Tom Jones International

Moderator’s Note: Journalist Nathan Bevan asked me the question in the headline. I responded that these venues are in keeping with Tom’s music of late and his label, Rounder. Considering that, it’s smart of Management to book him in such venues. It’s important to note that, these days, the Bowery in New York — formerly a hellhole for all bad things that can happen in a big city — is today very trendy. An apartment there can rent for almost $4,000 a month.

By the way, there are tickets for all three venues on ebay. But they are very pricey.

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Is Sir Tom Jones trying to relive his working men’s club roots with New York gig?

The Voice judge will appear at NYC’s The Bowery Ballroom next month – a grungy hall usually linked to bands such as The Dead Milkmen

By Nathan Bevan | Wales Online | April 13, 2013

He’s traditionally more associated with the opulent glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas stage.

But for his latest US tour Sir Tom Jones is set to play a tiny, rough and ready venue the inside of which he’s probably not seen since his days on the Valleys’ workingmen’s club circuit.

Next month – almost 49 years to the day since he got his lucky break by meeting future manager Gordon Mills at a fateful show at Cwmtillery’s Top Hat Club – the Pontypridd star will appear at The Bowery Ballroom in New York, a place normally given to hosting such bizarrely-monickered noise merchants as The Dead Milkmen and P****d Jeans.

Graffitied and grungy, the 550-capacity hall can be found in a neighbourhood of Lower Manhattan which was once synonymous with panhandlers, prostitution and punk rock – the infamous and now defunct CBGBs, which debuted bands like Blondie, The Ramones and Talking Heads, having been just a few blocks away.

These days though it’s more a haven for trendy artisan types and exudes bohemian cool as opposed to the Skid Row squalor of yore.

Nevertheless, it’s still an unusual choice, even for an artist like Jones whose latter-day career has not been without its daring moments of reinvention – specifically Reload, his savvy ‘99 collaboration with acts like Stereophonics and Robbie Williams which won him a new generation of fans and the more recent transformation from pop lothario to that of rhythm and blues hollerer.

And, for Ellen Sterling – the Vegas-based journalist behind www.tomjonesintl.com, the online US fansite dedicated to the Welshman – the booking was anything but accidental.

“Tom’s on an eclectic, roots-based record label in The States called Rounder and the kind of acts on their roster are usually just the sort which crop up at places like The Bowery Ballroom,” she said.

“But it’s actually Tom’s management who are behind this gig and I think it’s a pretty shrewd move. They’re smart people to shift him to this type of venue and it’ll be great for those going along to see their idol so up close and personal.

“In short, the Ballroom isn’t a step down, it’s a step in a different direction,” she added.

“It’s way smaller and more low-key than the type Tom would usually play. But, then again, you could argue that with only 730 seats the Hollywood Theatre at the Las Vegas MGM Grand is intimate too, yet he’s played there plenty of times.”

Neither did Sterling think that the Bowery’s reputation would deter Tom’s traditional fan-base from buying tickets.

“I’ve heard via my website that Tom devotees of all ages are going – including one lady who’s 83.

“It’ll be the perfect place to see him really pouring all that passion into those soulful, gospel-tinged tracks from his last two album, Praise& Blame and Spirit In The Room.

“I doubt there’ll be much Top 40 pop in the offing. That’s not really where Tom Jones 2013 is at anymore.”

However, there was both a palpable sense of online disbelieve and anticipation with regards to the Voice of the Valleys’ announcement.

“I’m not sure we ever thought we’d see the man, the legend that is TJ in a place as intimate and grungy (relatively speaking) as Bowery Ballroom!” squeaked the Brooklyn Vegan website, while www.ohmyrockness.com tweeted: “Tom Jones is playing The Bowery. So get excited, everyone’s Auntie Janet!”

Jones is also scheduled to perform at The Troubadour on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, a night club which has played to host to everyone from Bob Dylan to Liza Minnelli and Guns ‘n’ Roses and since it opened its doors in the late ’50s.

