We all, in some way, carry our parents with us always. Since today is Father’s Day in the USA to mark the occasion, here’ are photos of Tom with his parents.
Also posted is a song Tom recorded in the album Say You’ll Stay Until Tomorrow called Papa. You can listen here.
Wishing you all a terrific Father’s Day!
Thank so much, Gail!
Mr Jones, Tom’s 2002 collaboration with Wyclef Jean and Jerry “Wonder” Duplessis has always been controversial. It wasn’t well-received by critics or, on the whole, by many fans. Perhaps it was that Holiday number. But it did have some wonderful tracks. My favorites are We’ve Got Tonight (a staple of Tom’s stage show for quite awhile), the reworked I (Who Have Nothing), The Letter (also a stage show staple sung with Sharon Hendrix) and, of course,Tom Jones International.
Lots of people like Younger Days (“bumrush the door…”) and Black Betty, too. But there’s one very beautiful song that should have been a smash and it wasn’t. In fact it was kind of overlooked. But, I really like it and so does a certain Florida fan I know.
So — because I am traveling this weekend and cannot anticipate what may be news — I’m using a “filler” here. Since Sunday’s post is already done, if I miss anything I’ll catch up Monday.
Meanwhile, to see Tom’s performance of Heaven’s Been A Long Time Comin’ on Jools Holland’s TV show in 2002, click here.
As usual, if you cannot play it, drop me a line using the “Contact TJI” link at the bottom right and I’ll email it to you.
One more thing: When anyone writes about this CD, they tend to write the title as Mr Jones with no punctuation mark after “Mr” even though on the cover of the CD, there is a period. Odd, inn’t it?
New York City radio staton WPLJ, 95.5 FM is a much-listened to modern adult contemporary station. On their website today, along with a video of Tom doing What Good Am I? on Jools Holland’s show, they wrote of Praise and Blame. Check out the last sentence:
Tom Jones to Release New Album of Blues, Folk & Gospel Songs
Legendary vocalist Tom Jones returns July 27th with a new album called Praise & Blame. The album —described as a collection of songs from the “American spiritual, blues and contemporary repertoire”— features covers of songs by artists like Bob Dylan, John Lee Hooker, The Staples Singers and Mahalia Jackson. His record company says this is Tom Jones “as you’ve never heard him before.”
This project sounds suspiciously like the 2007 album Raising Sand, a similar collection of songs by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss that ended up sweeping the Grammy awards in 2009. So don’t count Tom Jones out, even if he did just turn 70 on June 7th.
Tom’s official site today posted another song from the CD. This one was written by Susan Werner and is called Did Trouble Me.
Finally, the photos here are pretty recognizable to a TJ fan. They’re from Coast-to-Coast, the Canadian TV series broadcast in 1981. There’s a very cute video from that in which Tom is singing Fame. There is a bit of a look at backstage before the show. Check out the person dusting the lint from Tom’s jacket.
You can watch the video here.
As usual, if you cannot play it, drop me a line using the “Contact TJI” link at the bottom right and I’ll email it to you.
Nathalie (de Paris) very kindly alerted TJI that the website The Sporting Summer Festival Monte Carlo announced that Sir Tom will play there on July 30. Even though it’s not official until you see it on tj.com, his appearance will be a benefit for the Monegasque Red Cross (Croix Rouge). The gala benefit ball is the following evening. Sponsors of the event include the Casinos de Monte Carlo, Rolex and Audi.
The Festival runs from July 9 through August 31. Among the entertainers are Stevie Wonder (he opens the show and plays on my birthday), Gino Vanelli (maybe we can go together, Laura?), Erykah Badu, Norah Jones, Mark Knopfler, Jessye Norman, Charles Aznavour, Vanessa Paradis (Will Johnny D. be there?), Julio Iglesias, Elton John and Jamie Cullum — just part of an international line-up. They will perform in Monaco’s fabled Salle de Etoiles (roughly, the Room of Stars). In nice weather the ceiling opens up to the stars. The event at which Tom will appear requires dinner jackets.
Tickets for most shows, including dinner are 140 € (171.85 USD). But Sir Tom’s show, the Red Cross benefit, is priced at 1,000 € (1,227.45 USD). Of course this includes dinner which, I’d hazard a guess, will probably be pretty good.
The website for the concert series says:
The Resort Monte-Carlo SBM is proud to receive Tom Jones at The Sporting Summer Festival for the Gala de la Croix Rouge.
To find out how to order your tickets for July 30 and to read a blog post by someone who seems to know it all, click here (more…)
A news note: MGM Mirage has undergone a name change with the approval of stockholders. It is now MGM Resorts International (MRI). And, no, they didn’t acquire Resorts International. The Players Club will as of the end of August be known as M Life.
