Tom Jones International

While we’re hoping for a quick recovery for Tom, we can go back to 1994, when Tom sang the Tower of Power hit Down to the Nightclub.

In 2005, when TOP opened for him on several tour dates (although TOP fans would say that Tom “closed” for them) they sang the song together. It was terrific then and, here, with soloing on the number, it’s also terrific.

The video, received again from Lampie who has our gratitude, features the UK band, except, Lampie tells us, “Jody, (LInscott on percussion) who was born in New York.”

Note, too, the intro of Tom which, compared to today’s, is very, very subdued.

You can watch the video in the TJI.com Video Library. You have to scroll down to the third video, but it’s there, below the Westbury video.

According to a press release from promotor LiveNation, the concert was canceled “on the advice of [Tom's] physician” and will be rescheduled.

Ticketholders will be contacted.

What do you think? You can see the video now in the TJI.com Video Library.

Last night, Tom closed Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. As the “musical guest,” he wasn’t interviewed. This seems to be what all the late night shows in the US (with the exception of Jimmy Kimmel) are doing. Anyway, Tom sang with The Roots, Fallon’s house band. The hip-hop band from Philadelphia has recorded with many artists, among them, Etta James (Burning Down the House). In 1999 the track You Got Me, duet pairing their music with the vocals of Erykah Badu and Eve peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned The Roots a Grammy® Award for Best Performance By A Duo Or Group.

In the last couple of minutes of the show, Tom sang Never. The band sounded funkier than his regular group and, in all, the entire thing seemed somewhat odd. As soon as I get decent video, I’ll post it. (Note: As you might know, I’m not home; so I don’t have the equipment here to do it as quickly as I usually would. You understand, right?)

If you cannot wait for video, and you’re in the US (maybe Canada, not sure) you can watch the show here. It is at the very end of the video. Just click on the bar that shows the last commercial break.

Tonight is the much-anticipated show at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Lots of people who were at Westbury are going, but it should be a much more eclectic crowd and, of course, lots of fun. Paul McCartney is playing at Citi Stadium in Queens tonight.If this were a baseball game, as is the usual fare in the stadium, it would be called because of rain, as it’s supposed to rain all day. We’ll see. So, it’s a big night for music here. McCartney will probably get most of the attention, but we’ll be on the lookout for reviews.

(Cannot help wondering if, when they first met all those years ago, either Tom or McCartney could possibly imagine that they’d be playing the same night in big solo shows in New York City in 2009.)

Jeanne was at Tom’s Westbury show Friday night and she writes: “Hi: I was at the Friday night show (which was terrific!!!) and I was fortunate enough to get Tom to autograph a 25 year-old picture of us — me and Tom — at Westbury!!!!!!!!!! The security guard wouldn’t let my friend take pictures, but someone near us took a photo and — a bit dark, but — here it is! Of course, hers is the photo at right.

At left is another photo of Tom from that concert and, with help from Keith, we found lots of clips from the Saturday, July 18 Westbury show. These clips do not do any kind of justice to the experience of being there in person, but you get an idea of the setting, the crowd and of the heat.

Again, it was a terrific, amazing show.

You can watch the clips — put together into one 30:39 video in the TJI.com Video Library.

Don’t forget Tom on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon tonight (actually, Tuesday morning), 12:35 a.m. EDT/PDT as posted here on Friday. The show is on your local NBC station, not just “Channel 10″ as erroneously posted elsewhere. Tom’s band will not be with him. He’s playing with Fallon’s regular group, The Roots Band. Check your local listings.

If you’re in New Hampshire tonight for the show, please let us know how it is.

---

The two shows Tom and the gang did at the Capital One Theatre at Westbury (known to locals as the “Westbury Music Fair”) ran the gamut of emotions. But, in the end, last night’s show was one of the best I’ve ever seen — and I’ve seen many. As you can probably guess, I’ll go into the reasons for that later.

