Tom Jones International

Here’s a Q & A from the Western Mail. And, if you want to go to Cardiff, there are still tickets available. Photos here are from the article. The second one down on the left is from the 2005 Ponty concert.Thanks, m, for the photos.




My voice is stronger than ever




Oct 20 2006/Western Mail

Sir Tom Jones returns to Wales this weekend for three major concerts. Before his homecoming, we caught up with him to find out about his days with Elvis, why he became a tax exile and his retirement plans

Q: How does it feel to be back on tour in the UK again? A: Well, it feels great. I do an average of about 200 shows every year, but that’s what I still love to do – I just love being on stage. And I love to come to Britain, of course.




Q: You’ve got three dates coming up in Wales. What is it that you miss most about Wales?
A: Oh, the way it looks. When you’re away for a while, you forget how dramatic it all looks: the hills, the valleys – and you don’t see that anywhere else in the world. When I was playing Pontypridd (last year), I’d look around and the hills are there, all around you. I never realised, when I was a child, that they were so close to the town itself. So, that’s the thing I miss most, the look of the place. And, of course, the feel of Welsh people, because that’s where I was brought up.




Q: When you began performing in the workingmen’s clubs of Wales all those years ago, did you have any idea it would end up on this scale? A: When I was a child singing at parties, people always told me that I had something different. So I believed as a child that I was going to become a star! Then, as time goes on, you realise it’s not going to be as easy as you thought. But I always had the confidence, and I know that when you get up in front of people, they give you the confidence.




Q: Did you always have such a powerful voice? A: I always had a strong voice – in school, in chapel on Sunday, singing hymns, my voice was very strong. And when I was singing in the workingmen’s clubs, you had to be strong, in order to get across. When I first began, it was with an acoustic guitar and without a microphone, so you just had to get on stage and sing.




Q: How’s the voice holding up these days? A: Well, thank God, it’s great. It’s as strong now as it ever was, and I think my range is bigger now — especially my lower register, which is much stronger. When I first started I was more of a tenor, now I’m between tenor and baritone. I think it gives me more depth when I sing. I only smoke in moderation, I like to have a cigar after dinner, with a cognac and a coffee, but I don’t smoke in the daytime, unless there’s a coffee with it — there doesn’t have to be a cognac!




Q: Why did you move pretty much full-time to the States? A: The problem I had in the ’70s was that the Labour government got in and the tax went through the roof. I was doing big tours in America at the time and when I toured America in 1974 my accountant said, ‘think about not coming back, because as soon as you set foot in Britain, everything you’ve worked for this year will go, the government will take it all in tax’. I was ticked off, but I thought, why do a six-month tour, then hand it all over? So I was away for the best part of 10 years until the tax laws changed.







Q: Are there any shows by other performers that stand out in your memory? A: When I first went to Las Vegas, in 1968, I got to see Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis and Dean Martin live. Frank was on top form in the early ’70s. I was in the audience with my family and he said that he was my number one fan and that I had a great voice. Well, coming from Frank Sinatra, that really knocked me out. Elvis came to see me at the Flamingo on my first dates, and afterwards he told me, ‘You’ve given me confidence to do a comeback, because I feel we’re very similar in what we do, and seeing you perform on a live stage in Vegas successfully has given me the strength to come and do it’. Elvis had played Vegas in the ’50s unsuccessfully, because Vegas was not ready for rock ‘n’ roll then, but I’m glad to say that I gave him the inspiration to try it again — and we remained friends until he passed away.




Q: People have fond memories of you duetting with Robbie Williams at the Brits. Are there any other duets that stand out for you? A: Well, only excitement-wise. Singing with Robbie, that was great, because I didn’t expect the reaction to be so big. We just wanted to sing together, the songs from The Full Monty. But he was so good, he bounced off me — he was wearing the leathers instead of me! Those exciting moments are fantastic. Like when I sang with Elvis — it was in private, we never sang publicly because Colonel Parker wouldn’t allow it — but singing with Elvis in his house in Hawaii was fantastic, just sitting there, both of us playing guitars, and singing — with Elvis!




<Q: What sort of songs did you and Elvis sing together? A: Oh, we sang a lot of things. I would strike up one of his old tunes, but at that time, he wasn’t thrilled with his earlier recordings. In Vegas, we would get together most nights. Elvis loved gospel songs and I knew a few, so we’d sing The Old Rugged Cross or songs like I Believe, which were semi-religious. When something got into Elvis’s head, he would sing them over and over again — I remember being with him, and the song, it was, Why Me Lord (by Kris Kristofferson). He had his singers up there in his suite. I remember I was trying to leave, the sun had already come up, and I had two shows to do. Elvis had finished his engagement, but he would stay on to see me, which was very flattering. I was trying to get out the door, but he would look and point at me and he’d go into Why Me Lord. And I’d think: oh, here we go again, so I’d have to join in!




Q: Is it still the live performances that keep your energy levels up? A: Definitely, it’s the audience that keeps me going. We know we have to do recordings and television but, for me, the cream, when I’ve got something to go out and sing about, is singing to an audience. And I’ve always felt that, ever since I was a child.




Q: Are there any plans for a new Tom Jones album? A: There soon will be. We’re in negotiations now, but we’re very close to signing. Then we have to get material together. But it’s getting people from a record company interested enough to really want to go forward with something new. Something that is powerful, not just a commercial product. It has to be somebody who has faith in me as a singer and knows what I am capable of doing. But, hopefully, we’ll get this thing together and we’ll have a new album out early next year.




Q: Finally, are there any plans for Tom Jones to retire? A: No, no plans for that at all. That will only happen when I can’t sing any more. But I don’t think the desire will ever leave me, because I love getting up in front of people. When I’m on tour in the States, if I have a night off and I go into a blues club, nine times out of 10 I’ll get up on the stage. The people with me will go, ‘Tom, please, we’ve got shows to do, don’t leave your best performance on stage in a small blues club’. But I really have to hold myself back to not sing. So I can’t see me retiring, I can’t see it at all. I might slow down in years to come, perhaps not work quite as much, but I hope I’ll always be able to go out and do shows as long as I live.




Tom Jones is at Cardiff International Arena tonight, tomorrow & Sunday. The box office number is 029 2022 4488