Tom Jones International

I will admit it. When it comes to press I am picky. From reading the article below, I’d guess — and I may be wrong — that the writer didn’t interview Sir Tom. Rather, it seems as if he picked quotes that were already published and retold many anecdotes. If that’s what he did, then he did an OK job, although there is stuff I’d rather had been omitted. These days, does anyone care about rehashing personal stuff? I think Tiger Woods was, finally, the straw that broke that camel’s back. Fact checking, too, was a bit lax. When did Tom sell “Dean Martin’s house” to Nicolas Cage? A decade ago? But, It is nice to see something in-depth that takes Sir Tom seriously and doesn’t make fun of Las Vegas. And, in 2005, two people I know very well had a conversation with Sir Tom about his favorite singers and the best voices around. Favorite? He said, as you might expect, Jerry Lee. Best voice? His own. And on that count his is 1,000 percent correct, isn’t he?

I can’t think of anyone around who sings better than me’ Welsh crooner Tom Jones on his latest comeback

By Jon Wilde / Daily Mail / Last updated at 10:04 PM on 28th August 2010

To experience the full force of Tom Jones’s voice, try sitting two feet away from him as he belts out the chorus to It’s Not Unusual. Tom Jones sings like other people breathe. He just can’t help himself. Mention any of his 38 Top 40 hits and he’ll generously treat you to a few bars. And, when he sings, there are no half measures – he gives it everything he’s got.

The Welsh rock star Cerys Matthews got it just about right when she said that hearing Tom sing up close was like standing in a tunnel with an express train speeding towards you. Not for nothing is he universally known as Jones The Voice.

‘I’m sure I’ve been singing from the moment I sprang out of my mother’s womb,’ he says. ‘The second I’m out of bed I’ll start singing, usually some old country song. I sing in the shower. I sing in the car. I never bloody stop.’


Jones recently celebrated his 70th birthday but the power of his voice remains undiminished.

‘Actually,’ he says, ‘I think I’m in better voice now than I ever was.’

To his astonishment, along with everyone else’s, his career continues to hit new peaks. In the past few years, and not for the first time, it was widely assumed that he’d had his day.

Despite reaching No 1 with an all-star charity version of Islands In The Stream in 2009, the hit singles were hard to come by. His new albums were struggling to reach the Top 40 and even his greatest hits compilations were performing badly. After selling 150 million records and earning a fortune of £175 million, Jones’s career seemed to be in terminal decline.

Even his record company seemed to have lost all confidence. Earlier this year, on the eve of the release of Jones’s new album, the pared-down gospel/blues of Praise & Blame, Island Records’ vice president David Sharpe sent an email to colleagues asking whether the record was some kind of sick joke.

‘Pull back this project immediately,’ he demanded, ‘or get my money back.’ The email was leaked and spread like a virus around the world. Jones was furious. But he would have the last laugh as the album was greeted by his most ecstatic reviews in years and shot up the charts to vie for a position at the top with Eminem’s Recovery.

It has proven to be his most successful release since 1999′s Reload. Naturally, he feels vindicated. ‘For a record company executive to condemn an album before anyone has heard it is the most stupid thing ever,’ says Jones.

‘This guy’s objection to it was that the songs weren’t what people would expect from Tom Jones. What exactly would people be expecting from me?

‘I’ve been releasing records for 46 years. I’ve always been into all kinds of music. Growing up, gospel music was as important to me as rock ‘n’ roll. Religion was important in those days in terms of the local community. Every Sunday I’d go to the Presbyterian chapel.

For remaining 3,094 words in this story and three more nice photos, please click here to (more…)

Thursday morning update: Hard To Handle, Too Many Lovers, Burning Hell and If I Only Knew were eliminated from Wednesday night’s show. The prevailing opinion (among fans) seems to be that the dryness got to The Voice. But he doesn’t seem ill, as TJI got an ecstatic note from a fan who met him in a restaurant. Also he ignored the pair of panties and the stuffed animal thrown onstage. (Sure hope that woman who showers the stage with all form of stuffed cats — from kitten to tiger — doesn’t do that this time if she’s here. Seems fans find it annoying even when Tom’s acknowledging this stuff, as she’s come thisclose to winging him. Well, hope all is well for the rest of the shows.

