Tom Jones International

Be sure you haven’t missed the audio clip from Tom’s recording with Tower of Power. It was posted yesterday below the Ticketmaster post. And don’t forget to watch Tom with “the ladies” on The View Wednesday morning.

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From metro.us. Nothing new, but it’s great that they’re using new photos, isn’t it? Hope to see more of these articles in the major papers in NY, DC, Boston and Cleveland. Right now, in NY at least, Leonard Cohen (!) is taking the concert spotlight. (If you don’t know who he is, just google.)

For Welsh crooner, it’s still not unusual

At 68, Tom Jones still trying new things in the music biz

When it comes to singing, it’s no exaggeration to say that few can match the Welsh.

“It’s something in the language,” muses one of the most famous Welsh vocalists, veteran pop idol Tom Jones. “It’s a tradition: the male voice choirs; the singing room in the pubs. All you needed was a piano and someone to play it. It’s the cheapest way to hear music,” he adds.

Since the mid ’60s, the 68-year-old has belted out such memorable songs as It’s Not Unusual — “The most important song; my first hit.” — and What’s New Pussycat? — “Burt Bach­arach told me, ‘It’s a nutty song for a nutty movie.’”

In later years, Jones notched up iconic covers like the kitsch version of Prince’s Kiss, which revitalized his career in the ’80s. His latest album, last fall’s 24 Hours,” includes the left-field choice of Bruce Springsteen’s lesser-traveled “The Hitter.” The upbeat new record paired Jones with London-based producers Future Cut (Lily Allen, Katy Perry), who sampled his older song I’ll Never Let You Go for the newly written If He Should Ever Leave You. However, the disc includes a fresh new songwriting voice: his own. For the first time, Jones is co-credited as a songwriter. This late-life writing foray wasn’t a need for reflection, though. It was a necessity.



“Nothing was exciting me,” Jones says. “It was time to get involved.”

It was another hookup that proved to be the catalyst Jones needed: After a night carousing in a Dublin pub with Bono and the Edge, the U2 front men turned the ribald tales Jones had regaled them with into the fun, semibiographical cut, Sugar Daddy.

“That’s what sparked me off,” confirms Jones, who began to look at his own experiences for songwriting inspiration, including something that was long overdue for a tribute: Over 50 years of marriage to wife Linda, which inspired the dance beat driven The Road.

“Linda listened to the record and said, ‘What a beautiful song.’ I said, ‘Listen a bit closer. It’s about you.’”

—Linda Laban

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From flavorpill:This guy is totally, completely, insulting-to-his-readers ignorant. “66?” “Croon?” “Rockabilly?” Give us a break!

Now a royal knight, Tom Jones is going strong after 40 years of low-buttoned shirts, hip thrusts, and classic, lady-killing croons; at 66, the legend has one massive discography. It was 1967 when he hit pay-dirt with Green, Green Grass of Home and the singles It’s Not Unusual, Delilah,and She’s a Lady. Jones brings to these and all his hits a rockabilly showmanship, having performed with all the contemporaries in YMCAs and basement bars everywhere: Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Elvis, and Little Richard. The Tom Jones live experience is well-documented on CD and DVD, but nothing can replace a splash of sweat from the brow of the sex machine himself.

– Bill Chenevert

And a snarky notice from a minor DC website: WEDNESDAY Love him or hate him, you’ve got to admit that an artist of Tom Jones’ stature playing the 9:30 Club is a pretty big deal. Why not treat your mom to an early birthday present? $55, 7 p.m.