Tom Jones: the oldest swinger in the charts - The Telegraph

If midweek sales hold up, 70-year-old Tom Jones is on course to becoming the oldest man to top the British album charts. Jones previously held the record as a mere stripling of 59, when his contemporary pop duets set Reloaded went to number one in 1999. But he was superseded by then 68-year-old Bob Dylan last year with Together Through Life. Now Jones is poised to take the crown back, with an album or raw rocking gospel music, Praise And Blame.The old guys are but spring chickens (well, autumn chickens, maybe) compared to Dame Vera Lynn, who got to number one last year aged 92, although that was with a compilation album recorded in her prime. Age used to be one of the battlegrounds of pop culture. Now, one has to almost wax nostalgic to think back to a time when fans debated whether this or that artist was too old to rock and roll. Do you remember when critics liked to poke fun at veteran rockers, referring to the Glimmer twins Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as the Zimmerframe Twins? It turned out that rock was not really a flashpoint for youthful rebellion but just another form of music. And music is for life. And life is long. I have to admit, when I was an 18-year-old punk, I never imagined I would be a middle-aged rock critic. But the charts are still full of people who are older than me, and it is we middle-aged consumers who are keeping the music industry afloat. More than half of all CDs are bought by people over thirty, less than a fifth by people under twenty. Mind you, the young are still consuming just as much music, its just that they are not paying for it. Legal downloads are still dwarfed by the illegal. The international trade body IFPI has estimated that 95 per cent of music downloads worldwide are illegal. And there are figures bandied about the American music business (of which, I must admit, I am a little sceptical) claiming over 70 per cent of Americans under 20 years old have never paid for a piece of music. The generation gap is no longer about the music, it’s about the technology used to consume it. Well, we all know the music industry is in trouble. But in the meantime, it may be up to the oldies to keep us rocking. The thing about Jones’ continuing success is that he genuinely deserves it. He has made a great record, raw and alive with a love of music, shot through with emotional veracity and vital performances. People are talking about this as a religious album, and, indeed, the vice-president of his own record company notoriously dismissed it as “hymns” but actually this is the record of a sinner, engaging with God, the Devil and his own fears of mortality and redemption. And it’s not like it has come out of nowhere. To some Jones will always be the hip swinging Las Vegas belter, but his latterday career as a recording artist stands up with any more artistically admired veteran’s. Jones has shown the artistic courage to go new places, and try new things. Reload put him back in the charts with witty, contemporary pop. Mr Jones, his 2002 hip hop collaboration with (future Haitian presidential candidate) Wyclef Jean, was a brave and bold work, and is much better than it sounds on paper. And his 2008 album 24 Hours may have missed the top thirty but it dug deep in terms of songs and emotion, with a couple of tracks the equal of anything he has ever recorded. The Hitter is the stand out. It’s a remorseful but relentless brooding seven minute epic about a fighter who just doesn’t know when to go down. It could be the story of Jones’ life. He’s enjoyed great popularity and long spells in the wilderness. But it’s no accident that he is back at the top of the charts. Where most veterans are content to coast on their reputations and back catalogues, the big prize goes to those, like Dylan and Jones, who are still out there, giving it everything they’ve got.

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Tom Jones on course to top album charts

The Guardian Welsh singer set to knock Eminem off top spot with 40th studio album, Praise & Blame, but hints at collaboration with rapper

It's not unusual to be loved by anyone, as Wales' favourite crooner has been reminding us for a good 45 years. It is, on the other hand, slightly out of the ordinary to be loved by so many that you manage to chalk up a number one album in your 70s, as Pontypridd's finest may achieve this Sunday with his 40th studio album Praise & Blame.

Sir Tom Jones, who was today sitting at number one in the midweek chart sales, is on course to become the oldest male musician to have a number 1 album this Sunday, if he knocks Eminem off the top spot.

What may be more unusual still is a thinly-veiled suggestion from the septuagenarian sexbomb that he would be like to collaborate with the Detroit rapper currently in pole position. "I couldn't be more proud of this album and I'm really blown away by the response from everyone," he said. "It's great to be top of the charts with Eminem, maybe next time we could be top together."

Although the link-up may appear incongruous to some, Jones is likely to be unfazed. As a young man he worked with legends such as Elvis, Stevie Wonder and the Beatles and in recent years has hooked up with artists as diverse as Robbie Williams, Van Morrison and Cerys Matthews.

Speaking on the telephone while touring the UK to promote his new album – a critically-lauded collection of gospel and blues-infused songs – Jones, who turned 70 last month, said he had no qualms about being the oldest artist to top the charts.

"For me that would be the icing on the cake," he said. "It's great to see the album doing so well in the midweeks but if I don't get to number one, I don't get the record – and I do want it."

Jones previously held the record when his 1999 album, Reloaded, went to number one. But he lost the crown to Bob Dylan – just a year younger than Jones – when last year's Together Through Life took the top spot.

He is proud of the album – which some are calling his "Johnny Cash moment", a reference to the country star's late, reflective American recordings – although Jones rejects any suggestion that he might be on his last legs.

"I've always been a god-fearing person. This album is spiritual but it's not like I'm coming to the end and seeking redemption," he said.

His long-standing enthusiastic lady fans, some of whom may these days struggle to throw a pair of knickers any great distance, will be relieved to hear that he feels in good fettle. "Physically I'm fine. I don't have plastic hips or knees."

He does admit, however, that his performances have become less "frantic" as he has matured. "When I was young I was just exploding all the time, whenever there was an instrumental, I never thought of letting the guitar player take a solo – I used to hammer every song."

The advice to tone it down on stage was not given recently, but did come from a decent source. "I hate to namedrop," said Jones, in his luscious and still distinctly Welsh voice. "But Frank Sinatra told me that you didn't have to push that hard all the time. I've learnt to let the songs speak for themselves instead of ramming them down people's throats. Maybe I should have done that before, but I was full of vinegar or whatever."

Praise & Blame also gained column inches recently after David Sharpe, a vice president at his label Island Records reportedly criticised the album in a "leaked" email to colleagues, dismissing the songs as "hymns" and not the "upbeat tracks" the label had wanted.

The email began: "Imagine my surprise when I walked into the office this morning to hear hymns – it could have been Sunday morning. My initial pleasure came to an abrupt halt when I realised that Tom Jones was singing the hymns! I have just listened to the album in its entirety and want to know if this is some sick joke????"

But music writers and PR experts have questioned the veracity of the leaked email story, pointing out that the email handily came to light the same week as the record's release, not when it was written on 19 May. Jones insists that the first he heard of it was on a flight from LA to London. "I was frightened that it would put people off before they had even heard the album. I've still had no explanation."

Asked if he thought the email was a PR stunt he said: "It sounds like it, it could have been. Why would anyone say that about wanting their money back – I just don't understand it."

