Tom Jones shakes his soul with fresh 'Spirit' - LA Times Interview

The new album 'Spirit in the Room' finds pop music's quintessential sex symbol giving his powerful voice over to the tender side.

Tom Jones sits in a cozy booth along one wall of a favorite Beverly Hills restaurant. At 72, his curly hair and neatly manicured mustache and goatee are more salt than pepper after his decision to give up black hair dye a few years ago. But Jones appears dapper as usual, ultra-tan and fit in his smart black suit and dark, ribbed crew-neck shirt.

The era-spanning entertainer is here to talk about his new album, "Spirit in the Room," coming out Tuesday. His latest work continues a career rejuvenation that kicked off in earnest three years ago with "Praise & Blame," a collection produced by Kings of Leon producer Ethan Johns. That album revealed Jones as the powerhouse gospel and soul singer many long felt had been overshadowed by his sexy show-biz hunk public persona.

At the moment, however, he can't help taking in the young folk-pop-jazz singer on the restaurant's small stage as she offers up versions of songs from the early-'70s singer-songwriter bible created by James Taylor and Carole King. He nods approvingly, if not enthusiastically. When the singer delivers one of her own songs, he perks up. "Now that sounds more like it's coming from her — I really like that one."

Had the singer known she was being assessed not only by one of the most recognizable singers of the last half-century but also a vocal coach for "The Voice UK" reality competition series, she understandably might have been intimidated.

But Jones wasn't concerned this night with passing judgment on someone else's career, just reflecting on his own, which exploded in 1965 with the punchy, horn-driven pop-rock hit "It's Not Unusual." The song vaulted the South Wales native (born Thomas Jones Woodward) into the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Forty-eight years later, in the opening track of "Spirit in the Room," the first words out of the mouth of one of pop music's quintessential sex symbols are, "Well my friends are gone and my hair is gray/ And I ache in the places I used to play/ And I'm crazy for love but I'm not comin' on."

The lyrics are from Leonard Cohen's "Tower of Song," and like all the material on "Spirit in the Room," the message is one Jones feels in every pore.

"When I heard it, I thought, 'This song could be written for me.' My friends are gone, and my hair is gray, which is a fact; most of my friends anyway.... There's another line in there: I was born like this, I had no choice, I was born with the gift of a golden voice.

"When I hear songs like that, the first thing I think is, 'How can somebody come up with something like that? … They're songs I wish I could write myself. But … if I hear something and I feel like I can put myself into it, then it's my song anyway. The big difference is," he says with that hearty Welsh laugh, "I don't get the royalty payment."

Elsewhere on the album, Jones reaches back as far as Blind Willie Johnson's existentially inquisitive "Soul of a Man" and as far forward as the Low Anthem's "Charlie Darwin," stopping in between with deeply probing songs from Richard Thompson ("Dimming of the Day") and Paul Simon ("Love and Blessings").

He also sings Paul McCartney's "(I Want To) Come Home," which has never been included on a McCartney album. He'll be touring the U.S. more extensively with the new album than he did with "Praise & Blame," including stops May 11 and 12 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood.

Producer Johns, who has also worked with Ryan Adams, Emmylou Harris and Rufus Wainwright, surrounds Jones' voice with bare-bones instrumental support, adding subtle but evocative production touches: a gently picked acoustic guitar for "Tower of Song," Pops Staples-like tremolo-drenched electric guitar lines on "Soul of a Man," eerie sustained keyboard notes underpinning "Love and Blessings."

Johns has all but done away with the polished stage orchestra treatments that characterized, and sometimes hampered, Jones' work through the '70s, '80s and '90s.

"Once we sat down and talked about the fact they wanted to make a spirited, honest recording, rather than a produced affair, and we started talking about the kind of music he wanted to do, I thought, this could be great," Johns said. "It looked like a really good opportunity to do something he's never done."

