Mommes and murders as Tom Jones soars in Tel Aviv - The miner’s son from Wales invokes his fictional Yiddishe heritage, rocks, rolls, raps and rabble-rouses, on a high-energy return visit to Israel

Tom Jones is a miner’s son from Glamorgan in South Wales. His mother Freda, who died 10 years ago, was born in Wales, and so were her mother and father before her. Yiddishe, in short, Sir Tom is not. But you wouldn’t have known it in Tel Aviv on Monday, when the 73-year-old indomitable, and unclassifiable, singer sent the lyrics to a song that’s a good few years older than he is booming through the cavernous Nokia Arena. He told the audience that his father Thomas taught him “My Yiddishe Momme” when he was a kid. And he sang it with so much conviction that no one could doubt Freda Jones cared little “for fashion’s styles” and instead found her “jewels and pleasures… in her baby’s smiles.”

Conviction and demonstrable pleasure. “That is a beautiful song,” he mused in that lilting Welsh accent, when the last notes had faded away.

There had been the odd raised eyebrow, maybe even a little snigger, in the office when I mentioned where I was going Monday night. Me, with my exhaustive Dandy Warhols collection, off to hear a man at whom swooning middle-aged ladies used to throw their underwear?

But quite apart from my general “they come, we go” approach to artists who play in Israel, I knew Jones would be a blast, and he didn’t disappoint. He brought a bright, loud, 10-piece band along with him — including two guitarists, two female backing singers and a stellar horn section. He played a set that featured blues, rock ‘n’ roll, country, pop, funk, gospel, even (heaven help us) some minor rapping. He didn’t keep us waiting for hours, he didn’t end too soon, I’m pretty sure he didn’t mention the non-state entity next door, and he most certainly didn’t lip-synch.

Rather, he smiled throughout the hour-and-a-half long set, told us it had been “great” the last time he played here 15 years ago and “it’s still great now,” gave us some Shaloms and a L’chaim, and offered a lovable little bow at the end of each number like the old-fashioned gentleman entertainer that he is.

But if “there’s a mighty judgment coming” for him anytime soon, as he predicted in the co-opted Leonard Cohen number “Tower of Song,” Jones isn’t wearily awaiting it. He may have stopped dying his hair — it was “a different color” last time he was here, he said, self-deprecatingly admitting past vanities — but he looked fighting fit. He was waltzing during “What’s New Pussycat?” and wiggling the hips too. He offered a setlist that sampled vibrantly from six or seven decades. And he brought his belting baritone, that voice, intact. When Cohen delivers another great line in “Tower of Song,” about having been “born with the gift of a golden voice,” he’s being ironic. When Tom Jones sings it, he’s making a glorious declaration of gratitude.

I’ll acknowledge that Mrs. Reviewer and I, even in our advancing years, were among the younger members of the audience. I’ll admit that only a very few of the thousands who gathered for this second of Jones’s two Tel Aviv concerts got off their butts at any point in the proceedings to dance. And I’ll honestly report that the songs that went down best were the real oldies — “Green, Green Grass of Home,” “It’s Not Unusual” and “Delilah” — rather than the relative newies like “Sex Bomb” and “Kiss.”

But he gave even those ancient hits plenty of zest and drama. Who knew that “Delilah” was a tale of jealous murder? I’d certainly never listened to the lyrics before. (Though most of the folks around me plainly had, since they were singing along.) And who could begrudge him playing “It’s Not Unusual,” the song that Jones told us “started it” all for him in 1964? “When I was 10,” he lied.

At the end, after two encores, and having gathered that excellent band together at stage front for a group bow, Jones told the audience, “We’ve had a ball up here tonight, and we hope you did too.” He added, gently and sweetly, “So until next time, good night and God bless you.”

Yiddishe or not, his mother would have been kvelling.

