Tom Jones International

Mr. Jones was Tom’s collaborative CD with Wyclef Jean.

When it was released in November 2002, many people — including devoted fans — found it to be an ill-conceived project. After all, hearing this now-wealthy Welsh guy talking about his “crib” and extending his sympathies to his fellow workers was a bit silly. But I believe there were some real redeeming things in that CD.

Consider: Younger Days, Heaven’s Been A Long Time Comin’, Black Betty, The Letter and We’ve Got Tonight. And, as you can imagine, I have a special fondness for the first song on the CD, Tom Jones International.

One of the more interesting cuts on the CD was Tom’s reworking of I (Who Have Nothing), It’s not one he performs nowadays so this video is a nice reminder. It is from Tom’s appearance on the German TV show Wetten, Dass in 2003. I really like it.

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

Finally, Sir Tom Jones is getting some solid recognition in the USA. The Biography Channel has a new ad in which he is featured. But, there are two things missing. Important things. Can you spot them?

You can see the ad here.

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.

In addition to Sir Tom, the New Years Eve line-up on Jools Holland’s Hootenanny includes the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, Dizzee Rascal, Lily Allen, Kasabian, Boy George, Roger Daltrey, Paolo Nutini, Shingai Shoniwa, Florence Welch, Paloma Faith, Dave Edmunds, Ruby Turner, Rico Rodriguez and the First Battalion of Scots Guards.

Sound interesting or eclectic or something. One UK pub called it “more of the same.” Whatever,TJI will hopefully have hot-off-the-screen footage for you.

The Wolfgramm Sisters — Kelly, Talei, and Eliza — will be opening for Tom on some of his dates in Australia next year. Judging by what’s available on their web page hey have a sort of interesting sound and really need to hire someone to do a proper website. Their eponymous CD comes out Sunday. You can also see them on youtube. Just do a search for “Wolfgramm Sisters.”

In 1991, Tom joined a cast that included Sinead O’Connor, former Pogues singer Shane MacGowan and Kirsty McColl (who joined the Pogues on Christmas In New York) and the film’s writer-director-narrator Malcolm McLaren in The Ghosts of Oxford Street, a recounting of the 200-year history of that street in London.

The show was broadcast on Channel 4 on Christmas Day in 1991. In an interesting poll the show was voted #85 on the stations list of “!00 Greatest Christmas Moments.” Do They Know It’s Christmas was number one.

Tom played Gordon Selfridge (1858-1947) an American-born businessman who visited London, looked around and decided he could do better than the existing British merchants and so opened Selfridge’s Department Store in London. He was wildly successful until the Depression. Continuing to spend as he always had, he was soon pretty much destitute. When he died he had nothing left.

In the film Tom sang two songs. One of them was the Money, the Berry Gordy-Janie Bradford-composed song that was recorded by Barrett Strong and was the first #1 hit for Motown. The audio of Money, is here. (This song, by the way, has a really interesting history. Check it out.)

You can watch video of Tom as Gordon Selfridge, along with narrator Malcolm McClaren and a few others, perform Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out from The Ghosts of Oxford Street in the TJI.com Video Library.

A Final Word On the Subject From Herman Matthews:

“I see that at the ‘request of several site visitors,’ this discussion has been closed.

“just want to remind everyone out there that I, Herman Matthews, understand that it’s not personal and this is the business that I chose to be in.

“I just lost a wonderful job and was upset about it. I will always stand by these words; ‘Go see Tom Jones’ because he is one of the finest entertainers I’ve ever the had the pleasure to play drums for. He is the quintessential soul man.”

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I have to confess that I am exhausted…..It’s been a very busy few days and the need to more-closely-than-usual moderate TJI has caught up with me. So, today I’ll tell you about what I did yesterday and post this photo of a clean-shaven TJ (remember that?). It was taken in West Hollywood, CA as Tom was leaving the Lounge nightclub on August 30, 2002.(Photo: Getty Images).

