Tom Jones International

Tom finished his run at the MGM Wednesday night — with a sold out show! That bodes well for his return. Now, it is only a rumor — and remains a rumor until tickets go on sale and/or it is confirmed on the official site — but lots of people who might know are saying Sir Tom will be back in early November. But, please remember, rumors are not confirmed. If and it is confirmed, a rumor becomes fact. Until then, don’t do anything — like make reservations.

To give everyone who was in Las Vegas a chance to travel home, TJI will ask everyone’s opinion of the Las Vegas experience this time in a few days. Please hold your opinion until then.

At the bottom of this post is a rather refreshing radio interview recorded weeks ago but broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Monday, August 16. Host Janice Long and Sir Tom talk about his new album (of course) and he talks more than usual about his management team — son and daughter-in-law Mark and Donna Woodward. There’s only a little bit but of fun made of Americans and Long does note that older performers are treated somewhat better in the US than in the UK. That was a surprise.

Praise & Blame | Tom Jones
(3.5 out of 5)

by Christopher Toh/05:55 AM Aug 19, 2010/TodayOnline (Singapore)

SO THE dude didn’t get to play in Singapore. But perhaps this album might assuage the fans’ feelings a little. Unlike some of Tom Jones’ recent recordings, this one is actually free of a lot of production pomp.

For one thing, the band plays live – just like in the good old days – and you can’t help but picture Tom and the band just standing or sitting in a circle in the studio, egging each other on with their performances.

Sure, those in the know will probably compare this to Johnny Cash’s latter day American recordings, especially on The Man Comes Around – both have stripped down arrangements, both are filled with gospel-tinged blues-based styles. And on the album opener What Good Am I?, he also lets his bass tone growl menacingly, just like Cash.

But it’s exactly what makes the album more listenable than some of his previous offerings. The raw delivery has Tom Jones giving a gutsy take on all the songs, although it’s on the faster tracks like Don’t Knock, Lord Help and Burning Hell that Jones allows his vocals to shine.

However, this album isn’t for everybody, and, yes, if you’re not in the mood, this album can be a chore to sit through. While there are some gritty performances, some of the other tracks come across as too lightweight, with not enough gravitas to make it work. Nevertheless, it’s still a sign that the dude isn’t about to hang up his mic just yet.

You’ll find the 28+ minute radio interview it in the TJI.com Video Library. Please note that the very end of Burning Hell which comes at the very end of the interview, is cut off. Sorry but, since the song is so readily available, I chose not to take the time to go back and redo it. Surely you understand. BTW: The program is referred to (but left unexplained) in several places as the “Maida Vale,” the section of West London where those studios are located (and where at least one Agatha Christie novel was set).

Of course, this isn’t official until you see it on the official site. The Carrow Road Stadium, home to the Norwich City Football Club will feature a Tom Jones concert on June 5. The Stadium has a seating capacity of 26,018. Of course, that’s for a game. A concert set-up could be different. Norwich is northeast of London (115-122 miles/185-196 K) depending upon the route you choose. There is a hotel on the stadium grounds.

In a local news story, journalist Mark NIcholls writes:
Tom Jones to perform at Carrow Road

Singing superstar Tom Jones is to perform at Norwich City’s Carrow Road stadium.

The Welsh legend will appear on June 5 and his appearance follows that of Elton John in 2005 and George Michael in 2007.

Norwich City joint-majority shareholder Delia Smith expressed the delight of everyone at the club that the world-famous singer is coming to Norfolk.

She said: “It’s fantastic news that someone of Sir Tom Jones’ calibre is coming to perform at our stadium. He’s one of pop’s consummate all-round performers and always gives a great live show.

“As my mum and my husband are both Welsh they are especially delighted and we can’t wait to welcome him to the green, green grass of Carrow Road”

With a five-decade career and a string of worldwide smash hits, Tom is now thoroughly enjoying bringing a show that presents repertoire from the 60s to the present day to audiences in a variety of venues across the world.

