To All The Guitar Geeks of the World, Check This Out

A Tom Jones gospel album? The image that first comes to mind is probably something like Elvis’ How Great Thou Art – big production, choirs – and Jones certainly has the lungs to deliver that in spades. But his son/manager, Mark Woodward, obviously had a different idea when he called Ethan Johns to produce. The 32-year-old son of famed Glyn Johns (and nephew of Glyn’s brother, Andy), Johns adds U2, Emmylou Harris, Joe Cocker, John Hiatt, CSN, Ryan Adams, Glen Phillips, Counting Crows, the Jayhawks, Ray LaMontagne, Kings Of Leon, Crowded House, and others to the family’s who’s-who resume of credits. But whereas Glyn and Andy are producer/ engineers, Ethan handles those roles in addition to playing guitar, keyboards, drums, bass, mellotron, steel, banjo, Omnichord – just about anything except fiddle.

Anyone who saw director Mike Figgis’ “Red, White & Blues” chapter of Martin Scorsese’s PBS blues series likely had their eyes and ears opened if they thought Jones’ range ended with “What’s New Pussycat?” – as he displayed ample familiarity and ability belting out Howlin’ Wolf and Ray Charles tunes.

Here, Johns takes the Welsh singer back to the basics – not unlike Ry Cooder’s production on Mavis Staples’ We’ll Never Turn Back. The rhythm section (sometimes just Johns playing guitar and kick drum) set up in a circle and played live in the studio – Jones laying down vocals without even using headphones – and were done in 12 days flat.

Instead of copying source materials, they came up with mostly new arrangements – in some cases, barely referencing the old recordings. Hence, the lowdown riff Johns plays on Jessie Mae Hemphill’s “Lord Help” has nothing to do with what the blues singer/guitarist originally played. Likewise, the definition of gospel is flexible enough to accommodate John Lee Hooker’s “Burning Hell” – again, with Johns’ distorted slide riff utterly distinct from the Hook’s version.

It would be sacrilegious (no pun intended) to compare Tom Jones’ version of “Don’t Knock” to Mavis Staples’ reprise of the Staple Singers’ ‘60s standard on her new CD, but, while Staples is more expressive, atop a loping groove, Jones rocks out over Johns’ one-note garage riff.

Johns played a different guitar on virtually every track – a Firebird on “Burning Hell,” a Phantom Teardrop on “Run On,” for instance – mainly through a late-’50s tweed Champ. (Among others, a Tele with a bender and Andy Blake Pickup Wizard pickups, a Harmony archtop, a ’69 Martin D-18, a ’62 Gretsch 6120 Nashville with Filtertrons were also employed – through Premier or Kay reverb tanks.)

In addition to such gospel fare as Blind Willie Johnson’s “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” Mahalia Jackson’s “Didn’t It Rain” (penned by Roberta Martin), and traditional favorites “Run On” and “Ain’t No Grave” – the liners mistakenly crediting Jones and Johns as writers instead of arrangers – Jones is equally comfortable on the folk/country side of gospel, as evidenced by Dylan’s “What Good Am I?” and Susan Werner’s “Did Trouble Me.”

What direction Jones will take next is anybody’s guess, but after his recent riveting Letterman appearance, one hopes he’ll give this repertoire a nice long run on the road.

By Dan Forte for Vintage Guitar Magazine

Return of the Mack: Tom Jones dazzles at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater

You'd be hard pressed to find an entertainer who better defines the term "superstar" than Tom Jones. The Welsh-born singer rose to fame in the mid-1960's and racked up a string of hit singles, starred in his own variety show and gained the admiration of millions of overzealous female fans who showed their affections by launching their undergarments at him during live performances. Fast forward several decades and you'll still find Jones every bit the dazzling entertainer. Jones has retained a large core audience that has faithfully followed him through changing trends and styles as evidenced from the eager crowd awaiting his taking the stage last Friday at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.

One of the loudest and rowdiest roars I've heard from an awaiting audience in a long time was steadily belted from the plush seats until Jones took the stage at 8:15 p.m. No need for an opening act; the crowd was here for one reason only: to be treated to the timeless, sexy, soulful voice that Tom Jones has entranced his fans with for years.

Clad in bright purple silk shirt, shiny black blazer and black slacks, Jones slowly emerged amid a sea of sultry red lights. A guitarist preceded Tom's entrance and filled the hall with some tasty, nasty slide guitar blues giving the feel of a seedy blues club rather than a pristine performance hall. Jones quickly launched into "Burning Hell," a cut from his newest album, the excellent gospel-blues tinged Praise and Blame. In fine voice, the 70-year-old Jones boldly opened with this relatively unknown selection from a current work rather than relying on a tried and true nugget from his vast career. Pretty ballsy move, without a doubt. But, in actuality, it set the tone for the bold course Jones opted to trudge all night long.

The evening's set was filled with constant surprises and jaw-droppers. Sure, we were treated to classics like "Green Green Grass of Home" and a savory, Mariachi-styled version of "Delilah." But Tom seemed to really soar when delivering his versions of some pretty unpredictable covers ranging from Little Feat's "Dixie Chicken" to "Hey Pocky Way" by the New Orleans-based party band The Meters.

Showing no signs of slowing (ok, so Tom doesn't swivel his hips as ferociously as he used to), Jones proved for nearly two hours that he is still as entertaining and charismatic as ever. Jones was, after all, the one entertainer who Elvis Presley admittedly feared; supposedly, Elvis was always worried that Jones would surpass him in terms of popularity and stardom, and that he'd eventually steal all his fans away from him. At this, my first ever Tom Jones concert, it's easy to understand Presley's anxieties. As if it weren't enough of a threat that the man can sing, select hip material to cover AND whip an adoring crowd into a frenzy, he was also born with the gift of the gab. Almost as enchanting as the performance itself, Jones playfully told several engaging stories and anecdotes that found him name-dropping artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Ry Cooder, Bob Dylan and Elvis.

The funniest moment came when Jones was chiding a female audience member with a thick New York accent who repeatedly crowed, "Take your jacket off!!" Jones didn't miss a beat and fired back with witty quips of his own: "Don't worry ... before the night is over, EVERYTHING is coming off!" he flaunted. It was obvious by crowd's reaction to that comment that many of the females approved.

For nearly two hours sans intermission, the veteran superstar and consummate entertainer wielded his carefully honed skills and showed us why he's still so highly revered. Still taking chances and not relying on past glories, it's obvious that Tom Jones is more interested in remaining vital and taking chances than being reduced to a corny nostalgia act.

Jones seemed as comfortable belting his signature song "It's Not Unusual" as he did his fine cover of Prince's coy "Kiss" (complete with a fantastic intro of Prince's naughtier "Sexy MF").

Tom Jones is without a doubt one of the greatest performers of all time. Geared and primed in an age that didn't have to rely on flashy gimmicks, costumes or shock value, Tom Jones was (and still is) the true definition of a star. And the near-capacity crowd that were jammed into Ruth Eckerd Hall last Friday night have known that for a long, long time.

Complete Setlist:

Burning Hell Run On Let’s Have A Ball I’ll Never Fall in Love Again Strange Things Dixie Chicken Green, Green Grass of Home Detroit City Delilah St. James Infirmary Blues What Good Am I? Nobody’s Fault But Mine Don’t Knock Didn’t It Rain Mama Told Me Not to Come You Can Leave Your Hat On If I Give My Soul It’s Not Unusual Encore Kiss Hey Pocky Way

By Gabe Echazabal for Creative Loafting. Click here to read full article

Gig Review: Tom Jones at Celtic Connections

IT'S Blue Monday, scientifically calculated to be the most depressing day of the year, but Tom Jones is in town to cheer us all up with a swivel of the hips and his lusty, mischief-making holler. Right?

Not exactly. Tom Jones has got The Blues and he's spreading them around the pristine environs of the Concert Hall, in a righteous coup for Celtic Connections. While the festival regularly attracts folk heavyweights and world music superstars, this concert felt different, even bizarrely exotic. Jones the Voice has been booked to perform his latest album, Praise & Blame, a comparatively sober interpretation of gospel, blues and country standards which, he informed the crowd, was all Elvis Presley's idea in the first place.