The photo at left was taken today at the new MGM Mirage Aria Hotel and Casino in City Center. It was, more precisely, taken on the stage of the Viva Elvis Theatre where the new Cirque du Soleil production by that name was unveiled for the press today.

We met the officials of Cirque, the majority owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Robert FX Sillerman, and Priscilla Presley (that’s she in the center of the photo with the bright dress and black tights).

The show is previewing now and is opening next month.

The only male singing voice in the show is Elvis’. The production employs multi-media, singers, dancers and acrobats. The unifying thread — in addition to the music — is the narration of actor Junior Clay who plays Elvis’ manager, Col. Tom Parker.

We didn’t see the whole thing and it is a work in progress, but it looks like fun.

I am writing about this because I know so many TJ fans (including me) were first ardent Elvis fans and I think this may be of enough interest to add a day to any trip to Las Vegas. For my story about the press conference and ticket information, check out LasVegas.BroadwayWorld.com

Sir Tom Jones to tour SA next April

December 15th, 2009 | Times Live]By jason von berg

Sir Tom Jones is on his way to South Africa next April- and apparently it’s going to be an incredible show. The legendary Jones has been in the music biz for over 45years now. So you can just imagine all the hits he’ll be playing, like Sex Bomb, Burning Down The House and She’s A Lady. In addition to them songs, Jones and his band have apparently got some surprises in store. We’ll have to wait and see what those are come April next year.

Tour Itinerary:
Cape Town/Wednesday 7th April 2010/Grand Arena, Grandwest Casino and Entertainment World./Tickets R330 – R580

Johannesburg/Saturday 10th April 2010/Superbowl Sun City/Tickets R330 – R580

Life magazine has opened its archives and here is one photo. It is self-explanatory. Notice, by the way, how the letter reprinted in the photo caption begins “Sirs.” Don’t think that would happen today, do you?

An Editorial: I was fortunate enough to be invited to see Garth Brooks at Steve Wynn’s Encore Theatre Saturday night and it was amazing. Best concert I’ve seen in a long time. What made it special was not the voice or the band or the sets. You see, it was just Garth Brooks, onstage with a guitar he occasionally played, taking a stroll through his musical life — from early influences (M. Haggard, G. Jones) through his beginnings (James Taylor, Billy Joel) to his hits. In between he talked to the audience, took questions and requests.

It was, as I said in my review a terrific night.

I’d love to see Tom do something like this: with just a guitar revisit his life in music. Watching Brooks, I couldn’t help thinking of that night in the spring of 2005 in the Hollywood Theatre when Tom and Brian Mononey were alone on the stage about to sing What Am I Living For?

A fan in the front row said, “Tom, will you sing A Boy From Nowhere? Tom turned to Brian and asked, “Can we do that?” In response, Brian strummed the first couple of notes and Tom — first taking a moment to recap the story of El Cordobés — quietly began to sing.

It was chill-inducing, haunting. Slowly, as they heard what was happening, the rest of the band and the singers drifted back onto the stage and began to play. The music swelled and then, at the end, it faded out, so we were left with just Tom and the guitar: “And the way things are round here, that’s the last thing we need.”

It was so beautiful that Ursula and I broke a cardinal rule of fandom. When he and Don came into the restaurant where we were having dinner, we went over to his table right after he had sat down and ordered (and, yes, we knew no one should ever, ever do that but he’d made us cry with that song and we had to be at work the next day so we couldn’t hang out until he’d finished dinner) and thanked him. I can hear it still today.

So, I would love to see him do an acoustic show and, if not, at least add The Boy From Nowhere to the set list.

Emotions have run high lately with so many friends no longer working with Tom. It is very difficult but, again, there’s nothing we can do. I posted an article from the Welsh paper about the issues with the band and, then, didn’t look at the site for several hours.

