Tom Jones International

Tom Jones Fansite

What’s New, Pussycat?

Here’s where all the critical reviews of Tom’s music — the new stuff and, if we can find any — older recordings.

An Odd Word On Latitude; A TJ Interview; “P & B” Reviews, With The First From A Major US Newspaper; LIsten To Clips From The Entire CD; No Killers?

From a Latitude Festival rundown, posted onBeehivecity.com is the strange bit by Amy West but I guess it proves the old saw, “All’s well that ends well.”

Tom Jones kicked started Sunday’s schedule with a secret set to a half-empty stage. He was typically cheeky but borderline creepy when banging on about his sexy young backing singers being sisters. He then waved to his son off-stage, saying they’re often mistaken for brothers because he was only 16 when conceived, then adding “that ’s Wales for you”. Singing only from his new album out next Monday, Tom received a mixed reception and replied “yeah later” on hearing “Sex Bomb” repeatedly yelled at him. Although I knew none of the songs, I was moved to tears by the sincerity in his deep rich vibrato. Johnny Cash fans eat your heart out.


From DrownedinSound.com, is a new interview below. (Charles Bukowski, mentioned several times, was an American writer who lived in LA. Time called him the “laureate of American lowlife.” He wrote a poem called Who In the Hell Is Tom Jones? You can google it but it’s rather unpleasant.

By Kevin Perry/July 20, 2010, drownedinsound.com

‘Who in the hell is Tom Jones?’ spat Charles Bukowski. It’s a good question. The Tom Jones he wrote about in Hollywood is a slick Vegas showman, “his shirt is open and the black hairs on his chest show. The hairs are sweating.” The Tom Jones I meet is a white-haired Welshman about to release an album of blues and gospel so out of character that the vice-president of his own record label called it a “sick joke”. So just who in the hell does Tom Jones think he is?

He was billed alongside The Beatles and The Stones, partied with Elvis and Sinatra and dueted with everyone from Janis Joplin to Ray Charles, but in the popular imagination he’s festooned with knickers, his career built on sex appeal. Now, on Praise & Blame, he’s traded sex for death. There is a lot of mortality on Praise & Blame, and a lot of God. What’s happening here, Mr Jones? He looks at me and turns his palms towards me. “Time’s getting shorter,” he says.

“Now that I’m seventy, I know I haven’t got as much time left as I did when I was thirty, or forty, or fifty, or sixty. I still want to record as much as I can, but when you don’t have that much time left you think about it more.” Age has given him a sense of urgency, I suggest. “Exactly! You think, let’s knuckle down and let’s do some stuff that I want to do.”

It turns out that what Tom Jones wants to do is cover Bob Dylan and John Lee Hooker and a host of standards drawn from the deep well of the American South. “I’d heard a lot of them before, from different artists. I knew them. Run On, I knew the Elvis Presley version. We tried it in the same key as he did it in, but I sounded too much like him. I’m not going to play it if we’re not doing anything differently, so we put it in a higher key.”

For the rest of this interview, the NY Daily News review, clips from every track on P & B and a word on the alleged collaboration with The Killers, click here to (more…)

Two Videos; Three Articles: A Rave From A Fan; A “Back To His Roots” Article; Another Lukewarm Review From Scotland

As noted in the comment section, Tom’s official site is running a contest. The prize is a meet-and-greet and an autographed Praise and Blame CD. Entrants must answer a question corrctly and th winner’s name will be drawn. Contest closes midnight August 1. to enter, go here. Contest open to UK residents only.(Be nice if one were run also in the USA where the CD is being released Tuesday.)

A US TV note: Set your DVRs. No, it’s not Tom but, tonight, Tuesday, July 20, one of Jay Leno’s guests on The Tonight Show is a guy named Lior Suchard. He is a mentalist whom I met when he was here opening for Joan Rivers. Lior is amazing. I”ve seen him — literally — bend a fork just by looking at it. He bent a quarter I was holding in my closed hand. He guess the name of the person of whom I was thinking. I was in Las Vegas and she in New York, but he guessed it. He is also a very nice guy. At the time I wrote about him. You can check out my article here. And, if you don’t stay awake that late, do record the show. You’ll enjoy it.

Bono and :Brandon Flowers, MGM Grand Las Vegas, October, 2005

An old news story is being revived by NME. They’re saying again that:

Tom Jones: ‘I’m going to record with The Killers’

‘We share a Las Vegas connection’, singer tells NME

Tom Jones and The Killers have been in talks regarding a potential future collaboration, the singer has told NME.

