Tom Jones International

The Western Mail, a Welsh daily paper, made some suggestions for auto manufacturers who want to give their cars to the appropriate celebrities. Here’s one of them. Cute. (Although we’d replace the word “ageing” — UK spelling — with “ageless.”)

“The Aston Martin — an ageing classic continuously reinvented? It must be Tom Jones behind the wheel.”

We are so pleased to welcome Keith Cooper to our roster of reviewers. With his vast experience as a fan for over 30 years and as the founder and moderator of Jones the Voice.com, Keith knows his TJ stuff. If you want proof of this, just tune into Flaming Oldies,, Keith’s internet radio station and listen to his TJ tribute specials. Details in a June 29th post below and on his site. We only wish — for our sake and for Keith’s — that he got to see Tom more often so he could review more often. But, at any rate, thanks so much, Keith.

So, driving a few hours early before show time hoping to by-pass the holiday weekend travel to Cape Cod, I‘m wondering what kind of show I’d expect to see from Mr. Jones at the great South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

I’ve been going there since the 70s to see Tom Jones perform and he was last there several years ago. Kind of a long stretch for his absence, but still curious to see what his show will be like after not performing for a few years at this “theater-in-the-round venue.”

Heard that there was going to be an opening act as we were entering the venue.

My first thought was, “Great, Tower Of Power is going to open for him as they did in some of his concert stops thus far, even though they were not on the schedule to do so.” How wrong was this hopeful thought? Very wrong — as the opening act was a comedian. Yes, a comedian. Last time I saw a comedian with Tom on tour was the great George Wallace, who is truly a funny man….. I wish he was there.

The announcer introduced him as a comedian back from the Riviera Hotel in Vegas (is that hotel still there?). The name that was introduced was Artie Januario. I could be wrong on the spelling of the name, but my apologies if it is.

Now I know why his name wasn’t listed anywhere on any program. This guy was truly pathetic. Supposedly he is a local product out of the North Shore in Massachusetts. He spent 20 minutes onstage. Don’t think anyone was paying attention to him as we could barely hear him as the crowd was talking over him. That usually happens when the comedian doesn’t impress this audience. From what I did hear, he mainly tried to be funny when it came to his dysfunctional appendage and his not-so-caring wife…..

Please, please, please, tell Tom’s people to check out the opening acts before they perform. This performance was truly an embarrassment. The highlight of this performance is when he took his last sip of water, waited about 30 seconds and looked at the crowd and said “I think I’m done now”…..The crowd erupted in a appreciative roar and applause that was so loud that it shook the tent……don’t think he’ll be back here.

Okay, now for the main event.

Well, you know the crowd starts to get into the gig when the lights go down and the theater is in total darkness. There a loud applause from the concertgoers in anticipation as Sir Tom is about ready to take the stage.

First down the ramp towards the stage come about 10 or 11 guys in white shirts and the crowd started to cheer as they thought this was the band that was taking the stage. Well, it was only the ushers taking position in an arm-locking position to form a human barricade towards the center of the stage. A bunch of “aughssss” came out from the people around me. The band then did take the stage to much thunderous applause…..After about a minute or two, the spotlights come flashing on in the theater on backup singer Anthony Reynolds who revved up the crowd and then introduced Sir Tom Jones.

Tom made his quick-paced entrance down the ramp fumbling with his ear monitors and trying to sing the opening phrases of Tom Jones International. He was obviously having some issues with his ear monitors on this night as he kept fooling around with them during the song. He then went into his next song Mama Told Me Not To Come, but obviously if he had a gun with him, he’d rip out the ear plugs and shoot them until they were destroyed.

After his opening remarks to the audience about being back in Cohasset, his road manager Sandy Battaglia went onto the stage with a new monitor device and the ear plugs. Oh, how much fun it was for the next five minutes…..Tom was trying to explain what the ear plugs were for and how it is new technology while Sandy was removing the monitor system from Tom’s pants. Tom had fun with this. The show came to an absolute, complete halt in this moment. In the middle of talking, Tom unexpectedly yelled out and leapt up…. It appeared that Sandy yanked up his pants and caused the ol’ American tradition of a “wedgie”….Funny, Funny, Funny. Tom was laughing and Sandy’s face was brighter than the spotlight that was on both of them. It was a great unexpected moment and one for the books.

Tom did sing a slew of songs from the albums Mr. Jones, Jools Holland and Reloaded.

The songs that were added since the last time I saw him last summer in Boston were the Glory of Love, Love Letters and Stoned in Love.

The audience knew Glory of Love and Love Letters and they clapped as Tom starting singing the opening lyrics. Stoned In Love received a cheer when Tom said it was at Number 1 in England. I’m not sure if the audience received this song well, though, as it only got nice gentle applause.

The largest ovation came after Tom finished singing I’ll Never Fall In Love Again.

I wish I could convey what it was like to hear Tom sing this (which by the way he says is his favorite of all the songs he has recorded). The way he sings it today pierces your heart. If there are any manly barriers that exist to prevent a male’s sensitivity to come out, it would be destroyed in three minutes by “The Voice.” All I could do was sit there, not even stand for the ovation, and give him meaningful applause. That God-given pump inside the chest would become heavy. This was an amazing feeling.

He also touched the crowd with the song What Am I Living For. This is the third time I’ve heard Tom sing this and on this night I really got it. He is an amazing vocalist that can take a song and just give it a life of its own.