Praise & Blame not only debuted at No. 2 in the UK, it has earned the icon some of the greatest reviews of his career, with Jones pointing out that one reviewer even said he never was a fan of the Welsh singer until this album. For Jones, who grew up on gospel and says this is an album he always wanted to make but was just never allowed to, the reviews and fan response have been some of the most rewarding of his 45-year career. But at 70, Jones is reinventing himself as an elder statesman of music, a title he’s happy to take, as he shares stories of hanging with Elvis Presley, meeting the Beatles and the so much more he’s seen in his storied run.

The early reviews for the record have been phenomenal. Given this is a record you wanted to make forever, how gratifying has the initial response been? It’s great; it’s more than I expected. Some reviewers have said it’s the best thing I’ve done in 20 years, and one guy said he didn’t particularly like me before but finally I’ve recorded songs that are worthy of my voice. I knew it was going to be a good record because I knew most of the songs and I wanted to do them for a long time. And Ethan Johns, who’s a great producer, produced it, the musicians we used were great, and we did it in Real World in Wiltshire[, England], which is Peter Gabriel’s studio. So all the ingredients were there, but it really turned out better than I expected. I love the sound.

The photo at top right was taken in London a few weeks ago. It is Sir Tom with radio host Ricky Ross, who has a radio show in Scotland featuring American country and roots music. What makes it better than most is that, in talking to Sir Tom about Praise and Blame, he plays bits of the original music. So, for the rest of this interesting print interview and a top-notch 55-minute + radio interview, please click here to (more…)

Tom has hit the Billboard US charts in a huge way with Praise and Blame! The album is in five (!) separate charts! Simply amazing!

Just check it out!

He debuted at #79 Billboard 200!

He’s #4 on the European album list which is “the week’s most popular albums complied from the official sales charts of 19 European countries, ranked on a weighted-point system based on IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) World Rankings and country size.

Digital download sales are included in certain European charts provided.” This is separate from the UK chart.

And in tallying the albums that made the biggest jumps on the chart, Sir Tom is at #4, as he leapt over 121 other albums for that #79 debut.

For the other two charts and the set list from opening night, please click here to (more…)

If you haven’t done so, please answer the Question of the Month and Question of the Month Part II. They are both posted below. And, don’t forget to check out my interview with producer Ethan Johns in the Huffington Post.

Tonight is the big night in Las Vegas! After seven months or so Sir Tom Jones is back at the MGM Grand tonight for the first of 14 shows.! If you are visiting from another city/state/country, you be aware that the average temperature here is more than 100º (37º+ celsius). So, bring lots of sunblock and don’t plan to sit in the sun all day. The good news is that there are no tickets for sale for Tom’s opening night. All that’s left are casino comps (free tickets given to high rollers). Great news for him!

Pat was kind enough to send this article. It’s from 2008 but it’s also a very slow news day in TJ Land. It’s from the (rather odd, don’t you think?) series called How I Get Dressed. One might assume that everyone gets dressed one leg at a time….but….

How I get dressed
How to wear tight leather pants, by singer Tom Jones, 68

The Guardian/Adam Matera/Sunday, 10 May, 2008/
Photograph left: Christopher Owyoung /Rex Features

When I started out I’d wear a blousy, Edwardian-type shirt – a jacket was too restrictive – and tight pants. Everyone wore tight pants, but maybe not quite as tight as mine. I perspire a lot on stage, so the pants had to be black, otherwise the sweat would show. I liked to look smart on stage. But what I wore had to be practical too.

We didn’t have stylists then. You could get a shirt like mine in Carnaby Street, and the Cuban-heeled shoes were from Anello & Davide in Kensington; the Beatles wore them, too.

I remember being resident singer in a club called Beat City on Oxford Street in 1964, and the Rolling Stones were booked one night. I would always wear jeans to the venue and change when I got there. They arrived all suited up, then changed into jeans and T-shirts. And I see that with bands today. Some of them go out of their way to look scruffy. But they’re still aware of how they want to look.

I’d grown up watching black-and-white rock’n'roll movies and people like Elvis – he always wore his shirt collars up. I saw Jerry Lee Lewis in concert once and he came out in red pants and a plaid jacket, and then Gene Vincent, who would always wear black leather. Those guys had a great sense of style.

By the 70s I’d moved to Los Angeles, and by then it was all silk shirts, flared pants, platform shoes. I remember doing the cover photo for Rescue Me where I’m sat under these girls’ legs with tight jeans and my shirt open, showing off my chest and grinning. But it was all done with a sense of humour.

Once I was singing Kiss at a TV special in Cardiff and I came to the part where I do a squat, and these leather pants I was wearing split up the back. So I said: “This is for people who don’t believe I wear underwear” and bent over so you could see the red briefs I had on. I’ve stopped that move now. You can’t always count on the pants holding up.

