't have this voice, I don't know. I didn't have to play rugby that well, and I didn't have to play cricket that well, because I had this voice. As with some kids in school -- you know, they're jocks, and they've gotta shine as football players, and the girls are very attracted to them. My thing was always the way I sing, so that's been a big plus. So somebody that can't sing, then I don't know what to say. But you've got to try and find your niche. Whatever it is, sometimes it does attract the opposite sex, sometimes it doesn't. So you've got to do the best you can with the tools you've got.
So, basically, if you don't sing like Tom Jones, you're screwed? No! That couldn't possibly be. Perhaps he was just holding out on me. I tried to dig a little deeper, get a little more specific. How about advice on picking out clothes?
I've got a guy in England, a stylist. I love designer suits, so he lets me know what's available. And he knows me well now, so he knows what I would like, and the stuff to stay away from. It's convenient to have somebody like that, because you don't have to go and look around at shops yourself. Which I've done at one time. I did get my clothes made for me, but there are so many good designers out there now that make great clothes off the rack. Try a lot of stuff, but go with your instincts. If it fits well and it looks good and you like wearing it, then that's what you should go with.
My dreams of achieving Tomness were growing fainter with every passing moment. Um... how about dancing? Any signature moves to recommend to us left-footed Sir Tom wannabes out there?
First of all, you don't want to look silly. I mean, you've got to be able to dance. I have a natural ability for dancing, but you can't overdo it. Sometimes, I tend to -- because I forget how old I am -- I might do something that doesn't work as well as it did when I was young. You can't go doing the same kind of moves, because it just looks silly, and people can see that. As I've gotten older, I've just cooled it down a bit. But I've got to be told sometimes that I'm not 25 or 35 anymore.
In a word, no. But just when all hope was lost, I started to gather a few valuable nuggets of information. Such as, what to do to break the ice with a woman:
I would think it's in the eyes. I think a look says a lot, before you even ask a question. A gentle look. I think you should put somebody at ease with the way you look, before you even speak. It's important to put somebody at ease, so that when you do say something it's not shocking. But the look is important.
Awesome! How about advice on what to drink when you're making eyes at the sweet young thing across the bar?
It all depends where I am. If it's in England in a pub, it would be a British ale. I love British beer. It's ale, you know, it's not lager. But then again, if I was in a nice restaurant and I went to the bar, it would either be a vodka martini or a champagne cocktail
We were on a roll. How does a TJ aspirant know how much jewelry is enough and how much is too much?
I've learned over the years not to overdo it. I've tried wearing more than one ring on one hand and it doesn't look good. It's overkill, I think. So I think a ring on either hand. Nine times out of ten I'll go for pinky rings, but not always. And I've always liked the cross and chain, so I have quite a number of those. My stage jewelry is a bit more than I would wear out, normally. Sometimes I'll wear a cross with diamonds in it on the stage, and the same thing with the watch, and the same thing with the rings. But in the daytime, it's more sort of solid gold than with stones in it. Or even if I went out at night to a restaurant.
Well, things were really starting to click here. I'd already gone 15 minutes over my allotted time, but I had one very important question left to ask: You've gotten the girl back to your room. You sit on the couch and get comfortable. What music, Tom Jones records excepted, do you play to get the pettin' party underway?
If it's a nice situation, and you're just relaxed, you need background music. You don't need anything that the person that you're with says, "Who's that?" If you're trying to be with somebody, you don't want to be distracted by the music. You want it to blend in with the mood. So I would say background music, something nice and mellow. You don't want anything that's loud. Music is great, it all depends on what mood you're in, what you want to listen to. If it's party time, you listen to, you know, party music, if you want to dance with somebody. But then again, if it's a slow dance, you need something slow. So it all depends on the mood, what mood you're in.
Um, any artists in particular? What is background music, anyway?
I would say if you're talking to somebody, if you're having a romantic evening with somebody, you need background music. You don't want anything to distract from what you're saying, or when you're giving them the look, like we talked about.
And with that, our interview was over. And I wasn't really any closer to channeling my Jonesness than I had been when we first started chatting.
But I hadn't given up hope. I thought, maybe, with a week or so to think about my line of questioning, Sir Tom would surely become the oracle of cool I'd expected, dispensing pearls of wisdom like they were sweat-stained hankies. He was due in New York a week hence; maybe an in-person interview would make him more at ease. Perhaps we could even go out to a bar together and he could show me how to pick up a woman, Tom Jones-style! My fantasies grew ever more grandiose as I dashed off an email requesting a followup. I could show him some of my favorite NYC watering holes... we could hit a few golf balls at Chelsea Piers... I could visit him on the West Coast and we'd become BFFs....
A few days later, I got the response from the publicist:
We can't commit to more time at this point as he will be rehearsing and we don't have a precise schedule for that yet.
Tom Jones will be playing the Beacon Theater in New York City on July 21st. If you hear someone in the loge screaming things like "Boxers or briefs, Tom?" or "How do you like your eggs?", I apologize. Is there anyone alive who's as cool as Tom Jones? I mean, what other singer's voice sounds fuller and more robust at age 69 than it did at 29? Who else would have not only the talent but the balls to share the stage with Janis Joplin in the '60s and cover an Iggy Pop tune with Chrissie Hynde in the '90s? And can you think of anyone else in recent history who may be best known for having multiple generations of women throw their underwear at him?
I didn't think so.
Sure, the primary cause of the hysteria that's followed the man from stage to stage all over the world for the last 45 years is his voice -- that thunderous, booming instrument that, defying nature and all logic, keeps getting more powerful with each passing year. But Sir Tom is not just a one trick pony. The man's got style. He's a hell of a dancer. Some '70s excesses aside, he's a swanky dresser -- he can wear a tux or an open-necked silk shirt with a gaudy medallion, and look just as comfortable in either. He even makes his leonine white man 'fro look hot. And when he decided to lose the hair dye last year, his white hair made him look sexier, not older.
We mere mortals may never be able to possess Sir Tom's lung power, but with enough schooling, who's to say that dudes such as myself couldn't learn to channel our inner Tom Jones and use that mojo to turn otherwise sane women into panty-flinging hysterics? I decided to go to the source and learn the secrets of being Tom Jones from the man himself.
After several leads proved fruitless, I was finally able to schedule an interview through his British publicist, with two caveats: I had 20 minutes to do my job; and I had to spend at least part of the interview asking Mr. Jones about his latest album and tour. The album, 24 Hours, is his first to come out in America in 15 years. But it's now more than six months old, and despite my glowing review in HuffPost, it didn't exactly set the charts on fire Stateside, making it a rather less-than-newsworthy topic. But something was better than nothing, so I eagerly agreed.
The big day arrived, and I was as nervous as a kitten in a dog pound. A lot of friends asked me if I flung my underwear at him when we met. I didn't, not only because I have more use for my boxer briefs than he does, but because it was a phone interview. But Sir Tom was charming and put me at ease instantly; when I asked if I should call him "Sir Tom" or "Mr. Jones," he chuckled and said, "Just call me Tom."
OK, Sir... I mean Tom! We spent the first part of the interview discussing his recent gig at the opening party for Mardan Palace, the ultra-opulent Turkish resort which supposedly sports the largest swimming pool in all of Europe. "They had a dance floor in front of the stage -- it was all built for the event, so it was open-air. Thank God there were quite a few British people there, especially press, a lot of young members of the British press. And a lot of them were girls. So I said 'Come on, dance!' I didn't have to say it to them, though. When I started singing, they came forward and started dancing, and I said, 'That's great, do more of the same.'"