“It’s not the first time Tom will have been there either,” recalled Sterling.

“All the local newspapers out here wrote at length about it being a departure for him back then too.”

UPDATE: AS OF 1:20 PDT APRIL 12, ALL THREE SHOWS ARE SOLD OUT.

Friday, April 12, 9:45 PDT: Tom sold out the Bowery Ballroom in 4 (!) minutes. In a half-hour the TLA in Philly was out of VIP tickets and has about half the GA tickets left. The Troubadour hasn’t gone on sale yet.

If you are looking for tickets, you can always try eBay, StubHub or brokers. Good luck!

Tom will be playing three gigs in the USA and these three are not, contrary to earlier info, in the south. But there’s still time for that.)

Saturday, May 11 he’ll be at the famed, fabled Troubador in West Hollywood. No prices listed yet.

Friday, May 17 (not May 16 as originally on OFFICIALTomJones), he’ll be at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia. Normally an all-standing venue, for Tom’s show there will be standing ($50) and seated tickets upstairs ($70). Tickets on sale noon EDT on Friday. Buy in person at the box office, ticketmaster or by phone, 215-922-1011.

Saturday, May 18, he’ll be at the Bowery Ballroom in New York. (21 and over) Tickets are $65, (expensive for the venue) but, in fairness, he’s the best-known of those shown by a a quick glance at the venue calendar.

Tickets go on sale for all the shows the day after tomorrow, Friday, April 12 at noon.

OFFICIALTomJones says he’ll be doing songs from Praise and Blame and Spirit In the Room.

More dates should be announced soon. (I’m looking for one in Florida.)

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Those who doubt The Voice UK will be back for a third season now have more fuel for their fire:

Beeb bottles BGT ratings battle by shunting The Voice

The Sun | Wednesday, April 10, 2013

THE BBC has blinked first in the annual ratings battle between The Voice and Britain’s Got Talent – by shunting its flagship reality show down the schedule.

The rival talent contests still face a straight fight for viewers this weekend, with BGT beginning just 15 minutes after The Voice’s scheduled 6.45pm start.

But today Auntie confirmed that from Saturday 20th The Voice, hosted by Holly Willoughby and Reggie Yates, will now begin over ONE HOUR AND A HALF later than initially planned at 8.20pm.

This will leave just 10 minutes of BGT remaining when The Voice starts.

The Beeb also revealed they’d pruned 35 minutes from the show’s running order – leaving it at just 60 minutes long.

BGT chief Simon Cowell has predicted his show would hammer The Voice when they go head-to-head.

He said: “We did it last year and we are keen to win again this year.”

Ratings for The Voice’s latest series opener were down 2.2million from the previous year – with 6.2million viewers tuning in the Saturday before last.

The Voice and BGT were involved in a vicious dog-fight for viewers last year with The Voice initially beating BGT before tailing off at the half-way point.

Although I am not in the habit of saying this, I am absolutely certain that Sir Tom would approve of the next few sentences:

Beginning at sundown on Sunday April 7 until sundown April 8, it is Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. It falls every year on the Hebrew calendar on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan, the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Although we tend to think of the Holocaust as affecting Jews, it also saw the murder of Gypsies, homosexuals, physically disabled people, ethnic Poles, Serbs, Czechs, some Russians and, even, some Catholic clergy. It is a day to remember and to say “Never again!” It does not take long to remember and to teach your children about this most awful of human tragedies perpetrated by people on other people. Let us not forget. Let us see it does not happen again. Ever.

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There have been several news stories in print and online about Alys Williams, the contestant who didn’t snag a coach last season and, this season, saw all four turn for her. She took one-half hour — 30 minutes! — to make her choice. Won’t spoil it, but I will say she is Welsh. You can find that part of the show beginning at about 1:21. Fun to watch.

