Tom Jones International

When Tom walked onstage at the MGM Grand’s Hollywood Theatre on Thursday, January 15, 2009, the usual suspects among the fans were largely absent. Your moderator, one fan from Florida and one from New Jersey were the only “regulars” in the house. So, when Tom came out with his hair — as he later said — “au natural” it was a strange moment. But, it was a good one. This photo was posted here, on one other site and then made it to Wales and the BBC. In the UK this was huge news. It was the photo seen ’round the world. Literally.

To promote 24 Hours Tom toured Europe and did lots of electronic and print media interviews along the way. At the MGM on March 19 there was even — gasp! — a new lobby card to replace that 20th century photo that was outdated as soon as Tom grew a beard. In the US Tom’s summer tour was interrupted by his bronchitis.

Notable gigs in 2009 included a triumphant return to Glastonbury and a standout turn at San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival. (There are lots of big festivals in the US for Tom to play. Hope he does some. Soon.)

Tom was also back on the UK music charts in a very big way with the Comic Relief charity single he did with Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones from Gavin and Stacey. Their rendition of Islands In the Stream sold more than one million copies for this very good cause and the video is a hoot.

(TJI.com has a good search engine. So, if you’re looking for any of this material, all you have to do is search and it’s there to be found. If you missed any video you can go straight to the TJI.com Video Library and search there. It’s also fun just to revisit the video library from time to time and wander around watching.)

With Tom recording a new CD now, we can look at “2010: The Year In Tom Jones” to be a very good one, indeed. Hopefully, any new product will be released and heavily promoted here in the US, as well as overseas.

The year in Tom Jones ended with the news — rumored for a full three months before it was confirmed — that the band that had played with Tom for many years — the so-called “US Band” — would not be back with him, even in the US. The news evoked lots of reaction, especially in the USA but, also, in Europe. Hopefully the “new” band will only add to the show and will come to be as liked and accepted as were the men and women we came to know over the last several years. TJI looks forward to seeing them.

(The photo above right is from the Sunderland Echo and is a promo for tonight’s annual Jools Holland show on which, clearly, Tom will be a guest. Thanks to Pat Lowndes for sending it. We will have good video of the show, hopefully for tomorrow. Stay tuned)

The year here at TJI.com was both very bad and very good. To get the bad out of the way — on July 1 somehow, mysteriously, this site’s domain name wound up owned by someone in Sweden — and no one knows how it happened! Right. — and the site was down for awhile. That wasn’t all bad because, while the site was down it became apparent how much so many people depend up TJI for news, updates and a daily bit of diversion. Though I am sorry that happened, I cannot really apologize, as it was not my fault. If you run into the person who was at fault, perhaps she will apologize to you. But it will not happen again as now this site is owned and moderated by one person only. And that person has learned a great deal about friendship and trust and which “friends” should not be trusted.

At any rate, I want to thank you again for your support. The 2010 TJI Fan Calendar sold 25 percent more copies than it did last year and, despite postal rates jumping way, way up, they are all delivered with a few stragglers on the way as of yesterday. Also, more fans are sending in materials — audio, video, photos — to share with other fans so TJI can fulfill its stated mission of serving Tom Jones fans around the world. That is just terrific!

Wishing each of you and yours a happy, healthy new year. May 2010 bring peace, health, prosperity and lots of good music!

Hi: I hope you are each having a terrific holiday season. I know it’s a busy time of year so, unless there’s some great breaking news, I won’t be posting anything for a day or two. That’ll give you a chance to check out posts you may have missed over the last several days and to see the videos that have gone up. I am very fortunate because — as I’ve loved movies (films to you not from the USA) since I can remember, I’ve just started working as a reviewer and have been seeing lots. Since it’s “work,” I can even go to the movies during the day and not feel guilty. Anyway, if you’d like, check out the reviews here. I’ve seen just about all that are out (some haven’t been reviewed yet) and have been having a ball. Be sure to check back Thursday for a new post.

And, a day late, but a nonetheless happy belated birthday to one H. Matthews. Give yourself a gift for his b’day and order some of his extraordinary peanut brittle. Link is at bottom right. One buyer told me, “It’s so good, I bought it for my husband. I don’t like peanut brittle but I tasted it and, now, I can’t stop eating it!”

Born in England, Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien (April 16, 1939 – March 2, 1999) took the stage name Dusty Springfield when a band she was in with her brother and her friend was rehearsing in a field in Somerset in the spring. Her myriad hits include You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, I Only Want To Be With You, You Don’t Own Me, The Look of Love, Son of a Preacher Man….. the list is seemingly endless. Her contribution to music netted her, among many other honors, an OBE.