Then on to the new album, almost all of which he co-wrote -- quite a feat for a guy who's rarely penned his own tunes. "I've written songs before, but not so many. I mean, I co-wrote them with songwriters -- I'd be there, and I'd give them ideas, for what kind of thing I wanted, and then they'd put it together. And then I'd alter things. So I worked with some really good songwriters." When you've achieved Tom Jones' station in life, I guess that's how you do things -- call up the experts, tell 'em what you want, and give the results the thumbs-up or down. An important lesson for all us Sir Tom wannabes.
I asked him what new artists he's been listening to. "I like Duffy, Duffy's a Welsh singer, I think I could do something with her. But I like bands as well. I love the Kings Of Leon. That kid can sing." Damn, this guy really is pretty hip!
I asked the question that's been puzzling me all these years -- how the hell does he keep his voice in such good shape at his age? "When I first went to Vegas, I lost my voice one night. That was in 1968. This doctor came in and he said, 'You're too dry, you need humidity.' And he put humidifiers in the dressing room -- in those days I was doing two shows a night. Well, it was back by the second show. And it was all to do with humidity. I carry humidifiers with me, I've got a humidity gauge that I use to make sure that the humidity is right -- especially when you sleep. You shouldn't sleep in a dry atmosphere. It's very bad for the throat." (For the record, immediately following the interview, I installed a humidifier in my bedroom, but I'm still off-key and raspy when I try to sing "Daughter Of Darkness.")
My obligations having been met, and with a mere 10 minutes of interview time left, I pounced. "On behalf of all the men who want to get in touch with their inner Tom Jones, but don't have your voice, what are some of the secrets to your mojo?" I held my breath and waited for the wisdom to be handed down. For the torch to be passed to a new generation of hipsters. And I got... this:
If I didn't have this voice, I don't know. I didn't have to play rugby that well, and I didn't have to play cricket that well, because I had this voice. As with some kids in school -- you know, they're jocks, and they've gotta shine as football players, and the girls are very attracted to them. My thing was always the way I sing, so that's been a big plus. So somebody that can't sing, then I don't know what to say. But you've got to try and find your niche. Whatever it is, sometimes it does attract the opposite sex, sometimes it doesn't. So you've got to do the best you can with the tools you've got.
So, basically, if you don't sing like Tom Jones, you're screwed? No! That couldn't possibly be. Perhaps he was just holding out on me. I tried to dig a little deeper, get a little more specific. How about advice on picking out clothes?
I've got a guy in England, a stylist. I love designer suits, so he lets me know what's available. And he knows me well now, so he knows what I would like, and the stuff to stay away from. It's convenient to have somebody like that, because you don't have to go and look around at shops yourself. Which I've done at one time. I did get my clothes made for me, but there are so many good designers out there now that make great clothes off the rack. Try a lot of stuff, but go with your instincts. If it fits well and it looks good and you like wearing it, then that's what you should go with.
My dreams of achieving Tomness were growing fainter with every passing moment. Um... how about dancing? Any signature moves to recommend to us left-footed Sir Tom wannabes out there?
First of all, you don't want to look silly. I mean, you've got to be able to dance. I have a natural ability for dancing, but you can't overdo it. Sometimes, I tend to -- because I forget how old I am -- I might do something that doesn't work as well as it did when I was young. You can't go doing the same kind of moves, because it just looks silly, and people can see that. As I've gotten older, I've just cooled it down a bit. But I've got to be told sometimes that I'm not 25 or 35 anymore.
In a word, no. But just when all hope was lost, I started to gather a few valuable nuggets of information. Such as, what to do to break the ice with a woman:
I would think it's in the eyes. I think a look says a lot, before you even ask a question. A gentle look. I think you should put somebody at ease with the way you look, before you even speak. It's important to put somebody at ease, so that when you do say something it's not shocking. But the look is important.
Awesome! How about advice on what to drink when you're making eyes at the sweet young thing across the bar?
It all depends where I am. If it's in England in a pub, it would be a British ale. I love British beer. It's ale, you know, it's not lager. But then again, if I was in a nice restaurant and I went to the bar, it would either be a vodka martini or a champagne cocktail
We were on a roll. How does a TJ aspirant know how much jewelry is enough and how much is too much?
I've learned over the years not to overdo it. I've tried wearing more than one ring on one hand and it doesn't look good. It's overkill, I think. So I think a ring on either hand. Nine times out of ten I'll go for pinky rings, but not always. And I've always liked the cross and chain, so I have quite a number of those. My stage jewelry is a bit more than I would wear out, normally. Sometimes I'll wear a cross with diamonds in it on the stage, and the same thing with the watch, and the same thing with the rings. But in the daytime, it's more sort of solid gold than with stones in it. Or even if I went out at night to a restaurant.
Well, things were really starting to click here. I'd already gone 15 minutes over my allotted time, but I had one very important question left to ask: You've gotten the girl back to your room. You sit on the couch and get comfortable. What music, Tom Jones records excepted, do you play to get the pettin' party underway?
If it's a nice situation, and you're just relaxed, you need background music. You don't need anything that the person that you're with says, "Who's that?" If you're trying to be with somebody, you don't want to be distracted by the music. You want it to blend in with the mood. So I would say background music, something nice and mellow. You don't want anything that's loud. Music is great, it all depends on what mood you're in, what you want to listen to. If it's party time, you listen to, you know, party music, if you want to dance with somebody. But then again, if it's a slow dance, you need something slow. So it all depends on the mood, what mood you're in.
Um, any artists in particular? What is background music, anyway?
I would say if you're talking to somebody, if you're having a romantic evening with somebody, you need background music. You don't want anything to distract from what you're saying, or when you're giving them the look, like we talked about.
And with that, our interview was over. And I wasn't really any closer to channeling my Jonesness than I had been when we first started chatting.
But I hadn't given up hope. I thought, maybe, with a week or so to think about my line of questioning, Sir Tom would surely become the oracle of cool I'd expected, dispensing pearls of wisdom like they were sweat-stained hankies. He was due in New York a week hence; maybe an in-person interview would make him more at ease. Perhaps we could even go out to a bar together and he could show me how to pick up a woman, Tom Jones-style! My fantasies grew ever more grandiose as I dashed off an email requesting a followup. I could show him some of my favorite NYC watering holes... we could hit a few golf balls at Chelsea Piers... I could visit him on the West Coast and we'd become BFFs....
A few days later, I got the response from the publicist:
We can't commit to more time at this point as he will be rehearsing and we don't have a precise schedule for that yet.
Tom Jones will be playing the Beacon Theater in New York City on July 21st. If you hear someone in the loge screaming things like "Boxers or briefs, Tom?" or "How do you like your eggs?", I apologize.
Interview by Tony Sachs - The Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-sachs/my-exclusive-huffpost-int_b_239126.html
Every Christmas, that rare span of relaxation when he’s not being pelted by catcalls and underthings, Tom Jones stops dyeing his hair. “I take about four or five weeks off, and I let my hair go,” he says. When showtime rolls around, the singer darkens his ’do and hits the road. Except this year. The Voice, it seems, has decided to stay gray. “It’s looking pretty good,” Jones says, adding with a low chuckle: “But it’s a lot whiter than it used to be.”