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The Voice is back, let the sanging begin
Sarah Dempster’s TV OD: Britain’s second favourite Saturday night pop competition returns with more of the same
The Guardian | Friday, April 5, 2013

“There’s a difference between singing and sanging”, intoned Jessie J, narrowing her eyes at tremulous Welshman Ash. “And you … sang.” Ash gasped with relief. All he’d ever wanted to do was sang. And now here was a woman in a pleather gilet confirming that he could sang. “Wow,” he panted, nigh-on winded by glee as the ensuing gales of applause played havoc with his side-parting. “Yeah.”

It was an intriguing start to the yeah-based talent show/healing wellspring of tense-blurring encouragement that is The Voice UK (Saturday, 7pm, BBC1), which has returned for another three-month stint as Saturday’s second most popular singing bash.

But lo, changes are afoot. There will be more “blind auditions”, a new “knockout” round, and fewer of the live shows that last time saw viewers fleeing over to Simon Cowell’s Britain’s Got Talent in their weeping droves.

Last week’s opener revealed The Voice II to be the same, only more so. The achey-breaky back stories came thick and fast. Gnomic jester Will.i.am stood on his chair in the manner of an intrepid yachtsman and violently bummed the air. Roaring knobstone Danny O’Donoghue repeatedly whooped while rhythmically jutting his chin like a stoat struggling to swallow a ball of knotted hair. Meanwhile, poor Sir Tom Jones continued to treat his chair like a faulty dodgem, thwacking bewilderedly at the control panel as his youthful fellow judges bellowed and pumped their fists around him. I love Sir Tom. I love his gruff demeanour and deathless Yeoman at C&A twinkle, and the fact that he’d clearly rather be discussing test results with a proctologist than bickering about pitch with the man who wrote My Humps. At times his indifference appears rooted in confusion; at others he merely looks depressed, his tiny eyes fixed dejectedly on the studio floor, his jowls sagging like deflated balloons. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” he sighed last week during one of the judges’ interminable, staged squabble-offs, waving a mottled paw around like a tired bear swatting at some bees; and, evidently, he doesn’t. Instead, he fulfils his contractual obligations by smiling politely at Will.i.am’s jokes and emitting platitudes at intervals of approximately seven minutes.

But for all his maverick not-botheredness, even Sir Tom is unable to do anything about The Voice’s catastrophic lack of atmosphere. Sex bombs remain undetonated. Kazoos remain unparped. The vibes button appears to have got jammed somewhere between “no vibes” and “no vibes in an abandoned regional nite-spot circa 2004″. Is the airlessness down to the editing? The relentless promotion of niceness at the expense of sincerity and logic? Perhaps Will.i.am mistook the ambience for a French music producer and scared it off by trying to rap at it. Perhaps Sir Tom pressed the wrong button on his mechanised commode and it got flushed into a waste tank. It’s difficult to say. Not that The Voice cares. It has, it tells us, loftier concerns. “Our four global superstars don’t judge,” we were informed by bewilderingly chipper voiceover sage Reggie Yates, “they coach!” And so the judges’ non-judgey scramble to win the affections of their favourite contestants began in earnest. Danny told another Danny he could feel him in the hairs on his arms. Will.i.am draped himself over the arm of his chair like a denim antimacassar and said he thought unemployed country fan Mike was dope. Nobody mentioned 2012 winner Leanne Mitchell. Then 34-year-old Matt turned up, sang like a bastard, and all four chairs span like Catherine wheels.

“I will be real with you,” said Jessie J.

“I have 72 years of experience,” said Sir Tom.

“Something something projected industry sales something,” said Danny.

“I am a palm tree,” said Will.i.am.

Matt said something about strength and chose Will.i.am.

The Voice’s search for its sanger continues.

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Drinking All Night With Sir Tom Jones:
Danny O’Donoghue, in an interview with Emma Cox published April 7 in the Daily Mail was asked to describe “The most showbiz moment of your life?”

He answered: “Sitting in a hotel bar in Manchester with Sir Tom Jones singing Elvis Presley songs to me after an
all-night drinking session, while the staff made up the tables for breakfast. That happened in a few different cities while we were doing auditions.”

