Tom Jones International

If you haven’t had a chance this weekend, please check the posts below. Some interesting comments and reviews.

Tom played the Viña del Mar Festival in Chile Saturday night and the city’s mayor presented him with a proclamation. It was a much more intimate setting — newspaper reports say 1,000 people rather than the 20,000 in 2007 — than in the past. One newspaper described Tom as “Pure leather and hairy-chested.”

Tom Jones awarded honorary citizenship of Viña del Mar

The award was presented by Virginia Reginato being mayor.
The Welshman will perform again in the Garden City on February 12.

Cooperative/Sunday, January 7

The renowned Welsh artist, Tom Jones, began the promotional tour for his album 24 hours in Viña del Mar, Chile, where he was inaugurated as an illustrious visitor to the city.

The singer was presented at the Municipal Theater of the Garden City to a few thousand people who enjoyed the show of a little more than two hours.

The British singer performed some of hits including Delilah, You Can Leave Your Hat On, She’s a Lady, If I Only Knew and was a crowd pleaser.

Shortly before ending its show, Mayor Virginia Reginato took the stage to recognize the interpreter illustrious 69 years as seen in the city.

“Tom Jones is recognized throughout the world, his hits found around the globe. He is a great artist, for not only for his songs that are so beautiful and well-known, but for his unique interpretation and staging.” said the community leader.

Wow! I forgot to note that today, February 7, is the 42nd anniversary of the debut of This Is Tom Jones on ABC-TV in the USA. Darn! I need to git me a calendar with significant dates in Tom’s career so I have them handy to post!

Tom’s In South America: The Mayor of Viña del Mar Chile Saturday night designated Tom Jones “a distinguished visitor” to the city.

So That’s What Elvis Wanted! A newspaper in Valpariso, Chile, added something new to Tom’s story of Elvis singing to him at Caesars while Tom was in the shower: Jones said he let Elvis into the bathroom “but warned him sing to me looking into my eyes. He did it and then nobody believed me that Elvis sang to me in the shower. I believe that the song was an excuse, maybe he wanted to observe and compare,” {Jones} said laughing.

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Here’s a really nice tribute to Tom from Carlene Carter,the country music singer who’s the daughter of June Carter Cash, stepdaughter of Johnny, half-sister of Roseanne. She was interviewed for South Coast Today, a regional newspaper in New Bedford, MA. She spoke of dealing with the losses of her parents, stepfather and a sister over the last several years. In a brief sidebar to the article she spoke of what gets her through:

Now that’s unusual

Carlene Carter says that while she has some eclectic musical tastes, the one artist she really loves to listen to is Tom Jones.

“I’ve got to tell you, now this may come as surprising from me, but I think he is fantastic. I went to see him at that music stage in Hyannis (Cape Cod Melody Tent) when I happened to be on the Cape and he just knocked me out.

“Now I love to listen to his music, and he’s got it all. I love the songs and his voice. His stage show was terrific. What a great performer. Yeah, I would say Tom Jones what a knockout. You wouldn’t guess that, right? But there it is.”

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Sandy, a Dallas fan, saw Tom’s show there. She sent the review just below and expressed concern that she was too harsh. I believe it is an honest assessment of the show as she saw it.

Sunday night Dallas loved Tom Jones and Tom must like Dallas as he has appeared there at least five times in the past few years.

Tom was wonderful, Tom was fabulous, Tom was Tom!

His set list was the same as Vegas with the addition of Never. He explained what the song was about in his amusing way and the crowd loved it. He did sing Its not Unusual.

I understand the changes they have made, even though I don’t totally agree. The new musicians are very talented & add enthusiam to the show but they are lacking in professionalism. At times they seemed to be competing to see who could play the loudest and nearly drowned Tom out several times.

Three of them sang harmony standing behind Tom on Green Green Grass and they sounded off and the back-up singers sounded weak, so they didn’t add anything. If we had never seen the show before we would not have realized the polish that was missing. The lead guitarist, who is very talented, picked panties up and threw them at the other musicians and draped one over the microphone.

Tom ignored all of it and seemed to be having a great time.

Last time Tom played here I complained about the lights at the venue and Tom’s management was very gracious about the issue. This year we were sitting mid-orchestra and the lights were flashing on us more than on the stage. Whomever was in charge of lights must have thought they were in a large stadium instead of a lovely Symphony Hall. If they keep this up we will have to sit in the balcony to avoid the lights. At least it will be cheaper.