The Welsh Wonder turns 69 in June. But those curls of natural silver — and ooh, are the ladies loooving those — are pretty much the only allowance he’s made to Father Time. The classic belter still tours the globe most of the year, including epic stretches of sweat and thrust in Las Vegas. And during the encore of those gigs, Jones famously lifts his shirt, a flirty flash of chiseled abs that sends wives into weeee! fits and hubbies back to the gym.
“I used to jog an hour a day, but my right knee started to give me some trouble,” he says. “My doctor tells me, you gotta stop pounding the pavement, even on the treadmill. So now I go down to the hotel gym, get on the elliptical machine. You sweat your b---- off, get a good workout, sign a few autographs. It’s good.”
On April 17, a toned, tan Mr. Jones comes to Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, where he’ll hit ’em with old hits (Delilah, She’s a Lady LISTEN, It’s Not Unusual), newer hits (Sexbomb LISTEN, If He Should Ever Leave You) and other people’s hits that he has made his robust own (Kiss LISTEN, You Can Leave Your Hat On). “My throat doctor said the worse thing to do is take a break,” says Jones, who used to do two shows a day. “Better to do 90 minutes straight.”
Even with the brutal workload and fitness regime, Jones remains a fan of the nightlife, an old-school entertainer playing the part(y). Calling from his home in Los Angeles, and with that thick blue-collar accent still intact and charming, Jones says, “I’ve always enjoyed a good drink. I love a good pint of beer, but it has to be British ale, real ale, the kind you pull from a pump....I’ve never been involved in the drug scene. I’ve been to so many parties with mountains of cocaine and air thick with marijuana. But that was never for me. I’ve always been a drinker.”
Many of Jones’ stories — and he has a ton of them — start with drinks and end with laughter. He’s not a name-dropper, but he is a guy’s guy, a down-to-earth dude who knows what makes a good barstool story. “I used to drink with Sinatra at Caesars Palace. I have a picture hanging in my home of Sinatra with his hand on my shoulder.” Could he out-drink the Chairman of the Board? Jones laughs: “I never tried! Frank loved to drink Jack Daniels with Coca-Cola.”
Whether chatting on the phone or singing in the limelight, Jones’ forceful below-the-belt tenor is still mighty. Last year, he unveiled the critically acclaimed 24 Hours, his first U.S. release in 15 years. Among a host of blue-eyed soul and high-flying moments, the disc features Sugar Daddy (LISTEN), a song co-penned by a certain Irish frontman. “Bono and I were hanging out in a Dublin pub, a place called Lillie’s Bordello. It’s not a real bordello,” Jones says. “We were drinking Champagne. I asked Bono to write me a song, and he said he would love to. But if he was going to do it, he said he wanted the song to be about me. He wanted to write a Tom Jones song, not a U2 song.”
The grindy, swaggery Sugar Daddy is a straight-up love letter, with lyrics including I’m the last great tradition and The show must go on, what else can it do? Bono isn’t the only contemporary musician who appreciates the pride of Pontypridd, Wales. 24 Hours was produced by the drum-and-bass duo Future Cut. In recent years, Jones has also teamed with Wyclef Jean and the Barenaked Ladies. In 1999, Jones recorded Sexbomb with German DJ Mousse T; that record moved more than 6 million copies worldwide.
Jones isn’t quite sure why the younger generation is crushing on him these days. However, he will allow that the current pop movement of retro swing and ’60s R&B is something he knows well. “Amy Winehouse, Duffy, they’ve been doing my stuff!" he laughs. "That’s what (producers) Future Cut said. I’ve been doing this stuff all along!”
A few years ago, the singer’s camp started playing down the panty-throwing ritual of the Tom Jones show. They instead focused on a kitschy icon who just happens to be, lo and behold, a brilliant singer, as well. The frillies still occasionally fly — and he’ll unh! and ahh! with each shot to the chest — but now more accolades come his way, too.
Case in point: On 24 Hours, Jones does a mesmerizing cover of Bruce Springsteen’s broken-boxer ode The Hitter, which is essentially the summation of one man's life (LISTEN). To hear Jones talk about it is not just a history lesson; it also hints as to why the one-time door-to-door salesman is going strong five decades into his career. For all the glitz, all the money, all the Champagne with Bono, Jones remains a regular bloke, the humble son of a coal miner who knows when it's time to go gray:
“There’s great sentiment to the song. It really could be about any singer who left home. And now he’s coming home and asking for his mother’s forgiveness. It reminds me of Howlin’ Wolf’s Goin’ Down Slow, which was the flip side of Smokestack Lightnin’. Goin’ Down Slow was about this fella bragging about his life, all the places he had been. ... But at the end of the song, he says please write my mama and tell her the shape I’m in. That’s what The Hitter does. In the end, it’s just about a guy who wants to make good with his mama. That could be any of us.”
By Sean Daly TampaBay.com http://blogs.tampabay.com/popmusic/2009/04/tom-jones-and-bono-walk-into-a-bar.html
For his first solo album of new material in 15 years, Sir Tom Jones has turned his hand to songwriting for the first time.And he says the retro feel of Amy Winehouse's Back To Black has encouraged him to revisit the classic sound of the 1960s on the album, 24 Hours. Bono has also contributed a song, while Sir Tom has teamed up with producers Future Cut, whose past credits include Lily Allen, Dizzee Rascal and Kate Nash.
I've always had the voice, I've always sung, ever since I was small - in school, in chapel, to the radio. I don't really know life without it. I lived in Wales for the first 24 years of my life and it stood me in good stead, gave me values. But that's also a lot to do with your upbringing. It could be working-class, it could be middle-class, but you've got to have love and attention, and I did, I was lucky. I might have become a miner like my father, but I had tuberculosis when I was 12. I couldn't go out between the ages of 12 and 14. It was a big lesson - not to take life for granted. I said to myself, when I get out of this bed, I'll never complain about anything ever again. But I do.
I'm never scared to try new things. When you do something and the kids dig it, it's great. It's not about trying to be young, or something you're not, because they always see through that.
You need to have a bit of an ego in this business. When you first get successful you spend a bit - big house, cars, jewellery, all the trappings. But after a while you think, how many watches can one man have? I've been misquoted many times about women. I'd be asked about growing up and I'd say that my father went to work, and my mother was a home-maker. Then it was, 'Tom Jones thinks men should work and women should look after the house.' But I didn't say that.
Elvis was an icon. For him to tell me he liked my voice meant a lot. It was the same when Frank Sinatra told me he loved the way I sang. I was never interested in drugs. I like to have a drink because I like the things that go with it - pubs, restaurants, having dinner. It's not just sitting in the corner with a bottle. That's how drug-taking seems to be: people going off on their own to the toilet to do it.
Getting a knighthood was fantastic. You look into yourself - am I worthy of this? I find I don't swear as much as I used to. When you do shows you feel as if you're pouring yourself into the audience, and when they applaud it's as if they're saying, 'We know, we get it.' It's so reassuring.
I don't like bad behaviour just because you're rich or famous. I remember early on I had to get there really early for my TV show and I was moaning away. When I arrived there was this building site, and this kid was going up a ladder carrying a hod, which is what I used to do. And he said, 'Hey Tommy, want to give me a hand with this?' I thought, Jesus Christ, I'm moaning, but he's going to be up and down that ladder all day.'
Even when I was younger I didn't look in mirrors much. I've got a good bone structure and I try to keep myself in shape, but I'm not vain. If you're singing love songs, sexy songs, and the feelings aren't coming across, then there's something wrong. But if you're always doing it with a wink, that can catch up with you.