Tickets go on sale at 9am on Wednesday , priced from £40 and can be booked through www.seetickets.com or by calling 0844 826 1902 (tickets subject to a booking fee).

Some brass for a Sunday morning: The Pärnu Music School Brass Band ( Pärnu Muusikakooli puhkpilliorkester) in Estonia performs the music of Tom Jones. It’s posted in two parts.here and here.

If you missed any of the posts below — including the Question of the Month — check ‘em out. Some fun video from Tom and Robbie Wiliams.

If you’re seeing Tom at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, please send share your experience with fans of TJI. Just send a review using the “Contact TJI” link on the lower right of any page. Thanks in advance!

On January 24, TJI reported that any dates for Tom at MGM in May are very tentative. The venue had him potentially there May 13 through the 26. We heard at the time that it might not happen. His official site confirmed that it won’t — on those days. Other sources say he will be here sometime in May. We don’t know about that, but TJI is fairly certain that August will happen.

Now, for our Rumor or Reality Department: There are many possible reasons for this scheduling question. In no particular order, TJI has been told by people in- and outside of the US — Again! It’s not official until it’s on Tom’s official site! — that there is a new CD to be released in May/springtime. (thus far without a contribution from The Killers). And, remember, Tom will celebrate his 70th birthday early in June. Thus it is quite likely that he’ll (1) be promoting new product in May (whether it helps overall sales or not, experience has shown us new product always gets promoted first and most in Europe and that leaves us honestly and simply grateful when new product even gets released here) and (2) perhaps there’ll be a big birthday bash as there was for his 65th. So, stay tuned and, hopefully we’ll soon get some news about something.

Rumor or Reality? TJI has heard that Tom will be at the MGM Grand for one week in January — the 21 through 27. Tickets are NOT on sale yet and, until you see them on the MGM Grand’s Hollywood Theatre website don’t bother calling. Just check each day and, remember, until tickets go on sale, this is just conjecture — or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information. It is not fact until tickets are on sale and/or it’s on the official site. Please, don’t make any definite plans until then.

A TJI Fan Calendar Note: I was pretty amazed/disappointed/amused yesterday when I got a note from someone explaining that she is going to “boycott” the calendar this year because of something Tom’s management — and, by extension, she implied, Tom himself — did that annoys her.

What she claims they’ve done (which they haven’t) isn’t the issue. The issue is that, for some reason, she believes that this site has any affiliation with anything official. I wrote back to her making it clear that this site is totally and completely independent. I do not get any kind of compensation from Tom Jones Enterprises or Valley Music. So, by expressing her displeasure in this manner she hurts only me.

I understand the economy, believe me. And, if you’d like a calendar but cannot afford one, email me and we’ll work it out. But the calendar is the only way by which I seek financial support for the site. Some people have very kindly used the “donate” button to send a contribution and that’s great. But it is the calendar that is done specifically to meet expenses.

So, please, understand that I am not the person to contact if you want a decision made about anything, unless it’s a decision about this website. For me to do this site and the calendar takes an incredible amount of time and thought. (This woman who wrote also said she appreciates the work I “and the others” do. There are no “others,” just some wonderful “Friends Through Tom” who help when it’s needed and have helped for three years or so) I am not asking for charity but, if you are visiting the site with any regularity (as this woman says she does) then please consider supporting it. To those of you who already have, my deep appreciation.

(And, by the way, I was just loaned a treasure trove of photos from the 70s that I’d bet you’ve never seen. Many will be in this year’s calendar. And a real pro worked on the cover photo Wednesday night and it is simply unbelievable!)

—Thanks, Ellen

Thanks for listening. Now, here’s Cristiano’s brief review of Milano. The photos are his, too.