Despite all of the above, Tom Jones is a Force of Nature and yes, we will continue to attend his shows but, please, these new people need to learn who the Star of the show is.

Hopefully, we’ll have that Dallas fan review tomorrow…or someday soon.

Thursday night Tom played to about 5,000 people in Buenos Aires’ famed Luna Park. Jorge, whose posts you see on TJI, sent us the photo at right.

The evening, according to several newspaper reviews, was a smash, although the reviewer just below tried his best to take the man down a peg and clearly didn’t care for the singers and he uses the dreaded “c” word, “crooner.” Yuck.

Clarin carried that review by Marcos Mayer. Again, I’ve done my best to translate and did leave out a bit.

Tom Jones: as the years pass
The singer was presented at Luna Park and demonstrated why he is still an idol

In this second half of his career, Tom Jones has set two goals. One is keeping alive the old glories of the late ‘60 and early ‘70, when he was admired for a voice and a power that bordered on the edge of the incredible. Two, he’s trying to show he’s still entitled to a place, albeit somewhat marginal, in the panorama of rock and pop world. These two attitudes marked the show he gave with a solid band of ten musicians in a Luna Park that was almost full and before an audience that ranged from fervid to a complacent listeners.

Tom Jones knows he must also prove he is a star. When he is not planted as a crooner at the microphone, his movement will deny his almost 70 years. It is somewhere between impressive and admirable to see the beads of sweat fall to the floor, like rain from his body. Jones’ trademark is to be, above all, a highly extroverted singer. His way of dressing almost puts him on the verge of kitsch.

Everything is bright, the leather jacket that will be taken off, predictably, before singing You Can Leave Your Hat On, diamond cross that hangs from the neck and a purple silk shirt which will glisten with sweat, sensual gestures of the chorus girls-one black and thick, the other very blond and very pale — dancing more than singing.

For a newspaper photo from that show, the rest of this review and a snippet from another, click here Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve gotten in another, very interesting fan review from Dallas. Hopefully, it’ll be posted tomorrow or the next day. Stay tuned!

Below is an interview from a newspaper in Buenos Aires. I’ve done my best to translate it. It talks about a new Gospel-type CD being released “at Easter.” As noted before, TJI was told the release will be in May. The only problem with an Easter (April 4) release is it all has to be recorded already because he’s in South America for another week or so, then for the rest of February and March he’s in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia Thailand and Hong Kong. He has two weeks off and then on April 7 and 10 he’s in South Africa. It’s a grueling schedule that seemingly doesn’t leave enough time for any promotion. And, the interesting question is, to whom will it be promoted? I know Tom loves gospel and, as that is the music that, literally, gave birth to the blues, he understands it and, like most everything else, probably sings it it very well. TJI will continue to check sources and if anything is gleaned, it’ll be posted.

INTERVIEW: Tom Jones: “My only enemy is time.

Alfredo Rosso Special to Clarin

The Welshman is singing at Luna Park on Thursday. He speaks of his beginnings in Wales, from his shows in Las Vegas and madness that he continues to cause in women.

He emerged in the ’60s, amid the Swinging London, and leveled a powerful voice and a repertoire covering all styles, from rock and soul to rhythm and blues, jazz and romantic ballads. He accumulated a huge chain of hits, from It’s Not Unusual and Delilah to his energetic cover of Prince’s’ classic Kiss. He survived all the changes in the music scene and, four decades later, is the idol of three generations. On Thursday, 4 February, the ineffable Tom Jones returns to the stage of Luna Park. He was interviewed by phone and he answered our questions in a friendly and accurate manner.

When did you decide to become a singer? I wanted to sing from my earliest memory. I sang in public from childhood, at school, at wedding receptions in my family. And I loved it! When you see people respond it is a fantastic feeling. With typical imagination of a child I said: ‘When I grow up I’ll be a star.; Then you realize that life is not so simple, but I never lost that feeling, and felt I had talent to realize my dream. That is the most important: the passion for doing something and the ability to carry it out.

What was the biggest challenge you faced? I sang in clubs in my native Wales, but I realized that to reach the general public I had to be “discovered” by someone in the music business so that I could get a record deal, because back then it was necessary to record disc to appear on television. One day a man named Gordon Mills and told me he wanted to be my manager. He also sang and composed songs. I thought it was the right guy and I was right: the little time I traveled to London to sign a contract with the Decca label.