Uncharacteristically for a Jones show, the atmosphere was muted as he took the stage, but his funereal version of Dylan's What Good Am I? hardly invited wild participation. And it would be plain inappropriate to throw undergarments at a man contemplating the very core of his being.

After this sombre opening, Jones let rip on the meaty blues strut of Lord Help. He got gruff and grizzly on the low-slung Nobody's Fault But Mine and hit the depths of his vocal range on Burning Hell, accompanied by some blistering guitar work. On the side of the angels, he summoned a testifying spirit on Strange Things, displayed celebratory gospel gumption on Pops Staples' Don't Knock and rocked the rhythm of a revival meeting on Didn't It Rain.

The country confessional If I Give My Soul sounded like something he might have cut back in the 60s, along with his encore of Green, Green Grass Of Home. But in rounding off with the unabashed cheese of It's Not Unusual it felt like Jones was throwing the fans a bone rather than keeping the courage of his convictions.

By Fiona Shepherd

Picture: Robert Perry

Click here to read the review at The Scotsman

Praise & Blame Press Quotes No. America

Tom Jones

Praise & Blame

Press Quotes No. America

“On Praise & Blame, that gutsy Northern soul voice sounds righteous and true”.

Billboard

“This is soul music at its best. Tom Jones has changed from a set of vocal chords ready to please a crowd of old ladies to a serious recording artist.”

No Depression, The Roots Music Authority

“Take those hats off and launch them in the air for one of the most uplifting, career-topping albums anyone could have released, regardless of age”.

Jason Draper, Yahoo Music, 9/10

“The performances are delivered from the gut and don’t disappear from the jukebox of the brain very soon. The same people who set the bar decades ago for so many of today’s acts to measure up to are still making a lot of today’s best music.  Praise & Blame raises that bar just a little higher”.

American Songwriter, 4*

“A faultless batch of songs [that] brings out the best in this veteran singer’s artistry. Johns lays down a resonant sonic foundation that is an ideal framework for Jones’ newfound gravitas”.

Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times, 4*/4

“His vocals are heartfelt and haunting…one hundred million albums later in a career that’s spanning nearly half a century and the best is still yet to come.  Mesmerizing”.

Blogcritics.com

“Leaves no doubt about how good Jones is”.

People Magazine, Critics Choice, 3.5/4

“Jones’ instrument has fire and brimstone—enough to make this elder statesman sound more virile and alive at 70 than ever”.

Jim Farber, New York Daily News, 4/5*

“He’s managed to make himself something highly unusual for a man at this stage of his career: unclassifiable. Unpredictable. Tom Jones is no joke”.

Ken Tucker, NPR Music

“A batch of gospel, blues and rockabilly songs so raw and pure that every impassioned note and every percussive beat hits the heart.  This is tom Jones’ creative edict”.

Mario Tarradell, The Dallas Morning News, Grade A

“With Praise & Blame, he’s reached deep and tapped into the real stuff. Impeccably sympathetic, haunting and rawboned…amid its grim-yet-joyous ecstasy, Jones gives no hint that his reinvention is anything less than a legitimate bid for salvation—artistic, personal, and even eternal”.

Jason Albert, The A.V. Club, Grade B+

“One of the most surprising albums of 2010…his astonishing interpretive talents have never been more believable”.

Dave Burger, The Salt Lake Tribune, Grade B+

“The instrumentation, the vocal work, and song selection are absolutely perfect”.  Praise & Blame may be Jones’ crowning achievement”.

Surviving the Golden Age, 8.5/10

“The singer revels in gutbucket and gospel, delivering 12 emotionally charged sermon-songs with raw-throated abandon”.

Entertainment Weekly, Grade B+

“One of the most intriguing albums Jones has made”.

Ottowa Citizen

“The song choices are impeccable, all propelled by Jones’s remarkable voice, still a marvel of quaveriness and bluster and sinew after all these years”.

The Washington Post

“ The dude is aging with elegance and grace. Praise & Blame is a raw, raucous, gospel-drenched, soul-infused marvel”.

Brian Baker, Scenic Alternative Newsweekly

“Praise & Blame” is sung by a Welsh hero still in full possession of a big voice. It’s sparse and hot and powerful…you can almost see a Southern heat coming off it.  His voice works these songs expertly. Seriously”.

Ryan White, The Oregonian

“Praise & Blame doen’t come from left field so much as it soars in from an entirely different ballpark. It’s a field of dark, disturbing dreams, where the 70-year old Jones shuns a 45-year pop career for a spiritual journey”.

Jon M. Gilbertson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Constantly emotive and impeccably crafty”.

Austin Music Source, Grade B+

“A soul-stirring collection of rootsy spirituals belted out by a pop legend with readjusted priorities”.

John Soeder, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, Grade A

“It’s actually kind of flawless”.

Ed Masley, Arizona Republic, 4*/5

“Is it possible that Tom Jones, at age 70, is only now using everything he’s got to his best advantage? Praise & Blame puts the focus squarely on the voice, which not only retains all its dynamic range and muscle but exhibits, in its maturity, a refined sense of nuance and grace”.

Jeff Tamarkin, The Boston Phoenix, 4*

“You gotta love Tom Jones. And gotta hear his new album. Throughout, Jones sounds amazingly in his element…whether whooping it up or repenting his sins, he sounds like a man who has found his calling – again. Hallelujah!”

T’cha Dunlevy, Montreal Gazzette, 4*/5

“What the hell is that recording doing being so damned awesome? This is a beautiful record. It is unsettling, touching, and inspiring. Listen to the full 40-minutes straight through—you’ll not be disappointed. In point of fact, it really doesn’t matter who made this record—just that it was made”.

Arkie Bermiss, The Perpetual Post

“Both subtle and powerful”.

Jim Sullivan, Boston Herald, Grade B+

“The fine, estimable Praise & Blame…is the sound of an artist making music without having to worry about cementing his legacy or answering to a fickle generation tied to his music, which is why Jones’ music is as important as any new quaking band’s. [It’s] a gift to the ears partly because…it reminds us that it’s not only music made by young people that pulls us together”.

Dave Bidini, National Post (Canada)

“A stirring album of real heart and soul, and full of the kind of music Jones was made to make. It’s by far the finest album of his career and one that finally does his superb voice true justice”.

Alan Channer, Christian Today, 5*/5

“Wow…damn good work”.

Jeff Spevak, Democrat and Chronicle.com

“Definitely one to put on your must-buy list, a really good combination of artistry and spirituality which opens up a whole other side to Jones”.

Carol Anne Szel, Goldmine Magazine ‘Pick’, 4*/4

“What Praise & Blame really reminds me of is a dark, smoky little bar where the Saturday night band that plays the deepest, most soulful, down-home blues late into the early morning turns into the church band and choir after a little coffee and a shave.  Come Sunday, there’s not a 7^th or 9^th note in earshot but the power of the Gospel makes the church windows bow in and out in time to the music. A surprising and strangely satisfying musical outing by a master vocalist still very much in command of his instrument and talent”.

Jeff Markunas, CWG Magazine, 3.5*/4

“Praise & Blame is worlds away from any music he’s recorded over the years.  He’s hitting a stride and sounding rather dignified, and that’s something to hear”.

Jewly Hight, Relix

“With spare arrangements that highlight his still-astonishing pipes and clear love of the material, it sounds like Tom Jones has come home”.

Peter Chianca, Wicked Local, Boston

“It’s stunning…in every case his voice is framed by unpredictable arrangements.  Jones rocks, but with a refined sensibility, a delicacy that creates mesmerizing sound portraits. A soulful, reflective record in which Jones roars and whispers and exhibits surprisingly good taste.  [This is] a lean, muscular, explosive recording that I can’t stop listening to. And so the only thing to do is listen to it again. And again”.

Robert Trusell, The Kansas City Star

“The 70-year old delivers a praiseworthy effort”.

People Magazine, Recent Raves, 3.5/4

“Genuine…profoundly soulful”.

Kansas City Freepress

“Praise & Blame is steeped in the sound of juke joints, heaven and hell, the devil and death….and much of the time, Great God Almighty, he pulls it off! A triumph of re-invention”.

Entertainment News Video

“So imagine my surprise when I was overtaken by the compulsion to play his new record a dozen times the first week I heard it. Praise & Blame is a dark, charging record, defiant and menacing.  His voice is hoarse, forceful and convicted. Simply stated, the record is a tremendous accomplishment, channelling the ravages of aging into an artistic statement…a statement representative of rock music itself—a medium capable of producing the rare but devastatingly profound statement”.