JONES RECORDS RAW AND HONEST OFFERING WITH PRODUCER ETHAN JOHNS
Click here to (more…)
#1: A guy named Marc from a business called Business and Commerce in New York City, emailed me today. He said, in part, “Since you are part of the fan club I thought you may have some interest or have other members of the International Fan Club who would like to go. Please reach out to me if you have any questions. Thanks and look forward to hearing from you.” I did email him back. I told him TJI is not a fan club and told him where he might find one. Then, of course, I asked about press tkts to the event:) Anyway he began his not with the observation that Tom’s 70th birthday is “approaching.” OK, doesn’t matter. Here’s the rest of the email:
Tom Jones remains indefatigable, both recording and touring his live show around the globe. He has notched up a stellar career over five decades and continues to scale the very highest peaks of the music business, both in the UK and around the world.
Tom Jones is one of those rare beings, a timeless entertainer, a great guy, who clearly loves what he does, and whose talent appeals to successive generations. Tom is Mr Cool, one of the world’s greatest singers and performers and we are extremely proud and honoured that he is the 2010 recipient of the Music Industry Trusts’ Award.
The award dinner takes place on the evening of Monday 1st November 2010 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, Mayfair and will be attended by over 1,000 leading figures from all areas of the entertainment business, including artists, record company executives, broadcasters, concert promoters and agents, retailers, talent managers, publishers and the media.
It will offer the same level of distinctive celebration generated by previous evenings in honour of such luminaries as Lucian Grainge, Kylie, Sir Elton John and Peter Gabriel. With special guest live performances, including a performance by Tom Jones, I can assure you that this really will be one of the great entertainment events of the year and the perfect occasion to entertain clients.
All proceeds from the evening go to support the continuing valuable work of Nordoff Robbins and the BRIT Performing Arts & Technology School.
Tickets are 700 pounds plus VAT per person. We can do tables of ten.
If you want to contact him, drop me a note and I’ll send you the info.
#2 The photo above is another paparazzi shot, taken last November at the BBC Radio 2 building in London. There are three others. They’re in the TJI flickr set, Pap Shots: The Paparazzi Capture Tom.
Please remember: if you come across any other shots, please send. You will get credit in the photo description for doing so.
#3: Came across a (not great quality picture) video of Tom doing Tom Jones International in 2002 or ’03. Since I really like the song, and I’d never seen this video, thought I’d post it. You can watch it by clicking here. Check it out. You may recognize some people.
As usual, if you cannot play it, drop me a line using the “Contact TJI” link at the bottom right and I’ll email it to you.
I’ve been very busy and, occasionally, I am someplace where a reminder of Tom Jones is totally unexpected. Since there’s little news of Tom over the weekend, I’ll fill in with this:
For example, today I went to Ribbon of LIfe the annual gala presented as a fund raiser byGolden Rainbow the Las Vegas organization that provides housing and direct financial assistance to men, women and children in Southern Nevada who are living with HIV/AIDS. It was a very good show.
Anyway, I was sitting with my friend talking before the show started and, all of a sudden, I heard something familiar. “Who’s singing?” my friend asked, as they were playing recorded music in the theater. It was — and if you live in the US you know how strange this is — Sir Tom Jones singing In Style and Rhythm, a song most of us have only heard when it was sung at a concert of we played 24 Hours. A few people behind us heard the question and asked for the information, even writing it down. Don’t know what this proves except that if given an opportunity to be heard, Tom Jones music has lots of appeal.
Saturday night I want to review a show at Paris Las Vegas. It was Sgt. Pepper Live featuring Cheap Trick. Do you remember them? The 80s band who had hits with Surrender and I Want You To Want Me?
Well, in 2007, to mark the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper and His Lonelyhearts Club Band, they were asked to perform the album at the Hollywood Bowl with the full Bowl orchestra. The show was a smashing success and, since then, have performed the show countless times. As they take pains to point out, they are not a Beatles cover band. They bring their own approach to the music and do perform some of their stuff.
It’s a terrific show and they’ll play here 18 more times between now and July 31. So, see it here or see it when it comes near you. But, really, see it!
Anyway, we started talking about the Beatles music Tom Jones has performed and there’s been lots of it. (Not to mention the famous story about Tom having to decline the opportunity to record The Long And Winding Road when Paul McCartney offered it to him.) TJI posted some video of Tom with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Wilson Pickett in which he sang Beatles’ songs with them.
But perhaps the most noteworthy Beatles song he ever did was in 1993 when, for the charity Childline, he recorded All You Need Is Love with a bunch of children singing backup. The CD has five different versions. You can hear one of them here. (By the way, there is a video Tom doing the song. If you have it, please email me and I’ll tell you how you can send so it can be posted for other fans. Thanks! And thanks to Ignace!)
In 1993 the Childline recording spent 4 weeks on the UK charts and got as high as #19. The next charity recording Tom did was last years version of (Barry) Islands In the Stream with Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones. That benefited Comic Relief. It spent four weeks on the UK chart and peaked at #1, selling over one million copies.
This photo wasn't with the article; just felt like posting it.