Jones' work with Johns on "Praise & Blame" would do more to stretch his image than the singer's 1999 dance-floor hit "Sexbomb" or his 2008 album with Wyclef Jean. It upped Jones' artistic credibility and elicited comparisons to Johnny Cash's victory lap run with Rick Rubin — with one key difference:

Where Cash's voice was slowly deteriorating over the course of his decade's worth of recording with Rubin — a powerfully moving component of the resulting performances — Jones' double-barreled vocal cords sound every bit as potent as when he was in his 20s and catching part of the wave of British Invasion rock led by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

His genuine passion for songs becomes apparent when he starts quoting various lyrics. "There's a song on the 'Praise & Blame' album … 'If I Give My Soul' by Billy Joe Shaver," he said. "It's saying, 'If I give my soul, will my son love me again?' Because the man messes up in his life, playing the devil's music. He succumbed to rock 'n' roll.

"That one again, that could have been me. I could have gone down that road, but I didn't, thank God. I held onto my wife, and I held onto my son," he said referring to his wife of 56 years, Linda, and their only child, Mark Woodward. "He put some great lines in it — 'Please put new boots on my feet' and 'If I give my soul to Jesus, will you stop my hands from shakin'?' Things that I can relate to."

Some of the songs' writers couldn't agree more.

"Tom played me his take on 'All Blues' just after he cut it — though I did not know beforehand that he was aiming to," Joe Henry said of Jones' version of "All Blues Hail Mary." "You can't imagine how strange — and wonderfully so — it is to hear that come off his tongue."

Jones is managed by his son and his son's wife, Donna. Mark also offers his suggestions on song choices, along with Johns.

"Ever since he was a kid he was always suggesting or wondering why I'd do certain things," Jones says, chuckling. "But kids are kids. As you get older, of course, I realized he knew what he was talking about."

The experiment that has turned into at least a trio of albums — Jones was off immediately after the interview to record basic tracks in England for a third CD with Johns — began after Island Records signed Jones to a multi-album deal in 2010.

"You'd have to be kind of deaf and insensitive to music," Johns says, "to not get how astounding his vocal performances are on 'Praise & Blame.' It's so evident he's inhabiting a world that is natural to him, and doing it in a way so few people historically have done it. He has a real facility for it. There aren't that many people around now who can genuinely sing that material the way he does — and it's not just the sound of his voice, but the way he phrases, his swing."

It would seem a natural turn for a singer in his 70s who grew up loving American blues, gospel and R&B, but Jones says bemusedly, "No one ever asked me to do a record like this before.

"I just thought of this: Because I'm of a certain age and I've been around a long time, maybe I can take advantage of that. Maybe I can not have to chase pop music or trends. Maybe now I can just do what I want — as long as people like it. It has to appeal to people, you know what I mean?"

But that's not to say you'll never see Tom Jones, the "What's New Pussycat?" sex symbol, shake his hips ever again.

"I still get fired up by old rock tunes," he said. "I still love to sing 'Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On.' When in doubt: 'Great Balls of Fire.' Those songs still resonate. If I was at a party and there's a piano player there," he says with a mischievous chuckle, "at the end of the night 'Great Balls of Fire' is gonna be in there."

By Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times April 20, 2013

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tom-jones-shakes-his-soul-with-fresh-spirit-20130421,0,6391523.story

Two Years, Confined to One Room - A Wall Street Journal Interview

Stricken with tuberculosis as a child, Tom Jones recalls his home in Wales. —Singer Tom Jones, 72, has sold over 100 million records—including "It's Not Unusual" and "What's New Pussycat?" His latest album, "Spirit in the Room" (Rounder), will be released Tuesday. Mr. Jones lives in Beverly Hills, Calif. He spoke with reporter Marc Myers.

I was born in the house of my grandmother in Treforest—a small town in the south of Wales. Nearly everyone in my family had been born in the front room of that two-story home.

When I was 1½, my grandmother on my father's side moved in with her daughter—allowing my family to move into her larger, three-story house about a mile away in Pontypridd. It was convenient, since my father and his brothers worked in the local coal mines. Like our first home, it was a terraced house—one of many identical stone residences that lined the road. Ours stood at the end of a row at the top of a hill on Laura Street.