Dave Tomar, The Perpetual Post

Praise & Blame UK Press Quotes

Tom Jones

Praise & Blame

UK Press Quotes

“Jones is a man with a passion for roots music that runs several fathoms deep.  [Here] he has eschewed the sheen of his most famous recordings in favour of dirt and red-raw honesty.  This is a man tapping into his very heart and soul to deliver a performance of uncharacteristic tenderness and undeniable human frailty….sailing into uncharted waters as he convincingly seeks redemption and a sense of peace”.

Julian Marszalek, The Quietus

“Honestly, it’s super”.

Drowned In Sound

“At last, a brilliant new album that offers depth and soulfulness…it’s what his might voice is made for”.

David Smyth, Evening Standard (London), 4*/4

“Wonderfully right. Praise & Blame is love without the mockery…it’s lo-fi garage soul superness”.

The Fly. 4*

“Striking, tender and exhilarating”.

Clash Magazine, 4*/5

“Tom cashes in on hidden depths…CD of the Week”.

The Scotsman

“Grand…it’s a blistering album, and at last Jones the artist is the match of Jones the entertainer”.

Michael Hann, The Guardian, 4*/5

“It’s an extraordinary achievement.  Here he is left naked and bleeding raw, bereft of showbiz blandishments.  Praise & Blame is clearly on of the best albums of Jones’s entire career”.

Andy Gill, The Independent, 5*/5

“Crisp, earthy and a perfect vehicle for that still most powerful of voices. Raw and remarkable…this is the most gripping, honest and brave record that the great Tom has ever made”.

The Sun, 4.5*/5

“Jones’s delivery has rarely been so convincing. At points his vocal is so smoulderingly smoky it sounds like a cigar factory inferno.  An impressively accomplished album…his best effort in years”.

Time Out, London, 4*/5

“It’ll be mostly praise and very little blame….an album that is sheer class”.

Daily Express, 4*/4

“[This] unvarnished Americana with the Voice’s sternum-quacking vocals hits the spot”.

Ldcovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times, 4*/5

“Powerful vocals….natural and real”.

NME, 8/10

“Praise & Blame shows the good sense in Jones…his enthusiasm for this project is palpable. Spare, fluent and tasteful”.

Kitty Empire, The Observer

“He has made a great record, raw and alive with a love of music, shot through with emotional veracity and vital performances. He genuinely deserves his continuing success”.

Neil McCormick, The Telegraph

“Raw and emotional, a powerful journey…an immaculately compiled release, his voice as deep and resonant as ever”.

Music Week, ‘Album of the Week”

“Delivered with due reverence, turning on the power when required but never edging into showbiz.  Few singers with a popular background are going to emerge with an album as remarkable as this during 2010”.

Mojo, 4*/4

“70-year old Jones has finally matured, delving into his musical heritage, and delivering a stunning album. Anchored by a voice that sounds more impassioned and dignified than ever; poignant at times, exhilarating at others, Praise & Blame marks an exciting new direction from a national treasure”.

Clash Magazine, 8/10

Read Americymru's Excellent Review of 'Praise & Blame'

No one is a bigger fan of Sir Tom Jones than I am. I know, I know. That’s bold and clichéd talk, especially from a 38 year old American guy who’s never hurled any form of undergarment at the man (several Welsh Flags, yes. . . but panties? No.) But suffice it to say that I was beyond excited to learn late this past summer that Sir Tom, now 70, was releasing his 39th studio album, mysteriously titled “Praise & Blame.” As I waited in line (ok, it was just me), I was already relishing the long drive home, and rockin’ out at embarrassingly high volume levels, to a whole new slate of poppy, upbeat, feel-good tunes from “the Voice.” I have never been so glad – to be so wrong. Sir Tom’s latest effort is unexpected . . . and unexpectedly brilliant. And I don’t mean that as a slight to his storied catalogue of work (after all, I sing in a tribute band to the man – told you I was a big fan). I guess I was expecting a continuation of his previous, and well-received, effort “24 Hours” (released Nov. 2008), which was a modern pop album full of fun, and brass. However, right from the start, you know “Praise & Blame” reveals a more soulful, mature “Voice.” This is a ‘different Tom,’ one we’ve not heard before.

“Praise & Blame” was recorded live in the studio, old school style – and you can tell. In homage to his former peers, and the masters of his era (Sinatra, for example, always preferred to record this way, with the band alongside him, in the studio), each track easily moves and breathes, almost organically. Sir Tom’s interplay with the (stellar) musicians and backing vocalists is natural, and apparent. This recording style yields a tangible honesty to the tracks that meshes perfectly with Sir Tom’s raw, graceful vocals throughout. But let’s jump in and tackle the rest of “P&B” track by track . . . .

“What Good Am I?” – track one immediately grabs you with its soft, slow, deliberate tones. Sir Tom introduces you to “P&B” ’s soulful journey with this Bob Dylan cover, in almost a confessional whisper, asking the title question with a prayer-like quietness. It is gently haunting, and yet powerful in its self-introspective honesty.

“Lord Help” – Sir Tom picks up the pace here, in this blues-rock spiritual. One of a very few flat out rockin’ numbers on the album, here Sir Tom sends a prayer for help to all the world’s sinners, gamblers, and “war-torn people of this land.” On this one, I was able to seriously crank up the volume and rock out, on that long drive home. Sir Tom really shows off his range here, belting out the highs in the chorus, harkening back to piercing notes of yester-year hits like ‘Thunderball,’ and ‘Till’, that only “the Voice” can pull off.

“Did Trouble Me” – the third track here, really cements the tone for the rest of “P&B” as the main attraction is not the heart-wrenching vocals, but the intense, exposed emotional honesty of the lyrics, as Sir Tom reminds us that his God “in the whisper of the wind, in the rhythm of song . . . . will trouble me with a word or sign, like the ringing of a bell in the back of my mind.” This is an utterly beautiful, soulful ballad, and I never thought I’d say that of song that so prominently features a banjo, but there it is.

“Strange Things” – the fourth track is a traditional spiritual in a sort of rockabilly arrangement – I warned you that this album wasn’t a mod version of “what’s new pussycat?”! More upbeat, the band is great here, but (unbiasedly) not as great as “the Voice.”

“Burning Hell” – this cover of the Johnny Lee Hooker classic was the only song I’d heard before purchasing the cd (which I actually bought twice, as my brother stole my cd, so I bought it again on iTunes . . . you’re welcome, Sir Tom.) It’s one of the standout, rockin’ and best tracks on the album, and the one Sir Tom has most often selected to perform in promoting “P&B” on the daytime, and late night TV circuit in recent months. In true blues’ style, Sir Tom grittily belts out “maybe there ain’t no Heaven / maybe there ain’t no Hell,” accompanied only by the drums and a loud, sexy, skuzzy guitar sound. The “rock-out” quotient is high here, as well. The spiritual introspection on “Burning Hell” also continues as Sir Tom asks, “when I die, where will I go? . . . somebody please tell me.” As the journey through the rest of the tracks on “P&B” continues, the quest for an answer to this question continues . . . .

“If I Give My Soul” – this cover of a Billy Joe Shaver song, is my favorite track here. Sir Tom (perhaps a little too) perfectly captures the tortured soul of a man, at the end of his life, replete with regret, standing before Jesus literally with his “hat clutched in my hand.” Only in this track are you reminded that Sir Tom is anywhere near 70 years old, as he fills this song with the heart-breaking, soulful delivery of a man who’s wasted days and loves that he’s begging his Lord to restore. The emotion here is real, and when he sings “if I give my soul, will my son love me again?” . . . well, if that doesn’t bring a tear, or at least move you even a little bit, then please report to the nearest emergency room immediately.

“Don’t Knock” – Sir Tom lifts the mood here, and gives your box of Kleenex a break, with a lively spiritual track that Jerry Lee Lewis would’ve been proud of. The musicianship, and choral backing are first rate.

“Nobody’s Fault But Mine” – this track is more quintessentially bluesy, and is spiritually akin to the tones of “If I Give My Soul,” as Sir Tom’s tells us that if he loses his soul, it ain’t “nobody’s fault but mine”, as he “had good lovin’ in my home,” and “I gotta Bible in my home,” etc. Sir Tom credibly continues “P&B” ‘s spiritual confessional here, in this stripped-down blues number.