ST. LOUIS LIFE: To Sir Tom, with Love
St. Louis Globe-DemocratBy Judy Milanovits/Saturday, June 12, 2010
Tom Jones turned 70 this week. Wow. At first you might think, is that all, just 70. Not because of his appearance, but because it seems that Tom Jones has been around for so long. He released his first single the year I was born (1964, go ahead and do the math on my age), so for me, he has been around forever.
It all started with Tom’s variety show in the late Sixties. At the time, I was watching a lot of varieties shows because there were a lot of variety shows on television. The Smothers Brothers, The Flip Wilson Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Sonny and Cher Show, The Hudson Brothers Show (for people born after 1974, that’s Kate Hudson’s dad + his two brothers), The Tony Orlando and Dawn Show, The Captain and Tennille Show. And then there was Tom’s show: This Is Tom Jones. And like Tom, the show was a complete original.
So what was it about Tom Jones that stood out? Maybe a better question is what didn’t stand out. He was dripping with sex appeal and proudly displayed it every chance he got in his skin tight pants. Sorry, Tommy and Dick, Flip, Sonny et al, but sexy was about the last thing you had going on. Tom started every single show with his signature song, It’s Not Unusual. It was give the people what they want, and we wanted it. His dancing was more like dipping and grooving, in a sultry yet not terribly rhythmic kind of way. (Tight pants cover a multitude of sins, so to speak.) Oh, and Tom was cut, back in the day when most men were lightly toned and muscle definition was left for body builders. As if that’s not enough, there were crazy talented guests like Stevie Wonder, Peter Sellers, Ella Fitzgerald, George Carlin, Aretha Franklin, The Who and Janis Joplin (on my honor, Pearl crooned with The Voice) on his show every week.
Click here to (more…)
According to Praise and Blame. producer Ethan Johns, “Tom Jones is….something to behold.”
There have been a couple of minutes added to the video that Tom and Johns made about recording the CD.
In it, you’ll hear a snippet of Tom singing Billy Joe Shaver’s If I Give My Soul. They also discuss the meaning of lyrics, the choice of songs and Tom talks about what the tracks on the CD mean to him. It’s good stuff and:
You can watch it in the TJI.com Video Library.
The good people at Absolute Radio contacted TJI and requested that their comparatively brief video be embedded in the site. So…
For the link to the expanded video and two that will get you to both posted versions of Sir Tom Jones on Absolute Radio click here (more…)
Don’t know if it’s the Royal Mail or Townsend Records but today — today! — I received a single of What Good Am I?/Burning Hell from a friend in the UK who had sent it as a surprise. That is, from my experience with the Royal Mail extraordinary, as it was released only Monday. (I assume Townsend sent them out early…)
In the early days....perhaps still with The Squires
Anyway, it sounds great on the turntable.
Amazon in the US is also carrying it to be delivered after the July 27 release date. It’s on Lost HIghway, a Universal label in Nashville. I believe it’s the single, but the site isn’t clear. Here’s what amazon.com says:
Editorial Reviews
From the Artist
“I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved here,” he continues, “It’s such a natural, honest record. And it’s a record that makes you think.”
Product Description
“We wanted to go back to basics, go back to the source, it was just me singing live with a rhythm section – no overdubbing, no gimmicks, no complicated horn and string arrangements, just get the song down in an entire take, capture the meaning of the song, its spirituality, its life, and capture that moment, right there. And I think that’s what we’ve done,” says Tom Jones, the veteran singer from Wales, who turns 70 this year and who has just completed Praise and Blame24 Hours and quite simply his finest work to date.
It is a truly remarkable record, one that captures the Tom Jones who listened to Mahalia Jackson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe on the radio as a child growing up, who thought gospel music was “just like rock’n'roll, every bit as exciting but with deeper lyrics”, the Tom Jones who belted out The Lord’s Prayer as a jubilatory spiritual in school assembly, “because that was the only way I knew how to sing it, it was natural for me.”
This is Tom Jones going back to his roots on an album of gospel, blues, traditional and country songs, wearing his heart on his sleeve, emotionally raw and true.
Recording with producer Ethan Johns (Kings Of Leon, Ray LaMontagne, Paolo Nutini, Laura Marling) at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in the little village of Box in Wiltshire, coaxed the most exhilarating performances out of the singer.
With musicians including steel guitarist BJ Cole, keyboardist Booker T Jones (of Memphis soul legends Booker T and the MGs), Hammond organist Chris Holland and background vocalists Gillian Welsh, Alison Pierce, Dave Rawlings and Orin Waters at hand, Tom has quite simply delivered his tour de force. It’s him bearing his soul, singing from the heart, telling it like it is.
And, Amazon.co.uk is touting a “reissue” of Reload, the oh-so-important 1999 CD that sold so well in the UK and Europe (wasn’t released in the USA.) Anyway, it may be a reissue, but it carries an old date and there’s nothing new on it. This time, rather than by Gut Records, it’s released on the Spectrum label.
To hear Tom and The Squires performing Little By Little live, click here.
As usual, if you cannot play it, drop me a line using the “Contact TJI” link at the bottom right and I’ll email it to you.
Thanks, AB
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