We stand corrected by mharding and Paula. This from the 1987 Born To Be Me special Tom did in the UK — the one where these leather pants split. (But that’s another clip, obviously.) Here he talked about the music he loves most and then sings a tribute to it.
He’s a bit hoarse, but it’s still lots of fun.
(Several people sent us this link and we want to thank them all and to encourage you all to keep letting us know what’s on. Sometimes, we just get so busy that it’s difficult to keep track of all we’d like to.)
Congratulations to our favorite drummer, Herman Matthews. The title track from his CD Home at Last will be featured on the new Fox network show K-Ville, starring Anthony Anderson and Cole Hauser. As the show is a police drama set in post-Katrina New Orleans (hence the name K-Ville), Herman’s song is perfect for it. (And if you haven’t heard the CD, check it out via Herman’s website.)
Well, it’s been slow in the news department and we’ve been busy, as one group of performers we represent opened in their new venue here in Las Vegas and we’ve just not had lots of time. So, we hope these photos will make up for the lack of new posts. They are from 1971, courtesy of Paula. They’re from — if we recall correctly — a BBC special. Not much copy to go with them, but a picture is, as they say, worth a thousand words. Enjoy.
Over the years, long-time fans have come to know Tom’s band and singers. Here, we visit Bobby Torres, apparently a favorite of Tom’s and, we learned when we were putting together our Back In the Day pages, a fan favorite, too.
Bobby Torres was Tom’s percussionist from 1980 to 1989. In that time, he traveled worldwide with Tom, forming a lasting friendship.
Before he joined Tom, he played with Joe Cocker at Woodstock, Jackson Browne, Kenny Rogers and many others. Today, the Portland-based musician fronts the jazz group, The Bobby Torres Ensemble.
We emailed Bobby and asked if we could post his story on our site. His response? “I don’t mind at all. Tom to me is one of the most gracious wonders of the world.”
So, in a 2000 interview posted on his site, Torres says:
“He’s one of the greatest guys I ever met. Really, man… so down to earth. That was the longest gig I ever had in my life. This guy is so down to earth, compared to anybody I’ve ever played with… and I’ve played with quite a bit. (Laughs) I mean, as far as relating, you have other acts where you can’t talk to them. You have to go through another person to say hello. I got to be good friends with Tom though.
Photographer Dwight McCann has posted the gallery of photos he took when Tom was at Chumash Casino on September 28. Here’s just one small sample. To see all of the photos, you can go to www.dwightmccann.com.
We want to thank Dwight for allowing us to post his work and note that it’s worth spending time on his site to see some of his other terrific shots. Looking at them, one can almost hear the music.
Here is video of Tom singing Have You Ever Been Lonely? at the Warner Theater in Washington, DC, in 1978.
The video, probably a bootleg, is not good. But, aside from the fact that this is one of our favorite songs from the Say You’ll Stay Until Tomorrow album, we believe this might have been the concert he did with Tina Turner and others in support of the ultimately-never-passed (and much lamented) Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution (which barred discrimination on the basis of gender).
We don’t know of Tom taking a political stand of any kind (except, maybe the closing of the Burberry factory in Wales) before or since. And he did pick a good cause.
You’ll notice, too, that in this number he does some of the same stuff he did when he recently did Hi Heel Sneakers. You know, “you’ve gotta give your woman what she wants.”…etc.”
From the Bray People News in Ireland, Thursday October 11 2007. A bit late, but still nice. Tom was in good company for a good cause. But, we couldn’t help noticing that even though the event benefited a rape crisis center, they saw fit to refer to Tom as a “sex-bomb.” ChildLine, by the way, is the charity for which Tom recorded All You Need Is Love. (Thanks, Paula.)
Red carpet rolled out at €255-a-night hotel
The red carpet was well and truly rolled out at the €255 a night five-star Ritz Carlton after it officially opened its doors last Thursday, bringing a series of big stars to the sleepy village of Enniskerry.
Legendary singer Tom Jones was the main attraction at a gala black-tie charity ball in aid of Childline and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre on Friday night and the welsh sex-bomb wowed the assembled crowd with a stunning performance of his hits.
Also present at the star-studded charity event were pop mogul, Louis Walsh, diminutive singer and Louth native Sharon Corr and U2 Svengali Paul McGuinness, as well as notable director Neil Jordan and of course prolific Irish model, Glenda Gilson.
Here is Tom singing Help Yourself live on The Mark and Brian Show, a syndicated morning program from KLOS radio in Los Angeles.
The track is from their 1997 two-disc CD You Had To Be There. Truly funny and, while some fans may be tempted to listen and go on and on about “what a pro Tom is” (and he is), we hope you have as much fun with it as he seems to have had. (That’s Mark and Brian on the horns.)
We want to thank you all so much for making tomjonesinternational.com a success.
Since the site’s launch on October 10, 2005, we’ve tried to serve you, the fans of the best singer in the world, the best way we know how — with news, information and celebration of Sir Tom and his career.
Yes, we’ve hit a few bumps in the road and have come up against fans with “issues” but, in all, it’s been a terrific experience.
We are honored by your support and share your deep admiration for this man with the extraordinary voice. We are all so lucky to have been able to see him perform and listen to him sing.
To celebrate, here’s Tom in May, 2005 at Ponty Park, performing our “theme song.”
Thank you for allowing us to be part of your TJ lives. And for being part of ours.
For those of you who haven’t seen Tom in awhile, or who just like watching him (duh!), here’s a video from his San Diego show on September 30. It’s the end of his encore, when he does I Like the Way and Kiss. If you haven’t seen it live, you can imagine how I Like The Way gets the audience going. It’s a treat. And, for the conditions under which it was shot, it’s not bad video at all.
There are also two other videos from that gig on youtube.