When I did look, at first I didn’t know what to do. There were nicely worded comments about the situation, there were some pretty vitriolic, even nasty, comments about Sir Tom and his management and how this situation was handled. First, I just closed the comment section but, still, those words were up there for all to read. So, now this stuff has been up for a day and I’ve made my decision. The post will come down and be replaced with something lighter, seasonal. I know I will again be accused of being a mouthpiece for Tom’s management and, if you knew me you’d know how ludicrous that idea is. I took the post down because it was offensive in tone and, at times, in content. My job as moderator of this site is to moderate — to keep tempers calm but at the same time to allow everyone to say what is on his or her mind. When that becomes impossible as it did earlier today, it’s time for drastic action, like removing the post in its entirety.

To help things move on — and to get in the holiday spirit — today we’ll repost what we had on December 21, 2008 — some news of Tom’s private gig at Apple Computer.

That private party where Tom and some of the band played was at Apple Computer in Cupertino, California. The photo of Tom looking smashing in his silver boa is from that event and was taken by John Vink. (Although it wasn’t for that reason they did the gig, you should know that the computer wizardry used in Tom’s show is all Mac, so Apple is quite appropriate. Also, this site is completely Mac-based.)

They performed stuff from the regular show and some holiday stuff, including Winter Wonderland, Run Run Rudolph and, maybe, I’ll Be Home For Christmas.

The video TJI is posting here is not by any means good video. They’re blurry and you can’t really see the performance the way it should be seen. BUT! After looking at the essential sameness and slickness of the TV music performances over the last couple of months, seeing Tom connecting with an audience — seeing and hearing an audience screaming with approval — just has to make you smile. And, no, no one is putting down the TV productions. But this is much more rare and it’s terrific fun. It’s like you’re there at the party with them.

VIDEO: Here’s a brief chat and Tom singing Winter Wonderland, lyric errors and all — and he always handles those bloopers very well. They’re just fun to hear.

Clearly, all involved were having a blast. Hope you do, too.

Filmmakers await Tom Jones’ verdict

Dec 13 2009 by Claire Rees, Wales On Sunday

THE MAKERS of surprise Welsh hit film A Bit of Tom Jones say they are anxiously waiting for The Voice’s seal of approval after a copy was flown specially to the star’s US home.

Tom Jones himself is now thought to have seen the low-budget comedy – centred around two friends’ bizarre attempt to sell the legendary singer’s severed manhood – and those behind the bawdy farce are just hoping he likes it.

The film, which was set in Tredegar and cost just £100,000, stars Merthyr actor Jonathan Owen, Gavin and Stacey’s Margaret John, who plays Doris in the sitcom, and Torchwood actress Eve Myles, and while it bemused many critics it’s still proving a huge draw at Wales’ multiplexes.

This week the all-Welsh production previewed on Jonathan Ross’ Film 2009, as Vue opened it in two more cinemas as part of an extended cinema release in Wales, and it’s even been mentioned in the House of Commons.

And it’s now secured a huge premiere in London’s Leicester Square at the end of January.

On the official website of 69-year-old Tom, who it was this week confirmed would join in the New Year’s Eve celebrations on Jools Holland’s Hootenanny on BBC Two, there is a message sending congratulations to the filmmakers and applauding their “creativity, pluck and determination”.

Adding that the crooner was at the time yet to see the film, it said it was “providing hope for independent film-makers with no money.”

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Mars Attacks! opened 13 years ago today, Friday, December 13, 1996. I saw it because I was a Tim Burton fan. I had not seen Tom in more than a decade, as real life and pressing issues didn’t allow for the luxury of being a fan. So, I was very pleasantly surprised to see him in the film which, I must confess, I really enjoyed. Because I enjoyed it so much — even bought the DVD — I will commemorate this event each year. And that was one instance when Friday the 13th turned out to be lucky for all involved. So, here are some items to mark that important day in Tom’s career:

The New York Times review mentioned Tom: “Tom Jones as a guy who can sing It’s Not Unusual with backup singers from any planet. (When these actors and several others flee the Martians together, Mr. Jones has a chivalrous hand on a good-looking actress in just about every shot.”

And, here’s one of many articles from the time:

THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT OL’ TOM JONES 60′s SINGER IS SURPRISE STAR OF MARS ATTACKS!