“Didn’t It Rain” – one of the better examples of the exposed beauty that is “the Voice” at 70. His interpretation and delivery of the ‘Noah-esque’ lyrics is characteristically unique, and moving.

“Ain’t No Grave” – no disrespect to the late, great Johnny Cash, but Sir Tom’s version here – although in a similar arrangement – is far superior. Not the best track on the album, but very well done and maintains the spiritual continuity of “P&B.”

“Run On” – the 11th and final track on “P&B” is a straight-up, undeniably catchy blues song (also previously covered by the likes of Johnny Cash, Elvis, and many others). When Sir Tom cuts lose in an early chorus and belts out the sinners’ warning, tell “the rambler, the gambler, the back-biter, tell ‘em God Almighty’s gonna cut you down ,” you can’t help but feel the sheer joy and power in “the Voice.” Yeah, he’s still got it, and then some.

At this stage of his career, Sir Tom’s voice lends itself perfectly to the selections on “P&B,” showing he’s still got a knack for picking winners, and is wise enough to play to his strengths. His still-powerful voice rumbles at the lower registers with a credibility and gravitas unmatched by anyone in the ‘biz’ today – maybe ever. And when you match this with the soul-piercingly-deep and introspective spirituality that the lyrics on “P&B” offers, then you just might have Sir Tom’s best album ever. I know, I know. . . that’s bold talk for a 38 year old American guy, who can’t even read music. . . but it’s definitely worth your time and a listen. You might just discover a whole new “Voice.”

Read the review here at americymru.com

Goldmine Pick: Tom Jones’ ‘Praise & Blame’

Tom JonesPraise & Blame Lost Highway Records Grade: ★★★★

I had a pre-conceived notion when sitting down to review the new Tom Jones album, “Praise & Blame.” After all, this was the panty-thrown singer who thrust his hips in the 1970s to throngs of women. Well, what I found on that first listen was definitely not stripped down women but a much stripped down sound which was actually really good, full of a combination of artistry and spirituality which opened up a whole other side to Jones. Opening with a Bob Dylan tune “What Good Am I,” it came out of the box with a simple low drum pounding which progressed into the song which Jones sang with clarity, showing off his true crisp sounding vocals and pronounced sound. This now 70-year-old crooner then went into the Jesse Mae Hemphill tune “Lord Help,” which further uncovered the true gospel rooted sound he was going for without choosing any obvious gospel classics that would throw this release into a sort of greatest hits collection of Southern Baptist classics. Produced by the well chosen Ethan Johns at Peter Gabriel’s studio in Wilshire, the “Did Trouble Me” cut was a stand alone song that is notably crisp with an almost speaking Jones heading into a soft banjo strumming accompaniment which sounds quintessentially Southern Gospel in its authenticity and tone. The only offering which seemed a bit contrived was his rendition of the John Lee Hooker song “Burning Hell,” of which his vocals sound very contrived as if he’s just trying too hard, and the tune is sort of overtaken by an electric guitar that makes this song feel like an unwanted speed bump on an otherwise well paced CD. Two standout tunes are by far “Strange Things” and “If I Give My Soul” during which I fond myself singing along to and can visualize Jones leading a huge choir of churchgoers in a heartfelt frenzy of seductive worship. “Praise & Blame” is definitely one to put on your must-buy list, whether you remember the 1970s Tom Jones or are a music fan who wasn’t even born in that era but someone who really wants a good listen to hear what a simple, clear, melodic musical revival sounds like.

It’s Not Unusual to be Loved by Everyone - Tribune Magazine Review

Tom JonesUnion Chapel, London

by Cary Gee Saturday, September 25th, 2010

When Island Records heard that new signing Tom Jones was going to release an “album of hymns” one record company bean counter described the project as “a cruel joke”. This sorry individual should prepare himself for a mountain of beans. Jones’ first release for Island, Praise & Blame, which the septuagenarian Jones performed in full at the Union Chapel last week, is by far the singer’s finest release in years.

And while the songs, here stripped down to the basics, deal with temptation and ultimately redemption, this is most definitely not hymn singing. If it were, then churches across the land would be packed to the rafters.

Backed by a four-piece blues band, Jones growled and roared his way through a track list that began with Bob Dylan’s meditative “What Good Am I?” and included songs by Sister Rossetta Sharp and gospel queen Mahalia Jackson.

Saint or sinner, up close the power of Jones’ tenor is quite astonishing. There were moments during “Run On” when I half expected the gorgeous stained glass window above Jones’ head to shatter, such was the response from the congregation squeezed into the narrow wooden pews.

As Jones worked his way through the album, it became clear that Praise & Blame has been a lifetime in the making. Like Johnny Cash before him, and even his good pal Elvis Presley, who “loved gospel music over everything else he did”, Jones has finally managed, in the latter stages of his career, to make the album he always wanted to. His love for and appreciation of the songs he sings tonight is tangible – so much so that when one punter heckles: “Play some rock ’n’ roll”, Jones retorts: “What do you think that was?” By this stage, the chapel is certainly rocking.

As if to prove his point, Jones then sings John Lee Hooker’s “Burning Hell”. The lights above the stage turn hellfire red, but the temperature seems to drop by several degrees as Jones silences his critics. This is an elemental, bone-chilling plea for forgiveness and seems momentarily to stun the audience. On “Did Trouble Me”, complete with banjo which sounds like it is being plucked with bleeding fingers, Jones pleads with the Lord to “make me human, make me whole”.

Never one to dwell on things that might have been, Jones gives us a song he used to sing, backstage with Elvis, in Las Vegas. Billy Joe Shavers’ “If I Give My Soul” is a country-coloured reflection on the passing of the years. During those years, Jones has tried his hand at just about everything, reinventing himself in the 1990s after years in the Nevada Desert with his version of Prince’s “Kiss”, before aiming for – and missing badly – the club generation with “Sex Bomb”. Ironically, throughout this time hipper-than-thou singers of a younger generation have lined up to duet with Jones in a symbiotic (and parasitical) grab for credibility. Jones needn’t have bothered.

In the absence of knicker-throwing Delilahs, show-biz flapdoodle and homage-paying “indie” darlings, Jones proves that the devil and Jesus really do conspire to produce the best music. Waiting for the bus outside the chapel, I heard one lad tell his mate: “Seeing Tom was on my list of things to do before I die.” His mate agreed, adding: “I’m glad I waited.” Me too.

Praise & Blame is out now on Island Records

Read the review here

Wales's satin-shirted satyr drops the hip-grinding and takes up contrition for a full-throated, A to Z rendition, of his latest album - The Independant Review

Reviewed by Simon Price Even more gothic-looking than usual, the octagonal interior of the Union Chapel is tonight choked by a fog of smoke, the arches behind the pulpit lit a sepulchral shade of blue, switching to a demonic red the very moment Tom Jones takes to the stage. "Beautiful venue," he acknowledges after the opening "What Good Am I?", glancing around the packed pews. "Very fitting for the album ..."

A deconsecrated church? Indeed it is. Praise and Blame is the septuagenarian's back-to-roots foray down the now well-trodden Johnny Cash route: his "Welsh Recordings", if you wish. Consisting of aeons-old gospel, folk and blues songs by the likes of John Lee Hooker, Bob Dylan, Billy Joe Shaver and the ever-prolific "Trad", it's predominantly religious, or at least haunted by angels and demons, pride and guilt. "If you take the praise," he says tonight by way of explanation, "you've got to take the blame. People say 'Tom, he's got a lovely voice ... but he's a bit of a naughty boy.' You see?"

We see. Indeed, the well-documented misdemeanours of Tom Jones – satin-shirted satyr, serial shagger – are part of his appeal: charming the panties off the universal female, and giving her one for us. There's none of that hip-grinding sauce tonight, however, as the increasingly King Neptune-like Jones takes us through Praise and Blame, start to finish. He's on fine form vocally, and he's funny with it, contradicting one heckler by clarifying that the Vocalzone lozenge he pops in his mouth is not Viagra, and name-dropping "my good friend" Elvis Presley before a sweaty-browed rendition of "Run On", the song the pair used to sing in the Vegas years of the early Seventies.