People! I’d like to say one thing: Have you ever seen a theatre like The Arcimboldi? Three times bigger than the Hollywood Theatre at MGM Grand, upside down? Well, I’ve witnessed that!!! Tom was in a very good shape last Monday, trust me. If you have seen him at the MGM, like me….well forget what you believe to have seen… He was like Superman! He sings, dances, runs and jumps like an excited kid!

During last songs fans in the theatre were crazy — standing up from their seats and dancing, running under the stage. Tom jumped down to stay closer to his crowd…It’s been amazing. There were a lot of young people who used to sing his songs=2C even younger than me (and I’m 29). The set list was the same as at the other concerts. The only song missing was I’m Alive.

If true, this story from The Sunwould be so much fun and — best of all for so many of us — the show is seen on BBC America. Now, we knew a British woman — clearly with no sense of humour (well, she is a Brit so I put the “u” in) — who said the show is “just nonsense.” Luckily, knowing her total lack of humor, I watched it last season and it is funny. Sure, the title characters are not original, but they’re the centerpiece around which the good stuff, the interesting characters like Bryn and Nessa, revolve. And, that suggestion for a role would be kind of funny, wouldn’t it?

It’s Gavin & Stacey.. and Tom

IN the words of Nessa from Gavin & Stacey — oh, oh, what’s occurring? The answer is show bosses are busy creating a new character in the series for TOM JONES.

The crooner has been lined up for a cameo alongside MATT HORNE and JAMES CORDEN.

Tom scored a No1 for Comic Relief after appearing with cast members on the hit single Islands In The Stream — and now the G&S team want him to put in a proper star appearance on TV.

Tom said: “They want me to be on the show. I know the guys, James and Matt, and they are talking about what they can do.

“They have characters in the show already so they have to think of the right one for me. I love comedy and jokes.”

Most of all, Tom — busy preparing to belt out hits like It’s Not Unusual on tour later this year — is pleased Gavin & Stacey has put Wales on the TV map.

He added: “For years its been Coronation Street for the North and EastEnders for the South but this is the first hit programme with Welsh people in it.”

Maybe he could play Nessa’s sugar daddy?

Tom will wrap up his European tour at Wembley Arena on October 24.

Other dates in the United Kingdom: Cardiff: October 9; Newcastle, October 13; Newcastle, October 14; Manchester, October 16; Liverpool, October 17; Birmingham, October 18; Bournemouth, October 20; Brighton, October 23.

Click here to join LiveNation UK’s weekly mailing list and to get the password for presales. The sale dates on LiveNation’s website seem to differ from those printed on Tom’s website, so be sure to check carefully and, perhaps, call the venues.

Tom will be at Ahoy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on October 6. So happy for the fans we know there (and, of course, those we don’t)!

May 6 2009 by Ray Marshall, Evening Chronicle

IT’S not every day you discover a legend, but comedian Bobby Pattinson did — way back in 1963.

Superstar Tom Jones will appear at the Metro Radio Arena this October, but it was in the early 1960s that Bobby Pattinson first witnessed this unique, but then little known Welsh singer in action.

Bobby was topping the bill for a 10-day run of club shows in South Wales and was told by agent Jack Philips that he would appear with a great singer and his band – called Tommy Scott and the Senators.

Having heard so much about him Bobby made a point of catching him perform at a different club.

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Another note on the Comic Relief video: Forgot to mention that when Tom stops his limo in the desert to pick up Bryn and Nessa, rolls down the window (photo) and says, “What’s occurin’,” he was quoting a popular phrase from Gavin and Stacey.

This article is by George Varga at creators syndicate, a business that supplies web and newspaper content. Even though it says at one point he was interviewed from his home in Beverly Hills, if you’ve read all the recent stuff that’s been posted here, it’s difficult to tell if it’s a real, new interview or pieced together from others or if the writer got a few minutes on the phone and filled in the rest — which, unless Tom reads from a script and says the exact same thing word-for-word every single time could be what happened. The bit about playing smaller venues is new. Once again, when asked about his hair, Tom says that at the MGM in January, “I looked at the people in the front row, and they were staring when I first walked out on stage,” he said. “Then, they were saying: ‘We love the way you look, Tom. You look great.’ I haven’t dyed it since.” As noted: word-for-word. But, from comments posted here and in emails we know that clearly lots of fans agree with the writer and hope he adds Sugar Daddy to the show.