Yesterday, April 4th, was the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., This photo is of Bono — who has done his utmost to follow in Dr. King’s footsteps — on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis where Dr. King was shot. The plaque says, “Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 1929-Apr. 4, 1969; Founding President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference: ‘Behold: Here Cometh The Dreamer. Let Us Slay Him And We Shall See What Becomes of His Dreams. — Genesis 37 19-20′”

The photo of Bono (far right) and his wife Ali visiting the site was taken in 2004 by my daughter, Ruth Barohn. Also in the photo are Congressman John Lewis, Reverend Billy Kyles (who was with Dr. King when he was shot) and another guest — the man who is pointing —stand at the very spot of the murder. Today the site is the National Civil Rights Museum.

Coach trip
Voice acts feeling deserted
The Voice coaches have been accused of deserting their acts
Exclusive
By JEN BLACKBURN Published: 42 minutes ago | The Sun

THE VOICE’s celebrity “coaches” have been accused of abandoning the 20 finalists in the run-up to the live shows.

Sir Tom Jones, Danny O’Donoghue, Will.i.am and Jessie J have been jetting around the globe as they focus on their own careers.

And a source dubbed it “a sham”.

Script frontman Danny is on tour in Australia with his band, Tom is touring the US this month and Will.i.am spent last weekend at a music festival Japan and this week was tweeting about having lunch in Los Angeles with Britney Spears.

While Jessie J has just returned from celebrating her birthday in Marrakech, Morocco, and is now concentrating on her second album.

She told a magazine: “I’m putting everything into it. I’m working 12 hours a day, doing vocals and rewriting to make it great.”

A source told TV Biz: “It’s a bit of a sham and very disheartening for anyone who has gone through the gruelling audition process and battle rounds and now finds they’re on their own until the judges return.

“The Voice is billed as a singing competition with personal tutoring from celebrities.

“But the truth is it was all filmed months ago on a very fast schedule and now the wannabes won’t see Tom, Danny, Will and Jessie again until just before the live shows.”

Their attitude seems at odds with the show’s ethos, which bills itself as a nurturing, singing competition and insists its judges are called coaches, because of their hands-on approach.

A BBC spokesman said: “It’s ridiculous to suggest the coaches haven’t spent enough time coaching their artists.

“Viewers will see as the shows progress all four spent a great deal of time with their acts.”

Danny added: “I am always available to coach and mentor my acts, even when I am abroad with mobile, internet etc.

“I am still working with Max from last series and I’ve written and recorded songs for Bo’s new album which is out soon.”

Moderator’s Note: As written here a few weeks ago, TJI heard Tom’s “US tour” will be in the southern US, a clear attempt to pander to the audience someone believes will like Spirit In The Room more than anyone else. But, do you agree at all that almost anyone who wants the album has bought it already? Sales figures should be interesting. And, when are the venues being announced? they’re not on OFFICIALTomJones, which bears the very sad note under “Upcoming Shows: No shows booked at the moment.”

US Viewing Note: On Sunday night, Masterpiece Classic on PBS is running the first episode of a show called Mr. Selfridge. Originally shown on the UK’s ITV — where it was a big hit — this is the story of American Harry Gordon Selfridge, the first modern department store retailer in the UK. It stars Jeremy Piven (“Ari” in Entourage.) Why post this here? Well, first, Tom Jones played Selfridge in the 1991 TV production The Ghosts of Oxford Street. And, second, it is very good. If you missed it Sunday night, it will be repeated later in early Monday morning and later in the week. Check your local PBS listings.

Sorry, I must be stupid. This is a fun video, but they weren’t paying attention to the guy trying to make a team. That seems unfair. If it were about the coaches would they change the name (Unless it was about TJ. Then they could rightly call it The Voice)

However the contestant does have a perfect 50s rock’n'roll name — Louis Coupe.

If you want to watch UK shows otherwise barred to those outside the UK, check out TunnelBear.com Free and easy. You cannot download the programs, but you can see them.

TJI should have the complete first episode of The Voice UK soon.