Speaking backstage at the weekend’s (July 16-18) Latitude Festival, Jones said he was a big fan of the Las Vegas band and the feeling is apparently mutual.

“I’ve spoken to Brandon Flowers,” explained Jones, who recently released his more stripped-down ‘Praise And Blame’ album. “He said he admired what I’d done in my career. Theres a connection there because he’s from Las Vegas, and of course I’ve performed there so many times over the years.”

There is no fixed release date for the planned collaboration, but Jones said it would definitely happen as soon as they had found a song they were happy with.

“The material has to be right,” said the singer. “That’s always been my main concern, with whichever people I’ve worked with.”

Jones has a reputation for surprising fans with unexpected collaborations. His career revival in recent years was kickstarted by 1999′s ‘Reload’, an album of cover versions on which he dueted with the likes of The Cardigans’ Nina Persson and Kelly Jones of Stereophonics.

Tom Jones kicked off the 2010 Latitude Festival, playing an intimate set on the eve of the event (July 15), before returning for a bigger slot yesterday (18).

And, there’s video of a news story about the potential teaming. You can watch it here.

Please note that the photo above right, of Bono and the Killers’ Brandon Flowers appeared as part of a feature on Flowers in Rolling Stone. Why is it posted here? Well, I could stretch a point and say that Bono and Tom are friends. But I’ll be honest. The photo was taken by my daughter, Ruth. Just a proud mom.

CD Reviews:

First up is a review from ardent TJ fan Joe Murray.

Tom Jones Hits The Mark With New Gospel/Blues Album

By JOE MURRAY/Monday, July 19, 2010/The Bulletin

At a time when most entertainers of his generation have placed their careers on cruise control and resigned themselves to singing their greatest hits in Vegas-esque lounges, Sir Tom Jones is, once again, proving to audiences why he has remained a show biz legend for close to half a century.

For the rest of this review, the “Back To His Roots” article, another review and video from the Latitude Festival, click here to (more…)

A Bit About The Latitude Festival; Slooooow TJ News Day In Wales = 2 Non-Stories; And! A New TJI Flickr Set

First, a note from The Independent’s Holly Williams about Sir Tom’s set at the Latitude Festival: “Sunday starts with a special performance from Tom Jones. That voice has certainly aged well, bringing a gravelly grandeur to his new, religion-soaked rhythm’n'blues. We’re warned he’s going to play his new album, but think surely they’ll be some hits too. Nope – everything’s new with this pussycat. “ Not a review but, surely, there’ll be more for tomorrow’s TJI post. (And, is harbinger of August’s Las Vegas shows?)

There are two absolutely non-news stories in yesterday’s (July 18) Welsh press. The first “reveals” that Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is a fan of Tom Jones.

A photographer says in 2008, when he told the PM about a project he’s doing of portraits of famous Welsh people that will be in an exhibit that will tour the USA, he mentioned that he’d reached out to Sir Tom to be part of it. Hearing that, the Blairs asked if the singer could come to their country house so the couple could meet him.. The photog tried, reaching out to “Tom’s agent,” but Blair was called away so it never happened. Wouldn’t you think that someone of Blair’s stature could easily meet Sir Tom Jones?

The second story breathlessly reports that:

Welsh-engineered throat pastilles keep Sir Tom’s voice pristine

Jul 18 2010 by David Owens, Wales On Sunday

SIR Tom Jones has revealed he has a pioneering 19th-century Welsh surgeon and his unique throat pastilles to thank for keeping his extraordinary voice in pristine condition throughout four decades as a singing superstar.

It’s not only 70-year-old Sir Tom who swears by the medicine man’s long-lasting creation – most of Wales’ major singing stars never leave home without them too.
vocalzone

In testimonies on the Vocalzone website, Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones, Katherine Jenkins, Cerys Matthews, Lostprophets’ Ian Watkins and The Last Republic’s Johnnie Owen all sing the praises of the little black pastille.

They’re not alone. Vocalzone has become the music industry’s best hidden secret – stars like Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Jay-z, Jarvis Cocker, Bette Midler, David Bowie and Robbie Williams also order regular supplies from the manufacturer Kestrel Medical Ltd, a small Devon-based, family-run company.

Speaking exclusively to Wales on Sunday, Sir Tom – who releases his new album Praise & Blame on July 26 – revealed: “I’ve been using these things since the ’60s. An old singer in the Welsh clubs told me about them.