If I’m going out around LA in the day, I’ll wear a tracksuit or something comfortable, but if I’m out in the evening I’ll dress for the occasion. I like to dress smart. Now I do have a stylist, Peter Hawker, so he’ll get suits for me – Oswald Boateng, William Hunt, Gucci – and I pick out what I want.

The first thing I had done when I started to make money was have my teeth capped ’cause they were in bad shape. Then I had my nose fixed because it was broken through all the fights I’d had. Then a lot later I had some fat taken out from under my chin – hence the goatee. I haven’t had my face pulled or anything. The guy I saw in LA said you’ve got to be careful. You want to look like you.

Every Christmas I take five weeks off and stop dyeing my hair. It used to come out as a dirty grey, but this year it was more white and it looked pretty good. So for my first engagement I tried it out and people were shouting: “You look great, Tom.” So I thought: “Thank God, now I don’t have to dye it any more.”

It is a cause for celebration! As you can see, Praise and Blame debuted on the UK charts today at #2. The BBC website had a story about Sir Tom’s hopes of being #1 being dashed — the first of many from every cheesy gossip/music/entertainment rag, one can safely bet — that they posted before the official unveiling of the chart on a weekly show. But, as the story noted, the CD is not #1 “at least for now.”

Remember, it was not Sir Tom or his management who prematurely claimed the top spot, it was journalists, record companies, chart-makers….etc. This debut on the charts is something to celebrate. It’s been a long time — too long — since we’ve seen this name on the music charts!

Yesterday, in Part Deux of Sir Tom’s interview with Bethan Elfyn (with Tom at left) on BBC Radio Wales, Sir Tom went over his essential, influential-to-his-music playlist. To many of his fans, his music choices are like great comfort food, bringing the listener the joy of good times remembered and good music heard once again. The link to the interview is at the bottom of this post.

In the interview, Sir Tom explains that, after his two weeks at the MGM Grand, he will spend the remaining four-and-a-half months of 2010 promoting Praise and Blame on TV, radio — wherever. It will be in many countries, many places. A friend of mine who books talent for a range of venues called me before the summer to tell me she’d been told by an agent that “Tom Jones is not accepting anything for the rest of the year.” She was very worried that there was something wrong. I am happy that I was correct when I assured her — based purely on intuition — that “No, nothing’s wrong, I’ll bet. He’s going to promote his new CD.”

The photo at right is of Sir Tom arriving at the Red Cross benefit in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Saturday evening. A link to more is also at the bottom of this story, just above the link to the radio interview.

I left several articles out of this post that could have been put in (if I lacked the respect or had a business partner who pushed for to include them). One is a “profile” from The Guardian. For a paper with such a fine reputation, it is a pretty appalling read — so many stupid errors that are testament to the laziness of the writer. In fact, I did something I rarely do — I wrote to the paper about it. Let’s see if there’s a correction. I’d offer a prize to everyone who catches all the mistakes, but that would be too many prizes. And, since I was writing to them, I noted that all the personal stuff that is not anyone’s business, the rumors and innuendos, etc. are unnecessary. Why cannot Sir Tom Jones, just once in his own country, be celebrated just for his voice?

In that vein, has anyone actually heard Tom Jones ask fans not to throw “knickers?” No one throws “knickers” today. If they’re throwing anything, they tend to throw thongs, scanties, undies…..just not “knickers.” There’s one chick who comes to Las Vegas from Florida and pelts Sir Tom with a large number of stuffed cats (not real ones, of course). He ignores them and, every night she’s there, she still throws them. It is obnoxious. The fans who pay attention don’t do this kind of thing and, I think, they actually look down on those who do it. But, Tom Jones asking for no knicker tossing? Hard to believe for, if there’s one thing you can count on, it is that he knows how to handle whatever occurs while he’s onstage.

For the article from Ireland, a very nice review, and links to photos and the radio interview, please click here to (more…)

A few things crossed TJI’s computer screen today that will not be posted. Among them was a really rude story from a trashy UK daily about Sir Tom’s management. It was correct in saying that Sir Tom’s son/manager Mark Woodward has done some really good things for his dad’s career. But the rest was trashy speculation that has, sadly, become typical of these rags. Remember, please don’t believe everything you read…..Also, the stalker fan chimed in with a silly comment that, naturally, didn’t get posted. I am noting that in the hope that those fans who will be in Las Vegas will decline to interact with her when she is here. She doesn’t deserve consideration from anyone.