I'm not looking forward to retiring. The biggest fear for any performer is that it will be taken away from you. It's so much part of you, a physical thing, it's scary to think one day it won't be there any more. If I'm not able to sing, I won't know what to do. There is no alternative to ageing - just death. The only reason I would like to be young is that you've got longer to live. But it's a great feeling to have grandchildren.
Interview by Barbara Ellen Sunday October 22, 2006 The Observer
MUSIC legend Tom Jones is about to storm the charts once again with dance act Chicane and a storming rendition of Stoned In Love.We've interviewed the Welsh superstar and you can now download a Podcast version to listen to at your leisure. Tom talks about his life, his music and, of course, his new single - together with samples of the new song which is released today, April 24. Chicane expect Stoned in Love to be another chart-topper following their earlier hits, Offshore, Saltwater and Don't Give Up. You can learn more about Chicane at www.manifesto-records.com/chicane or download the track at www.7digital.com/chicane.
To listen all you need to do is subscribe to the PODCAST for free in iTunes. Download iTunes for free at www.apple.com/itunes/download then open the ADVANCED tab in iTunes and then click on SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST and paste in the following URL...
http://www.umtv.co.uk/tomjones.xml
EXCLUSIVE: TOM JONES PODCAST Daily Mirror, By Steve Purcell
For more than 40 years, he's been known for his night jobs. Now, his work has finally been recognized with Britain's ultimate honor -- a knight job. His new and formal title, Sir Thomas Jones Woodward, has a royal and regal ring. But it's unlikely millions of panty-tossing women around the world will stand on ceremony when they're in the company of Tom Jones, the singing Welshman who's serenaded them with his powerful voice and tantalized them with his sensuality for more than four decades. "For me, to accept a knighthood is a great and humbling honor, and I know my family -- and hope my friends and fans -- will share in my gratitude and excitement," Jones wrote in a Jan. 4 posting on his Web site, just days after being knighted by Queen Elizabeth. Jones, whose fans have clamored for this recognition for years, joins fellow artists like Paul McCartney, Elton John and Mick Jagger, who have added "Sir" to their names. But here's what's made the honor even more interesting. For the past 30 years, England's newest knight has lived in an American castle; Los Angeles is his home. Yet he's made it clear he's never forgotten or forsaken his ancestry and is still a British citizen. "I wear my nationality on my sleeve, and I'm proud of it," he wrote in the posting. "One of my passions is history, and often I engage anyone who is willing in lively historical discussions and debates on British topics and what it means to be British."
Usually very cooperative with the media, Jones recently turned down all interview requests. No reason was provided, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and attribute his silence to his touring schedule. Jones, who'll turn 66 in June, maintains a relentless pace that would tire acts half his age. In February, he's working 13 dates practically back-to-back. In fact, his three-day engagement this weekend at Resorts Atlantic City represents the only time this month he'll be at one venue for more than a one-night stand. In March, he'll work two straight weeks in Las Vegas before hitting the road again for 10 one-nighters in April, then wrap up that month with yet another two-week gig in Las Vegas that'll stretch into May.
Clearly, a retirement tour isn't being planned any time soon. Fans will likely hear his monster hits from the '60s -- "She's a Lady," "What's New Pussycat?" "Delilah," "It's Not Unusual" -- for at least a few more years. And they can still count on Jones to surprise them by tackling contemporary music, as he did several years ago when he collaborated with Wyclef Jean, or music from nearly 200 years ago, as when he collaborated with the techno-pop band Art of Noise. "I dread the day that I can't sing," Jones said in an interview in 2003. "When my voice doesn't work as well as it does, then I'll have to stop." Few artists have sustained the popularity Jones has enjoyed since he and his booming voice burst onto the pop music scene in 1965 during the height of the British musical invasion. Although he's had his share of hits and misses on the music charts over the years, he never relied primarily on his recordings to keep fan interest alive. From the earliest days of his career, his live shows were packed with excitement and elements of surprise.
When his recordings weren't selling and radio airplay dried up, except for oldies stations, he began adding new material to his live shows to keep himself contemporary and to prevent his shows from becoming just another nostalgic concert of old, worn-out hits. In 1989, Jones' recording career, which had been mostly dormant for more than a decade, was revived when he began including a cover of Prince's hit "Kiss" to his live set list. "I had been doing the show [in the act] to stay contemporary. I did it on a British TV show, and [the techno-pop group] Art of Noise saw the show," he said. "They wanted to record it, so we did, but I never thought it was going to be a hit, because it had already been a big hit for Prince." The song established Jones as a crossover artist, because it sold well to his longtime fans and introduced him to a new, younger audience.
Since then, Jones has worked with a variety of artists and producers, from Wyclef Jean on his 2003 release "Reloaded" to popular British pianist and bandleader Jools Holland on their self-titled 2004 album, which featured their takes on old blues and rock-and-roll songs, plus original material. Other projects that kept him in the spotlight over the years include movie soundtracks (the theme from the James Bond film "Thunderball"), hosting a television variety series ("This Is Tom Jones") and acting; he's never been afraid to spoof himself, and appeared in an episode of "The Simpsons," in Tim Burton's sci-fi comedy-drama "Mars Attacks!" and on an episode of HBO's "Sex and the City."