In December 1964, Springfield was deported from South Africa after refusing to play for a segregated audience as was then the law there. And, like another British singer we know (who, a few years later refused to play for a segregated audience there), she was very heavily influenced by both American rock ‘n’ roll and Motown. Also like that singer, she experienced some relatively dry recording years but made a comeback in the late 1980s. In 1994 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and died in 1999. A mere 10 days after her death Dusty Springfield was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At her induction, Elton John said, “think she is the greatest white singer that there ever has been.”

Dusty Springfield had success on television, too. Here are three songs from Season 2, Episode 4 of her show, Dusty, that aired September 5, 1967,

In the clips, her guest Tom Jones performs Show Me and I’ll Never Fall In Love Again and Tom and Dusty sing Baby Baby

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

After a couple of days of ugliness (during what is supposed to be a season of peace) spent dealing with one nasty fan, I decided it’s time for something that’s simply lovely. So, here it is:

In 1955, Al Hibbler recorded a song from Unchairned, a film that purported to be a behind-the-scenes look at Chino Prison in California. Hibbler had a huge hit with it and, in 1965, the Righteous Brothers re-recorded it. That, too, was a hit and, became a hit for them a second time when it was used in the 1990 film, Ghost.

The song was also recorded by Ricky Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, Barry Manilow and by U2. On June 21, 1977, Elvis sang it in what would be his last TV appearance, Elvis In Concert. It was released as a single, recorded live in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Elvis — as he was prone to do when he sang it live — accompanied himself on piano.

On what Tom himself has referred to as “that awful Canadian TV series,” Coast To Coast, there were a few good moments. While most of the songs performed there had an uptempo or disco-y beat, some didn’t and were beautifully performed. One of the latter was his version of Unchained Melody.

You can watch it here. I hope you enjoy it.

As usual, if you cannot view it, please drop me note using the “Contact TJI” link at right and I’ll send it to you.

(And, no, the word “unchained” is not uttered in the song at all.)

Article About Entertainment in Atlantic City: The Press of Atlantic City has an article about entertainment in that locale. It begins with the following declaration: “Ten years ago, catching a show in Atlantic City usually meant seeing an old casino standby such as Don Rickles or Tom Jones perform” and goes on to talk about the new arena. It also mentions scenes from Ocean’s Eleven (2001) and Sex and the City (2002) were filmed there. They make it sound like the filming was yesterday but it was not.

My argument with the article is that it deals only with arena acts (although Resorts did book Yitzak Perlman a couple of months ago) and makes no mention of the fact that some acts aren’t offered enough money or enough days to bother playing there. For all the fans who would regularly go to AC to see Tom, I’d like to hope this changes. But, with the attitude expressed in the article, it looks like it won’t. It reads like an advertorial for the local Chamber of Commerce.

If you want to read the entire thing, click on the link above. Note, too, that there is room to comment under the article.

When Tom last played the MGM Grand in August, he had added a new chat bit to his show — after he sang I’ll Never Fall In Love Again he ruminated aloud on age, recalling his age when he first recorded the song. It’s interesting that, now, with the exception of his musical director, just about everyone on stage with Tom is 35 years or so younger than he. But it’s a sweet bit and he’s very funny. Everyone at his age should be as appealing and attractive as Tom is.

Ralph recorded it at Tom’s show in Antwerp and Dre sent it to me. So, with thanks to them both, check out the video in the TJI.com Video Library.

Today, December 26, is Kwanzaa and, in the UK and Commonwealth nations, it is Boxing Day. Because I found out that lots of Americans don’t know what Boxing Day is, I wrote a column about it on my Huffington Post blog. (There’s a photo of someone you may know in that post.) Check it out!

Tom will be on Jools Holland’s New Year’s Eve Hootenanny on Friday night and, thus, it’s appropriate to look back and see what it was like when he was on a decade or so ago. (The photo at left is from 2000.)

That night he performed Take Me to the River and What’d I Say. I hope you enjoy them as much as he clearly enjoys singing these songs. It’s not great video, but it is great music performed by a great singer.

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

(If you missed the post from December 24 — with the beautiful video — be sure to check it out below. And, if the photo of Tom in the Santa hat offended you as it did that person who calls herself Camille, I guess I should apologize but, in fact, since it was all in good fun — and the vast majority of you are smart enough to know that — there’s no apology necessary, is there?)