By KEVIN O’SULLIVAN/New York Daily News/Sunday, December 8th 1996, 2:01AM

After three decades as a global superstar, it’s hard to believe that Tom Jones is chalking up a first his big-screen debut!

The Welsh wizard with the whopping voice took a break from his singing duties to try his hand at acting. in the new comedy Mars Attacks!

For the rest of this article (which contains mostly stuff any fan does know) and to see the trailer for Mars Attacks!, click here to (more…)

Moderator’s Note: I am very rushed tonight so I apologize in advance for this post. I don’t mean to brag but I had a sort of “only-in-Las-Vegas” day; a day during which I really remembered why I love what I do. And it was pretty unexpected. On Wednesday I got a call from the Wynn Hotel and Casino PR department inviting me to a Garth Brooks press conference today and to Brooks’ show tomorrow night. It was totally out of left field as the only press invited to the last press conference were national outlets and a few TV locals. As for the show, it was made very clear that there would be no press night. Well, clearly, someone had a change of heart. Brooks was at the press conference — he was the press conference — and he was really charming and real. He’s a devoted family man and his new show — 300 performances over five years — will feature him and his guitar with, perhaps, sometimes, a guest.

Anyway, while there, I was told about the opening of BB King’s club tonight at the Mirage. I made a call and was added to the guest list. There we were fed very well (don’t knock chicken-fried pickles until you try them!) and entertained by master guitarist Lee Ritenour, a singer named Willie Nelson, current Grammy® nominee Robert Cray, another legendary musician named Buddy Guy and, of course, BB King himself.

I came home much later than planned, much more fatigued than planned, sated and exhausted with great music. So, this is a rushed kind of post. If you missed the last two days on TJI, please answer the “new” December Question of the Month and let us know what you think about your 2010 Fan Calendar.

So, here’s the post:A guy named Jason Dunn has a website that was put together in 1995 so, of course, the bio of Tom is dated and many of you have seen it but it turned up in my mailbox today and it’s fun to read.

Of all the stuff he has there the one thing that remains today and forever true is:

“In his native Wales, he is known as “Jones the Voice”. Today, he is one of the enduring personalities in the music entertainment business. His unique vocal power, ability, and charismatic persona make him one of the most respected, admired and loved performers in modern music.”

No argument here. I just didn’t think that 1995 was as long ago as it apparently is.

Was just told that the calendar — mailed from Las Vegas on Monday — reached the Netherlands on Friday. If you would like to comment on your calendar, please scroll to the post below and do so. Or, if you wish, drop me a line with your critique. Thanks once again.

For those of you lighting the first candle at sundown tonight, best wishes for a Happy Chanukah! May the latkes be wonderful (jelly donuts, too) and my the glow from the candlelight last well into the new year.

This is the time of year when all of those “best” lists come out — movies, music, books, etc. Since I’ve started writing film reviews I’ve been thinking about this. Then, today, I came across a 2009 list from Macleans, the Canadian newsweekly magazine.

Under the category of “Newsmakers” they had a list of what they called “U-Turns,” This wide-ranging list covered fiction (Harry Potter), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, TD Bank and several others. They were cited for changing course in 2009. For Sir Tom they wrote:

“The natural
“Women have yet another reason to throw their panties at Tom Jones. The Sex Bomb singer, 69, has abandoned his signature dark brown hair in favour of a more natural look, a decision he concedes he should have made years ago. “Women love it,” says the silver-haired Jones, who has also vowed to give up plastic surgery.”

So, the question now is this:
What tops your personal list of Tom Jones 2009? Silver hair? A meeting? A song? A show?

Please choose your one outstanding 2009 TJ moment or memory and tell us about it.

The photo here was taken at the MGM Grand on January 15, 2009, the first night Tom appeared with his hair, as he described it, “au natural.” The post about that night — the first to report on the hair color change that seemingly rocked much of the world (apparently that part of the world with nothing better to care about) — is here.