It's impressively raw, tough-arsed, hard-knuckled blues-rock fare. "Nobody's Fault But Mine" would work in a particularly gritty Lynch/Tarantino/Coens scene, and the line "Lord, help the motherless children" in Jessie Mae Hemphill's delta blues standard almost works as a hip-hop cuss.

We sit politely, in anticipation of a hits encore. A publicist tells me that the single most frequently asked question she's fielded all day has been "Is he gonna play 'Sex Bomb'?", but I'd have settled for "Green Green Grass of Home" if he doesn't want to disrespect the surroundings with something so sleazily secular. Instead, we get the happy-clappy "Didn't It Rain" for the second time in one night.

There's been plenty to praise, but if anyone shuffles out of the aisles feeling a little let down, there's only one man to blame.

Read the review here

Soulful Side of A Pracher Man - Union Chapel Guardain Review

He has some very big pipes. It is a very small chapel. There are many reasons to be excited about septuagenarian superstar Sir Tom Jones's performance at an intimate north London church, but chief among them is the prospect of the Welsh soul man blowing this semi-sacred space wide open.

It never quite happens. But he comes tantalisingly close a few times, enough to count this one-off gig a success. The first tremors come two songs in. "Lord Help" is a secular hymn taken from Mississippi country blueswoman Jessie Mae Hemphill. As Jones's band set up a swinging blues and the lighting rig dyes the stained glass a sinful red, Jones invokes the Lord's help for "the poor and the needy".

Then comes the key change. Jones throws his head back a little, opens his hands and his throat. "And we all rise together!" he sings, a veteran roué turned preacher man. The cobwebs quiver. Any audience in the American south would have jumped to their feet, but the rather more British Union Chapel crowd remain stuck to their pews until the end.

Jones began this latest UK jaunt by popping into the Pontypridd YMCA the week before last, having played there in his youth. He then performed at the Help For Heroes servicemen's concert last Sunday (with "my mate Robbie Williams"). But he is here tonight to play Praise & Blame, his 38th studio album, in its entirety. We get all 11 tracks, one of them – "Didn't It Rain" – twice. If you squint your ears, "If I Give My Soul" is a story-song like "Green Green Grass Of Home". But otherwise, this is a "Delilah"-free zone, suggesting that Jones sees his new record as standing apart from his more famous body of work.

As its title suggests, Praise & Blame draws heavily on reverential roots music – so much so that the vice-president of Jones's record company, Island, is said to have complained volubly in an internal email, one that was subsequently leaked. "We did not invest a fortune in an established artist for him to deliver 12 tracks from the common book of prayer [sic]," ran part of David Sharpe's broadside.

Jones seemed sincerely incensed at the time. Genuine or not, the fact that Sharpe's email was leaked once the publicity campaign for Praise & Blame was well under way suggests some sharp-shooting in Island's marketing department. Was the row even necessary? The facts are plain: Johnny Cash underwent a career revival when he embarked on a series of covers albums, taking in roots music and more contemporary songs. Robert Plant won five Grammy awards for his album of country duets, Raising Sand; he has followed it up with another in similar vein. With songs drawn from blues and country, Jones is following a tried and tested road into continued relevance. And it's working. His previous live outing at this summer's Latitude festival was heavily oversubscribed; released in July, Praise & Blame has already been certified gold.

For a man so frequently baptised in moist knickers, Jones plays the part of church-raised devotee very well indeed tonight. "Did Trouble Me" begins as gospel tune, eventually settling into gently rollicking country music. Live, the song expands from the album version, with a banjo and female backing vocals floating to the fore.

What really resonates, however, is how contrite Jones – the glitziest of Vegas lounge lizards, the least apologetic of womanisers – appears. "When I raised my voice a little too loud," he croons, "my Lord did trouble me." Throughout his long career, Jones has always been ready with a nudge and a wink (or an unsubtle kick in the shins, like "Sex Bomb"). But this tiny shard of self-knowledge hangs elegantly in the air tonight.

Sin is never very far away. Jones's excellent, bawled version of John Lee Hooker's "Burning Hell" ponders the existence of heaven and hell with the aid of guitar and drums, like the White Stripes might have done it. Chatty and at ease, Jones guffaws his way through the set, sounding like he's about to tell a bawdy joke at any moment. "In order to take the praise, we also need to take the blame," he expounds on his album title. "You know: Tommy's got a lovely voice… but he's a bit of a naughty boy!" We learn that the little pill that Robbie Williams pops into his mouth before singing is called a Vocalzone, a lozenge used by opera singers; Jones then necks one gleefully.

It wouldn't be an audience with Tom Jones without an anecdote about Elvis, and so tonight's gig proves. But Jones delivers "Run On" – a tune he used to do with Presley after hours in Vegas – with such gusto that the rafters really seem to rattle. God-fearing might have been a sound business decision for Jones. And yet it's a testament to his prowess as an entertainer that he can pull it off with such aplomb.

Read the review here

The New Tom Jones Album - The Perpetual Post Review

By Dave Tomar and Akie Bermiss AKIE BERMISS: Without a doubt, the very last place I expected to hear good new music was from someone like Tom Jones. When Dave told me it was a record I had to hear I was at first under the impression that he was joking. I mean we’re talking about Tom Jones here. You’ve got to be kidding me, right? The sex-bomb, the not-unusual, the tired cliche of a cliche of a cliche — Tom friggin’ Jones?! First of all, isn’t he like a billion years old? And secondly, what the hell is he doing making a record?

What the hell is that recording doing being so damned awesome?!

Listening to Praise & Blame – Jones’ new record — I’ve been forced to remember a few things. Firstly, though Jones is all kinds of cliche, he can sing a damned song if he wants to. Even at 70, when most singers’ instruments begin to go through the slow, inexorable decline of age, he’s got the same ear-rending voice he was always known for. The same rich baritone. The same semi-wide very masculine vibrato (some where between Dean Martin — on the low end — and Tony Bennet — on the high end). And, most of all, the same precision of pitch and diction. Yes, there is a bit more roughness to the singing (which is usually a sign of age) but you get the sense that the slight rasp is somehow a deliberate affectation. Maybe its something Jones always kept in reserve for the right occasion.

Secondly, I must admit that I’m no expert on the details of Jones’ past. I know him as the Unforgettable guy — that’s about it. I’ve saw a documentary about him a few years back and I’ve heard a good deal of his music (mostly against my wishes or in the kind of poor circumstance where you’re choosing between Tom Jones, Paul Anka, or the Boston Pops Orchestra’s Greatest Hits). And while, in comparison to what I might think of as real, serious artists he’s something a light-weight as far as content is concerned, Jones is no lightweight in the singing department. He can sing his ass off, really. There’s no two ways about it.

Indeed, a lightweight in times gone by and a lightweight today are two very different people. Jones sang pop music. He was Inglebert Humperdink on steroids, as far as I’m concerned. You think of middle-aged women throwing huge panties on stage when you think of Tom Jones.

Then again, if you go back and listen to some “classic” Tom Jones whatever you may feel about the material — he usually sings it well.

And thirdly, there is something to be said for someone who’s been in the business for something like 50+ years making a record like this at a time like this. We all grow up and get older and start to wonder what is going to happen to us when we die. Sometimes, we have to face that when we’re younger (for a variety of reasons). It is the desperate unknowable gulf of human existence… that is where the artist is most effective at his work. Even a mediocre talent, when faced with answering the greater questions or dwelling in the deeper waters of human experience, can rise to the occasion and make fine, fine art. Imagine what can happen when a great talent takes up the cause.

Jones is in an enviable position. He’s already made it. He’s famous. He’s been successful. He doesn’t need to make a name for himself. And so he can sing whatever the hell he wants. And, in Praise & Blame: he does just that. Listen to the terrified conviction of “Burnin’ Hell” or the quiet reflection of “Did Trouble Me.” This isn’t an “experimental” record. This is a reflection of the things within the soul of the artist. I feel ridiculous just saying this sort of thing about Tom Jones, but this is a beautiful record. It is unsettling, touching, and inspiring.

In fact, so well-made is this record it reminds me of the renaissance that Gil Scott-Heron pulled up just last year with I’m New Here. The records are very similar in their directness. The elderly men who are remaking themselves to cut through all the dross and detritus of this electronic age. You take Praise & Blame and you listen to the full 40-minutes straight through — you’ll not be disappointed. In point of fact, it really doesn’t matter who made this record — just that it was made.