Tom went through his normal menu of hits and when he got into “Hi-Heel Sneakers” more of the unexpected hit me — literally. Apparently there was some disagreement that took place in the row behind me during the show, and I was a recipient of a human asteroid.

Two men had decided that this was the time and place to show their 200 Pounds of Joy to get into a tussle and one of them landed on me and pushed me forward and out of my chair. The Mrs. reacted by jumping on top of my 16 year-old son who was with us this night to protect him from any other human debris. Thank goodness that Cohasset’s Finest were quick on the scene and put the lid on this blow-up. Since we were in the second to last row of “the pit,” only people in the last three rows were aware of what had transpired. Tom continued to do the show finale without stopping.

It was very rewarding for me when my son looked over to me after the show and said with conviction, “HE’S GOOD!” My God! My son, who loves heavy metal music and who I thought was going to end up in some satanic cult, appreciated Sir Tom! He also got a kick out of all the panties and bras on stage. My son told me that he thought white bras didn’t exist anymore. All I could do was shrug my shoulders at this.

To end this, Tom Jones still has an amazing voice. I do however want to “keep it real” a bit as Randy Jackson from American Idol would say. Tom did appear to be a little more tired on stage than usual. He does look like he added back a few pounds. I think this was validated when Tom himself said after the song 200 pounds of Joy that he was happy to be back on his way down to 200 pounds of joy.

Stay healthy Sir Tom….you’re an amazing man.

With a huge song catalog like Tom Jones’, there were probably some misses along with all the great music he’s recorded over the last 41 years.

So, with a great deal of affection and respect for Tom’s achievements, our Question of the Month for July is:

Which song of those Tom has recorded is your least favorite? And please do not forget to tell us why you chose that one. (NOTE: Please do not include The Young New Mexican Puppeteer, as there’s already been much discussion of that one on various lists and forums.)

Strong opinions are welcome. Please note, you do not — not — have to add a favorite song. It’s really OK not to love everything TJ has recorded. (Of course, it’s OK to do so, too.)

To get started:




Ursula names (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. She says, “This is not up to the standard of Tom Jones and when a song is so iconic because it’s associated with one performer, it is bound to suffer, even in Tom’s hands. Tom’s sounds like a parody of the Stones’ version.”

Here’s a kind of cheesy clip from Tom’s version of Satisfaction to illustrate what Ursula means.

Ellen names “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina and, in fact, most of the Rescue Me album (with the exception of What Becomes of the Brokenhearted). She believes this “was an erroneous trip into disco that is best forgotten — although the cover art (especially the double-truck inside cover) goes a very, very long way toward mitigating the album’s content. We’ve said elsewhere that the art is amazing, but the album was really not good.”

Picture an aerial view of the Great Meteor Crater outside of Flagstaff, Arizona (left). Reduce that in size 10,000 times. Place a circular stage in the middle of it. Add a lighting grid above it. Fill the bowl with seats separated by five aisles running up from the stage to the exits. Place a large blue tent on top and you have the south Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

It is an intimate setting and it is intense. Do NOT perform here if you suck! It will show and the audience will use the pit to barbecue you. And then THEY will sing songs around the campfire as you burn in a pit of hell.

Wow, what a loud place! And what a marvelous place to be when you’re Tom Jones.

It was even more marvelous for us, the fans! The roar of the audience is deafening in the pit. It took little motivation to bring Mr. Jones flying down the ramp to start the show last night. He knows the drill and he performed beautifully, as always.

The opening of the show is something to experience. As the lights dim and the music signals the show is about to start, a security detail of twenty cascade down the “star aisle” and form two human chains on either side. They actually link arms! A single spotlight is focused on the spot at the top of the ramp where Mr. Jones will enter. The band kicks in as backup singer Anthony Reynolds warms up the audience from center stage (as if they needed that on this night, at this moment). All eyes are focused on the spot. The roar inside the tent is nothing short of intense. It was thick in there. Just fantastic!

Then Mr. Jones appears. He’s moving fast. It’s like a presidential motorcade without the cars. Tom is encircled by a uniformed security entourage that moves swiftly with him to the stage. The spotlight follows him all the way down. What an entrance! The show has begun.

Tom did his usual set this night. He made it look effortless. The energy level under the tent was enough to power a small nuclear reactor. It never stopped the entire show. Neither did Mr. Jones.

Panties, bras and flowers dropped from the sky all around the stage. A few ladies really wanted to get as close to Tom as possible when they made their deliveries. Security was there quickly, and, may I say, appropriately. Security did an outstanding job of protecting the integrity of the show, but allowed the show to happen naturally. They were seasoned and actually fun to watch.

The applause after each song was thunderous. At the conclusion of I’ll Never Fall In Love Again Mr. Jones received a standing ovation — an ovation from which he was not allowed to escape until the audience had had their say.

In reply Tom deferred to the moment and turned a slow 360-degree bow. It was quite a touching moment. The tears came easily as I watched his face. He let us in for a brief moment. The tears come now as I write. The power of a song and the enjoyment of the moment could not be measured. Tom sang better than he ever has before. How does he do it??? He just does. He’s Tom Jones!

At the conclusion of the show, Secret Service once again escorted the president out to his awaiting limousine. The motorcade sped away quickly into the night. No doubt Air Force One was waiting nearby. We all left flying high this night. What a great show. What great moments. What a great entertainer. Thank you Tom Jones. You make hearts soar!

—Scoop… out. “Tito, bring me a tissue.”