By DAVID J. SPATZ The Bergen Record
What a great way to start the New Year! For the last 40 years I've traveled the world singing and entertaining, bringing a bit of Wales and Great Britain to my friends, colleagues and audiences. I wear my nationality on my sleeve and I'm proud of it! One of my passions is History and often I engage anyone who is willing in lively historical discussions and debates on British topics and what it means to be British. For me, to accept a Knighthood is a great and humbling honour, and I know my family—and hope my friends and fans—will share in my gratitude and excitement. I'd also like to thank everyone who has supported this honour, and I know many of you have stood by me for years and appreciated any contribution I might have made over time, either musically or personally. I am full of gratitude for your loyalty and support. All the best for a happy, healthy and successful New Year — hope to see you soon! Tom
BBC America Part scripted comedy, part improvisation, part genuine interview, Kumars at No. 42 is like nothing you've seen before. The Kumars are a typical (albeit exaggerated) Indian-British family, living in North London, who have come across a unique method of "keeping up with the Joneses". They have bulldozed their back yard and built a state-of-the-art TV studio from where they host their very own talk show. Last year Tom and Jools Holland appeared on the show to promote their new album 'Tom Jones and Jools Holland'. Here in an interview on BBC America Kumars' host Sanjeev tells all about what it was like to interview 'the Voice'... Sanjeev on Working with Tom Jones Q: What was it like working with Tom Jones? Sanjeev Kumar: Obviously Tom Jones and I have been mutual admirers for years, even though he'd never heard of me. But I feel it works like back taxes, all the admiration he owed me came flooding out even though my family claim they couldn't see it. Also we had two love Gods on the show, how often does that happen? Q: Were you nervous to meet him? Sanjeev: I was nervous because I knew Tom had to deal with my family. I have to deal with them every day, Tom had to deal with them for 30 minutes, I feared it could be his last. Granny particularly had designs on Tom and I don't mean the kind you can find in the Guggenheim. Q: Even though you paid him in chutney, was there anything Tom wouldn't do? Any questions Tom wouldn't answer? Sanjeev: Well he was very vague about whether I could be in his band or indeed whether he would ever talk to me again. Q: You know how those stars can be, what was the most unexpected thing Tom did? Sanjeev: He was nice to my family, I'm always shocked when superstars are nice to them. Don't they realize they only have to be nice to me? Q: You're known for your innovative interview techniques and in-depth research. Still, were you surprised that Tom appeared on the show? Sanjeev: Not surprised but shocked. Tom Jones is a superstar known all over the world, I'm amazed he accepted a local bus ticket to get to our house. Find out more about this episode and watch clips online at http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/207/index.jsp
From the words he wants inscribed on his tombstone to whether Wales should go it alone, our Tom lets it all out to Karen Price Karen Price, Western Mail COMING HOME "It's something I've wanted to do but didn't think it would be possible because where would you play? And Cardiff is so close and has always had the facilities. But I'm coming up to my 65th birthday and have been in the business for 40 years so now is a good time. Emyr (Afan, who is organising the event) from the Pop Factory in Porth looked into it and we decided on Ponty Park. The thing I've always wanted to do is sing live in Ponty." SONG LIST "We are trying to work out what songs to do. There were my last three albums - greatest hits, the Wyclef (Jean) album and the Jools Holland album. So there will be songs from them and a mixture of stuff from throughout my career." GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME "Singing the Green, Green Grass will definitely be a highlight I think. There will be a couple of other songs too and one which reflects my life and says a lot about coming from Pontypridd is Boy From Nowhere. It's about a Spanish bullfighter but it says a lot about me coming from humble beginnings." EMOTIONAL MAN "You have got to try not to get emotional when you sing. If you're too emotional, your throat closes up. But just thinking about it (the Ponty gig) I feel emotional but hopefully when I'm on stage and the people are there I'll be okay. I always feel emotional when I play in Cardiff but not so emotional as I will be doing a live show at Pontypridd for the first time since I left in 1964." ME AND MRS JONES "Linda won't be there at the Ponty gig. She doesn't like flying any more. In fact, she's not flown since 9/11. We were on a European tour when it happened and she really freaked and was nervous about going on the flights. So when we got back to America that was it." FAMILY TIES "I'm coming over for such a short time, it's only four days, but I will definitely see my family. We will get together after the show. But I won't have any time to visit any places - I will do that when I come back at a quieter time." HOPES FOR THE GIG "I hope the weather will be good - that's my biggest concern as it's an open air gig. I think it will be a great night. I'm bringing my own band over, sound people and lighting. I want to make it as great a show as I possibly can - all the ingredients will be there. It will be a great night and a first for the park - I just hope I don't get too emotional! I also hope more bands will play there (Ponty Park) as Pontypridd has been bypassed, in my opinion, so I hope this will be the start of something big. It's a great park and it's in a great location." MOVING BACK TO WALES "I have considered getting a house in Wales again but I'm just so busy. But maybe I can do it when I get a bit older and I won't be doing so many shows. I had a house in Cowbridge for a while but we were not there enough so it wasn't really being used." RETIREMENT PLANS "I haven't really got any plans to retire. I think time will tell. When I'm not feeling like performing as much, or my voice isn't working as well as it does, that will tell me to do it. It's hard to turn down engagements when you get so many coming in - there's always something that you want to do. "I hope I don't get to the bloody stage when I go past my sell-by date, when I can't sing songs like Delilah and Boy From Nowhere. But I love performing and will keep doing it for as long as I can." THE WELSH IMAGE ABROAD "I think Wales is starting to lose its image as a coal mining country. The mines have closed down but the sad part about it is nothing else has come along to take their place as far as industry is concerned. There was a lot of work in Wales and people would go there to work, especially from the south of England. Wales was known for its coal mining. But I know for a fact that people now know Wales as the Land of Song - they know people love to sing. So music is the thing people think about now when they think of Wales. And, of course there's the rugby. Anyone who knows anything about rugby knows that Wales is very passionate about it, especially now with Welsh rugby being so strong. And now we have people like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins so people are aware of Wales, although the Americans don't know where Wales is! So people think of Welsh people as being musical, poets and actors." THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY "I think it's helped Wales. I don't know about in world politics or European politics but I think it's a good thing. But I'm not a separatist. I think that united you stand and divided you fall. I think Wales should definitely be represented but I don't think it is big enough to go it alone. I think that Great Britain as a whole should stick together - that's what made Britain and the British Empire. As long as Wales is well represented, I think that's fine. You have to have a representative in Wales to know what the needs are so that's why the National Assembly is very important." TOM'S WELSH ICONS "No one's ever asked me who my Welsh icons are before. I would choose Lloyd George and Aneurin Bevan as far as politicians are concerned. Lloyd George did so much. He started the National Health Service, which was a great thing, and Aneurin Bevan carried it through. They were very important as far as a political Wales is concerned. Richard Burton was a great Welshman - he flew the flag a lot. Every time I was with him he would say, 'We are Welsh!' We were in Germany one time and I had to say, 'Take it easy Richard!' He was very patriotic. Of course, I think Dylan Thomas was a great poet who was well known worldwide. And people in America, in particular, know him and his work, which is nice. Catherine Zeta-Jones, of course, represents Wales very well today. We're friends but I don't see much of her as we are both very busy. But when we bump into each other we always have a drink or a bite to eat. We did a commercial together relatively recently for a phone company." CELEBRATING HIS 65TH BIRTHDAY "I'm actually flying back to LA from New York. I'm going there to do a charity show on June 6. I was going to have the day off so I did think about whether I should do it or not but it's for a worthy cause for young people. Mark and Donna (his son and daughter-in-law) will be with me so I suppose we will have a celebration at midnight and maybe a few bevvies on the plane. Then the plan is to have dinner with my wife and sister in LA." KEEPING FIT "I work out during the day. I use a cross trainer as you can burn more calories on that than anything else. I have a gym in my house in LA and do crunches and push-ups but I don't have a personal trainer, I'm not into that. I know what I have to do and just do it." LOOKING GOOD "Image is still important to a certain extent but I'm not a fanatic about it. I don't diet but I try not to eat too much. I think you should look presentable - you shouldn't look like a slob on stage. Maybe I should be a bit more disciplined and I could be a bit lighter than I am. As long as I'm fit, I'm fine." WHY ALWAYS BLACK OUTFITS? "It's to hide perspiration. I tried wearing colours but perspiration makes them change colour." COLLABORATING "There are a lot of people I'd like to work with. I'm thinking of maybe doing a Reload 2 album if I can get enough people interested in it. There are a lot of American bands I've never worked with so maybe we could do something here (in America). But there are so many musicians to choose from. I couldn't pick them out now because if it didn't happen it would be silly. I'd rather get the ball rolling first." NEW WORK PROJECTS "Reload 2 would be good but I have to find out who wants to do it and where the material is coming from. The hardest thing is to find the material as I'm not really a songwriter. But I'm very versatile - I like a lot of different things. During live shows I do all kinds of musical stuff." AMBITIONS "I just want longevity. I would like immortality but that's not going to happen! I just want to do more of the same. I hope I can come up with interesting albums and stuff which people like and I like. It's always an ongoing thing, finding new material and trying to figure out what to do recording wise." BECOMING A US CITIZEN "The only positive thing about American citizenship is the tax benefits you get. When you have a green card (essentially a work permit), I've been told that when a spouse dies they (the government) automatically take half of your money. But if I really wanted to become an American citizen I would have done it a long time ago. I'm British and I have a British passport and if I can remain that way, that's the way I like it." FAENOL FESTIVAL "I know Bryn (Terfel, who organises the annual festival in North Wales) - he's a lovely fella. I would love to take part in it and would be excited to do it but it's just getting the time." NEW WELSH MUSIC "I heard Goldie Lookin' Chain's album (Newport's tongue-in-cheek hip-hop band) and I absolutely cracked up laughing! I hope they can follow that album through with a great second album. I thought their first CD was really good as it has Welsh humour, an unique humour and I got it right away. The Stereophonics also have that style of humour and I realised that the first time I met them." CHARLOTTE CHURCH THE POP STAR "I've not heard her singing any pop songs. It's hard for opera singers to sing pop music but I hope Charlotte can do it. She's a lovely girl and has a great voice. I know she wants to do it." REMEMBER ME ... "As a hell of a singer!" HIS EPITAPH "Jones the Voice." WHERE DOES HE WANT TO BE BURIED? "That's a good question! All roads point to Wales for me - that's the way it is. It's just one of those things. I spent the first 24 years of my life in Wales and I loved it and have never really left. So I would want to be buried in Glyntaff Cemetery in Pontypridd - all of my forefathers are there." There are still some tickets, priced at £32.50, available for Tom's Ponty Park gig next Saturday. Get them from CIA box office: (029) 2022 4488; Ticketline UK: 08700 66779; Muni Arts Centre, Pontypridd: (01443) 485934 and Ticketmaster: 0870 4000688. The gates open at 5pm and the show starts at 6pm.