Before the first show, on Friday, people who knew Tom had been ill Tuesday and Wednesday were nervous that the show would be canceled. The word that it would go on came about 3 pm and was greeted, as you can imagine, with relief. We also found out that there was an opening act — a comedian named Rodney Lane who, it turns out, was very funny. He totally won over the crowd and that’s not easy. (I saw Elvis at the Garden and comic Sammy Shore just gave up amidst all the noise and jeers from the audience and because they’d have to sit through another opening act (first was the Sweet Inspirations) before Elvis came on. After about two minutes, he just walked off the stage. )

Now, a lot of fans — including me — talk on this site about Westbury; usually, about how great it is. But I guess I’ve never explained why. The most positive thing about it is that it seats 2,800 people in the round. The stage is a circle (that can revolve) so, truly, all the seats provide a good view and even those waaaay in the back seem closer than the same row in a regular seats-in-rows-in-front-of-the-stage theater because the audience gets a 360º view. Here, the band and singers are in a small pit so (one of the few disadvantages to the set up) the interplay between them and Tom is limited. And, people behind the band sometimes complain that they cannot hear the music. (Truthfully, I cannot judge because like so many fans who are lucky enough to see many shows, I know what’s being said and sung even if I can’t hear it. But I was able to hear every word.)

So, opening night, Tom’s voice still wasn’t 100 percent. He drank his water, used vocalzones and, even, sprayed his throat with medication. But the audience didn’t care at all.

Click here to see more photos and (more…)

First, the note: I’ve decided, rather than be repetitive, I’ll post the Westbury review after tonight’s show. There’ll be photos, a story, etc. Don’t know if it’ll get done tonight, but check back. I apologize for this late decision but, this way, the two days at this unique venue (as you can see from the photo below it’s one of only a few theaters-in-the-round) it’ll all be fresh. So, tune in tomorrow.

---

Below is an entry in his HuffingtonPost blog by Tony Sachs. I first “met” Tony when he reviewed Tom at (I think) Terminal 5 in NYC. I posted his review and we began to correspond. It was Tony who suggested I write on the Huffington Post (which I do) and, though we’ve never met, I can tell you he’s a nice guy and a very busy guy. He was tremendously excited by the prospect of interviewing Tom — one of his idols from childhood — and we talked about it before the fact. He set out, as you’ll see, to define what precisely it is that makes Tom Jones cool — the way few people (Sinatra was one) ever are. The end result is a fun and, perhaps, you’ll learn a few things.

My Exclusive Interview With Sir Tom Jones, In Which I Fail To Learn How To Be More Like Tom Jones

Tony Sachs (Pop music know-it-all, spirits enthusiast, baseball obsessive, bon vivant)/Huffington Post/Posted: July 18, 2009 08:12 AM

Is there anyone alive who’s as cool as Tom Jones? I mean, what other singer’s voice sounds fuller and more robust at age 69 than it did at 29? Who else would have not only the talent but the balls to share the stage with Janis Joplin in the ’60s and cover an Iggy Pop tune with Chrissie Hynde in the ’90s? And can you think of anyone else in recent history who may be best known for having multiple generations of women throw their underwear at him?

I didn’t think so.

(more…)

First, set your TiVOs or DVRs or whatever — Tom will be on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Monday night — or, more correctly, it’ll be broadcast on NBC at 12:35 am Tuesday following Conan. He’ll be playing with Fallon’s house musicians, the Roots Band. Should be terrific.

What about Westbury tonight? Well, it was like a gi-normous homecoming for Tom. It’s a venue he’s played for about 40 years and Long Islanders love their TJ. The photo here is of the stage at the end of the show. If you count, there were 21 or 22 dainties thrown up there, along with a wrapped present that he didn’t open.

There are lots of great photos of the show (that were not taken by me except for the rather lame one here) and it was an altogether grand evening.

I hope this whets your appetite for the full report tomorrow. If so, come back and check it out.

Tom opens for two nights at the Capital One Theatre (or, as some people still call it, “Westbury”) tonight. If you go, please share your experience of the show.

With Tom’s European tour mere weeks away (well, 10 or 11), LiveNation has released its video commercial. Sadly, it uses decades-old video, but it mades the point and gives Tom a presence on TV.

The Guinness 250th anniversary promotion is really nice, containing as it does an interview along with old video.

You can watch both promos combined into one video in the TJI.com Video Library.

Thanks, mharding, for the links.

First, the news:

According to Welsh news reports, Tom had to cancel his Las Vegas dates due to bronchitis. Of course, you don’t have to worry, it was his Canadian engagement that was canceled.

According to The Independent, Telman Ismailov, owner of the Mardan Palace Hotel in Turkey, so offended his government (Prime Minister Putin) that his business — an interesting, unusual market — was closed down, throwing a rumored 17,000 people out of work.

The video today comes to us all once again from Lampie the Clown. It’s Tom singing I Wanna Get Back With You from The Lead and How to Swing It. The date was December, 1994. The place was Cardiff International Arena. It’s a transfer from videotape, so it might seem a bit fuzzy, but it’s terrific stuff, isn’t it?

You can watch it in the TJI.com Video Library.