The Word On: Praise and Blame, Tom Jones

The Friday, 30 July 2010 edition of The Independent did a rundown of some reviews of Praise and Blame

“He’s done more than shallowly recasting himself as a gospel-and-blues interpreter. He’s reached deep and tapped into the real stuff… a stark, soul-probing study in imminent mortality.” - avclub.com

“This new direction shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it somehow does. If you’ve never even considered owning a Tom Jones record before, give Praise & Blame a try. It may well surprise you.” —musicomh.com

“He’s managed to make himself something highly unusual for a man at this stage of his career: unclassifiable. Unpredictable. He’s the Lady Gaga of Elvis impersonators, at once of the moment and eternal, disposable and persistently present. And, to address that record executive’s four question marks, Tom Jones is no joke.” – npr.org

We missed two of the full reviews. The very complimentary review from National Public Radio here.

The other two are:

Tom Jones – Praise & Blame (Island) UK release date: 26 July 2010

by John Murphy /musicomh.com

Let’s call it ‘doing a Johnny Cash’. Artist of a certain age hooks up with a ‘name’ producer to record an album of stripped down cover versions, leading to both critical acclaim and a whole new audience.

For the rest of this review and the other one, please click here to (more…)

A new 30-second commercial for Praise and Blame has been unveiled in the UK.

You can watch it here. Hopefully, with the CD of all-American music doing quite well this early on, it will get the attention and promotion it merits in America.

Tom was also on BBC Radio 2 yesterday with Liza Tarbuck (with him at left).. She, interestingly, is the daughter of Jimmy Tarbuck, Sir Tom’s old friend from back in the day. The link to that 21+-minute interview is at the bottom of this post.

The article below was written by Neil McCormick, a classmate of Bono’s, The Edge, Larry Mullin and Adam Clayton (in other words, the guys in U2) when he was growing up in Dublin. He wrote about that in a book called I Was Bono’s Dopplegänger, that is now being made into a film called Killing Bono,

Of the book — which I read and is very good — Bono says, “I was Neil McCormick’s fan in school. He was much cooler than me, a much better writer and I thought he’d make a much better rock star. I was wrong on one count. He’s written a great book.”

Tom Jones: the oldest swinger in the charts

By Neil McCormick Music Last updated: July 29th, 2010The Telegraph

If midweek sales hold up, 70-year-old Tom Jones is on course to becoming the oldest man to top the British album charts. Jones previously held the record as a mere stripling of 59, when his contemporary pop duets set Reloaded went to number one in 1999. But he was superseded by then 68-year-old Bob Dylan last year with Together Through Life. Now Jones is poised to take the crown back, with an album or raw rocking gospel music, Praise And Blame.

The old guys are but spring chickens (well, autumn chickens, maybe) compared to Dame Vera Lynn, who got to number one last year aged 92, although that was with a compilation album recorded in her prime.

Age used to be one of the battlegrounds of pop culture. Now, one has to almost wax nostalgic to think back to a time when fans debated whether this or that artist was too old to rock and roll. Do you remember when critics liked to poke fun at veteran rockers, referring to the Glimmer twins Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as the Zimmerframe Twins? It turned out that rock was not really a flashpoint for youthful rebellion but just another form of music. And music is for life. And life is long.

I have to admit, when I was an 18-year-old punk, I never imagined I would be a middle-aged rock critic. But the charts are still full of people who are older than me, and it is we middle-aged consumers who are keeping the music industry afloat. More than half of all CDs are bought by people over thirty, less than a fifth by people under twenty. Mind you, the young are still consuming just as much music, its just that they are not paying for it. Legal downloads are still dwarfed by the illegal. The international trade body IFPI has estimated that 95 per cent of music downloads worldwide are illegal. And there are figures bandied about the American music business (of which, I must admit, I am a little sceptical) claiming over 70 per cent of Americans under 20 years old have never paid for a piece of music. The generation gap is no longer about the music, it’s about the technology used to consume it.

Well, we all know the music industry is in trouble. But in the meantime, it may be up to the oldies to keep us rocking.

The thing about Jones’ continuing success is that he genuinely deserves it. He has made a great record, raw and alive with a love of music, shot through with emotional veracity and vital performances. People are talking about this as a religious album, and, indeed, the vice-president of his own record company notoriously dismissed it as “hymns” but actually this is the record of a sinner, engaging with God, the Devil and his own fears of mortality and redemption.