In 1974, Tom Jones visited the streets in Wales, shown here, where he lived as a child. Today he lives in California, where he continues to record and perform.

On the ground floor were three small sitting rooms, with the kitchen in the back. Up a flight of stairs were two more rooms, one behind the next. On the top floor were three small bedrooms—one for my parents and one each for me and my older sister. It was a loving environment, and the neighborhood was filled with family and friends.

But everything changed in 1952, when I turned 12. I began to feel tired and listless, and my mother had trouble getting me up in the morning. When she took me to the doctor, an X-ray showed I had tuberculosis. Fortunately, we caught it early, so my TB wasn't contagious and I could stay at home.

The first plan of action was isolation and rest. My mother moved me down to the middle floor, and I spent the next two years confined to bed. The doctor said I had to relax and that the windows needed to remain open—lowered only slightly in the winter. Blankets and the coal fireplace in the room kept me warm.

Bed was a novelty at first. I didn't have to go to school, which was great since I wasn't a very good student. Later I learned I was dyslexic. But being forbidden to sing during the first year was a real drag. I had started singing early and had been performing in school, at family gatherings and at birthday parties. To keep myself occupied creatively, I sketched and painted with India inks.

My mother was a saint—and very house-proud. She took care of everything. She constantly cleaned and changed the room's walls for me—cutting out pictures of cowboys from magazines and putting them up. From my window, I could see the green valley below. But as good as that view was, I'd grow restless. So my parents routinely moved the bed around to change the scenery.

The radio my parents rented for me was a lifeline. It was a simple, dark-brown model with two dials and two BBC stations. Late at night, you'd hear music from America—blues by Big Bill Broonzy and gospel by Mahalia Jackson. Eventually I also had a rented TV set and watched pop singers on the Saturday-night variety shows—especially Frankie Vaughan. I'd tell myself, "I'm going to be on there one day."

After a year in bed, the doctor let me get up for two hours a day. But all I could do was stand at the front door and wave at my friends going to play or stand standing by the gas lamppost at night. They didn't know how lucky they were. I promised myself that when I could walk to that lamppost, I'd never complain about anything again. Soon my mother bought me a ukulele, and I sang with the window open. People would gather below to listen.

When I had fully recovered in 1954, I moved back upstairs to my bedroom. Three years later, when I was 16, I married and we moved into my wife's family's house. Up until I turned 21, I worked in a local glove factory, then at a paper mill and finally in construction during day so I could sing at night. I used to tell friends I was going to meet Elvis Presley one day. They'd laugh and say, "You're great, Tommy, but be real."

Years later, when my single "With These Hands" was a hit, I traveled to the States in October 1965 to appear on "The Ed Sullivan Show." TV had just gone color, so we had to fly out to Los Angeles, where CBS had color facilities. While I was there, someone asked if I wanted to meet Elvis. We went to Paramount Pictures, where he was filming.

On the set, Elvis saw me and walked over with his hand extended to shake mine. As he got close, he was smiling and singing "With These Hands"—the song I had performed on TV. I couldn't believe it. All I could think of were those years in bed and all those friends who had told me to get real.

A version of this article appeared April 19, 2013, on page M12 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Two Years, Confined To One Room. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324504704578412883869516070.html

3 US Tour Dates Confirmed!!

To coincide with the US release of Spirit In The Room later this month, we have three exciting shows to announce. Tom will be performing 'Spirit In The Room' and tracks from his critically acclaimed album 'Praise & Blame' at the following venues:

May 11th - Troubadour, Los Angeles

May 17th Theatre of Living Arts, Philadelphia

May 18th Bowery Ballroom, New York

Tickets go on sale on Friday 12th April at noon. You will be able to find all ticket info and links here.

Tom Jones talks blues, roots music and latest album, Spirit In The Room with Music Radar

"Tennessee Ernie Ford doing Catfish Boogie... records like that were the start of rock 'n' roll" Tom Jones talks blues, roots music and his new album, Spirit In The Room “The album reminds me of all the stuff I listened to when I was growing up in Wales," says Tom Jones of Spirit In The Room. It's the veteran singer's second collaboration with producer Ethan Johns, and like their first effort together, 2010's Praise & Blame, the gritty, stripped-down production is light years away from the big and brassy Las Vegas orchestra trappings that attended much of Jones' late '60s and '70s work.