Island made no direct comment on the email yesterday, but in a statement Ted Cockle, co-president of Island records, made a nod to the brouhaha. "This was always the record that Island records and Sir Tom wanted to make," he said. "Its hugely satisfying that the album has been such a massive success with the critics and public alike. Island are delighted to part of the latest chapter of such a legends outstanding career."

The cool new Tom Jones record? - The Oregonain Review

Things I didn't expect about the new Tom Jones record: 1. There was going to be a new Tom Jones record.

2. It would be released on Lost Highway, label of Hayes Carll and Black Joe Lewis and Ryan Bingham and Ryan Adams and Lucinda Williams and on down that particular line of music.

3. That the new Tom Jones record on Lost Highway would be really cool.

I mean, does that sentence even make sense?

Because Jones is kind of a complicated figure. Some will read that and say, "Of course he does, he's Tom Jones." Then they'll throw their underwear and room keys before going back to the slot machines.

Others will read that sentence, brows furrowed, and say, "You might as well have just said, 'The duck and the cat are sharing a six pack on the Space Shuttle' -- and said it in Quechaua."

Anyone possessing even the smallest of the skepticism genes would have to think: Seriously? In 2010, the 70-year-old guy who did that cheesy "What's New Pussycat?" made a cool new record? No he didn't. Shut up.

But he did. He totally did.

"Praise and Blame" is 11 songs of classic American gospel and blues 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 as Jones (with much help from producer/guitarist Ethan Johns) runs through tunes by the likes of Bob Dylan and Billy Joe Shaver, John Lee Hooker and Rosetta Tharpe.

He covers "Ain't No Grave," the title track of the final Johnny Cash record (also on Lost Highway), and so lines are drawn between "Praise and Blame" and the work so-adored work Cash did with Rick Rubin.

Well, those were so adored because they were good and they were good because they showcased an icon aging gracefully. At 70, Jones needed to step away from sex symbol status. The guy's kept in shape, but a few years ago when he played the Schnitz, he popped the top couple buttons on his shirt, and women screamed and it was ridiculous.

But when he sang "Green, Green Grass of Home," it was moving. The one thing Jones has always been able to do is sing, if you could just focus on his voice. And his voice works these songs expertly. Seriously.

Ryan White, The Oregonian

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'Praise & Blame' an A.V. Club B+ Review

By Jason Albert July 27, 2010 From a distance, Tom Jones’ new Praise & Blame seems like just another Johnny Cash-style comeback by an aging star. And in a sense, it is. But Jones is a pop artist, and as such, he has every right to latch onto whatever trend he likes. With Praise & Blame, however, he’s done more than shallowly recasting himself as a gospel-and-blues interpreter. He’s reached deep and tapped into the real stuff. Jones’ leap is less radical than it looks. He has been doing credible R&B covers—forget his kitschy rendition of Prince’s “Kiss”—since the ’60s, and his voice has always held a magisterial authority. In fact, the friction between his booming pipes and his often-lightweight material has long been his trademark. But Praise & Blame features no such disconnect. Jones’ thunderous baritone, eroded to perfection, is wedded to spectral folk hymns and skeletal gospel stompers—most of which are harrowingly fixated on death, hellfire, and Jesus. The disc’s production and arrangements are impeccably sympathetic. Haunting and rawboned, the backing music sweeps Jones closer to Nick Cave than to Johnny Cash, though like Cash’s American Recordings series, Praise & Blame is a stark, soul-probing study in imminent mortality. But 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.

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Tom Jones' 'Praise & Blame' - LA Times 4/4* Review

Tom Jones turned 70 in June and one listen to "Praise & Blame" leaves no doubt that he's finally decided it's time to stop kidding around. Musically, he's checked out of Vegas and set up shop in Memphis, or maybe Muscle Shoals, for a revivifying excursion through American gospel and blues. Comparisons will be drawn to Johnny Cash's teaming with Rick Rubin on his series of "American" albums, and Jones and his producer, Ethan Johns, need make no apologies for charting a parallel path that brings out the best in this veteran singer's artistry.

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Praise & Blame: A Conversation With Tom Jones

Mike Ragogna, The Huffington Post - Posted: July 27, 2010 01:11 AM Mike Ragogna: Your new album Praise & Blame has a very stripped-down sound. What was your philosophy going into making this record?

Tom Jones: Well, I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time, and some of the albums I've done in the past, one or two tracks sometimes have been like this--stripped down. I've always liked that...not for all songs, but for songs of this nature especially. I feel you don't need a lot on them musician-wise. I think this is the best way to approach it, for me anyway. And I think it shows the voice off, and you can hear the tonal quality of the vocals. We took a lot of time picking the keys to get them in the right keys. We wanted to do some of the slower songs low because my voice over the years has become lower and richer.

MR: Your very first track, "What Good Am I," seems to pull off its big message with even more emotion than the original.

TJ: First of all, to approach it the way we did, the only version I had heard before that was from Bob Dylan. I wanted to slow it down and give it more depth. The lyrics already had them. The depth was already there, but the tonal quality...

So, we did it in a low key, and Ethan Johns said, "Look if you think it will work, sing it as softly as you can. Don't push it at all, and let it come out very natural," and that's what I did. Normally, when I sing, if I start to go up in the register, I get louder. That's what happened. But with this, you try not to control it, so that's what I did, it's what we ended up with.

MR: Can you go into the recording process?

TJ: We recorded it in Peter Gabriel's studio in Wilshire, so we were trying it out in the afternoon. We broke for dinner, and normally, once we do that, we wait until the following day to have another go at it. So, when we were having dinner, we were talking about it and I had had a couple of glasses of wine and I said, "You know, I think I've got it now in my mind. Maybe we should go back and try it again." I think everybody felt more mellow--maybe it was due to the red wine. But I definitely felt more relaxed, and everybody seemed to be like that. We just let it flow...not to over do, over sing, or punch it too hard--just to sing it as quietly and as breathy as possible. And then when we listened to it back we realized that this was it. We had it. You know, normally I don't drink before I sing. I like to keep a clear mind, but it was just a glass of red wine that might have helped.

MR: That brings us to that mega-voice of yours. I was told you had to record quite a distance from the microphone for some of the rockers on this album.

TJ: Yeah. Well, I think the difference with my voice today is that it's richer than it used to be. So, I think if I had done it 30 years ago, it may not have had as much weight to it. So, I think this definitely benefits from experience and the tonal quality of my voice. But the material itself...

MR: What went into the song choices?

TJ: I used to do songs like this in Wales growing up. If I went to Sunday school at 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon, to the Presbyterian Chapel, we did a lot of gospel hymns which I didn't realize was gospel until later on. Not as much as they do in the Southern states, but the songs are definitely there with the gospel element.