By David Horovitz

You can read this review in full at The Times of Israel here

Tom Jones sex bombs Tel Aviv

The Welsh wizard of song showed Tel Aviv that some people, like fine wine, get better with age. It shouldn’t be surprising that Sir Tom Jones was on top form in Tel Aviv on Saturday night. After all, it’s not unusual (sorry!) for him to deliver an outstanding performance on stage, a place he so clearly loves.

The Welsh wizard pulled off a virtuoso performance to a packed house at the Nokia Stadium, masterfully whipping through his greatest hits, and throwing in some lesser known yet equally impressive tunes for good measure.

Unlike fellow pop veteran Cliff Richards over the summer, Jones kept the dancing to a minimum, perhaps knowing what the people had really come for. Granted, he did grace the audience with a few hip swivels during “It’s Not Unusual”, the jacket did come off during “You Can Keep Your Hat On”, and he did mimic the knife murder at the center of “Delilah”. But the simple dark jacket, turtle neck and pants, and low-key visuals kept the focus on the true reason for thousands of people to pay hundreds of shekels – that soaring, hushed, rocking, soulful, operatic voice filling the auditorium as easily and as beautifully as it would a small room filled with friends.

The singer smoothly transitioned from a cover of Leonard Cohen’s haunting Tower of Song (the line “I was born with the gift of a golden voice” earned him a round of mid-song applause by an audience who knew a truism when they saw one) to the all-out pop of “Mama Told Me Not To Come”, “Sex Bomb” and show-closer “Kiss”. His performance of “Never Gonna Fall In Love Again”, was performed so powerfully, with such intensity, that only the sweeping vocals and emotion of “Green, Green Grass of Home” could top it.

Jones spent a fair bit of time bantering with the audience, promising his fans after the first number that they were in for “a great night”. A little later, he recalled his last visit to Tel Aviv, lamenting the transition from a head of black hair to the silver fox he is today. His hair may have changed color with the years, but those goose bump-inducing vocals are still very much intact.

He also judged his audience extremely well, throwing in a truly moving version of the classic “My Yiddishe Mama”, and recounting how he learned it from his father. I would be surprised if there was a dry eye among the  show-goers in the house.

The standing ovation that Jones was awarded at the end of the show was more than deserved. The concert might have only lasted as long as Rihanna’s last Tuesday (my only real gripe), but this 73-year-old grandpa taught the R&B prima donna the secret to a long and successful career – get on stage and sing your heart out.

So if you’re in Tel Aviv on Monday, and get the chance, a night in the company of Tom Jones is certainly worth every shekel.

You can read this review at the Jerusalem Post here

Tom Jones Happy to be Back in Abu Dhabi

Tom Jones is back in his element. The 73-year-old Welsh legend is happy to be back on stage after completing his second season as a mentor on The Voice UK. He explains watching all these young things perform onstage during the show gave him the itch to get back on the road. “I enjoy doing television work but there is not a lot of singing involved and instead I am listening to other people sing,” he says. “I enjoy that but I love being on stage and doing live shows. I just wanted to get back up there because the reaction you get – there is nothing like it.”

Jones still savours his previous show in the capital in 2010; a sold-out gig at Adnec. He returns Thursday to Yas Island’s du Forum.

“That was a great night and it was one those shows that reminded me that this is why I do it: to entertain people and make them have a good time,” he says. “I am very happy to come back and do it again. Also, the good weather is a plus.”

Jones is promoting his latest album Spirit In The Room. The elegiac new collection, his 40th, is a loose sequel to 2010’s rootsy Praise & Blame, where Jones covers tracks from artists including Paul McCartney (I Want to Come Home), Bob Dylan (When The Deal Goes Down) and Paul Simon (Love and Blessings).

Where Praise & Blame covered traditional gospel, Jones explains the goal with the new record is to pay tribute to songwriters he respects.

“We got songs that other songwriters have written that were not overdone and that have not gone bad,” he says. “Artists like Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and Tom Waits; these are artists whose work I always liked and this was a great opportunity to work with some of their songs.”