For many years — until just about two years ago, in fact — there was always a holiday message from Tom to fans. To download a PDF of Tom’s 1980 holiday greeting to “Fan Club Presidents and Members,” click here.

As usual, if you cannot download it, please drop me note using the “Contact TJI” link at right and I’ll send it to you.

Also, if you missed the beautiful video in the post just below, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Today, on TJI, Tom returns home to the Rhondda Valley, to Pontypridd, for his 1969 Christmas Special on the BBC. There, he talks a bit about home, visits some favorite places — and those ever-popular Welsh sheep — and, then, sings a wonderful song with some gifted friends.

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

Wishing each of you a wonderful holiday season from TJI. Be sure to come back tomorrow to read a message Tom sent to his fans…..in 1980.

The people who post on youtube are having some good-natured fun with Sir Tom.

The video called “Tom Jones Dances Like Hell,” which was posted quite awhile ago and has Tom performing Treat Her Right, has recently drawn two video responses. It’s all in good fun — including the video essay on why Tom Jones is a black man.

I’ve taken the original and two answer videos (Does anyone remember “answer songs?”) and put them together into one. The quality of the originals is quite poor and I am posting this because it is funny and, also, I suspect Sir Tom might be a bit flattered. The person who posted the last video compared him to Justin Timberlake.

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

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One British commentator asks what would happen if — can you imagine!!?? — TV producers in the UK broke with tradition and tried some new programming. He says, “It will be an unusual Christmas if Ronnie Corbett, Sir Terry Wogan, Noddy Holder, Tom Jones and Sir Ian McKellen and Penelope Keith do not appear on our screens at some point over the next few days.” (Of course, Tom will be on Jools Holland’s New Year’s Eve bash…..I know them all, except for Noddy Holder, and, in addition to Tom, especially enjoy Penelope Keith and would like to see her in roles aside from all those Britcoms shown on PBS here.) At any rate:

From Terence Blacker in The Independent/Wednesday, 23 December 2009

Time for TV to cut down on the Yule factor

Imagine, for a moment, a Christmas TV special produced by someone who has courageously decided to break with tradition. Jeremy Paxman is in the chair and among the guests gathered for yuletide are Sir Mick Jagger, Tracey Emin, Andy Murray, Russell Brand and Lord Mandelson. A Christmas message, sent by satellite from Barbados, is contributed by Simon Cowell.

It does not quite work, does it? There is something indefinably wrong about that gathering. Interesting enough at any other time of the year, it strikes an inappropriate, anti-festive note.

Here is another refinement to the increasingly subtle concept of early 21st-century fame: the Yule factor. Some celebrities are naturally blessed with it; others, however much they long to be welcomed in the nation’s front rooms at this season of good cheer and profitable ratings, remain out in the cold.

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I came across this video of Tom and Tori Amos singing I Wanna Get Back With You on Monday and decided to post it because I really, really like it. Why? I don’t know. I just do. In fact, I think I like the video better than the song. Know what I mean?

It’s from The Lead and How To Swing It in 1992 and, Tom has said, the CD’s name comes from his father’s time in the mines.

Anyway, TJI has some very, very nice Christmas posts planned, so enjoy this for today, please. And do forgive the ad at the beginning. Couldn’t be helped.

Royalties row for Tom Jones’ backing band

Dec 20 2009/WalesOnline

MEMBERS of Tom Jones’ original backing band The Senators claim that they are still owed royalties from tracks they performed on in the ’60s which were later released in the USA under the singer’s name only.

The Valleys beat group, with whom The Voice shot to fame in the ’60s, say that being erased from the credits of Stateside chart hits like Little Lonely One robbed them of the chance of making it as big abroad as Jones himself.

Former Senators’ bassist Vernon Hopkins revealed that he is now looking into whether or not they are entitled to recoup any loss of potential earnings resulting from being edged out of the spotlight by the legendary Ponty performer.

“We recorded four tracks in London over a couple of sessions with Joe Meek in 1962 – Little Lonely One, That’s What We’ll Do, Lonely Joe and I Was A Fool,” said Vernon, adding that those once fond, but long- forgotten, memories only came flooding back when he was asked to contribute to a recent Radio Two documentary when Tom related his early club years to Gavin & Stacey funnyman Rob Brydon.

“I was listening to it and suddenly there was Little Lonely One playing in the background and it all hit me,” he said.

“I was like: ‘That’s the boys’! It was a very emotional moment.”

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