For instance, when I was in Las Vegas with Elvis Presley--God bless him when he was still alive--we would hang out at night in his suite and we would sing mostly gospel songs because he loved gospel, and he would start to sing these songs and I would join in. He asked me, "How come you know these songs?" and I said, "Well, we sing them in Wales, not exactly as you do." Now I do, but not when I was a kid so much. But the songs were definitely there.

MR: Are there songs on this record that do come from your childhood?

TJ: I knew "Run On." Of course, I got that one from Elvis. But I got a lot of the gospel things I have done before. The Mahalia Jackson tunes were on BBC radio when I was growing up in the '40s and '50s. I think Mahalia Jackson was the biggest gospel singer that we had heard from the States...and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

MR: Praise & Blame also puts rock 'n' roll into the gospel mix.

TJ: Well, there you go. We heard songs that other people had done, like The Staple Singers. We had heard some of the things they had done and again. Getting back to "Run On" that Elvis had done, when we tried it the first time, we did it in the same key as Elvis did. It sounded very similar. I wasn't doing anything to this song that hadn't been done already. Elvis had already done it. I mean, Christ, I would have come off as a second hand Elvis here if I did it the same way. So, we had to change it. I said, "What about if we lift the key and put it in a higher key. I can put more effort into it in a higher key, and it won't sound so smooth.

So, Ethan Johns said yeah, and we started looking for a guitar riff by listening to a lot of other records that had been done, then Ethan came up with that guitar riff. So, between that riff and me singing in a higher key, we just let it rip. I rip into it as opposed to doing it the way Elvis and The Jordanaires did it. Actually, I am not sure if it was them, but it was definitely a choir doing the answer phrases.

So, I thought, "Let me just sing the whole thing, and I'll just sing the answers as well." Ethan said, "If you are going to do the whole thing, maybe you shouldn't do it as long because it goes on." So I said, "Lets do it and see where it ends up. I did the whole song because it was going so well, but I think that guitar riff had a lot to do with the pushing of the song.

We tried to get things, as you said, more rocky, more gospel, more old gospel, hot gospel like it would have been done in the South when some country blues players would do a gospel song. That's how I imagine it would have been done.

MR: How did you come up with the concept?

TJ: Well, I am always thinking what am I going to do next because I love so many different kinds of songs. There are certain areas in pop music that I wouldn't try and go into, but there are a lot of areas that I like and the way of recording them. The question is always there in terms of where do I go, what move do I make next musically.

But this one is very natural to me as I know these songs. These are the kind of songs that I sang in the pub in Wales growing up, so it was a natural thing. But the idea that gave us license was when Island Records asked me to do an album of hymns for last Christmas. I thought, "Now I wonder if I can really dig into this rather than just do hymns, although hymns would be very nice with an orchestra and a choir...very nice." I think that's what they wanted.

But it gave me the opportunity to dig deep, do some gospel stuff, and combine it with a Rock element. Hot Gospel--like that. Make it more raw, don't polish it up or smooth it out. Then I talked to Ethan Johns as we were thinking of who was going to produce it, and so he said he wanted to try a couple of tracks. Island Records didn't want to commit until they heard something first, and what kind of thing we were going to do. So, we cut two songs first: "Did Trouble Me" and "Run On." He presented them to Island Records, and they loved them so they said okay. So, that gave us the opportunity to look into gospel songs that I knew or that we felt would sound good.

MR: Then you recorded the rest of the album which ended up having a real live feel to it.

TJ: Setting the keys is a big thing because some songs don't need to be sung high. You need to get more warmth in them, so they don't always need to be set in a higher key. That's what we did...we tried to get the keys right and work on it from there. Then there was just the rhythm section and it was Ethan, the drummer, the bass player, and myself, and we just did it live. The other instruments you hear later on, Ethan overdubbed them. I just worked with Ethan Johns; Dave Bronze was on bass and Jeremy Stacey was on drums.

MR: It seems to be all about spontaneity, and everything functioned so tightly in this environment.

TJ: That's what we wanted to do. We wanted to get it as alive and natural as possible. The studio that we did it in...you know Peter Gabriel has quite a few studios there. He has a big proper studio, but we didn't want to use that because we wanted to just use the rhythm section. This room that we used, they brought the tape machines in because it's analog so there was no control booth. I have never recorded in a place quite like that before because there was always a control room.

MR: Where was the engineer's placement?

TJ: Right there in the same room. It was a couple of tape machines and a couple of engineers, and they would be walking around putting little plastic partitions in, especially around the drums. But with me, we couldn't overdub anything because it would leak. So, I was singing into what looked to me like an old, square RCA microphone. I asked the engineer, "How old is this microphone?" and he said, "Oh, it's really old...like 1939 or 1940." Well, that's the same age as me, so he went on about how old this mic was.

MR: Good mic-ing is half the battle.

TJ: It was a reconditioned mic, of course, but it was fantastic. It picked up everything. That's why I can sing so lightly on some of them. Picked every breath up. It was tremendous, but then again, you have leakage from the other instruments. We recorded every one live, so you couldn't. If it didn't happen then, we would do it again.

MR: Nice, the way music was originally recorded.

TJ: This is it. It was like going into a rehearsal hall and trying songs out. Let's try it again and see what we can do with this, and the big and only difference with this is that it was being recorded.

MR: So if the vibe is just right and it jiggles just right, that's it.

TJ: That's right. We try it and listen, and if it's not ringing true, then we try it again. But it did all come together very well. Once the ball started to roll and we knew when all the musicians were with me and looking at me, they were facing me, and we were all looking at one another.

MR: And especially with faith at the root of where you started, you couldn't help but have miles and miles of feel.

TJ: Exactly. I don't think you could have laid a track down and then try to put a vocal on top of that, which I have done in the past and a lot of people do when they record. You set a key and they lay a track down and you put the voice on. With some stuff it works, you know, especially dance music. You've got to give the engineer time to overlay things. But with this, I felt that this one needed to be as live as possible.

MR: Right. Now, you've had a lot of different phases or styles in your career. For instance, a younger audience will associate you with your cover of Prince's "Kiss" while an older audience may associate you with "Green, Green Grass Of Home," "Delilah," "What's New Pussycat?" or "It's Not Unusual." It will be interesting to see who comes in on this.

TJ: I have made all kinds of records, but you can still go in there and do them stripped down, unplugged. Really, its just going in there and getting back to basics and not using any of the trickery. There is a lot that can be done today, but sometimes, you need those different sounds like on dance music like I was saying. But not on this one definitely, and it proves that you can do all kinds of stuff.

MR: For an artist, it's great to continue experimenting with music even after you've become successful doing one style over another.