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If you missed any of the posts below — including the Question of the Month — check ‘em out. Some fun video from Tom and Robbie Wiliams.

If you’re seeing Tom at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, please send share your experience with fans of TJI. Just send a review using the “Contact TJI” link on the lower right of any page. Thanks in advance!

On January 24, TJI reported that any dates for Tom at MGM in May are very tentative. The venue had him potentially there May 13 through the 26. We heard at the time that it might not happen. His official site confirmed that it won’t — on those days. Other sources say he will be here sometime in May. We don’t know about that, but TJI is fairly certain that August will happen.

Now, for our Rumor or Reality Department: There are many possible reasons for this scheduling question. In no particular order, TJI has been told by people in- and outside of the US — Again! It’s not official until it’s on Tom’s official site! — that there is a new CD to be released in May/springtime. (thus far without a contribution from The Killers). And, remember, Tom will celebrate his 70th birthday early in June. Thus it is quite likely that he’ll (1) be promoting new product in May (whether it helps overall sales or not, experience has shown us new product always gets promoted first and most in Europe and that leaves us honestly and simply grateful when new product even gets released here) and (2) perhaps there’ll be a big birthday bash as there was for his 65th. So, stay tuned and, hopefully we’ll soon get some news about something.

After his Dallas show the local paper reports tat Tom dined on curry. When he was last in Dallas he at the also-mentioned Club at the Centrum.Curry favor: Sunday evening, hip-swinging Welshman Tom Jones put in a visit to Charlie Palmer at the Joule hotel. He made the visit after his show at the Meyerson Symphony Center to get his favorite prawn curry and mutton curry from maitre d’ Enam Chowdhury. Their curry tradition began when Enam used to run the Club in the Centrum and Jones would stop by to see him there. Pushing 70, the What’s New, Pussycat? singer posed for pictures with other diners.

Below is a fan review from Bonnie in Dallas and we should be getting another in the next day or so. Bonnie did say she didn’t remember if Tom sang It’s Not Unusual, but as that seems impossible and I checked with someone else who said he did. Bonnie’s comments about the band and, especially, the singers are interesting. Her “frat house” analogy made her point perfectly! I am very grateful she took the time and trouble to share her experience with us. What do y’all think of her review?

We got into our seats on the front row very excited to get to hear Tom Jones again. The concert started a few minutes late – maybe 10 minutes. The band came out and started to play some very rhythmic music. This went on for a little bit and then Tom came out. The review from the Dallas newspaper posted earlier described his clothing. He looked fantastic.

Tom sang Sugar Daddy first and it had a very different beat than on the CD. It was much improved in my view. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had the set list that posted on TJI – didn’t want to pull it out and check it but I know there was some change. Before he got to the Green Green Grass section he said, “We will be singing three country songs.” He did Green Green Grass, Save the Last Dance For Me and added He’ll Have To Go. He continued on with Give A Little Love, Thunderball, In Style and Rhythm, If He Should Ever Leave You, Delilah, Mama Told Me Not To Come, Hard to Handle (one of my favorites), Too Many Lovers, I’ll Never Fall In Love Again, Green Green Grass of Home, Save The Last Dance For Me, He’ll Have To Go, What’s New Pussycat, She’s A Lady, You Can Leave Your Hat On, If I Only Knew Sex Bomb and It’s Not Unusual. The encore was Kiss and Take Me Back To The Party. If someone was there and has a different order – they are right. I was trying to remember what was on the set list printout in my pocket and could be wrong.

Tom truthfully was sounding amazing. When he did Hard to Handle and Too Many Lovers – wow! He put his heart into it. The entire night was just a concert of a man singing. He was feeling it.

After Sex Bomb he walked off the stage – did not sing It’s Not Unusual. I am sure he didn’t sing it because I always hate to hear that song start. It signals we are near the end. I would love to hear from someone else who was there to see if I am wrong about this. He came back for the encore and did Kiss and closed with Take Me Back to the Party.

Click here Read the rest of this entry »

Please remember to answer the Question of the Month in the post below.

News articles today in several outlets, including Dallas News reviewer, Joy Tipping, filed a somewhat weak, uninformed review in the print edition and she should have done her homework enough to know that Kiss and You Can Leave Your Hat On do not qualify as “new material.” She was very impressed with the band and, of course, Tom’s voice. Below is her blog post about the concert.

