Tom Jones International

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.