Is that not the highest aspiration of the artist? To create a piece of work that, instead of seeming a fabrication of the artist’s conceit, seems like a creation decreed by the universe. On the simple opening cut, “What Good Am I?” Jones seems like a man who has entered a sacred space and begins the motions of prayer. He seems to say, I have been flawed, have I not. Do we not often acknowledge our mortality, first thing, when we approach the creator? (ask Rilke, but I bet I’m right) And by the final awesome tracks, “Ain’t No Grave” and “Run On”, we’re in the full-on ecstatic with Jones. Here he celebrates the uncertainty, the imperfection, the on-coming darkness.

I’d never have guessed it would turn out like this — but who ever knows how it’ll be? But here is Tom Jones… leading us in the great unknown. A sort of musical philosopher and prophet. Consumed in righteousness. The music and the musician are one. And both are transformed.

Praise and blame, indeed, Tom. Praise and Blame, indeed.

DAVE TOMAR:  I have always liked Tom Jones.  I think most people do.  I respect anybody who can perform with such flagrant sexual aplomb while being rained down upon by granny panties.  Really, with the unimaginable amount of bacteria in which he has been knee-deep, his longevity is astounding.

Until only recently though, my appreciation for Tom Jones has been strictly ironic.  He’s hilarious.  The bulge in his leather pants.  The silk shirt unbuttoned to his navel.  The style of ultra-swank that he seems to have virtually invented.  The Welsh choogler is almost a caricature of rock and roll, reveling for decades in its excess and frequently dispensing of its substance in favor of its sexuality.  He is all the raunchiness and comedic value of a mid-coital facial expression.

Perhaps, though, not a musical force.

So imagine my surprise when I was overtaken by the compulsion to play his new record a dozen times the first week I heard it.  Praise and Blame is an old man’s legacy presented for reconsideration.  Released this summer to general acclaim, this album is not ironic, it is not funny and it doesn’t seem very interested in sex.  At his age, this would be a grotesque charade.

This record is not a fleeting moment of orgasmic emptiness.  It is a terminal stage reflection on the grave.

Hooray for Tom Jones.  70 years old and he decided to make a Johnny Cash-I’m-probably-dying-soon-better-say-something-that-matters record.  It won’t change the way most people think of him.  He is still the Sex Bomb.  Most people won’t hear this record.  It doesn’t have the clubland appeal of 1999’s Reload, in which Tom Jones partners with the likes of the Cardigans and dabbles playfully with material like Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life.”  This was an awfully good record, if you catch my draft.

But Praise and Blame is a dark, charging record, clearly conceived in the spirit of Johnny Cash’s Rick Rubin productions.   Producer Ethan Johns has paired Jones with an old-as-dirt songbook and the match is remarkable.  The Tom Jones audience has always overlapped with middle-of-the-road figures like Neil Diamond and the Monkees.  But there is nothing on this record for these listeners.

On standards like “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” and “Ain’t No Grave,” Jones is a much closer approximation to Son House.  On Bob Dylan’s “What Good Am I,” Jones is pensive and filled with remorse.  On John Lee Hooker’s “Burning Hell,” he is defiant and menacing.  His voice is hoarse, forceful and convicted.  The production is spare and respectful to the material.

Simply stated, the record is a tremendous accomplishment, channeling the ravages of aging into an artistic statement.  And if in reflection on his career this is hardly representative of who Tom Jones is, it is a statement representative of rock music itself.  For all of its bloat and superficiality, it remains a medium capable of producing the rare but devastatingly profound statement.

Read the review here

Tom Jones – Union Chapel - The Line of Best Fit Review

Tom Jones has seen a lot in his long career, from early shows in Welsh working men’s clubs, to playing with Elvis in Las Vegas. A renowned showman, over the years he has played massive shows around the world, most recently appearing at Twickenham as part of the Help for Heroes concert. Yet, this evening’s show is a little different, and saw Jones stripping back the drama and bombast to play latest album Praise and Blame in it’s entirety [see TLOBF review here].

Shrouded in smoke and blue light, Jones cut a sharp figure as he took the stage to perform Dylan cover ‘What Good Am I’. The Union Chapel frequently brings the best out of performers, and Jones is no exception. As he observed, it is an appropriate location to be performing his latest album-the ideal forum for tales of regret and troubled souls and minds. Jones’ deep, rich croon suits the slower songs well, and is at it’s brooding best during his rendition of ‘Nobody’s Fault But  Mine’, the band falling away leaving Jones to murmur the melody and end with an almost Waits-ian growl that silences the room for a second.

Shorn of the responsibility of playing up to the character of Tom Jones, the 70 year old Welshman seemed relaxed as he joked with the crowd about being a “naughty boy”, as well as telling stories about his reasons for chosing some of the songs. Encore ‘Run On’ was a song that Jones used to sing with Elvis after shows in Vegas, he explained. While some of the more upbeat tracks strayed close to boogie-woogie territory at times, for the most part they acted as an uplifting and joyful counterpoint to the slow burning and emotionally open tracks delivered elsewhere.

While it remains to be seen if Praise and Blame truly marks a re-invention for Jones in the long term, tonights intimate and personal performance showcased the album perfectly. Putting in a little trademark “Huh” and a hipthrust into the second performance of the evening of ‘Didn’t It Rain’, Jones allowed his inner entertainer to come out for a quick appearance. As acknowledgment to his long term fans it was a nice gesture, but this show more than proved that his talent can hold its own without the gimmicks that have characterised much of the later part of his career.

Read the review here

Tom Jones Union Chapel - 4* Telegraph Review

Having stopped trying so hard to be down with the kids, Jones is making music as hot and heavy as the hippest indie band. Rating: * * * *

Tom Jones is not normally someone you would expect to find singing in a church, what with his reputation for testosterone-fuelled, bare-torso lustiness and knicker-throwing fans. But here he was, astride the altar, beneath beautiful stained glass, performing his new, spiritually themed album, ’Praise And Blame’, in its entirety. And giving it loads, it must be said. The Union Chapel is a gorgeous venue that frequently brings out a certain quality of reverence in performer and audience. I’ve seen a lot of stripped-back, acoustic-flavoured gigs here characterised by a kind of hushed intimacy, as if rock and roll ought to whisper in the presence of God. There was none of that for Mr Jones, who seemed to be having far more fun than you are supposed to in an English place of worship.

Smiling, joking and wielding his remarkable voice with a lusty, tangible pleasure, he brought the joyousness of a southern gospel Baptist meeting to the occasion. His chosen material appropriately places more emphasis on acknowledging the faults of the sinner than the glory of God. “If you’re gonna take the praise, you gotta take the blame,” he joked. Backed by a red-hot band really riding on slinky, rocking blues grooves, Jones singing shifted from an ominous bass growl to a raw, pleading tenor, digging into the torment and redemption of such rich, old material as Lord Help, Strange Things, Don’t Knock and Nobody’s Fault But Mine. It is great to see Jones performing to a more musically organic backing, neither blasting it with a big band nor chasing contemporary pop fashions. You can tell he really loves this material. He’s got history here, even if it is not the history the public associates with him. “Elvis Presley was a very good friend of mine and he loved gospel music over everything else he did. We used to sing this song together after the shows we did in Las Vegas,” he announced, introducing an uplifting, hand-clapping tumble through ’Run On’, guitar lines snaking through the vocals, his two female backing singers waving their arms like a couple of over-excitable cheerleaders. Such was Jones’s cheerful informality, the audience became encouraged to shout out comments. “Play some rock ’n’ roll!” yelled one misguided man. “What do you think that was?” retorted Jones. “That’s where rock’ n ’roll came from. Spiritual music. You just have to change the words a bit!” Then he delivered a version of ’Burning Hell’ with just a fuzzed-up electric slide guitar and pounding drumming that echoed the elemental power of the White Stripes. It is perhaps ironic that, having stopped trying so hard to be down with the kids, Jones is making music as hot and heavy as the hippest indie band. “So that’s where rock ’n’ roll comes from,” he told his heckler. “If you didn’t know, you do now.” That’s telling them.