Jones looked for songs that echo his present circumstances. The results shatter the iconic image of the young, virile Jones of five decades ago.

In the acoustic opener, Leonard Cohen’s Tower of Song, the first lines are: “Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey / I ache in the places where I used to play.”

It is what it is, Jones says. “I couldn’t sing that song 20 or 30 years ago because it wouldn’t be honest,” he says. “I am 73 years old now and my hair is grey and a lot of my friends are gone. It is definitely a time to reflect.”

Spirit in The Room is not a bunch of covers but evocative reinterpretations, a stellar example being his lush gospel take on The Low Anthem’s lo-fi gem Charlie Darwin.

Jones explains it’s a balance between channeling the song’s spirit and giving it your own spin.

“It’s about staying true to the distinctive tone of your voice,” he says. “You can be influenced by a song but you shouldn’t copy it. Like an actor, you really try to dig up some of those big emotions within you and bring them out and on to the song.”

Jones enjoys giving such advice to young contestants on The Voice UK.

He states that artists’ participation in talent shows is an opportunity to see the music world from a less ego-driven vantage point. “Most of us entertainers are preoccupied by our own careers. So to be given a chance to offer some of my knowledge to other people is a great opportunity, really.”

Tom Jones performs tomorrow night at the du Forum, Yas Island, at 7.30pm. Tickets cost from Dh300. For details, visit www.ticketmaster.com.ae

Saedd Saeed. Sep 17, 2013

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/tom-jones-happy-to-be-back-in-abu-dhabi#ixzz2f9b9agEc

Tom Jones: It’s not unusual to change up your sound - A Weekly Feed Interview

Tom talks to The Weekly Feed about Spirit In The Room and shares the stories behind the songs.

You can watch this on www.salon.com here

Tom Jones live from WXPN's Non COMMvention at World Cafe Live

Watch Tom's preformance during WXPN's Non-COMMvention at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia on Thursday, May 16, 2013. He performed songs from his new album, Spirit In The Room.

Tom Jones live from WXPN's Non COMMvention at World Cafe Live from WXPN FM on Vimeo.

The World Cafe will be broadcasting this session again on Thursday, June 27th, 2013.

NPR’s World Cafe with host David Dye can be heard on 250 stations nationwide. Fans can find their local station and broadcast time at the following link:

www.npr.org/templates/stations/schedule/?prgId=39

Or worldwide, fans can connect to the WXPN Philadelphia stream at 2pm EST, here:

www.xpn.org/music-artist/xpn-stream

Late in the day of broadcast, NPR will feature the artist's episode as the "Current Show" on the World Cafe website and archive the session for streaming, here:

www.worldcafe.org

Tom to Play Singapore Grand Prix

What does a knight, a magician, a dhol drummer and a soul singer have in common? Patrons at the 2013 FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX can expect them, and more, as part of race promoter Singapore GP’s electrifying entertainment line-up. Tom will be playing the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday 22nd September 2013.

Entry to Tom Jones’ concert is included with any three-day 2013 FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX Zone 1 ticket or Sunday single-day Pit Grandstand special ticket.

Other artists to play over the weekend are Rihanna, The Killers, Justin Bieber, Bob Geldolf and Laura Mvula.

You can buy tickets to the event at http://www.singaporegp.sg/

He's still got it: Tom Jones electrifies the crowd in West Hollywood

The 73-year-old proves his pipes are perfect for soul music at the Troubadour WEST HOLLYWOOD – Inside Tom Jones is a great soul singer; it just took him 70 years to come out. Jones’ most recent albums,  2010’s “Praise & Blame” and his new set, “Spirit in the Room,” cover vintage and contemporary gospel, blues, soul and rock tunes. It was from this meaty menu that he drew inspiration for his May 11 show at the Troubadour, his first of two sold-out nights at the 400-capacity club.