"The music I listened to early on was on the BBC," says Jones. "There was big band music and pop, but occasionally we would hear a more raw sound, and those were the blues records, the gospel records and some country things, too. Tennessee Ernie Ford doing Catfish Boogie and Blackberry Boogie – to me, records like that were the start of rock ‘n’ roll. That stuff caught my ear."

Jones and multi-instrumentalist Johns (the latter is the son of noted producer Glyn Johns) assembled a tight band of musicians (Richard Causon on piano and vintage keyboards, Ian Jennings and Sam Dixon on bass, and drummer Stella Mozgawa) and recorded songs in a loose, leisurely fashion at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in Bath, England. "The whole thing was quite different from how we used to make records," says Jones. "We used to do three songs in three hours, with everything prepared beforehand. With Ethan, we went in and recorded from scratch – it was very free and open. And Ethan is a player, too, so I was talking to one of the people who would be making the music."

The songs, a haunting, soul-enlivening blend of Americana and blues-tinged covers by such names as Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Blind Willie Johnson, Paul McCartney, Odetta, Paul Simon, Richard Thompson and Tom Waits, among others, (along with the Jones/Johns-penned Travelin' Shoes, based on an original by Vera Hall-Ward) were picked by artist and producer with an eye towards, as Jones puts it, "getting down to the nitty-gritty. You can do that with roots music – there's nothing artificial in it."

Jones' minimalist, unvarnished approach to recording with Johns has been compared to Johnny Cash's late-period work with Rick Rubin, and the singer acknowledges the similarities. "With Johnny Cash, God bless him, he was doing that near the end of his life," says Jones. "The way that they made those records is sort of along the same lines. I think the beauty in what Johnny and Rick Rubin did is that, once you take the bare-bones approach, you get into the lyrics of the songs, the essence, without big arrangements trying to sway you. It really suits me."

Spirit In The Room will be released in the US on 23 April (it came out in the UK last year). On the following pages, Jones discusses the selection and recording process of seven of the album's 13 cuts.

1 Tower Of Song - Originally recorded by Leonard Cohen

“I love Leonard Cohen; he’s an incredible writer. With this song, I connected with it as I would with anything when I hear it and say, ‘Hey, that could be me.’ I’m singing about myself, my experiences, what I feel. That’s what I thought when I heard Tower Of Song. ‘My friends are gone and my hair is gray.’ Well, that’s true: Most of the friends I grew up with are dead, and my hair is gray. Those words really hit home.

“When we recorded our version, Ethan said, 'I want to get this as live as possible.' The microphone was wide open; it wasn’t a directional mic. There’s a great room sound, very ambient, as if you’re walking in on a band rehearsing.

“Of course, you get a good sound when you’re at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios. We did both this album and Praise & Blame there. A very natural-sounding room.”

2 (I Want To) Come Home - Originally recorded by Paul McCartney

“I know Paul, and I’ve asked him over the years to write me a song. He’s tried it – he sent me one, but I was recording with Wyclef Jean, and the song he wrote me didn’t fit in with what we were doing. But I’ve always wanted something by Paul McCartney.

“Actually, here’s a story: When he wrote The Long And Winding Road, he gave it to me. I was talking with him one night in London way back, and I said, ‘I’d love for you to write me something, Paul,’ and he said, ‘I will.’ But what happened was, we had a record coming out, and I couldn’t stop it. Paul wanted me to do The Long And Winding Road, but he wanted it to be my next single. So we just couldn’t do it.

“From then, any time I see Paul, I always ask him about a song. Ethan heard this one, and he loved it. Everything that Paul has done is so popular, but this song, which was in a movie, wasn’t that well known.

“I listened to it, and I said, ‘That’s fantastic.’ Again, it applies to me. It could be me, my life. The production is minimal, and it works very well with what we wanted to do with it."