As he reaches pensionable age,Tom Jones tells Bob Guccione Jnr about the early days in south Wales, the nights with Elvis and Frank. And the legendary sparkle in his eyes. When I was a boy in the Sixties, Tom Jones was the biggest pop star in the world. More than that, he was sex. I didn't know what sex was but I knew it was really, really important and that Tom Jones was its king because women threw their underpants at him. The only underpants anyone ever threw at me were mine, by my mother, disgusted that I'd left them lying around the house. When you're young you have no sense of the trajectory of effort, success and failure, just of things being there, as permanent fixtures, like parents and buses. So Tom Jones was just there, the world's greatest pop singer, hanging statically in the firmament like a silver-paper star in a school play. There were other, smaller, less shiny cut-out stars that twinkled briefly when they caught the spotlight, who had hit records, some fabulous, some rightfully forgotten. But in the Sixties in England, there was the incredible, life altering rock'n'roll revolution, and there was Tom Jones. Forty years on from his first and greatest hit "It's Not Unusual", and countless albums and greatest-hits collections later, Tom Jones is still going strong, still just there - though he's now reaching pensionable age (he celebrates his 65th birthday on 7 June). Nor has he merely kept going, like a hamster on a treadmill wheel, keeping the dying flame of recognition alive by touring ever obscurer towns. In 1971 he went to Vegas, where performers' careers get embalmed to slow their decomposing, but he still plays it today, four times a year, for two weeks at a stretch, as potent a draw as when he first arrived. When and wherever else he tours he invariably sells out. Half his crowds are kids, and not necessarily the offspring of the other half. He's sitting across from me now in the bar of a trendy New York hotel, cold, late-afternoon light draped over us like a shawl. Thick, curly hair still frames the top of his head like a black halo though these days a fashionable Van Dyck beard sharply defines his face, giving him an almost Vaudevillian, mischievous look. When he smiles his eyes dance. When he isn't smiling he looks distant, guarded. He also looks remarkably younger than he is, which is minimally the result of plastic surgery and mostly, I suspect, the result of enjoying his life. He's dressed in jeans and a black turtleneck under a stiff black leather jacket, and he sits in his chair like a lion considering whether to eat you or to go to sleep. Which is not to say he's aggressive or easily bored - the opposite is true - but that he has a big cat's grace and power, sitting back with the regal ease of a man who regards any seat as a throne, or leaning forward into his words when animated, as if he feels a primal instinct to manifest every excitement physically. He's in very good shape too, particularly for a man about to collect his bus pass, with broad shoulders and a thick chest. He enunciates clearly, and his voice remains musically Welsh-accented and deep, as you might expect from the singer once known simply as The Voice. And he still places himself, of course, in the great tradition of Welsh singers. "In Wales there are choirs, especially male-voice choirs, which a lot of my cousins were in," he says. "A Welsh tenor will have a full Welsh voice, even though he's singing high - full-blown, window shattering material. Maybe speaking Welsh lends itself, the accent. Maybe part of it is the cheapest way of making music is to sing. You don't need to buy an instrument." When he first started singing in the clubs of south Wales, people would tell him he sounded black and later when he was first played on the radio, people thought he was black. In America he broke on black radio. "I was listening to the BBC radio in the late Forties, early Fifties, when I was a kid," he explains. "And anytime a gospel or blues song would come on, I would think: 'What is that?' It was rubbing off on me. I didn't know why, I just liked it. In school I sang the Lord's Prayer, and my teacher said to me, 'Why are you singing this like a negro spiritual?' I didn't know what the term was; I was very young, seven, eight. It was very natural for me to do it." Gospel may have woken his soul, but it was rock'n'roll that stole it. "What attracted me to rock'n'roll was the sound," he recalls. "I toured with Count Basie once and I asked him what he thought of it, and he said, 'What they've done, which we used to do, is to concentrate on the rhythm section, get that rhythm section hot. When Jerry Lee Lewis pounds out and the rhythm section kicks in with him, you can balance it because you don't have all those other instruments to worry about.' "When I heard Jerry Lee's 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On'," he continues, singing it now, "the piano starts like this" - his fingers hit an invisible keyboard - "and Sam Phillips [the f owner of Sun records] had a slap-back echo, because he didn't have an echo chamber, so he created a tape delay. He'd have two tapes running with one a little stronger than the other. It's only a simple thing that Jerry Lee is playing but because of that slap-back -" he starts singing again, c'mon over baby ... - "his voice is like, Jesus! Things hadn't sounded like that before." When Jones started performing with a group in pubs and local working men's clubs, he played acoustic guitar and sang. They had a rhythm section but Jones was limited in what he could do on the guitar. One Friday night, boy's night out - Saturday was the night you took the girls out but Friday was sacred time with the lads - he was drinking at a pub when a friend, Tommy Redman, the bassist for a local rock group with some renown, called Tony Scott and the Senators, came in and told Jones their singer hadn't shown up for the gig at the YMCA, and asked him to fill in. Tom was dismissive: a YMCA? On a Friday night? "Tommy, do me a favour," pleaded Redman, who said he'd smuggle some beers in, which the YMCA didn't allow. So Jones agreed, setting his friends up backstage with the beers, and singing Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis tunes, and by the end of the night concluding that this was it, that he didn't want to go back to the acoustic guitar. He'd found his calling and the band had found their singer. Jones got them gigs in the local area, because he was known in the clubs, but the venue owners would baulk, crying "Pay 'em off", when he turned up with the Senators, and they saw the electric guitars and amplifiers. "The owners would pay people not to perform. They had to honour the contract but they didn't want to listen to any of it. As soon as they saw us they were, 'Oh geez, rock'n'roll! Tommy, please ...' And I said, 'Wait a minute. Let's start the show. After a while, if we do three or four tunes and you're bothered by it and people are not digging it, fair enough.' So there we were on a Saturday night and 'Pay 'em off!' became 'Do you think we can get an extension if we call the police tonight?' and did we mind if they moved all the tables and chairs so everyone could have a dance, and I said, 'By all means.' So I introduced rock'n'roll to Welsh working men's clubs. They had never had it before." The Senators built up a reputation in south Wales, and one night Gordon Mills, the harmonica player, saw Jones perform and said he should be in London. I know where London is, replied the singer, but who do I talk to when I get there? Talk to me, said Mills, I've never managed anyone, but you're doing something I can't do - your vocal ability is incredible. Come to London, he said, I'll show you around. WHEN JONES arrived in the English capital in 1964, it was still emerging from the chrysalis of post-war staidness and slowly turning into the sexually liberated, artistically vibrant swinging London that would change the world. But before Jones could become a part of that, he had to make the frustratingly unproductive rounds of the record companies and live on the meagre salary Gordon Mills paid him and the Senators while waiting for them to get a break. Tom was already married and a father - having got his 16-year-old girlfriend Linda pregnant when he was 17 - and his wife and son, Mark, had to stay behind in Wales. A few weeks before Mills brought him "It's