“The company sent me a letter last year saying did I know it was invented by a Welsh ear nose and throat doctor. He had a practice in London but he came from West Wales.

“Apparently, he looked after Caruso. When I first bought these things they used to come in a tin and they had on there ‘made for one man – Caruso’.

“They send me free boxes anyway so that’s always handy!”

William Lloyd, who was born in 1872 and died aged 73, was an ear nose and throat specialist at The London Hospital. He was originally from Carmarthen and invented Vocalzone in the early 1900s especially for Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, then the biggest star on the planet.

For the rest of the Vocalzone stuff and for a link to — and description of — TJIs new flicker set, click here to (more…)

Quick Post For Sunday: Two Very Strongly Positive Reviews. It Keeps Getting Better!

Hi: The reason this is a “quick post” is that I — along with about 1,800 other people — had an extraordinary musical experience today. It is of special interest to Elvis fans and to fans who appreciate The King’s influence on The Knight. Hopefully more tomorrow. — Ellen


Tom Jones: Singing gospels!
18 Jul 2010, 0153 hrs IST,REUTERS

When Island Records recently asked Tom Jones to do a Christmas album, he balked at the idea, opting for a different, spiritual path.

On Jones’ 36th studio album, Praise & Blame,Praise & Blame, Jones teamed with producer Ethan Johns (Kings of Leon, Ryan Adams), who helped assemble arrangements and Jones’ backing band. Included are Americana act Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and Booker T. Jones of Booker T and the MGs.

Along with traditional covers, Jones tackles Bob Dylan’s What Good Am I?, John Lee Hooker’s Burning Hell and Billy Joe Shaver’s If I Give My Soul. Changing things up musically is not a new concept for Jones. In recent years, he’s been quite successful in trying out different forms and collaborations. Reload (1999) paired Jones with many contemporary artists such as the Cardigans, Robbie Williams and Portishead. It has sold 5 million copies worldwide, but was never made available in the United States. Mr. Jones (2002) was another completely different direction, where Jones teamed up with Wyclef Jean for an album of modern R&B. Compared to those recent releases, Praise & Blame is quite spare, and Jones said he tested his voice in different keys to find out which was more natural sounding.

“It was like being in a rehearsal hall, when I started first off and had a rhythm section in Wales and we were playing clubs and stuff,” he said. “That was the atmosphere. It wasn’t like being in a recording studio at all.” Spare, spiritual reinventions of aging singers isn’t necessarily a new trend. Country legend Johnny Cash found late career success with his “American Recordings” series, which paired his voice with mainly an acoustic guitar as he worked through melancholy cover tunes.

In 2005, Neil Diamond released 12 Songs, a batch of sparsely recorded originals, which ended up being one of his most critically acclaimed albums of his career.

Tom Jones returns to his roots – and it’s astonishing

Ben East/Last Updated: July 17. 2010 7:55PM UAE / July 17. 2010 3:55PM GMT/The National (Abu Dhabi)

The veteran singer Tom Jones reinvents himself on his new album, Praise & Blame.

It is difficult, these days, to be genuinely astonished by new music. But every so often there’s a song that stops you in your tracks. And for many in the past few weeks it’s been the sound of a bleakly soulful baritone against a funereal drum. It sounds like something approaching the elegiac tone of Johnny Cash in the twilight of his life, but in the intermittent soaring of the vocal, there’s something comfortingly familiar.

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4 Latitude Festival Articles: Sir Tom Will Do Another Show There On Sunday


Tom Jones’ intimate gig sparks crowd chaos on eve of Latitude Festival

Fans turned away from midnight gig in the woods

July 16, 2010 |NME

The 2010 Latitude Festival got off to a chaotic start last night (July 15) as Tom Jones’ intimate gig in the woods drew a crowd of thousands, causing the area to be closed and large numbers of fans to be turned away.

Jones was showcasing his new album of blues and gospel songs, ‘Praise And Blame’, though many fans were clearly expecting a hits set, singing It’s Not Unusual and What’s New Pussycat? while waiting for the singer to arrive.

Such was the demand to see the singer, who played on the eve of the main musical entertainment kicking off, hundreds were unable to get near the stage, with many stuck on the bridge that provided access to the woodland arenas.

Taking the stage half an hour late at 12.30am (BST), Jones performed his new album in sequence, dressed all in black and backed by a four-piece band, including producer Ethan Johns on guitar.