3 Dimming Of The Day - Originally recorded by Richard Thompson

“I’ve sung Richard Thompson songs before; I’ve always thought that he was a powerful writer. When we were getting ready to do this album, I definitely wanted to see what else of his might work. A few other people have recorded Dimming Of The Day, so I listened to what they did to see if I could take it somewhere else, which I think I did.

“We put a very simple beat to it, a natural style of production. The key to this song, and this whole album, is that you don’t want to over-arrange. That gets in the way of the song, gets in the way of what I’m trying to put across. For me to deliver a song like this well, it’s got to sound like I wrote it myself. Getting the right production can make a big difference.”

4 Traveling Shoes - Written by Tom Jones and Ethan Jones, based on Traveling Shoes by Vera Hall Ward

“Ethan and I were listening to some old blues songs, and I said, ‘Why don’t we elaborate on some of these?’ These kinds of songs have been done before, but the trick is to move things around; you take what was originally there in some form and change the pieces here and there. With a lot of blues, it’s hard to even say what the original of something is sometimes. They’ve been done and redone so much, but that’s how they continue to live on.

“I play guitar when I write, if it’s in a certain key. I’m not a great guitar player, but I do enjoy playing, and I know a few keys. Ethan is a far better guitarist than I am, so I let him take over in the recording."

5 Love And Blessings - Originally recorded by Paul Simon

“I know Paul. I’ve listened to a lot of his songs, and I knew that I wanted to do something that he wrote. He’s such a beautiful writer. Ethan played this one for me and asked me what I thought, and I said, ‘I love it.’

“We did it in the same rhythmic pattern as Paul, but we changed it quite a bit in the middle section – he had himself singing with the background vocals. Ethan played a real rock guitar, quite bluesy, which sounds incredible.

“I’m a big guitar fan, especially when it comes to the blues. Ethan is a great blues player. He’s got a bloody wall full of guitars. What's great about him is, you can talk to him about your ideas on how the guitar should go, and he gets it. He’ll try things out until you say, ‘That’s it. That sounds good to me.’”

6 Charlie Darwin - Originally recorded by The Low Anthem

“It’s a message song, but it's not morbid. It’s telling you about the world and the kinds of things that Charles Darwin was warning us about. I’m a historian – I love history – and when I heard the part about the Mayflower coming across, I could see it. These desperate people looking for a better world... It struck a chord in me.

“When I did it, it sounded so real. There’s a big piece in the song – it happens twice – and I said, ‘I hear English church singers in these parts.’ It’s not a gospel choir; it’s an English church choir. So that’s what we did – we went to a church and recorded a choir singing those parts. I had that sound in my mind, and I’m so pleased that we got it across. We kept the song, but we brought it somewhere new.”

7 When The Deal Goes Down - Originally recorded by Bob Dylan

“To me, it had the feeling of an old music hall song. That’s how I heard it. It reminded me of what I used to hear in pubs when I was growing up in Wales. The people would sing songs that were much older than them, things from the First World War and even before that. It had a structure as if it was from a very different time.

“That’s the sound we tried to get. We did it with a old pipe organ – you have to pump it with your feet as you play. That’s Richard Causon playing it, and he sounds incredible.

“I’ve never met Bob Dylan. For some reason, we’ve never been in the same place at the same time. I’ve always been a fan. He’s one of the best lyricists who ever lived. It’s never flowery with Bob Dylan – he says just what he means. On the Praise & Blame album, I did What Good Am I?, which he wrote. You can take a Dylan song and do it your own way, because the way Bob records, he does it very sparse. God bless him.”

By Joe Bosso March 27, 2013

To read the full review at musicradar.com click here

Watch Tom Perform 'Evil' & 'Mama Told Me Not To Come' at Arthur's Day Celebration

Tom had a great time performing at Arthur's Day in London and you can see two of the songs here. Mama Told Me Not To Come

Evil

Win Tickets to see Tom Perform at Arthur's Day in London

We are giving away 25 pairs of tickets to see Tom perform live at the Guinness Arthur's Day celebration at Senate House in London on Thursday 27th September.