Tom Jones was feisty as ever Sunday night at the Meyerson, performing a two-hour show before a full house that left him drenched in sweat and any number of the women in the audience likewise. It seems that when Tom Jones is involved, normally circumspect (well, one assumes) Dallas women are more than willing to relinquish dignity for the cause. Yes, many lacy bits of underwear were tossed onstage. Yes, more than one declaration of love was shouted. And Jones took it all in stride, at one point bemusedly talking about his age (He’ll be 70 in June! Yes, 70!) as if daring anyone in the audience to challenge his sex-symbol creds. No worries on that one when you’re in Dallas, Tom.

Jones sang a handful of songs from his latest CD, 2008’s 24 Hours, including the show-opening rocker Sugar Daddy, written by Bono. The audience seemed to crave the old hits, though, doing that back-and-forth arm-wave thing to Delilah and finally coming to its feet for What’s New Pussycat, more than halfway through the concert. Jones’ versions of Joe Cocker’s sultry You Can Leave Your Hat On and Prince’s Kiss were also crowd favorites.

The music was great throughout — Jones’ gorgeous, rich baritone has just gotten better with the years, and his 10-piece backup band was superb. The lighting was odd at times — one rock number was supplemented with lighting effects showing yellow, purple and gold pill-shaped thingies that reminded me of bacteria in a petri dish.

To read the rest of this post that consists of a sensible plea to every venue and for details of Tom’s Bangkok gig, click here Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve read this site at all, you’ll know your moderator is partial to some of the songs from Matador. Of course, as dramatic and well-sung as it is, one cannot expect a song like Dance of Death — even though it showcases Tom’s dramatic and interpretative abilities perfectly — to be in Tom’s set list. It’s just not right for that. But, one song is exquisitely suited to any Tom Jones set list.

I am aware that lots of people love this song yet I was surprised at how many people just in Las Vegas this run, expressed a wish to have it included. Also, you may recall how many were disappointed when it was dropped from his set list in Europe. A countless number of fans want it back, so the TJI Question of the Month for February is:

If A Boy From Nowhere were to be included in Tom’s show and, to do that, one song from today’s set list had to be dropped, which song do you think should be dropped?

The setlist now, in order, is: Sugar Daddy, Give A Little Love, Thunderball, In Style and Rhythm, If He Should Ever Leave You, Delilah, Mama Told Me Not To Come, Hard to Handle, Too Many Lovers, I’ll Never Fall In Love Again, Green Green Grass of Home, Save the Last Dance for Me, What’s New Pussycat, She’s A Lady, You Can Leave Your Hat On, If I Only Knew, Sex Bomb, It’s Not Unusual and the encore: Kiss and Take Me Back to the Party.

You know the rules: please name one song only. If you’d like to share your reason, please do so. And, please, even if you think someone would cut your favorite song, remember everyone is entitled to an opinion.

Seeing Tom tonight in Dallas? Please send us your review ASAP using the “Contact” link below! Don’t post it as a comment. Thanks! And, if you haven’t visited TJI for a few days, check below for some video and audio and a recap of the week in Las Vegas.

Tom’s friend Robbie Williams — who is huge in the UK right now — is being honored with the Outstanding Contribution to Music at the 30th Annual Brit Awards on February 16. Tom won the same award in 2003 and the presenter was Robbie Williams. Tom has also said several times that he can see Williams portraying him if a biopic is ever made about him.

Williams has a home near Tom’s in LA but, recently, also bought another home in the UK. Here’s video of a French radio interview where Robbie talks Tom…and gets a surprise.

As usual, if you cannot view it, please drop me note using the “Contact TJI” link at right and I’ll send it to you.

Thanks, Dre!

As he often does these days, Tom was talking about age — you know, “sixty-nine was good at 45…” — Wednesday night when he turned to the band and asked, “Shall I tell the joke?”

Now, Tom occasionally veers away from the prepared spontaneous remarks into genuine spontaneity. And, of course, he is rightly proud of how great he looks and sounds as he nears 70.

So, Tom began to talk about a man he met who told him a story. (The “I” in the beginning is the other man, not Tom. He is merely quoting the man.)

I wasn’t at that show but, fortunately, lots of fans were and one shot some video. This is a funny, but risqué story so if you’re liable to be offended, please skip it.

You can watch here as Tom tells the joke.

As usual, if you cannot view the video, please drop me note using the “Contact TJI” link at right and I’ll send it to you. But, because of the conditions under which it was shot, you should be aware that the sound is the important thing here.