For the rest of this article, the four-star review and the link to the radio interview, please click here to (more…)

I want to thank all of you who have been reading these long posts and who take the time to comment. Today’s post is a bit shorter. But, before we get to it, I had an email from Michael, a fan who is a regular visitor to TJI.com. He has a ticket for the show at the MGM that he’d like to sell. He writes: I have a single ticket available for Friday, August 6th. It is toward the front at table 109. You will be sitting with some incredibly nice people from Boise. We are just trying to sell it for face value as one of our group had to drop out at the last minute! If you are interested in the ticket, use the email link at right and I’ll put you in touch with Michael.

As of of 5 a.m. BST Thursday morning, Praise and Blame was #2 in Music > Pop and #1 in Music > Easy Listening on amazon.co.uk. On amazon.com it is #7 in Music and #2 in Music > Pop > Vocal Pop. Like of Tom’s fans, and as someone who loves the music, I am thrilled that it’s doing so well. But, really: “easy listening?” “vocal pop?” Come on! Get real!

OK, first up today is another article about how Sir Tom, when Praise and Blame ascends to #1 will take back the record of being the oldest person to have a UK chart topper. As the article (which has a large factual error — can you find it?) details, at age 59 Tom had that distinction. But, last year, Bob Dylan took the top spot at age 68. Nice news and, both Bob Dylan and Tom Jones are very deserving of this distinction. There is no comparing the two. Tom’s voice towers over Dylan’s. But Dylan began to be noticed in Gerde’s Folk CIty in Manhattan in 1961, And consider the songs he’s written. These include Blowin’ in the Wind, A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (a particular favorite of you moderator’s and, if you ask, she’ll surely tell you why) and What Good Am I? So, do remember, please, comparisons are odious and do not indulge here.

The two reviews here — even the lukewarm one — give Sir Tom tremendous credit for his work and for the power of the new CD — check out the last sentence of each. The article from The Guardian, in addition to the big error (understandable only if the writer is American) still mentions panty-tossing and aged fans. Haven’t we heard enough of that? I’m sure Tom and his management have. And, does he really want to record with Eminem? Or was he being polite? (It’s mean, but I can think of one Eminem fan would would be appalled, as would her mother, a TJ fan. So I hope he does.)

Tom Jones on course to top album charts

Welsh singer set to knock Eminem off top spot with 40th studio album, Praise & Blame, but hints at collaboration with rapper

Alexandra Topping/The Guardian/28 July 2010 18.18 BST

It’s not unusual to be loved by anyone, as Wales’ favourite crooner has been reminding us for a good 45 years. It is, on the other hand, slightly out of the ordinary to be loved by so many that you manage to chalk up a number one album in your 70s, as Pontypridd’s finest may achieve this Sunday with his 40th studio album Praise & Blame.

Sir Tom Jones, who was today sitting at number one in the midweek chart sales, is on course to become the oldest male musician to have a number 1 album this Sunday, if he knocks Eminem off the top spot.

What may be more unusual still is a thinly-veiled suggestion from the septuagenarian sexbomb that he would be like to collaborate with the Detroit rapper currently in pole position. “I couldn’t be more proud of this album and I’m really blown away by the response from everyone,” he said. “It’s great to be top of the charts with Eminem, maybe next time we could be top together.”

Although the link-up may appear incongruous to some, Jones is likely to be unfazed. As a young man he worked with legends such as Elvis, Stevie Wonder and the Beatles and in recent years has hooked up with artists as diverse as Robbie Williams, Van Morrison and Cerys Matthews.

Speaking on the telephone while touring the UK to promote his new album – a critically-lauded collection of gospel and blues-infused songs – Jones, who turned 70 last month, said he had no qualms about being the oldest artist to top the charts.

“For me that would be the icing on the cake,” he said. “It’s great to see the album doing so well in the midweeks but if I don’t get to number one, I don’t get the record – and I do want it.”

Jones previously held the record when his 1999 album, Reloaded[sic], went to number one. But he lost the crown to Bob Dylan – just a year younger than Jones – when last year’s Together Through Life took the top spot.

He is proud of the album – which some are calling his “Johnny Cash moment”, a reference to the country star’s late, reflective American recordings – although Jones rejects any suggestion that he might be on his last legs.