Jones opened the 105-minute concert with “Tower of Song,” the Leonard Cohen tale of a singer whose “hair is grey,” and in possession of “a golden voice,” both of which describe the legendary Welsh singer to perfection. With spare, largely acoustic instrumentation provided by a four-piece, the emphasis was on Jones’ rich voice, which remains remarkably steady and strong and has added a grizzled bottom end that gives it only more appeal. Less confident singers often pull back from the microphone when it comes to hitting a high note or sustaining it, but time and time again, Jones leaned into the microphone when such challenges arose and met them successfully.

The recent material deals primarily with such heavy matters as saving one’s soul (or not) and redemption (after repeated falls from grace) from the primeval stomp of John Lee Hooker’s “Burning Hell” and  Blind Willie Johnson’s “The Soul of a Man” to Tom Waits’ delightfully sinister “Bad as Me.” Jones often seemed to conjure up the lyrics from some dark, deep place in his own being, double fisting the microphone, holding one hand on the stand, with the other on the mic, his eyes closed as he softly swayed during some of the swampier songs.

He dispensed with the microphone stand for many of the faster numbers, often feigning boxing moves during Doug Lancio’s lacerating guitar solos. Jones’ hip-swiveling days may be behind him, but his still-swaggering sex appeal poured off him like the sweat running down his face in the steamy, packed venue. His removal of his jacket halfway through the performance was greeted with cheers and a man shouting out, “Looking good, Tommy!” He replied, “Not bad for an old fella,” before proudly confessing he was approaching his 73rd birthday. “June 7, 1940. I was born during the Battle of Britain,” he said, as his arrival during that explosive event somehow explained his magical success.

The stripped-down weightiness of the material didn’t lend itself to Jones hopping in the time machine to travel back to his lighter, glossy '60s fare, such as “What’s New, Pussycat” or “Delilah,” despite cries from the audience for the frothy classics, but Jones did throw in his 1966 hit “Green, Green Grass of Home,” written by Curly Putman. Earlier in the evening, he also referenced Putman as he paid homage  “to another Jones,” the late George Jones, by singing the country classic “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” co-written by Putman and Bobby Braddock. His touching tribute may have had more power than the Possum’s original, but couldn’t match the poignancy. He fared better when he saluted his old friend Elvis Presley with a sexy, virile “One Night With You,” which was, he claimed, first titled “One Night of Sin,” but, “in those days, the record company said, ‘No, no, no.’”

Jones capped his three-song encore with Jerry Lee Lewis’ rollicking “End of the Road,” delivering it with the same energy, verve and passion that he possessed at the start of the set. His love for this classic material that he grew up on was abundant, but it felt like there was something deeper at play here: At 72, Jones seems to have found his voice  — and his soul — after all these years.

By Melinda Newman Special to MSN Music

You can read the full review at msn.com here

A robust Tom Jones tears through 40th album - MSN Music Interview

Legendary singer and raconteur draws on wealth of life experience for covers set Tom Jones has been making music for six decades now, but the famous Welshman attacks the material on his 40th album, "Spirit in the Room," with the brio and relish of a newcomer. He sinks his teeth into stripped-down covers from songwriters as diverse as Leonard Cohen and the Low Anthem with the full life experience of his 72 years, cackling maniacally on Tom Waits' "Bad as Me" and growling menacingly on Blind Willie Johnson's "Soul of a Man." The follow-up to 2010's "Praise & Blame" once again pairs Jones with producer Ethan Johns, and many are comparing their growing body of work to Rick Rubin and Johnny Cash's seminal series of albums.

Unlike the frail Cash, however, Jones is still incredibly robust, splitting his time between his adopted hometown of Los Angeles; London, where's he's a judge on the British version of "The Voice"; and concert stages around the globe.

Jones is as great a raconteur as he is a singer, and it doesn't take much prompting, if any, for him to launch into an amusing story about splashing around with Elvis Presley in Hawaii or how magical it still feels to be onstage after all these years. The legendary artist starts a U.S. tour on May 11.