Not Unusual", Jones stared at a London Underground train approaching as he stood on the platform and thought how easy it would be to end it all by stepping in front of it. He'd released his first single, "Chills and Fever", which had fizzled, Mills was running out of money, and his wife was working in a factory in Wales because he couldn't support them. "For a split second I thought, aww, fuck it, if I just step to the right it'd be over. I felt so down because I didn't know what to do. That very rarely happens to me. I didn't want to go back to Wales without proving myself. I wasn't making any money. Fuck it. But then things flash through your mind. What about your wife? What about your son? What about your mother and father? How would they feel? But for that split second - that's as low as I've ever got. Just before 'It's Not Unusual'." Jones was recording demos at the time to make some money, vocalising songs that writers then took to more established singers. Mills had written "It's Not Unusual" with another writer, Les Reed, for Sandy Shaw, who had already had a couple of number-one hits. Tom and the band demoed it. But when he heard his performance played back to him in the studio, he said, "I've gotta have this song." Mills replied that Jones didn't want it, that he was a rock singer, and this was a pop song. "I don't give a shit what you call it, I've gotta have it," retorted Jones, who said he'd go back to Wales if they didn't let him record and release it. Mills knew he meant it, but explained he had to submit it to Shaw, because she knew about it and was expecting it. Mills promised he wouldn't try to push it, just play it for her and hope she didn't want it. "God bless Sandy Shaw," recalls Jones, 40 years later, "because she said, 'Whoever is singing this demo should put it out. I can't sing like that.'" Within weeks, the song was at number one. At first the BBC wouldn't play it: someone had seen Jones perform and thought he was too raunchy. But the pirate station Radio Caroline had created such a demand for the song that the BBC had to come around. Suddenly Tom Jones was a huge star, a development that seemed to take him somewhat by surprise. "I was on a package tour with a lot of bands and I wasn't aware that 'It's Not Unusual' was going so fast up the chart. We used to do two shows a night. So between shows I went to the pub and I was having a pork pie and a pint, and these girls were outside screaming. I thought they must be here for one of the rock bands on this package, but they'd all gone back to the theatre; the kids must think they're in the pub. So I walk out the pub, straight into this crowd, with a pork pie in my hand. And they go 'Oooooo' and they're on me. And they tore everything. I had this raincoat, the first decent raincoat I ever bought, and it went like in fucking shreds. I had to run to get back in the theatre." How did the underwear thing start? "It was in 1968. I was booked into the Copacabana in New York. An American agent had seen me at The Talk of the Town in London in '67 and asked me if I wanted to play the Copa and I said, 'Yeah, America, why not?' So we came in '68. It was a club where there's no stage; you're singing on the dance floor on the same level as the audience. So I'm doing my thing, and I perspire when I sing, and these women are handing me these table napkins, and I'm wiping myself and giving them back. Then all of a sudden one woman stands up, lifts her dress and takes her panties off. You learn when playing in rough places to try to make the most of it. Don't get offended, don't get thrown. So I said, 'Careful not to catch a cold.' All of a sudden it was written up in the papers, and there's underwear all over the place. But the original thing was a sexy thing." A string of hits followed each other, and Jones's fame grew larger and larger until he was too big for England and moved to America. He played the Ed Sullivan Show and was told, nine years after Elvis was filmed from only the waist up, that if he did his by-now f trademark snake-hips shake when singing, the camera would come off him. He continued to play the legendary Copa, and of course Vegas, where he befriended Sinatra and Elvis and straddled the Strip as an equal colossus. And the mafia loved him, which, let's face it, is a lot better than the alternative. "Thank God, they always said, 'Hey, Tommy, you're a man's man. Fuckin' beauuutiful!'" In Vegas, Jones and Sinatra played Caesar's Palace, and drew a lot of high rollers, and the mob. "Frank told me himself, 'You know we got things wrapped up. When we're not here, they can shoot cannons off the stage and it won't fucking hit anybody.' He'd tell me, 'You know who is in the audience?' and I'd say, 'Oh, I see 'em,' and he'd say, 'They love you. They've taken to you like you're me.' I always thought I was closer to Elvis Presley, but in that Vegas thing, I was closer to Sinatra in terms of the people we were drawing." Elvis thought Tom was the greatest singer in the world, and would sometimes walk out on stage when Jones was performing and say exactly that to the crowd. They were great friends too, and often sang together but only in private, just the two of them playing guitars and singing their favourite songs. Once when Jones was touring Hawaii, Elvis, there on vacation, invited him over to his house. When Tom arrived, Elvis was missing. He'd realised he didn't have any guitars at the house and had gone out to buy two, walking into the first instrument store he found and announcing to the dumbstruck shop assistant: "Tom Jones is coming to my house today and I need two guitars." Jones told me a story about being invited to Elvis's suite one day in Vegas. He walked in to find the King on an exercise bike, one that had the moving handlebars you're supposed to hold to work out your upper body at the same time. Elvis, in a tracksuit, was leaning back, pedalling, the handlebars moving in and out on their own, with a phone in one hand and a devilled egg in the other, a tray of devilled eggs balanced on his large belly and bits of egg between his fingers where he'd mushed them while eating. "Do you exercise, Tom?" he asked. "Yeah, I do Elvis, every day" replied Tom. "Me too," said Elvis. IN NOVEMBER 2004 I watched Jones on stage at New York's Irving Plaza. He delivered the consummate showman's performance, with much of the set made up of recent material recorded with the likes of Jools Holland and Wyclef Jean. No one sat, everyone cheered - with the loudest cheers reserved for the old classics: "It's Not Unusual", "What's New Pussycat?", "Green, Green Grass of Home" and, especially, "Delilah" - and panties were thrown. Lots of panties. Enough surely to pose a health threat. After the show Tom invited me to join him for dinner at a "wise-guy joint downtown", an Italian restaurant on touristy Mulberry Street. It was late when we got there and the place is mostly deserted except for the party of Tom's friends gathering at the back. The proprietor, Frankie C, who goes by that assignation so familiarly that I think even he has forgotten his last name, greeted Tom affectionately. They go way back. Frankie C told the story about the time he was honeymooning in Vegas and his wife saw Jones walking through the casino and excitedly pointed him out to her husband. "Tom Jones? I know him!" said Frankie, who chased the singer down and introduced his new bride. She wanted an autograph. Tom looked for a piece of paper and she looked at him, hurt, and opened her blouse. "She wanted him to write his name on her breasts," exploded Frankie, who then shrugged. "So he did." A couple of days later in Jones's skyscraping hotel suite I asked him how he explains his sex appeal. "It's the sound of my voice, it's got to be. The way I interpret songs. And if they're sexy songs, then that's the way they feel." Are you surprised to still have this much sex appeal 40 years after you started? "Well, yeah. I didn't know what shape I was gonna be in. I didn't know vocally ... I didn't even know I was gonna be alive this long. So I think if you don't lose it, if you're still your own person that didn't put a false image on to start with, because my image has always been very natural. You know, very" - he smacks his hands together for emphasis - "straight in your face, and that's the way it's always been." It's apparently no secret that you have an open