Jones had been nervous before the show, telling NME: “This is a new experience for me. I’m known as a showman, so when you play unfamiliar material, you’re never sure how the crowd will react.”

In the event the crowd responded well to the new songs, though there were repeated, bellowed requests for more familiar material, in particular Jones’ 1999 hit ‘Sex Bomb’.

At the end of the gig, when it became clear there would be no encore of hits, some low-level booing could be heard, though this turned to cheers when it was announced the singer would return to play the festival’s Obelisk Stage on Sunday (July 18).

Tom Jones played:
What Good Am I?, Lord Help, Did Trouble Me, Strange Things Burning Hell, If I Give My Soul, Don’t Knock,Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Didn’t It Rain, Aint’ No Grave, Run On, Praise And Blame

However, the earlier crowd problems cast a shadow over the performance. Fans who’d been turned away were angry with organisers. Fran Rose, 18, from Ipswich told NME: “This was a nightmare. We got caught in a human crush on the bridge and there was no crowd control. Young kids in the crowd were really scared, someone could have got hurt.”

Tom Martin, 21, from London, added: “What’s the point in putting an artist on a stage where no-one can see him? They must have known loads of people would want to see Tom Jones. It’s not rocket science.”

For the other three articles and another photo, click here to (more…)

A Fine, Analylitical Interview With Sir Tom; A Review & The “Did Trouble Me” Video


Tom Jones: back to his bluesy roots
A revitalised Tom Jones – now 70 – talks to Andrew Perry .

Published: 10:12AM BST 15 Jul 2010/The Telegraph

Tom Jones, the hip-thrusting, turbo-tonsilled lothario from the Welsh Valleys, is going through the umpteenth makeover of his 50-year singing career. With songs such as It’s Not Unusual and What’s New Pussycat?, he was the benign, care-free face of the Swinging Sixties. He soon mutated into a Las Vegas crooner, and then a country singer, before remodelling himself in the late Eighties as a “disco grandad”, whom neither time nor passing trends could silence.

Subsequently, Jones has remained a top-flight performer, a perennial target for the underwear of his ardent female fanbase. In 2006, he was knighted by the Queen, but his latterday recordings have by and large been frustratingly weak for a singer with such heavyweight vocal qualities. Released in 2008, the 24 Hours album was high-tech and pop, but not in the sense of popular – it failed to make the Top 30.

Jones’s latest album could hardly contrast more starkly with its predecessor. Entitled Praise & Blame, it’s a sparsely-accompanied, back-to-basics collection, in the gospel idiom of the American South. Some songs are sombre, contemplative, country-tinged; others are fiery, rollicking, blues-drenched; all are spiritually profound, commensurate with Jones’s advanced stage in life, and all, at long last, put his boundlessly capable tenor voice to good use.

For the rest of this interview, a brief review of the single What Good Am I?/Burning Hell, and the video of Did Trouble Me, click here to (more…)

A Short Day Today: A Nice Short Review & A Nice Short Video


Looking for photos, videos, reports of the Latitude appearance and, also, radio interviews. If you find/have, please email TJI.

The short review below is from someone whose beta site isn’t quite completed. But he has a show on Sirius and XM satellite radio and his mission is to bring indie, unusual music in just about any genre to center stage. He’s got nice words for for Sir Tom:

New Song : Tom Jones : What Good Am I? (Bob Dylan cover)

MyOldKentuckyBlog/July 14, 2010/unsigned review

Tom Jones is The Man. Not only is there a good chance he has at least one pair of your mom’s panties in his vast collection, but he manages to maintain that gangster lean, even when he’s singing about getting right with The Lord. And believe me, Tom Jones is getting plenty right on Praise & Blame. Under the guidance of producer/guitarist Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Kings Of Leon, The Jayhawks), Jones has returned to his spiritual and musical roots, much like Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond did at the urging of Rick Rubin. After pouring over hundreds of songs, Johns and Jones pared it down to eleven that depict “the universal journey of a man through the rites of passage. ” You can relate, right? Anyway, Johns then piled-on by enlisting some top-shelf talent, including Gillian Welch, David Rawlings and the legendary Booker T. Jones. What’s not to like about that?

The screen shot above is from a short video “exclusive” on NME.com.

In the video — shot with other, similar ones in the recording studio — Sir Tom and producer Ethan Johns talk about the music on Praise and Blame, briefly discussing what it means and Johns talks about Sir Tom and singing.