By Neil McCormick

Read the review here

Gospel inspires Tom Jones to finally act his age - Evening Standard Review

As a man reaches his twilight, he tends to embrace the things that really matter. At 70, Tom Jones is no exception. Having spent too much of his career chasing youth — the Las Vegas years; the ghastly Sex Bomb; the threat to “bum-rush the door” on 2002’s Younger Days — he has returned to the music of his youth: rock ’n’ roll-tinged gospel.

There were no hits last night, not even The Young New Mexican Puppeteer, which would enhance any occasion, just Jones’s current Praise And Blame album in its entirety, including Didn’t It Rain which, for reasons far from clear, was played twice in the final three songs. Jones may well be the only man on earth who can legitimately claim to count both Robbie Williams and Elvis Presley among his “good friends” but while he’s clearly seeking the late-career revitalisation and credibility accorded to Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash, Praise And Blame is exactly the album Elvis would be making were he still in the building.

“This is gospel music, uplifting music, spiritual music,” he purred. It was also Tom Jones finally acting his age and so at ease at not having to pretend to be sexy any more that he could even quip “what’s that?” when someone suggested a lozenge he was popping might have been viagra.

The lighting was sombre; the voice deep, rich and almost a sub-human growl on Nobody’s Fault But Mine; while the music, brimming with rue and regret as much as fire and brimstone, was as Gothic as the setting.

Not the most mobile of performers these days, Jones carried the up-tempo Lord Help and Strange Things by power of voice alone, but when he worked his spine-tingling magic on the soul-baring Did Trouble Me and If I Give My Soul, you could almost weep for his wasted years.

Still, this was an evening of joy and one that promised uplift: here is a man who has finally found himself.

By John Aizlewood

Read the review here

Tom Jones Prepares New Single: 'Run On' / 'Didn't It Rain' - Clash Music

Welsh crooner Tom Jones has confirmed details of his new single 'Run On' backed with 'Didn't It Rain'. Tom Jones is busy defying expectations. The singer's image of a tanned lothario has been shattered on his raw, honest new album 'Praise & Blame' which returns the Welsh icon to his roots.

Inspired by American gospel, blues and country the album received almost instant acclaim. In the vein of the Johnny Cash series 'American Recordings' the album strips back public perceptions to find the true artist.

Produced by Ethan Johns, the album is steeped in ragged recordings by the likes of John Lee Hooker, Bob Dylan and Hank Williams. 'Praise & Blame' was promoted via some unusual shows, including a midnight set at Latitude.

Set to turn Gold over the next few weeks, Tom Jones is due to follow his new album with the double A-side 'Run On' / 'Didn't It Rain'. 'Run On' is a much covered gospel classic, with everyone from Moby to Elvis Presley having a crack at the song.

Tom Jones has given the track a rockin' treatment, turning it into a highlight of the new album. The Welsh singer realised the track was a challenge almost immediately: "…if we did it we realized we would really have to bring something special to it. Ethan and myself decided to kick up a rockier version, which is what we did and I'm happy to say it's more alive and earthy."

Backed with Mahalia Jackson's gospel classic 'Didn't It Rain' Tom Jones brings some special to these renditions. Much covered, his familiar voice at times cracks with emotion as he delivers a church eulogy.

As a special bonus for digital customers Tom Jones has made a new track available. 'Lord Help' is a deep and dirty slice of blues, completing a remarkable return for the 70 year old singer.

Tom Jones is due to release 'Run On' / 'Didn't It Rain' on September 20th.

Read the review at Clashmusic.com here

At 70, Singer Tom Jones Rocks The Blues - The Kansas City Star Review

By ROBERT TRUSSELLAnd so begins a new chapter in my love-hate relationship with the great Welsh singer Tom Jones.

I got to talk to Jones on the telephone in advance of an appearance at the Midland back in 1988. The show itself was vintage Jones nonsense — he sang medleys of his pop hits and worked some ill-fitting contemporary material by Michael Jackson and INXS into the lineup. And, of course, he worked up a sweat, prompting women to toss underwear on stage for him to mop his glistening brow.

But in the interview he described his roots as a teenage rocker in working-class bars and how he saw himself.

“I’m a blues singer,” he said matter-of-factly.

Jones, who turned 70 in June, was part of that Beatles-Rolling Stones generation of British musicians who were heavily influenced by American folk music. Skiffle bands proliferated, especially after Lonnie Donegan’s hit recording of “Rock Island Line” in 1955, and African-American bluesmen were feted as living gods when they toured the U.K.

That’s where Tom Jones came from. In all the years since that phone conversation, as he kept his career afloat as a perennial Vegas crooner, I couldn’t help but imagine what a Tom Jones straight blues album would sound like.

Now, as if to reclaim his roots, he gives us “Praise & Blame,” a lean, muscular, explosive recording that I can’t stop listening to. It’s more gospel than blues, but it’s a soulful, reflective record in which Jones roars and whispers and exhibits surprisingly good taste.

This collection of 11 tunes includes compositions by John Lee Hooker, Bob Dylan, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Billy Joe Shaver. It’s stunning. Jones rocks, but with a refined sensibility, a delicacy that creates mesmerizing sound portraits. He’s still the bombastic singer he always was, but producer Ethan Johns has channeled the bombast into elemental songs that achieve beauty in their simplicity. The resulting vocal performances may, at times, bring to mind Big Joe Turner and other great blues shouters from long ago.

I have no idea what Jones’ religious leanings are — he could be a godless heathen like me who simply gets turned on by high-voltage gospel music — but this carefully selected group of songs has an eye on the big questions. They deal with sin, salvation, redemption and the unanswerable question of where we go when we die.

The album opens with a quiet reading of Dylan’s “What Good Am I?” and wraps up with a pulsating version of the gospel standard “Run On,” in which Jones warns “long-tongue liars, midnight riders, ramblers, gamblers” and “back-biters” that “sooner or later God’s gonna cut you down.”

In between we find a raw version of Hooker’s “Burning Hell,” in which he proposes the possibility that there’s no afterlife, and an arresting rendition of Susan Werner’s lyrical “Did Trouble Me,” in which the singer tells us he “closed my eyes so I would not see” and “when I let things stand that should not be, My Lord did trouble me.”

In Shaver’s “If I Give My Soul,” a musician lost to drink wonders if he can be reunited with his wife and son if he gets right with Jesus. And in one of the CD’s most exciting cuts, Jones covers another gospel standard, “Didn’t It Rain,” in which the story of Noah and the flood gets the ’50s rock ’n’ roll treatment.

Jones is in fine voice, singing with passion and finely calibrated intensity, but in every case his voice is framed by unpredictable arrangements. Most of the basic tracks were reportedly cut live in the studio, but Johns laid in discreet overdubs from heavy-hitters such as Booker T (organ), Benmont Tench (piano) and Americana songwriters Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings. Their contributions are subtle if not imperceptible, but they add a bit of texture to songs that have been stripped down to their essence.

This album reminds us that gospel, blues and country all came from the same stewpot and are, to a large extent, old men’s music. It’s the music of experience, tempered by loss and peppered with disappointment, and Jones does that tradition justice.

Now, if you go on YouTube and look at some of the videos of Jones singing tunes from this recording, you’ll see a rather dapper fellow with a white goatee and a sense of style that is just a bit incongruous when juxtaposed against the content of these songs. Still, the music had to come from somewhere, and Jones wouldn’t have recorded these tunes unless he responded to them in some fundamental way.

So thanks, Mr. Jones. My only complaint: He should have recorded more than 11 songs. The CD grabs you by the lapels but is over before you know it. And so the only thing to do is listen to it again. And again.

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Tom Jones: Praise & Blame - CWG Magazine 3.5 Review

Long Live Tom Jones – Long Live the King – Tom Jones is a King. He’s a force of nature like a flood or a hurricane. If you could splice the DNA of Sinatra together with Elvis, Tom Jones would be the result.TJ’s musical career spans a few decades and a lot of material. It would be easier and shorter to list the musical styles he hasn’t mastered – Hmm… maybe opera? Tom’s new album, Praise & Blame, is filled with the rootsy, bluesy rock and roll material that he was meant to sing. Oh, throw in a heavy undercurrent of gospel, and this music runs soul deep. I’ve discussed in this column before that there are only two distinct kinds of music, ‘good’ and ‘bad,’ but what about a Welshman singing Black American music? Has he paid his dues enough to sing the Blues? Muddy Waters would have told you, and B. B. King can still tell you, that if you’ve lived it and you feel it, you become the blues and they become you. Everybody’s got em’, some people just sing em’ better. So has Tom still got it? Can he still deliver the mail/male? No-brainer here – Yes! What Praise & Blame really reminds me of is a dark, smoky little bar where the Saturday night band that plays the deepest, most soulful, down-home blues late into the early morning turns into the church band and choir after a little coffee and a shave. Come Sunday, there’s not a 7th or 9th note in earshot but the power of the Gospel makes the church windows bow in and out in time to the music.