TJ: With some bands and singers, they don't want to step too far to the left or to the right. Once they get success with something, they don't want to wonder away too far from where they are because they feel it's what people want. Well, it's to a certain extent people are like that, but I think people like other things as well. The feedback that I've gotten from audiences is, "Wow, we loved the show Tom, but we didn't expect that. And what a thing that you did on there," and nine times out of ten, it's acoustic. When it's just the guitar or myself or the rhythm section you know, it seems to me the stripped down version--especially when you have a full band on stage--it's good to change and strip it down. There is more impact to it than if you did it all like that.

MR: How can you hear somebody's soul if it's battling a lot of sonic clutter.

TJ: Well, this is it, and it's happened before when I have recorded with a rhythm section and then the producer will start overdubbing. My wife, God bless her, when I played her the roughs on this--just my voice and the rhythm section--she said my voice was fantastic and hoped the producer wouldn't mess it up. As far as she was concerned, this has happened to some of my records before. They just sometimes put too many instruments on, and then you lose the initial idea that was there to begin with. We didn't want to do that, and when Ethan started to overdub stuff, he said, "I want you to listen and see if I have gone too far or not." So then we had to start pulling stuff off or not using as much of it or don't start using the piano yet in the song or bring it in halfway to add color to it but not all at once. I think a lot of the time that Ethan spent was doing that. I didn't want to overdo this as it sounded so good, you know, just the rhythm section and myself. But it needed some coloring, some organ here and some vocals there, just a little bit. So, I think that was the tricky part for him, trying to figure out how far to go.

MR: Was there any other period in your life when you wanted to do a stripped-down project like this, but just did the regular record instead.

TJ: All the time. (laughs) Well, I shouldn't say all the time, but with record companies, I understand that once you get a hit with something, you want more of the same. And you say, "Hey, look, I have an idea for something," and they say, "Oh yeah, we will get to that." I did a live album once and it never came out. There was some live stuff on it, and I remember different record companies that I had been with. You know, I said, "Hey, I have this live album," and (they say), "Oh yeah, it sounds great, and we will put it out, but we need a studio album first before we get there." There is always that element that you are up against. Even with Island Records and this one, they wanted to hear something before they would commit. It's understandable. You can't just give people a free rein because they may take advantage of it. And sometimes it works, but a lot of the time, it doesn't, so you have to know what's going on. I understand that...unless you have your own record company, and you do the whole thing yourself. That is different.

MR: Was there any other time in your career that you wanted to do an album about faith?

TJ: Yeah. When Island Records asked me about hymns for Christmas, and I thought I wanted to go deeper...

MR: When you were having hits with your earlier singles, were there periods when you were thinking, "You know, I just want to make a record of songs of faith that inspired me in my youth"?

TJ: Oh yes. When I was telling you about Elvis Presley, and he was surprised to find out that I knew so many gospel songs when we were in Vegas. We would sing gospel songs at night, and I said, "Yeah, we used to sing these songs in Wales." And he would say, "Well, why don't you record a gospel album?" as he had success with it. I said, "Yeah, I will," but I was then saying what record companies were saying to me--"Oh yeah, we'll get to it, don't worry." (laughs)

So, it's always been in the back of my mind to do it. But like I said, record companies are a little shy of concept albums sometimes. They look at the outlets right away in terms of who is going to play this and what radio stations will play that, and I understand that. If you're going to make a record, you are going to want people to hear it.

MR: For those starting out today wanting to have a great pop music career, what is your advice?

TJ: Well, when you start off, you have to try and get as much experience as possible. I don't think you can make records in the front room of your house and then go on TV with it and think you have an act together. My advice is to get up in front of people as often as you can, whenever you have a chance to sing--whether it's in a club or Karaoke, wherever--get up and get experience wherever you can get people to hear you sing live so that you get experience. Hopefully, when the time comes and you get a hit record, you are prepared to go on the road. I think you need that experience first. It will put you in good stead later on if you have had experience singing in dance halls and clubs. I have heard a lot of young people saying they didn't realize it was going to be so hard.

(Transcribed by Erika Richards)

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Tom Jones, 'Praise and Blame' 4* Metromix Review

The Welsh singer shines on stripped-down, blues/gospel covers set The buzz: Welsh crooner Tom Jones has been many things: the hip-swiveling, blue-eyed soul shouter of his “It’s Not Unusual” heyday; the quintessential, sequin-shirted Vegas lounge act; the unlikely reinterpreter of modern pop hits like “Kiss” and “Burning Down the House.” Now he’s apparently ready to enter the elder statesman phase of his career, with this collection of stripped-down, spiritually charged covers.

The verdict: The old-fashioned covers album has become something of a cliché these days, with everyone from Robert Plant to Cyndi Lauper mining the great American songbook in search of a little late-career gravitas. But “Praise and Blame,” with its spare versions of classic blues and gospel tunes, sounds fresh—Jones’ booming baritone is well-suited to this material, and producer/guitarist Ethan Johns, best-known for his work with Kings of Leon and Ray LaMontagne, keeps the arrangements lean and hungry, often accompanying Jones’ weathered vocals with little more than guitar, bass and drums. Jones shows remarkable restraint on quieter numbers like Bob Dylan’s soul-searching “What Good Am I?”, but his most inspired moments come on grittier tracks like John Lee Hooker’s “Burning Hell,” which finds the singer wrestling his existential demons (“When I die, where will I go?”) over a swampy Delta blues stomp.

Did you know? Americana stars Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings lay down some backing vocals on a couple of tracks, and Memphis soul legend Booker T. Jones’ inimitable Hammond B-3 organ enlivens the juke-joint sermon, “Lord Help.”

Sir Tom Jones Knocks Eminem off Top Spot

The Legendary Sir Tom Jones who recently celebrated his 70th birthday and is entering his 6th decade in music, has leapt ahead of Eminem to top the UK album chart in today’s mid-weeks. “Praise & Blame” looks set to stop Eminem from claiming his 5th week at number 1. Sir Tom, who has worked with many of the greats, including Elvis, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder and many more,  has released what the critics are calling the album of his career. “I couldn’t be more proud of this album and I’m really blown away by the response from everyone. It’s great to be top of the charts with Eminem, maybe next time we could be top together”

“Praise & Blame” is Jones’ most successful release since he last entered the UK chart at no. 1 in 1999 with “Reload”.

“Praise & Blame is clearly one the best albums of Jones’s entire career.” The Independent  5*****

“…the album even has something of his old pal Elvis Presley’s ’68 Comeback about it.Either way, it’s a revelation.” Daily Telegraph 5*****

“…the arrangements are crisp, earthy and a perfect vehicle for that still most powerful of voices.” The Sun 4.5****

It’s grand, and at last Jones the artist is the match for Jones the entertainer.” The Guardian 4****

“The verdict? All Praise and no blame.” Sunday Times 4****

Listen To Tom Jones on The Chris Moyles Breakfast Show

Tom chats to Chris Moyles and the team about Praise & Blame and all things Mr. Jones!