Tom Jones is Back Better than Ever with a New CD

Tom Jones hasn’t quite done it all, but this former ditchdigger with the volcanic voice isn’t done yet.

Born in the Welsh town of Pontypridd, Jones has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth, appeared on The Simpsons (as himself) and duetted on his albums with such diverse musical admirers as Portishead, Van Morrison, The Pretenders, Tori Amos and Barenaked Ladies.

A former pal of both Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, he has also collaborated with Tina Turner and Janis Joplin, co-headlined with PJ Harvey and Lou Reed at England’s famed Glastonbury Festival and belted out the seductive Randy Newman song You Can Leave Your Hat On during a very revealing scene in the 1997 movie The Full Monty.

Jones, who scored the first of his 19 successive U.S. Top 40 hits in 1965 with It’s Not Unusual, is also a consistently reliable concert attraction. Jones even plays at smaller venues like the intimate Belly Up Tavern in San Diego.

“This tour is to showcase 24 Hours, my new CD, and we think it’s good for us to gauge the reaction to the new songs in smaller places,” said Jones, whose 2000 album, “Reload,” sold more than 5 million copies despite never being released in the United States. “You get a better idea about the songs and the way they are coming across.”

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Two more venues have announced Tom Jones concerts in July. Remember, it’s not official until you read it on Tom’s official site. You may, however, want to buy tickets when they go on sale. Just in case, you know?

Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, Friday, July 25. Tckets go on sale March 16, 10 a.m. EDT; There is a Citi presale beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11, 10 am EDT

Tom will be back at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA, on Wednesday, July 29, 8 pm EDT. To get the best tickets via member-only presale you, naturally, have to join. The least expensive membership is $65. It’s a terrific, historic venue, “America’s National Park for the Performing Arts.” The show will be announced to the public and tickets will go on sale later this month.

Be sure you haven’t missed the audio clip from Tom’s recording with Tower of Power. It was posted yesterday below the Ticketmaster post. And don’t forget to watch Tom with “the ladies” on The View Wednesday morning.

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For Welsh crooner, it’s still not unusual

At 68, Tom Jones still trying new things in the music biz

When it comes to singing, it’s no exaggeration to say that few can match the Welsh.

“It’s something in the language,” muses one of the most famous Welsh vocalists, veteran pop idol Tom Jones. “It’s a tradition: the male voice choirs; the singing room in the pubs. All you needed was a piano and someone to play it. It’s the cheapest way to hear music,” he adds.

Since the mid ’60s, the 68-year-old has belted out such memorable songs as It’s Not Unusual — “The most important song; my first hit.” — and What’s New Pussycat? — “Burt Bach­arach told me, ‘It’s a nutty song for a nutty movie.’”

In later years, Jones notched up iconic covers like the kitsch version of Prince’s Kiss, which revitalized his career in the ’80s. His latest album, last fall’s 24 Hours,” includes the left-field choice of Bruce Springsteen’s lesser-traveled “The Hitter.” The upbeat new record paired Jones with London-based producers Future Cut (Lily Allen, Katy Perry), who sampled his older song I’ll Never Let You Go for the newly written If He Should Ever Leave You. However, the disc includes a fresh new songwriting voice: his own. For the first time, Jones is co-credited as a songwriter. This late-life writing foray wasn’t a need for reflection, though. It was a necessity.

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Promoters at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights, MI, say Tom will be there this summer. Their website is way behind and no date was given. If it is true, however, look for him there in early August.

Remember: Nothing’s official until you see it on Tom’s official site.

If you missed it, check the post below for Tom’s latest UK interview.