The more perceptive listeners among you may find that Praise & Blame is not as accessible as a casual listener might like, even I had to spin this one a couple of times before it’s true power and meaning started to assert itself. Tom is in total control vocally here, and everything about this album must be viewed through that lens. The band exists only as a foundation for Tom’s singing and which allows him the freedom to take his time and really pick his shots. When Tom spins a tale as he sings, he really draws you in and forces you to take the time to really hear and understand the lyrics and their meaning. Better musical backup would have been a bonus, but maybe it would have clouded some important lyrical and vocal elements. Try listening to “ Burning Hell” and see what a distorted slide guitar and Tom can do. Follow that up with “ Lord Help” and you’ll be a witness to the Saturday night gospel, blues-rock I’m talking about. Testify Brothers and Sisters! Don’t knock, just walk right in, ‘cause there’s strange things happening every day – Just follow your ears. Rock Bottom Line: A surprising and strangely satisfying musical outing by a master vocalist still very much in command of his instrument and talent. CWG Rating 3.5 Guns

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Croon on, suave gorilla - National Post Review

Dave Bidini, National Post · Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010 He was like a lot of what was conjured in those times: seeing the neighbours drunk at a block party; stripmall Chinese food; plywood basement wet bars; Penthouse Letters found mud-splatched near the creek and the guy who wrote in to tell how he liked to sit naked and masturbate on a pizza; Bobby Orr's clothing ads in the Gardens' programs; acres of purple velour; The Tonight Show; designer trousers and chest hair bramble; cool Britannia losing its way; The Parallax View, which we saw in a shopping centre theatre on holidays, and which yielded Paula Prentiss's flouncing bosom and Sean Connery's sharkish leer; Charlie O and Joe Rudi, and Catfish, too; fuzz bass and Tiki chic; K-Tel records, maybe some Dobie Gray or Incredible Bongo Band; camel toes and pornography on Super 8 reels; and, filmed in Sensurround, the strange life of the modern man, whose fantasy was some chick in a sheer blouse sitting cross-legged in the lobby of Howard Johnson's.

Lording above all of this from his mossy peak at the epicentre of our suburban gomorrah was the Welsh pop star, Tom Jones. Rough velvet. Expert panty thief. The hands of a miner and the phallus of a satyr. Friends of mine once recorded with the suave gorilla in the early 2000s, and he was angry during most of the session, though not petulant, as one might have expected. Instead, he was frustrated that his voice -- a hirsute bedroom growl also capable of choirboy cascades and waterfall bellow -- was no longer capable of rising to his immediate demands. Back in the dirty '70s, he could punch out the damned thing and it would ask to be hit harder, but the years had worn down his vocal chords. After a few hours of warming up, he felt good enough to try. One take later, he was in a cab headed for the Wild Honey on St. George Street, or maybe Sheba's, where the Lebanese girls still swooned after the weary mist of his cologne.

Rock 'n' roll loves comebacks -- it's the industry that resists them at first, not the art -- and, with the fine, estimable Praise and Blame, it's Jones who finds himself walking in the shadows of Johnny Cash and Elvis, although there's a little bit of Neil Young in there, too, seeing that

Jones never quite left the world of contemporary music, appearing vibrant even when standing still. But better than American Recordings or Elvis in '68, Praise and Blame doesn't feel or sound as much like a producer capturing magic in a bottle as it does an artist devoting time to make sure that his final lasting record -- his musical epitaph -- is as profound and epic as all that came before it.

The album's first track, What Good Am I?, is the sonic equivalent of a film by John Cassavetes. The singer finds himself as the shell of the former modern man, the 905 Lothario sobbing into his forearm as he questions all of his worst decisions, which, in his twilight, he sees affecting the ones he cared about most. For all of the leonine vocals that established Jones' reputation as a great singer, it's his weakening vibrato at the end of the line -- "If I shut myself off / so I can't hear you cry" -- that possesses as much raw emotion as anything he's ever done. God bless the week's middleweight belt holder, Win Butler, but seasoned artists who find it in themselves to push their hands deep into their guts and pull up small devils tassled to their soul are more rare these days than indie kings attempting to hold form. One of Praise and Blame's calling cards is the sound of an artist making music without having to worry about cementing his legacy or answering, as Butler does, to a fickle generation tied to his music. After all, those whose lives were defined by It's Not Unusual or She's a Lady are now old and Viagra'ed, and, even though they've got the best stories, it's hard to get them off the couch, which is why Jones's music is as important as any new quaking band's. On Billy Joe Shaver's If I Give My Soul, Jones sings about being "a foolish man," sounding like a repentant playboy whose wife has gone and whose children have left him. The singer's La-Z-Boy is torn and weathered, and his TV has to be hit with a stick to work. In this song, you can glean as much about the suburbs as anything by Arcade Fire.

Praise and Blame is a gift to the ears partly because it's the sound of an artist making music for no one other than himself. The irony is that, like Nick Lowe's fiftysomething triumph, The Convincer, or Elvis Costello's The Delivery Man or, really, anything by Loudon Wainwright, it's unlikely that zoomer radio will find time for Praise and Blame, the medium being burdened, as it is, by light classical, Carrie Underwood or the best of Clay Aiken. Still, Praise and Blame reminds us that it's not only music made by young people that pulls us together, and it shouldn't take some hackneyed '60s revue or Eagles reunion to make this sort of thing happen. If you know someone who is closer to the end than you are to the beginning, it's a record they should own. It's also something that both of you should probably hear.

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Tom Jones - ‘Praise & Blame’ - 9/10 Yahoo Music Review

Having been to the intoxicating heights of panty-throwing Vegas indulgences with old running mates Sinatra and Elvis, we assume Tom Jones is well aware that the Devil does indeed have the best tunes. Yet the man justifiably known as ‘The Voice' also possesses a set of lungs that could rival God's for earth-shattering reverberations; we've found that any top-volume spin of ‘Delilah' can still crack safes at 30 paces. Like a kind of Snoop Dogg of theology, then, with ‘Praise & Blame' Jones unites the secular and spiritual gangs in a way which, on the likes of ‘Lord Help' - as it threatens to run into Yeah Yeah Yeahs' debut EP territory in the fade, having just blasted along on a gothic Americana boogie - sounds like Jones wants to soundtrack an episode of ‘True Blood'. Calling upon the Lord to help the poor, needy, gambling and sinning, he seems equals parts in prayer for and admonishing those he's watching over.

Remember ‘Green, Green Grass Of Home', ‘What's New Pussycat?', ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On'? Even 2008's long-player ‘24 Hours'? Forgot about it. Instead of expansive string arrangements we get low-key embellishments from Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings; swampy, atmospheric keyboard runs from Booker T; sparingly but perfectly used sassy interjections from a small female chorale; and raw, earthy production from Ethan Johns.

Recorded live, it does for Jones what the ‘American' recordings did for Johnny Cash - a parallel borne out by ‘If I Give My Soul', where Jones wonders: "If I give my soul, will he stop my hands from shaking? / Will my son love me again? / Will she take me back again?" It could easily have come in cracked beauty from ‘The Man In Black''s late output; and though, at 70, Jones' voice is in far greater shape than Cash's, for him to make such benign sentimentality sound as though his life's blood depends on it is no small feat.

As its title suggests, this record is no endless stream of religious doctrine. With the likes of ‘Did Trouble Me', ‘Ain't No Grave', ‘Run On' and a cover of Bob Dylan's ‘What Good Am I?' the songs have been carefully selected to tease different nuances out of a system of complexities built on judgement, forgiveness, supplication and fear. That Jones has done it so essentially and convincingly is exactly why he deserves to be known as ‘The Voice'. Take those hats off and launch them into the air for one of the most uplifting, career-topping albums anyone could have released, regardless of age.

9/10

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