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Tom Jones Does Gospel - An Interview With The Wall Street Journal

Have lunch with Tom Jones and of course you'll discover that he's known just about everyone in show business. It's the context for the conversation that's surprising: At age 70, Mr. Jones is releasing "Praise & Blame," a bluesy gospel recording produced by Ethan Johns. Listen to this remarkable album and you're reminded that he's always had a golden voice—"Tom Jones can sing anything!" Van Morrison once shouted during an impromptu set with the singer at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. Frank Sinatra liked the way he sang, too. But rarely has Mr. Jones laid bare his voice in the service of profound spiritual emotions. Out this week, "Praise & Blame" features traditional gospel and blues originally recorded by Jessie Mae Hemphill, Mahalia Jackson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, among others. Bob Dylan, Billy Joe Shaver and Susan Werner represent contemporary songwriters. On the down-tempo numbers, the arrangements are solemn but not stodgy, and when the band kicks in hard, as on "Didn't It Rain" and "Strange Things," it churns away at the spot where gospel and early rock 'n' roll intersected.

Thus "Praise & Blame" has an earthy quality not usually associated with Mr. Jones, who is best known for his hip-shaking days onstage when he opened his shirt to the navel, wore skin-tight slacks, and belted out "What's New Pussycat?" "It's Not Unusual," "Delilah" and his other brassy hits backed by big bands. For "Praise & Blame," Mr. Jones did his vocals live with a small, tight group of musicians. There was some thought given to overdubbing a variety of instruments to fatten the sound, but "the more we did," he said, "the more we realized we weren't off when I was just singing with the rhythm section.

"When I started playing in pubs and clubs, I worked with only a rhythm section," the singer said last month, at a restaurant just a short drive from his mansion here. "We'd do rockabilly and boogie-woogie."

When I mentioned that his 1966 hit "Green, Green Grass of Home" tapped into country, the singer noted that a lot of his albums have been "a mishmash" of music. "There's been bits of a bluesy, country thing."

Mr. Jones said he's been a fan of what today is called roots music since he listened to the radio as a child in Trefforest, Wales. "We only had two channels: Home Service, which was news, and BBC Light. I wanted more gospel and blues because they didn't play much of it—they had to play everything.

"When I first heard blues music," Mr. Jones continued, "I didn't realize it came from the hardship blacks were going through in America. It was the sound that got me—I didn't know why or how. But the thing of it kept jumping out at me."

Still, he'd long resisted the temptation to cover authentic gospel and blues. "My voice wouldn't have been quite right 20, 25 years ago." Now his voice is a smoky baritone. "It seems to me it's more guttural now."

He's always enjoyed singing gospel among friends, including Elvis Presley, whom he knew when they both worked the Las Vegas Strip. Presley encouraged Mr. Jones to record a gospel album. On "Praise & Blame," Mr. Jones covers "Run On," a gospel standard Presley recorded.

"I remember singing gospel with Elvis in his suite. . . . But I didn't want to do it like he did. Ethan said, 'Why don't we rock it up more?'" On the stark track, Mr. Jones is accompanied by Mr. Johns on boogie guitar and Jeremy Stacey on drums. Similarly, on his raging version of John Lee Hooker's "Burning Hell," he's backed only by Mr. Johns on a raw slide guitar and by Mr. Stacey's simple drum pattern.

"I met John Lee in '64," Mr. Jones said. "We were on the same show on BBC2. Years later, he called me in Vegas. . . . He didn't have to introduce himself. I knew him by that voice.

"All of my heroes, I met," he said, then added, "No, Sam Cooke I didn't meet. Never met Al Jolson."

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As the album's opener, Mr. Dylan's "What Good Am I" establishes the tone, but perhaps the disc's most affecting ballad is his reading of Ms. Werner's "Did Trouble Me." It opens with Mr. Jones singing by himself. A guitar's growl and a bass drum enter discreetly, then a banjo skirts underneath the vocal, rooting the performance in folk and gospel. Gillian Welch joins in on the trembling chorus.

"Praise & Blame" reconnects Mr. Jones not only to roots music but to his own roots. The album was recorded at Peter Gabriel's studio in Box Wiltshire, the village where Mr. Jones's grandmother spent her childhood. Between sessions, Mr. Jones would walk in the countryside. "There was a waterfall, and I found myself wondering if my grandmother came around here as a kid.

"She loved Nelson Eddy and Jeannette MacDonald. 'Rose Marie,' she loved that song. I sang it. On my fifth birthday, she gave me a card and signed it, 'To the little gentleman who sang 'Rose Marie.'"

A new generation may know Mr. Jones best from his version of Prince's "Kiss" or his hit "Sex Bomb" from his 1999 album "Reload," in which he covered Iggy Pop, Talking Heads, the Kinks and others. It's his voice that appeals to these followers, not his gyrating moves of the past. "In Europe, especially in Great Britain, for a lot of these kids, 'Delilah' is a great sing-along," he said.

When he performed "What Good Am I" on the BBC's "Later with Jools Holland," he got a sense of what a rock audience's reaction to "Praise & Blame" would be. "Everything just stopped," he recalled. "You could hear a pin drop. Corinne Bailey Rae came over with tears in her eyes, and I thought, 'Thank God it's having the same effect on people that it had on me.'"

By JIM FUSILLI

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Tom Jones: Praise & Blame OUT TODAY!!!

After weeks of fantastic reviews, controversy and brilliant interviews, the day we’ve all been waiting for is finally here… 'Praise & Blame' is out to buy now!!!

If you live in the States you won’t be waiting long either, as 'Praise & Blame' is being released tomorrow!!!

Tom is extremely proud of this album and with tremendous critical acclamation we couldn't have hoped for anything better. Please celebrate this with us and let us know what you think!

Here are some fantastic quotes that 'Praise & Blame' has received over the last few weeks...