For your chance to win tickets please send an email to tomjonescontest@gmail.com with your name and telephone number. We will then select 25 names at random and those 25 people will each win a pair of tickets. The contest closes at midnight on Tuesday 25th September and the winners will be contacted in the morning of Wednesday 26th.

This is for a show in London next Thursday evening (27th September - 8pm-11pm) so please only apply if you are able to go.

Good luck!

Choose your Favourite Tom Jones Track Live On-Air on BBC London Tomorrow Afternoon!

We have a treat for all BBC London listeners tomorrow afternoon. Robert Elms will be chatting to Tom on his BBC London show tomorrow. Robert will play 4 Tom Jones tracks... one picked by Tom and the other three will be chosen by listeners.

Listeners will have the opportunity to call between midday and 12.30pm with their favourite Tom Jones track. They’ll be looking for people with a good story or particular passion to go with their track choice, so dig deep in the memories!

From all the calls, BBC London will choose 3 listeners to go on-air between 1pm and 1.30pm, so you need to be available and happy to talk on-air ☺ Station/frequency is BBC London 94.9fm Call 020 7224 2000 (between 12 and 12.30 only).

Good Luck!

The Guardian Q&A: Tom Jones 'My fancy dress costume of choice? Dick Turpin'

Tom Jones was born Thomas Jones Woodward in south Wales in 1940. He left school at 16 and married his wife Linda a year later, just before the birth of their son Mark. In 1963, he joined his first band and two years later his career took off with It's Not Unusual, his first hit in the UK and US. He went on to have success with the classics Green, Green Grass Of Home and Delilah. He has sold more than 100m records. He was one of the coaches on the TV talent show The Voice. His latest album is Spirit In The Room and next week he releases the single (I Want To) Come Home. Tomorrow he performs at Radio 2 Live In Hyde Park. When were you happiest? When I was able finally to get out of bed when I had TB – after two years.

What is your greatest fear? Being locked up in jail.

What is your earliest memory? I can see the kitchen in the house where I was born – so think I was in a high-chair having some nosh.

Which living person do you most admire, and why? The Queen, for her loyalty and determination.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Bad sense of time – on the clock, not in music!

What is the trait you most deplore in others? Bullying.

What has been your most embarrassing moment? I was in the toilet somewhere on the M1, sitting with my trousers down, and some girls jumped over the door.

What is your most treasured possession? My voice.

What would your super power be? Immortality.

What makes you unhappy? Not being able to sing.

What is your favourite smell? The scent of a woman.

What is your favourite book? The Rise And Fall Of The British Empire, by Lawrence James.

What would be your fancy dress costume of choice? Dick Turpin.

What is the worst thing anyone's said to you? "I heard you were paid off." Early in my career there was a rumour that I was paid not to play at some club – which was not true. It still rankles.

Cat or dog? Dog.

Is it better to give or to receive? By giving you receive – it's a good deal.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party? Winston Churchill, both of my grandfathers – whom I've never met – John Wayne and Boudicca.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Any and many swearwords.

What is the worst job you've done? Twelve-hour shifts in a paper mill.

When did you last cry, and why? When I listened to one of my [The Voice] team members sing.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Being knighted by Her Majesty.

What keeps you awake at night? Knowing I have to get up early.

What song would you like played at your funeral? I haven't given it any thought.

How would you like to be remembered? As a helluva singer.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you? Don't make decisions when you've had too much to drink.

Where would you most like to be right now? Wherever I am, breathing and well.

Interview: Rosanna Greenstreet guardian.co.uk, Friday 31 August 2012 22.59 BST

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/aug/31/tom-jones-singer?INTCMP=SRCH

Tom Chats to Cerys Matthews on BBC 6 Music

Tom chats to Cerys Matthews about the early days of his career, his love of Jerry Lee Lewis and Leonard Cohen, and the time he spent in Las Vegas with Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. To listen back please click here to be taken to the BBC iplayer