For the rest of this article and the reviews, click here to (more…)

Some Notes From Your Moderator: I am not sure if I’ll be able to post every day in the coming weeks as all this news means a very long time preparing posts — today, more than three hours (with the video). I am not complaining. But I have a huge book deadline looming and a couple of important interviews. Of course, I have to get that kind of thing done in an attempt to earn a living and keep body and soul apart.. But, I was able to accomplish some TJ-related stuff today:

The CD appears to be doing well on amazon in both the US and UK. Official charts are out the end of the week. Meanwhile, if you hear it and you like it, by all means go to your local amazon site, as well as other music sales sites and write a review!!!

Today there are two interviews.The first is from my favorite news blog, The Huffington Post — where without doubt you will find the best writing; the most provocative, interesting interviews:) This phone interview — at almost 4,000 words — is particularly interesting because of the questions. No rehashing of email-gate. Instead, there’s a good conversation about the recording process, of the way songs were chosen and, best of all, none of the usual shallow tabloid questions. Mr. Ragnona knows his stuff and Sir Tom clearly appreciated that. From a fan’s (and writer’s) point of view this is the best of all the interviews I’ve seen (and I think I’ve seen ‘em all!) about the CD from any source.

Following are some reviews that range from 2-stars up to an “A.”

Praise & Blame: A Conversation With Tom Jones

Mike Ragogna: Your new album Praise & Blame has a very stripped down sound. What was your philosophy going into making this record? Tom Jones: Well, I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time, and some of the albums I’ve done in the past, one or two tracks sometimes have been like this–stripped down. I’ve always liked that…not for all songs, but for songs of this nature especially. I feel you don’t need a lot on them musician-wise. I think this is the best way to approach it, for me anyway. And I think it shows the voice off, and you can hear the tonal quality of the vocals. We took a lot of time picking the keys to get them in the right keys. We wanted to do some of the slower songs low because my voice over the years has become lower and richer.

MR: Your very first track, What Good Am I, seems to pull off its big message with even more emotion than the original. TJ: First of all, to approach it the way we did, the only version I had heard before that was from Bob Dylan. I wanted to slow it down and give it more depth. The lyrics already had them. The depth was already there, but the tonal quality…

So, we did it in a low key, and Ethan Johns said, “Look if you think it will work, sing it as softly as you can. Don’t push it at all, and let it come out very natural,” and that’s what I did. Normally, when I sing, if I start to go up in the register, I get louder. That’s what happened. But with this, you try not to control it, so that’s what I did, it’s what we ended up with.

MR: Can you go into the recording process? TJ: We recorded it in Peter Gabriel’s studio in Wilshire, so we were trying it out in the afternoon. We broke for dinner, and normally, once we do that, we wait until the following day to have another go at it. So, when we were having dinner, we were talking about it and I had had a couple of glasses of wine and I said, “You know, I think I’ve got it now in my mind. Maybe we should go back and try it again.” I think everybody felt more mellow–maybe it was due to the red wine. But I definitely felt more relaxed, and everybody seemed to be like that. We just let it flow…not to over do, over sing, or punch it too hard–just to sing it as quietly and as breathy as possible. And then when we listened to it back we realized that this was it. We had it. You know, normally I don’t drink before I sing. I like to keep a clear mind, but it was just a glass of red wine that might have helped.

MR: That brings us to that mega-voice of yours. I was told you had to record quite a distance from the microphone for some of the rockers on this album. TJ: Yeah. Well, I think the difference with my voice today is that it’s richer than it used to be. So, I think if I had done it 30 years ago, it may not have had as much weight to it. So, I think this definitely benefits from experience and the tonal quality of my voice. But the material itself…

MR: What went into the song choices? TJ: I used to do songs like this in Wales growing up. If I went to Sunday school at 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon, to the Presbyterian Chapel, we did a lot of gospel hymns which I didn’t realize was gospel until later on. Not as much as they do in the Southern states, but the songs are definitely there with the gospel element.

For instance, when I was in Las Vegas with Elvis Presley–God bless him when he was still alive–we would hang out at night in his suite and we would sing mostly gospel songs because he loved gospel, and he would start to sing these songs and I would join in. He asked me, “How come you know these songs?” and I said, “Well, we sing them in Wales, not exactly as you do.” Now I do, but not when I was a kid so much. But the songs were definitely there.

MR: Are there songs on this record that do come from your childhood? TJ: I knew Run On. Of course, I got that one from Elvis. But I got a lot of the gospel things I have done before. The Mahalia Jackson tunes were on BBC radio when I was growing up in the ’40s and ’50s. I think Mahalia Jackson was the biggest gospel singer that we had heard from the States…and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

For the rest of this interview and three US reviews, click here to (more…)