“…it’s a blistering album, at it’s best when Jones and his band…cut loose.” - The Guardian 4****

“It’s grand, and at last Jones the artist is the match for Jones the entertainer.”- The Guardian 4****

“few singers are going to emerge with an album as incredible as this in 2010” - Mojo 4****

“it’s an extraordinary achievement…” - The Independent 5*****

"...Praise & Blame is clearly on of the best albums of Jones's entire career." - The Independent 5*****

“An album that is sheer class.” - Daily Express 4****

“…the arrangements are crisp, earthy and a perfect vehicle for that still most powerful of voices.” - The Sun 4.5 ****

“…the album still emphasises his powerful vocals, just in a more stripped back, salvation-seeking fashion.” - NME 8/10

“…he delivers an impressively accomplished album.” - Time Out  4****

“Jones’ delivery has rarely been so convincing.” - Time Out 4****

“…the album even has something of his old pal Elvis Presley’s ’68 Comeback about it. Either way, it’s a revelation." - Daily Telegraph 5*****

“…delivered with due reverence, turning on the power when required but never edging into showbiz.”- Mojo 4****

“Poignant at times, exhilarating at others, ‘Praise & Blame’ marks an exciting new direction from a national treasure.” - Clash  8/10

“At moments like this, you could almost forgive the wasted years.” - Q

“Tom Jones brilliant new album, Praise & Blame is what his mighty voice is made for” - Evening Standard 4****

London Evening Standard: CD of the Week 4* Review

I must confess at the outset that Tom Jones has always been a figure of fun in my life. This dates back to the Sixties when my mother and I watched the then unknown Tom gyrate his way through It's Not Unusual on Top of the Pops. My mother starting laughing first and then I joined in, quite unable to resist. It was as if someone had liberally sprinkled itching powder inside his tight strides. PJ Proby may have split his trousers but Tom Jones always looked as if his might disintegrate or spontaneously combust.Perhaps that was how the knicker-throwing started. I'm not laughing any more because Tom has made an album that befits his age (70) and suits his voice. Praise & Blame is a collection of cover versions, featuring lesser-known songs from way back when (plus Bob Dylan's more recent What Good Am I) and taking in spirituals, the blues and good old rock 'n' roll. Producer Ethan Johns brings a stripped-down sound to the party and Tom sings the songs with warmth and not a trace of bombast, notably on ballads such as Did Trouble Me and If I Give My Soul. That the itching powder has not entirely been expunged from his slacks is proved by the guitar-propelled Lord Help and the splendid reworking of John Lee Hooker's Burning Hell.Apparently, someone at Jones's record label has made rude noises about this album. He needs a hearing aid. Pete Clark

Q Interview - Tom Jones: Leaving It All Off, Hat Included

Q had the pleasure of meeting up with Wales' greatest export Sir Tom Jones last week to discuss his rootsy new album Praise And Blame. Autographing an album for a fan, he pauses to spell 'Happy Birthday'. "I'm dyslexic, you know?... I know 'birthday' is 'ir' but it should be 'er' - I mean, that's how it sounds, 'berthday'." Maybe it's learning difficulties. Or perhaps it's just a matter of Wales having never left Tom Jones; which would be one explanation for why he's recorded an album of the music he enjoyed in church as a boy in Pontypridd. Mostly, the Tom Jones we see now is laying everything bare. With that in mind, when a rep from his record label Island brandished the whole thing "a joke", you'd think it would hurt. But as the Godfather of pop would probably have it, it's just par for the course in the pop industry. Speaking authoritatively (and emphasising every phrase in that gravelly Welshman's tone) about the gospel origins of rock'n'roll and getting back to where it all started, Tom explains how he's been told he doesn't "fit in" since the release of his first hit single, It's Not Unusual. It would appear however that, for this "joke", it's Tom Jones who may just have the last laugh. Seventy years old; his voice better than ever; still "kicking the shit out of everything": 'unusual' doesn't do him justice.

Q: Hi Tom, are you having a good day? Tom Jones: Yeah, yeah, good. [Points to part-consumed glass] I'm having a beer at the end of it.

Q: Everything from the colour of your hair now to the way you've recorded Praise And Blame says "exposed". Would you say this is the most laid bare phase in your career so far? TJ: Yeah, yeah, I think so. You know, it's the most natural sound that I've recorded and the most live. It sounds like if you're in a room, you know what I mean? If you're singing live in a place. It doesn't sound like a 'recording' as such. That's what I like about it. It's really well done thanks to Ethan Johns; he's the man that produced it and played on it. He was a big part of the atmosphere of the whole thing.

Q: It really comes out at you. Would you say it's your voice that you want people to focus on now? TJ: Yes. These songs need to have a sound like that. You don't need much orchestration. The songs are so strong that they speak for themselves. All I had to do was sing 'em, you know? Of course, you have to put feeling into them. But that was already in the songs; you didn't have to over-emphasise anything, just let it flow. What Good Am I? - the Bob Dylan song - I sang that and Ethan was right, he said, "Don't sing it too loud. Try and sing it as softly as you can... restrained." Rather than trying to enunciate every word, every syllable, it didn't need it. I think we captured it.

Q: Would you say then that this was a totally different recording experience from anything you've done up till now? TJ: Yeah, well it's a bit like going back to the start when I used to sing in Wales in clubs and pubs and dancehalls. I'd have a group - a rhythm section - and we'd get in the pub and we'd rehearse. We'd move songs around and try different ways to do things, rather than just copy the records that were out at the time. This felt like that to me. We moved things around. We'd say, "let's try it like this" or, "let's try it a little faster", "maybe we should change the key here". When they clicked, it was like "Yeah, that's it." We didn't settle for less. We didn't settle for, "Oh, that's good." Not yet. We'd keep kicking it around until we got it to where we wanted it. That was very similar to when I started.

Q: Is this the record you "always wanted to make", or is it as cut and dry as the fact that you were turning 70 and just wanted to enjoy something different? TJ: No, it's something that's been in me for many years. But it's been difficult to get a record company to go along because it is a "concept" album. Most record companies, and rightfully so, want to sell records and have songs on the radio so it has to be radio friendly and there has to be singles. But getting back to the start, when I recorded It's Not Unusual it was different from records that were around. So that wasn't 'radio friendly'. The BBC wouldn't play it! They didn't understand it. The Beatles were in their prime and the Stones... it was a big British band invasion. So for single performers it was more difficult. Especially when you come up with, you know, brass, larger-than life, straight-in-yer-face sound [laughs].

Saying that, it was different enough to be played. But sometimes it's more difficult to get something like that across than it is with things that are more similar to what's going on. And I feel that's what this record is now. Some radio stations won't play it. They say it doesn't fit in. Well OK, but, you know, play one!

Q: Like you, they need to take a risk... TJ: Yeah, see what the people think! At the end of the day it's up to the public. If they like something they let you know. If they don't, they let you know that too. At least play it! Don't say, "It doesn't fit in". It's not supposed to fit. This is a spiritual album, but take it on face value. What do the songs sound like? Are they striking or moving? That's what I like to do. I want to make records that have some power. It could be a dance record or a ballad, but it needs to be powerful.

Q: It needs to be from the heart, then? TJ: Exactly! It needs to be honest. It needs to sound real. To me that's what this record sounds like. So, yes I've been waiting a long time to do it. And with my age, I think my voice sounds different to when I was young. It's a natural thing. You know, your voice gets richer, not weaker. My voice is as powerful now as it was. But I think it's richer and some of these songs benefit from that. Like, What Good Am I? You know what I mean? The low notes. And Nobody's Fault But Mine. So there's a time for certain things.