MSN Music: What kind of spirits did you feel you conjured up in the room as you were recording this album at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios?

Tom Jones: We were in a place called Box, in Wiltshire [England]. My grandmother was born there [before] they moved to Wales in the late 1800s. It used to be an old water mill, and I was walking around and I thought, she must have walked around here. Box is very small. She couldn't have been born in another part of town. So [after recording the] first album went so well, I thought, "I wonder if she is still floating around here?" When we got here to do the second one, it felt the same kind of feel as it did when we did "Praise & Blame." I said, "It feels like there's a spirit in the room," and Mark, my son, said, "That's a great title!" My grandmother's father [was] a stone mason. He [could] have been one of the men who built this bloody place.

How did the theme for this album come about?

Ethan said, "Let's do some songs from some of your favorite songwriters, not like a well-known song, something that would suit you." I wanted to do Leonard Cohen's song ["Tower of Song"]. I love that because of the lyrical content. The opening line is "my friends are gone, my hair is gray ... I was born with the gift of a golden voice." Jesus Christ, if I could have written that, I would have.

Was that the first song you recorded to help you get the tone for the album?

No, I think the first one that we did was "Soul of a Man," because we were listening to a lot of old blues stuff as well and I know a lot of old blues, country blues, gospel-type stuff.

On that and Tom Waits' "Bad as Me," you're unleashing some demons. You're looking for people who can sin just as well as you and then you have to go seek redemption in some of these other songs.

Well, that's it. We thought we'd mix it up. That Tom Waits song, Jesus Christ!

It sounds like you take absolute delight in singing it.

Yeah. It's another side of me. It's like, "You're as bad as me ... You think of all these crazy things ..." I've always loved Tom Waits. I was looking for stuff by these people that I could relate to that was touching me. "Tower of Song" is as true as "Bad as Me."

Do you think you could have sung these songs even 20 years ago, or do you need all 72 years of life that you bring to them?

I think different times of your life things happen and I don't think it could have happened before.

You and Ethan are already working on a new album. What's on that?

I love '50s rock 'n' roll and old bluesy kind of stuff and I love country music. I love Hank Williams' "Why Don't You Love me Like You Used to Do," so we did that. We also did "You Pretty Thing," the Bo Diddley song. Maybe we'll do three albums and put them in a box set: do an album of '50s rock 'n' roll, an album of all blues and do an album of all country, and keep them separate.

You seem to still get amazing enjoyment out of singing. Do you feel like you're 25 again?

Oh, it's unbelievable, it's just the fire that's in there ... you know we're all sort of ripping the s--- out of it. [Laughs] And I said to Ethan, "You know what, the people that are on this record, why don't we just go out as a band? I wonder if we could get away with it? Maybe just say it's a band and not saying it's me."

Speaking of, you start a limited U.S. tour on May 11. What does it feel like still to be onstage after all these years?

It's a fantastic feeling. When I'm there, I give my soul. I pour myself out. I just get all the emotion out of myself when I'm onstage, and it's a wonderful experience. I think I'm going to do this until I can't do it anymore because I would hate to retire or to not do it and then think to [my]self, "Why did I do that? Why did I stop? Why? When people want to hear me and I still want to sing?"

"Just Dropped In" is probably the only song here that most people will already be that familiar with. That was a hit for Kenny Rogers & the First Edition right around the same time as "Delilah" was a hit for you. What made you decide to record it now?

It was written by a man named Mickey Newbury and he was the one that put "An American Trilogy" together.

For Elvis Presley.

Elvis did it, but I was doing it at the same time. Elvis beat me to the punch and recorded it, but I was doing it live onstage.