marriage ... "Well, it's not really open," he says. "It seems to some people, but no. It's not discussed. My wife is a very private person and I respect her privacy. I would never openly flaunt anything. It's an old-fashioned way, but it's to protect. "One thing I want to say is, absence makes the heart grow fonder. We're not on one another all the time. Some people are, and there are frustrations and they take it out on one another. I don't have that. I love doing what I'm doing. My wife knows I could not be doing anything else. My wife would say we're best friends. As much as love and everything, we could talk to one another. And we have our own little thing." I don't want to push it, so I ask instead if there's anyone he regrets never having recorded with. "If I could have recorded with Elvis that would have been great. But Parker [Colonel Tom, Elvis' manager] wouldn't let him sing with me. Elvis never did a duet with anyone. I've never recorded with Jerry Lee Lewis either, and that would have been great." And the oddest place he's ever played? "It was the Talk of the Town, in London. Ben E King was a friend of mine, and he was coming to see me and I thought, great, because it was a great venue. When he came in, I told him, 'You're gonna dig it.' But then Gordon said, 'I forgot to tell you, the show's been bought out tonight by a male convention.' I replied, 'But there's gotta be women in there, right?' He said, 'No, no women. It's a stag thing. There's nothing you can do about it, they bought it.' "So I thought, shit, Ben E King, great soul singer, coming to see me and I gotta go up and sing to all men - which I hadn't done since I worked in this club in Wales, with people that I knew. It was strange to come out on stage and see the place full of men, but as it turned out it was a great show. They dug the shit out of it." No panties, though? "No, no panties." Tom Jones celebrates his 65th birthday with a one-off concert at Ponty Park, Pontypridd, on 28 May
Adrian Gregory Glover, The Aquarian We all know him as the dude who has had more panties thrown at him than any other 10 male stars combined on their best day. But Tom Jones is more than just a mack for show-bound MILFs across the globe. He's spent over 40 years in the spotlight as a consummate showman, vocalist and all-around entertainer that brings his A-game every time he steps in front of a microphone. Lately working with the likes of legendary keyboardist Jools Holland and Wyclef Jean, Jones has managed to keep himself relevant in a sea of kids who fade from glory in months. It was recently my honor and pleasure to drop a few questions his way. Simply put, dude, you are the man, and you got to know this. So looking back on it all, how did it all come to this point? The first thing that you have to get is a hit record, any singer will tell you that. That is the first and most important thing that you have to do and you will instantly see all of the big differences between how things were and how they are after you get that hit record. Then you have to be lucky enough to get another one. Some of us are not that lucky. I remember back in 1964, I recorded 'It's Not Unusual' and that came out in 1965. That was a hit for me and right after that I got really lucky and I received 'What's New Pussycat' from Burt Bacharach and then I ended up with 'Green Green Grass (Of Home).' So there has been some luck involved for certain. I got the right material at the right time and there are a lot of singers who don't get that. I'm versatile though. If you want the longevity you have to go for that. I can feel that. You are, hands down, one of the greatest showmen, singers and performers of all-time. How do you still get excited about doing the live thing? It's the people themselves digging what you do that gets you going. You don't ever want to stop. It's almost like a drug. It's the best part of my day. You know, sometimes I will be out in a club on a night off and the band will ask me to get onstage with them and I'll get up with them and you know (my handlers) will go, 'Are you crazy? Save yourself for your show you know. Don't go leaving your best performances here.' I can't stop myself from singing. You must think all of the breed of pop stars are crazy then. They work half your schedule and complain quite a bit about it. No I don't. I know how it is. When you first start out, it's different. It comes back to the first hit single again. Before you have that first hit single, you are not working as much, you are doing a gig here and a gig there. When you get that first hit under your belt, they want you to be in two places at once. You are not singing for pleasure anymore. You are singing on demand and that might not be so much fun when you are just becoming a professional. What does music contribute still to your life? It gives me something to do that I love to do and I can get paid for it. I thank God that I don't have to get up and do a job just to pay the bills like most people do. I thank God that he has fiven me this talent to do something that I really love. Music is always around me. I love new songs. They excite me, they really do. Doing them never gets old for me. I love hearing the music that other people have made so there is a combination of listening and creating. There is always a boom box around me or maybe a tv is on with music coming out of it from a video channel or a late night show with a performance. But it is always there for me. Tom Jones has always taken risks in what you put out in the marketplace. Has that been one of the hallmarks of your career? I like a lot of different kinds of songs. [But] I get resistance from record companies or even other singers sometimes about doing some things that I have tried. I remember when I first met Elvis (Presley) and he loved what I was doing and it was quite a thrill, you know, of course. I had done an album of standards at the time and I took it to him. He was always asking me what I was puffing out or what was new and he really enjoyed what he heard. But not with the standards album. Man, he pulled me aside and he said, 'Tom, we don't do that.' That was great for me because he pulled me into his world for a second. So he proceeds to go ahead and say, 'We leave things like that to Frank Sinatra.' Now I really like standards so it was too bad that he didn't enjoy it. But I will go into some areas that other singers will not go into. I will take that chance if I want to. Sometimes it has been wrong for my image and then it might have backfired because my shows are so tongue in cheek and maybe the songs were more serious but that is the way it goes. What attracts you to a song to where you want to cover it? There has to be a certain thing you look for? I have to really feel the song. I really don't write a lot of songs. Every now and again I will co-write a song but I really don't consider myself a master songwriter, so I have to feel a song as if I did write it. I have to be able to put my own stamp on it and make it sound genuine. I remember Frank Sinatra once told me how concerned he was for me because of how I sing. I get so into it, you know. And I told him, 'Hey that's the only way that I know how to sing!' I have to get out there and go for it, and a song has to let me do that. Some songs because of how they're built, they make it quite difficult for you to make them your own. I just did an album of songs with this boogie woogie player in the UK named Jools Holland. The songs are phenomenal. It's all songs that we love that go back to the roots of it all. There is a lot of Jerry Lee Lewis on it and as a matter of fact we went out of our way to pick some songs that were not so obvious. You can't really out-do 'Great Balls of Fire' anyway, so instead we picked a song called 'End of the Road'. It's a great tune. It was always an album track and when he [Lewis] came to see me in Las Vegas I played it for him. He looks at me and he goes, 'I wrote that, didn't I?' I said, 'Well, yeah.' and he goes ' Good, now I will get paid for it.' That's almost like a gift in itself Sure. He's one of the greatest and for him to give me his stamp of approval was amazing. That has been the best thing so far - meeting a lot of people that I grew up idolizing and respecting along the way. That has made it a lot of fun. Nothing is better than the people though and I guess that is the gift for me.