Q: Originally, It's Not Unusual was written with Sandie Shaw in mind. Do you think, had she recorded it, it would have been deemed more radio friendly? TJ: Yes it would have been. But thank God she liked it the way it was! Afterwards they said, "She doesn't wanna do it." It was a great opportunity for me to record it because it was only a demo that I did that we sent to her. When I met her she said, "I didn't wanna do it because I didn't think I could do it." The two guys who wrote it - Gordon Mills and Les Reed - tried to put it in a vein that would suit her cos she had songs with that [starts singing intro] "dung du-dung" so they stuck it in that beat so it would appeal to her. But when I sang it, you see, it took it... somewhere else [laughs]. I dug into it.

It sounded like a hit record to me when I did the demo and I stuck to my guns and said, "I have to have this record". My producer Peter Sullivan said, "Look, if you want to do this, we've gotta kick it." It couldn't just be a mild song, which it was originally. "We have to hit it hard because you have this big voice." So thank god Les Reed came up with that brass which gave me room to smack it. Then it became as powerful as it is.

But that's what makes records great - that they're not like something else, that they're individual. [Raises eyebrow] Radio is not that open to that. In those days it was the pirate radio stations like Radio Caroline who loved it and played it. They're the ones I have to thank for at least getting it on the airwaves. And then, you know, the bloody thing went like a rocket! The BBC had to play it then, of course, cos it was Number 1! [laughs].

Q: It's all part of that industry age-old war of the push and pull between image/what sells and artistic integrity. That's something that seems to always plague pop artists, and apparently still you? TJ: Yeah. When I was young and when I was wearing tight pants, you know, I though that my voice would over-power any negativity that people saw in me. And I was young, I was vibrant and I loved to dance and I wanted to get on it and kick the shit out of everything, you know what I mean? Like young people do. [Shrugs and smiles] Well, I still do that anyway, but... I was aggressive. And people would say, "Oh yeah, Tom Jones with the tight pants." And I thought, "Oh Jesus, what about my voice?" I wouldn't be on the stage if it wasn't for my voice; there's the power, there's the thing. But sometimes, without knowing it, people are seeing rather than hearing. So I've learned, after all this time, that I have to be careful with that now. More careful in the way that I look. Just concentrate on the music.

Q: Your voice is an incredible instrument still to this day. How have you cared for it over the years? TJ: I know not to abuse it. I used to do two shows a night and it's ok for a while but then if you keep doing it you start to sing on tired chords and you can damage them. But that's trial and error. I've learned to take care of it more than when I was young. It's all down to drinking plenty of water, get rest, some sleep. It's like an athlete. You have to give muscles rest so that they work properly. Singers are very similar to athletes because it's part of your body that's producing the sound, it's not like playing an instrument. The instrument is right there in your throat! And be careful that you don't drink too much booze [Q looks to Tom's glass of beer]. Well, especially before you sing. Afterwards is another story. [Laughs] I'm not singing today so I'm having a beer.

Q: For you, you've continued for so long because you just love to sing. Is there any day for you that doesn't involve music? TJ: No, not really. I'm always listening. There's always music. Music's going round my head all the time. Even if I'm not singing, you know, I'm whistling. People make fun of me, my family especially because when I walk out the bedroom I'm [starts whistling] and they go [whistles response]. I say, "I hope I don't whistle that bad" [laughs]. It's always some form of music in my head, or I'm listening to CDs, and of course, old vinyl. I've still got old records that I love to listen to.

Q: You started out as a rhythm and blues singer. Was gospel something you were listening to from an early stage and it's stayed with you all these years, too? TJ: Oh yeah, yeah. Singing hymns in chapel when I was a kid, you know. Singing in school, there were a lot of religious songs. When rock'n'roll kicked off in the '50s, it's just like it was a vibrant new sound. But the more you listen to it, the more you realise that it's coming from a gospel place. The roots are bluesy, gospel music. And I think that's what upset people when they said, "It's the Devil's music." It was very close to religious music in its structure. It was just that the words were different. I think that's what upset 'em. If it had been a music that wasn't connected I don't think it would've upset that many people. [Knowingly] But sometimes it's good to upset people cos then they'll take note.

Q: Elvis was at the forefront of rock'n'roll and he came from a gospel background. Is it true you played gospel with The King? TJ: Yeah, we used to sing it together at night, after we did the shows in Vegas. We'd go back to his suite. That's what he loved. If Elvis was going to sing something just on the spur of the moment, it would be a gospel song. But he loved to have singers with him. I mean, that's how he was brought up, I'm sure of it. Going to the church that he went to as a kid they had people doing these answer phrases, and then he would join in. So he loved that, he loved to hear voices. He was surprised to know that I knew so many of the gospel songs. He'd say, "Oh, how do you know that one? Do they sing gospel in Wales?" I'd say, "Yeah, but not exactly the same way." [Laughing] It's more like hymns. People in the South got a hold of hymns and it became gospel. That's where the roots are and that's what this record is. The structure of those songs is very natural to me. Songs like Strange Things Happening Every Day; Sister Rosetta Tharpe. She did gospel like that, she played electric guitar when she sang. She was like a rock'n'roll singer singing religious songs, really.

Q: You debuted the album in a church a few months back. Beyond the musicality of these songs, lyrically they're a lot deeper. All the glitz and glamour has been stripped away. When you're singing a song like What Good Am I? is there that genuine self-doubt? TJ: Yes, well the song itself makes you think: what good am I if I just stand by and let things happen when I can make a change? You should speak up. Those things, the lyrics affect me when I'm singing. That's why Ethan told me to restrain it. It worked when I whispered parts, rather than sung them. When I was growing up in Wales and playing in pubs there were no microphones so you had to enunciate and make things larger than life to get across. Sometimes you have to try and hold that back. It's a habit that I got into by projecting but some songs you don't need to. They need to be treated with a tender attitude. Less is more. Which I never realised before [Smiles].

Q: Less is more is the new Tom Jones... TJ: Well, it's an honest album. I loved recording it. Listening to the stuff back was a joy. You gotta treat things the way you think it should be treated. The songs are of a certain kind and the message is the same. You just have to think and realise, there are Strange Things Happening Every Day. And If I Give My Soul. And Trouble Me. You know, "If I let things stand that should not be, my Lord will trouble me." He'll say, "Hey!" Which has happened to me. So I've experienced that.

Q: So, you are a God fearing man? TJ: Oh yeah, definitely. Definitely! I pray every night. I get on my knees and thank god first of all for giving me a voice. Giving me the instrument to allow me to be myself and do something that I love to do for so long. Hopefully I'll keep it until I drop!