I was in Hawaii with Elvis in '69, I was doing shows there and he had rented a house, so I was out at his house and we were in the ocean just fooling around there on the beach. We were both singing lines from Jerry Reed's songs and parts of "An American Trilogy," and I said "Well, I'm going to do it" and Elvis said, "Well I'm going to do it." "And I said, "Well, OK, that's all right, I don't mind," and he said, "Go ahead." That was it, so we were both doing it 'round about 1970, 1971, but Elvis recorded it and I never did. Once Elvis did it, I thought, "Well, now if I record it, they'll think I'm doing Elvis Presley," which I wasn't, but that was it. [Then] I was listening to Mickey Newbury and I heard his version of "Just Dropped In" and I thought, "Jesus! What a great song," so I wanted to do it, and as I'm thinking about it, Kenny Rogers recorded it.

And then there's the famous story of your not getting to record "The Long & Winding Road" after Paul McCartney approached you because the timing wasn't right.

That's why I did the Paul McCartney song ["(I Want To) Come Home"] on this album.

You lost some good songs over the years, but all in all, it's safe to say it's turned out OK for you.

Yeah, exactly, so I can't mourn too much, I can't say "S---, if I had been there!" because some singers always miss the boat and they never get one. Thank God, I did get some, I didn't miss that many.

In some ways, you're making good 40 years later: You've got Mickey Newbury's song on here, you've got McCartney's song on here ...

All I need to do now is "An American Trilogy" and I've got it.

You'll be caught up.

I don't think I'll ever catch up, but I'll try.

By Melinda Newman Special to MSN Music

You can read the full interview at MusicMSN.com here

Album Review: 'Spirit In The Room'

Are he and Ethan Johns the next Rick Rubin/Johnny Cash?

Tom Jones has, thankfully, never faded away since his sexy, swinging success of the ‘60s, and every decade or so, he has a resurgence.

In 1989, hipsters embraced Jones through his kicky remake of Prince’s “Kiss” with The Art of Noise. Then in 1999, he scored a dance hit with “Sexbomb.”

This latest wave, though somewhat lower profile, started in 2008 with “24 Hours,” his first album of all new material in the U.S. in 15 years. He covered such wildly divergent material as Bruce Springsteen’s “The Hitter,”  and “Sugar Daddy” (written by Bono and The Edge), as well as performed a number of his own compositions.

That whet people’s appetites for 2010’s “Praise & Blame,” his first pairing with producer Ethan Johns (Kings of Leon, Ray LaMontagne). Unlike “24 Hours,” which had a little silliness along with depth, “Praise & Blame” aimed to give Jones a certain gravitas afforded folks like Johnny Cash with his Rick Rubin/American Recordings set. And it worked. The collection of gospel covers received wildly enthusiastic reviews. The song reached No. 2 on the U.K. Albums Chart.

So the pump was primed for another set between the sympatico Jones and Johns and they have delivered in a big way with “Spirit in the Room,” out today (23).

While the pair have broadened the parameters —these songs are more about the human spirit and the human condition than religious tunes, though there’s plenty of spirituality here— the guidelines remain the same: let Jones’ voice fully carry the album because, at 72, he still can. His vocals are vital and robust here. Surround him with songs that will be familiar to some and new to others, but none were such big hits (with the possible exception of Mickey Newbury’s ‘60s hit, “Just Dropped in”) that the originals will loom large.

In almost all cases, Johns has opted to give Jones’ voice as little accompaniment as possible because it’s still so rich and supple that it never needs a place to hide. The one  place that differs is on The Low Anthem’s gorgeous “Charlie Darwin.” The original features layered gossamer vocals. Instead, Johns adds a choir that gives the song an even more otherworldly feel.

Jones drops all the schmaltz —to be fair, he hasn’t relied on that in a long time— and lays his sins bare, especially on a scarily menacing remake of Blind Willie Johnson’s “Soul of a Man.”  He takes Tom Waits’ deliciously devilish “Bad As Me” and turns up the heat as he relishes in finding someone who shares his same demons. Just listen to his cackle.

Conversely, there are songs of great tenderness, including his cover of Bob Dylan's  “When The Deal Goes Down, “ rendered as an accordion-and optigan-bolstered waltz so smooth and genteel you could practically ice skate to it.