Fabulous Review Of “Praise And Blame;” Video: Sir Tom On “Friday Night With Jonathan Ross”

Lots of publications — Boston Globe, Billboard and Billboardbiz.com, among them — continue to carry stories on the leaked email and subsequent apology Sir Tom got. The story was also in American Songwriter.com. But, better than that story was the massively [positive four-star review of Praise and Blame. (In fact, a quick look through several other reviews revealed this to be the only work rated so highly.) Now, if Sir Tom would begin to promote the work in the USA he may have a hit CD that matches the reviews. Read the entire thing but, especially, dwell on — and, for Sir Tom’s sake, revel in — the last sentence: “…the same people who set the bar decades ago for so many of today’s acts to measure up to are still making a lot of today’s best music. Praise and Blame raises that bar just a little higher.”

Tom Jones Praise And Blame Lost Highway Rating: ★★★★☆

By Rick Moore on July 13th, 2010

It may seem a little weird to compare Tom Jones to Johnny Cash. But about ten seconds into Jones’s new Praise and Blame CD, that comparison just happens. On this excellent collection of songs examining the human condition, Jones confronts the issues of heaven and hell in a way that Cash did for much of his life, especially toward the end of it. That’s the first basis for comparison. The second basis is that, on this album, Jones and producer Ethan Johns (Kings of Leon, Ray LaMontagne) have discovered what producer Rick Rubin figured out with Cash’s American recordings, which is that less really is more. While Praise and Blame is more produced than the drumless Cash series, Johns (himself the guitar player) and Jones have stripped it down to a small group setting instead of the often hyperbolic productions that were Jones’s hallmark for years. Songs like Bob Dylan’s “What Good Am I,” Billy Joe Shaver’s “If I Give My Soul” and John Lee Hooker’s “Burning Hell” are just three of the excellent song choices on this CD that examine the life and post-life choices that we all deal with, especially as we get closer to Jones’s age (he’s 70 now, and looks as good as ever). And the final Cash comparison comes with Jones’s powerful version of “Run On,” the traditional folk spiritual that Cash cut under the title “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” on the posthumous American V recording. While Jones’s version is influenced by Chicago blues and Cash’s was acoustic guitar with an anvil sample, both performances are delivered from the gut and don’t disappear from the jukebox of the brain very soon. A lot of guys his age might seem desperate, making an album with a producer whose work is usually aimed at the college crowd. But Jones manages to sound just as current as Johns’s other clients, and could teach most of them a thing or two vocally. Jones hasn’t been this vital since he screamed “why, why, why” at Delilah over three decades ago. And with guest artists like ’60s organmeister Booker T. and Americana legends Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, Jones and Johns have made a real statement in the same way that Rubin, and of course T Bone Burnett, do almost every time they produce an album. That statement is that the same people who set the bar decades ago for so many of today’s acts to measure up to are still making a lot of today’s best music. Praise and Blame raises that bar just a little higher.


Sir Tom Jones On TV:

Sir Tom was a guest on the July 9 edition of Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. A brief clip of Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) doing a card trick in which Tom was the person who chose the card was posted on July 10. Here, in this longer segment (14 minutes-29 seconds) Tom and Ross chat and then Tom performs Burning Hell

The show will be on BBC America this Friday night, July 16.

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

Thanks, J.

Tom On The Radio Tomorrow; In The November 17 Prince’s Trust Show At RAH; & Tom Has To Deal With Kate Moss


Two Radio Shows For Sir Tom:

Tom will be interviewed tomorrow, July 14, on Kerrang! and Q Radio.

The stations announced, “Kerrang! welcomes Tom Jones.

Welsh singer Tom Jones will be visiting Birmingham based radio stations Kerrang! Radio and Q Radio tomorrow (Wednesday) to perform songs from his new album.

He’ll be recording live sessions for the Bauer stations at the Lionel Street studios.

Kerrang! and Q are the only stations he’ll perform at outside London and will be in conversation with presenter Loz Guest, talking about his 45 year career.

“In line with the magazine namesakes, Kerrang! Radio and Q Radio are focused on catering for listeners hungry for live music” says Kerrang! and Q’s James Walshe. “In a world of shrinking playlists we’re expanding ours to meet the demands of an audience who are interested in artists and bands of all kinds of genres within rock and roll and that includes artists of all eras! We’re delighted that Tom Jones has chosen to perform here at our Birmingham studios”.

Kerrang! Radio recently hosted a similar event for Paul Weller, whilst recently offering the chance for local bands to support Bon Jovi at the 02 Arena in London.