Q: You've collaborated with so many people over the course of your career. Is there anybody you missed out on that you regret? TJ: Ummm. Well, I would love to have recorded with Elvis Presley but he wasn't allowed to do it at the time.

Q: Is there a reason for that? TJ: Tom Parker, you know? He wanted to keep him away, he didn't want him to mix with anyone or be seen. It was a shame because Elvis wanted to. He would have loved to do duets with people. He wasn't afraid to do anything. But I sang with Jerry Lee Lewis on my TV show so I got that done and Little Richard, Wilson Pickett, I sang with Chuck Berry on a midnight special in the States. Most of it I got done. I think Whitney Houston's got the best voice. I know she's shakey at the moment. But I think she had the best natural female voice that I've heard. Maybe that could still happen.

Q: You grew up training your voice on your idols like Jerry Lee Lewis. As the Godfather of pop, as it were, if you were start out all over again, would you say there people now that you could draw inspiration from? Or has pop changed too much? TJ: No I think there's individual people about. Like Kings Of Leon. I think they come from a Southern, gospel-y, old time rock'n'roll thing. I don't think music has changed that much since 1955 when Rock Around The Clock came out - you know Bill Haley & The Comets. They concentrated more on making those instruments larger than life. That's why those records sounded so different. It came from gospel. Pop before that came from a jazzy style - the big band era. Singers were balladeers, they sang with a singing voice.

When Tony Bennett recorded the Hank Williams song Cold Cold Heart he was the first mainstream singer to have a hit with a country song and I thought, "Wow! That's great, he's done that." But I saw a documentary - when they presented the song to Tony Bennett he didn't like it. And I thought, "Owwww". It blew that thing out of the water. They twisted his arm. But he did a great version and it did the trick; it brought country music to people who wouldn't listen to it before. It's like what happened with the blues with British bands. BB King said if it wasn't for British rock bands the blues might've died. They came in with a new thing and then people wanted to know what the original sounded like. It's always good to bring stuff to light.

Q: So whether it's early gospel or modern rock, you're representing something contemporary in a very roundabout way... TJ: Yeah. It's all based on what happened from that time on. The Beatles always said that. They were listening to '50s rock'n'roll music. That's what influenced the British invasion. This is almost like getting (back there)... there's a song on here called Run On which a lot of gospel groups did. The one I knew was Elvis's version. He did it... you know... Elvis... [starts singing with Elvis impression], "Well, you may run on for a long time." And the group go, "Run on for a long time." So we did it in the same key and I'm thinking, "I sound like Elvis! [Laughs] We gotta get away from that." So we lifted the key. Ethan Johns said, "Let me get a rock guitar lick here. We'll rock it up!" I thought, "Wow! We're gonna rock something up even more than Elvis did!" [Laughing] Woooh! To me, it sounds even more authentic. It's a hot, gospel, thumping thing.

Q: In a nutshell, it's all pop and if radio learned anything from It's Not Unusual they should absolutely get it on the air? TJ: Exactly, yeah. I mean, Jesus!

Tom Jones's new album Praise And Blame is out now on Island Records.

Words: Eve Barlow

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Tom Jones: Praise & Blame 4* Guardian Review

Michael Hann, guardian.co.uk,  Thursday 22 July 2010 23.30 BST

Tom Jones's 39th studio album sees him taking the Johnny Cash route: stripping away the showbiz fripperies and recording songs that are intended to capture the gravitas and depth of a man who has lived long and seen much. Indeed, Billy Joe Shaver's If I Give My Soul, which appears here, was also recorded by Cash for his American Recordings series. There are differences, though: few would suggest Jones is haunted by his past in the way Cash was. In fact, rarely has a man seemed less haunted. Still, it's a blistering album, at its best when Jones and his band – just guitar, bass and drums, with occasional organ and backing vocals in the style of the Jordanaires – cut loose: a version of John Lee Hooker's Burning Hell essays the dinosaur stomp of the White Stripes; Don't Knock matches the gospel message to kinetic rock'n'roll; Sister Rosetta Tharpe's Strange Things becomes a rockabilly shuffle. It's grand, and at last Jones the artist is the match of Jones the entertainer.

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Prasie & Blame: NPR Audio Review

"What Good Am I," the opening song on Tom Jones' new album Praise and Blame, is a cover of Bob Dylan's "What Good Am I?" The song showcases a strong and subtle vocal instrument, making it pretty clear that the 70-year-old Jones is still good for crooning with a pleasingly rough edge. In this country, Jones has always been a figure of some ambivalence. He became a star here for pop hits such as "It's Not Unusual" and "What's New Pussycat," but when we first got a load of him on TV, he was a Welshman's variation on Elvis Presley — all swiveling hips, tight pants and growled menace. And in America, being an Elvis variation always means taking a sucker's bet — you can't win.

Sure enough, Jones settled into middle age as a Middle American star, mostly on TV variety shows and in Las Vegas. He made occasional stabs at retro-relevance, such as his surprisingly witty cover of the Prince song "Kiss" some years ago. Praise and Blame takes a familiar strategy for aging pop stars — hook up with a hip producer, in this case Ethan Johns, who's produced albums for everyone from Kings of Leon to Rufus Wainwright — and try to go the sincerity route.

"Burning Hell," the first single released from Praise and Blame is a cover of the John Lee Hooker song of the same name. It's possible that the idea behind singing this song may spring from a dubious motive — roughly stated, the authenticity of Hooker's blues gives Jones a splash of authenticity-by-association. But it still sounds really good. Even as a knock-off of the 1950s American singers who originally inspired him, Jones has always had his moments.

On the other side of the pond, Praise and Blame got a publicity boost when an email from Jones' British record-label vice president was leaked expressing surprise at Jones' song choices. Actually, the quote was, "I have just listened to the album in its entirety and want to know if this is some sick joke," followed by four question marks.

Offended, Jones received an apology. The thing is, you know what this guy, David Sharpe, means — his company lured Jones away from his longtime label, expecting to get hits out of him. This is something Jones did as recently as last year, when his version of The Bee Gees' "Islands in the Stream" went to No. 1 in England. But the first record he turns in under his new contract is a bunch of blues and gospel covers? How disoriented this man Sharpe felt. How wily Tom Jones is.

This odd, fun, faux-hipster-roots move on the part of Tom Jones is unlikely to be a big success here — it's too far over the horizon of the American pop landscape. But that's almost irrelevant to the musician Tom Jones is at the moment. He's managed to make himself something highly unusual for a man at this stage of his career: unclassifiable. Unpredictable. He's the Lady Gaga of Elvis impersonators, at once of the moment and eternal, disposable and persistently present. And, to address that record executive's four question marks, Tom Jones is no joke.