Not only does Johns have a sure hand as producer, his guitar work here—on slide and electric— adds a Spaghetti Western feel to many of the tracks, giving them a cinematic feel, especially on Joe Henry’s swampy and haunting “All Blues Hail Mary.”

Some artists just get better and better with age and just as Jones has let his naturally gray hair shine through over the last few years instead of dying it black, there seems to be the same kind of authenticity in his songs. He pours every one of his 72 years’ worth of experience and pain and hurt and joy into these songs.

By Melinda Newman Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013

Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/news/album-review-tom-jones-spirit-in-the-room#XoavEzWbW76F31Q5.99

Spirit In The Room: A Conversation with Tom Jones - The Huffiungton Post

A Conversation with Tom Jones Mike Ragogna: Tom, welcome.

Tom Jones: Thanks, mate!

MR: You have a new album, Spirit In The Room, on which you take songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and you make them your own. How did you choose this batch?

TJ: Well, first of all, I wanted to do songs by some of my favorite songwriters. Ethan Johns, the man that's producing me, said, "Tell me what songwriters you really like," and we'd listen to stuff that they'd done, and hopefully find one that we could do. That's what we did. We listened to a lot of Leonard Cohen songs, a lot of Paul McCartney, Odetta, Paul Simon, Blind Willie Johnson, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Bill Hall Ward, Vera Hall and Low Anthem. It's basically songs by songwriters that I like.

MR: The approach you and your producer took on this was so personal and intimate, and it was recorded in a wooden room.

TJ: Yes, it was done in a place called Real World, which is owned by Peter Gabriel. It's a little place called Box in Wiltshire, and the only reason I had ever heard this name before is because my grandmother had been born there and then moved into Wales. Box is a very small place, but Peter Gabriel has built a studio there, the studio is why we called it Spirit In The Room. I felt something...I don't know whether it was because my grandmother is from there. The studio is a very old building and I began to wonder if my grandmother had ever been in there.

MR: I also have heard that from other artists who have worked there, that there is something special about the "feeling" in that space.

TJ: It's an old place. It's an old building in an old village. It's something more than just a recording studio.

MR: Let's talk about some of these songs, like the couple of Tom Jones originals.

TJ: Yeah. Well, Ethan and I were listening to all these songs, and we kind of used a part of one and a part of another and created some new songs as well. That was interesting.

MR: It takes a good relationship with somebody to comfortably be able to go into a room and start making music.

TJ: That's why I like working with Ethan--you start from scratch. We had to bring the tape machines into the room--that's how funky this room was to record in. It's like being in a rehearsal room somewhere, or somewhere you like to get together with a bunch of musicians that isn't a recording studio. Ethan picked this place on purpose so that we could try things out. Nothing was written in stone and the there were no songs pre-picked like I've done in the past. All this is from scratch. We talked about songs that we like and we tried them out different ways until they sound as real as we can possibly make them, and we go with that.

MR: Tom, let's talk about "Traveling Shoes." How did it come about?

TJ: Well, with "Traveling Shoes," he started off with the riff that is on there. It's like a Chuck Berry type of thing. Then I started singing some of the words to "Traveling Shoes," which I had heard before.

MR: "Tower Of Song" sounds like it came right from your soul.

TJ: To me, it could have been written about me: "My friends are gone and my hair is grey," which is true. "I ache in the places I used to play." [laughs] It's uncanny. There's another verse that gets a little braggy: "I was born like this, I had no choice. I was born with the gift of a golden voice." I thought, "My God, I could have written this," or I wish I had. That's the kind of song we were looking for, songs that felt real coming from me, that could be about me.

MR: You have just come off another collaboration with Ethan, Praise And Blame. That album had the same sort of personal approach. Having recorded together already, I guess you guys old pals just easily jumped into the process.

TJ: Yes. That's exactly what happened. We thought like, "Does lighting strike twice?" We went to the same room in Real World, and that was it. We knew that the feeling we got from the first record was something that we wanted to capture again--different songs, slightly different instrumentation, but the same stripped down, real feeling.