Moderator’s Note: I couldn’t find a time for the broadcasts. If you can, please email me so I can post it prominently. Thanks!


Sir Tom In Prince’s Trust 2010 Concert

It was announced Monday on Tom’s official site that he will perform in the Prince’s Trust charity concert at Royal Albert Hall, Wednesday, November 17, 7:30 pm.

In the talent line-up thus far are: Eric Clapton, Jamie Cullum, Jools Holland, Tom Jones, Mark King, Brian May, Paolo Nutini, Status Quo, Roger Taylor, Midge Ure and more artists to be announced. Note that Ethan Johns, producer of Praise and Blame has also produced Paolo Nutini.

Hosted by the Rob Brydon, Dame Edna Everage and Alistair McGowan. Even outside of the UK we know Rob Brydon and Dame Edna. McGowan is a British impressionist. With just the first two hosting it should be a tremendously funny, tremendously entertaining evening.

Funds raised from this special concert will go towards helping change the lives of thousands of disadvantaged young people across the UK.

Tickets for the show only range from £27.50 ($41.33) to £175 ($263)

Pre-show hospitality in Royal Albert Hall restaurant with Stalls (orchestra) seating. Includes:
• Two course set menu from a choice
• Glass of champagne on arrival
• ½ bottle of wine and water per person (white unless otherwise stated)
• Best Stalls seat
£300 per person (minimum of 2)

VIP Reception
Pre-show hospitality in Royal Albert Hall Room with Stalls seating. Includes:
• Pre-show standing reception within one of the State Rooms at the Royal Albert Hall
• Beer, wine and soft drinks available at the open bar pre-show and during interval
• Finger food and hot bowl food served among the guests
• Best Stalls or Arena seat
£290 per person (minimum of 2)

You can see a video about the Prince’s Trust here or you can read about it here.


In stupid celebrity news we have Kate Moss. The Mirror reports that at a gala for The supermodel and wannabe rocker seemed determined to hog the limelight at the Hoping Foundation charity bash for Children of Palestine on Saturday, she trashed a tambourine,

The paper said, “Fellow celebs including Tom Jones and Guy Ritchie — who had earlier tucked into hog roast * washed down with champers — looked on in amazement as Kate chucked away the broken tambourine and started dancing….

“…Giggling mischievously, Kate jumped off the stage and grabbed Tom Jones in a bear hug. She did a little dance for him before demanding he perform Sex Bomb, saying, ‘Go on Tom, it’s your turn next.’

“But Tom replied, ‘You can bid for me to sing anything, but I’m not singing that.’

“Instead he did Green Green Grass of Home with Nick Cave.”

*Pork? At a benefit for an organization that will, in turn, benefit mostly Muslim children? Hmmm. And, Kate Moss???? Guy Ritchie??? Why would they even be asked to entertain? One must feel sorry for the legitimate performers who had to endure this.

Sir Tom Jones….Still Too Young For So Much!

Interview: Tom Jones
Despite turning 70, Tom Jones insists he is still too young to quit

STILL GOING STRONG: Sir Tom just can't stop singing


By John Earls, 11/07/2010, News of the World

IT’S not unusual to be over 70 and still rocking.

At least it isn’t if you’re Tom Jones.

The white-haired hard-working pop legend even reckons he’s still TOO YOUNG to write his life story. But when he does, he admits it’ll be no holds barred… especially on his womanising days.

“An autobiography should be complete,” Sir Tom tells Rated. “And my career isn’t over yet. It’s ridiculous when singers publish their book when they’re 30 – you haven’t lived then!

“If I write my autobiography, I’d have to tell the whole truth. If I left anything out, the first thing a chat show host would ask me would be, ‘We all know you were a bit of a lad – why isn’t it in the book?’

“If I couldn’t sing properly any more, maybe then I’d sit down and write. But I’ve got a lot of singing left to do first.”

Now the man who had his first No 1 with It’s Not Unusual in 1965 is about to release the most remarkable album of his career a couple of weeks after turning 70. Praise And Blame is a collection of religious soul and gospel cover versions that the lifelong Christian feels is his best record – that’s despite David Sharpe, vice president of Tom’s new label Island, branding it “a sick joke” in an email because of its religious content.

Tom is unfazed. “Island initially wanted me to release a Christmas album – but I wanted to do something a bit deeper than that,” he says. His son Mark, who manages him, suggested doing spiritual songs. “And Island said that would be OK,” adds Tom.

Click here to (more…)