MR: Listening to "When The Deal Goes Down," it captures this organic, old-time carnival setting musically.

TJ: Exactly. When I heard the structure of the song, it was a lot like the songs that I heard in this club in Wales I used to go to. There were a lot of old-timers and old coal miners there that my father had worked with, and they had old songs that they knew from the turn of the century. It reminded me of that, and it sounded like some of those old songs that they would song. It sounded, to me, like a song from a different time, so we tried to record it like that. We tried to get it to sound like it came from the days of the music hall and gas lamps. It was the structure of the song that drove us that way.

MR: Tom, I have to say that personally, this is my favorite collection of songs you've ever recorded. It seems like it's less of the icon Tom Jones and more the man Tom Jones.

TJ: Right. That's what we tried to do. We tried to get a part of me that people hadn't heard on record before. Songs that I didn't get a chance to do when I was younger, and some of the songs fit more now than they would have when I was a young man, you know what I mean? So I think the time is right now for me to do more soul searching. Less performance and more as if I were singing them to myself.

MR: I'm sure at some point you sat and listened to this album from top to bottom. Is there anything that you learned about Tom Jones as you did that?

TJ: Yes, that it's me. It's what I sound like without big arrangements or without anything that you would do if you wanted to make a pop record. That's what I've done in the past with producers who want that. But Ethan said, "Look, why don't we just make a record that we like, that we love doing, that means something to us. Then, hopefully, that will translate to the public and they'll feel that." Luckily, so far, so good.

MR: Do you see yourself doing more albums like this in the future?

TJ: Yes. In fact, I'm going over to London and we're going to try some songs out for about a week, just to tread the water and see. It's a different studio, though. It's in Wiltshire, the same county, but it's another studio that Ethan has found and says is similar to Real World. Some of my favorite musicians are going to be there, and we're just going to try some things out and see where that leads us.

MR: I really wish you good luck with that because this approach fits you so well.

TJ: Well, thanks.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists?

TJ: First of all, to listen as much as possible to different things. Don't copy. Try not to listen to one person or to one style of music and copy it because then, you're going to sound like somebody else. Try to find yourself, what you really want to do, the way you really want to sing, and stick to that. Be true to yourself because there is only one of you and you've got to be true to yourself. If you're not, then you'll always fake it, and then you won't enjoy it. If you're true to yourself, you'll have a ball. It's a great business to be in if you are yourself,

MR: And what was the best advice that you ever received?

TJ: The first advice was when I was working in a paper mill as a young boy. This old man said to me, "I hear that you can sing." I said, "Yeah." He said, "Well, why don't you give it a shot?" I said, "I am, I'm just trying to figure out how to get into it." This old fellow said, "Look, you go out there and give it the best shot you possibly can because you can always come back and do this. You'll kick yourself if you don't." He had been in the British Army and been all over the world and had a great life, and he said, "When you're old like me what you have left are memories. Make sure they're good ones." That's the advice that I took from this old chap, and I still believe that. I would say to any young performer who isn't sure, "Yes. Try it. Give it your best shot, and if you fail, you fail, but at least you tried."

MR: That's beautiful, Tom. I'm so glad that we got to talk again, all the best with the new project, your new studio sessions, and everything.

TJ: Oh, that's all right, mate. Nice talking to you. Thank you.

Tracks: 1. Tower Of Song 2. Bad As Me 3. Traveling Shoes 4. All Blues Hail Mary 5. Lone Pilgrim 6. Hit Or Miss 7. Dimming Of The Day 8. (I Want To) Come Home 9. Love And Blessings 10. Soul Of A Man 11. Just Dropped In 12. Charlie Darwin 13. When The Deal Goes Down

By Mike Ragogna

The Huffington Post

22nd April, 2013

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/emspirit-in-the-roomem-a_b_3129575.html