Seven years ago today, March 29, 2006, Tom was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.

Again we congratulate him and wish SIR Tom the very best for many more years of good health and good fortune.

TJI is pretty sure Sir Tom did not see what the BBC was going to write about this video before they posted it. They call it “Have Some Fun Tonight.” But we all know so well — as does Sir Tom — that it’s Little Richard’s Long Tall Sally.

Check it out and enjoy!

Some thought on Tom Jones: This is from a post in the DailyKos.com a favorite site for Americans of the liberal political persuasion.

The Daily Music Break: Tom Jones
By C Weinsch | March 28, 2013 | 1:45 pm PDT

Sex Bomb is perhaps the most bizarre recording I’ve even seen. The skeevy lyrics, the apparently well-coached audience and the fact that the song and Jones’ delivery both are terrific add up to a level of awesomeness that is hard match.

Tom Jones actually is Thomas John Woodward, which now is preceded by “Sir.” His stage name was taken from the movie Tom Jones, which was a filming of The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. Written in 1749 by Henry Fielding, it is considered the first novel in the English language.

Years ago, I was a reporter in the cable industry (I am again, but in a different way). Cable, because of the entertainment industry connections, has big time performers at its shows (Jerry Seinfeld, Ray Charles and Chuck Berry come to mind). It’s an easy payday for these folks, especially if the show is not too far away.

One year, Tom Jones was the headline act. Many of my cynical reporter friends went to see him as a joke. We were raised on rock and roll. Tom Jones? Isn’t he the guy that the old ladies throw their underwear at? Please.

The next morning, more than one person told me that it was the most extraordinary performance they ever saw, and that Jones simply wouldn’t leave the stage because he was having so much fun. And this was for a bunch of cable people…

From Herman Matthews — the world’s best drummer — comes this news:
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!
“I’m very excited to announce that I will be touring with actor, comedian, writer, musician and director Hugh Laurie from the hit television show HOUSE. In 2011 Hugh Laurie was the subject of the ITV series Perspectives, explaining his love for the music of New Orleans and playing music, from his album Let Them Talk … YES, I said album. Let Them Talk was the biggest-selling blues album of 2011 in the UK, with sales of 192,000 copies. Well, Laurie has recorded a new album Didn’t It Rain and will be released May 6, on Warner Music Entertainment. Hugh Laurie & The Copper Bottom Band will start their promo tour in mid April across the pound, in The UK. I’ll be taking over the drum chair for the great Jay Bellerose, who played on both albums. Jay is one of my drumming heroes, I’m indeed honored.”

Hugh Laurie’s tour schedule in the UK in June is here. There may well be a US tour this summer.

Herman tells TJI that Laurie “is a great guy, a good musician” and says to his friends on TJI: “I’m missing everyone! I hope to see you soon!!”

We hope to see you, too, dear friend.

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This story was in lots of outlets. Why is anyone surprised that the producers tried to ensure that the coaches were never stuck for words and, therefore, gave them some to fall back upon? It’s what they should do. Here’s the story from entertainmentwise.com:

‘I Felt Self-Conscious’: Sir Tom Jones Was Told What To Say On The Voice
Welsh crooner said he and fellow coaches were fed lines in case they were lost for words

He’s never a man who appears stuck for words and was flawless in his praise and criticism for the contestants on The Voice – but only, it would seem, because Sir Tom Jones was told what to say!

The legendary singer is returning for the second series of the BBC singing competition this weekend and said he feels more natural and relaxed for the second one.

But that’s because, so he claims, producers would feed him and his fellow coaches lines to say if they ever got stuck, and he said while he tried his best, he felt very “self-conscious”.

‘Last year we were given suggested lines just in case we got stuck, which I tried to work in on a few occasions,” he told the Radio Times. “But even when I tried to say them naturally I knew that they weren’t me and felt self-conscious. I have learnt now that I don’t have to do that, I can just say what I feel.”

And he said that he only decided to return to the show because the other judges had.

“If one coach didn’t return I wouldn’t have even thought about it. When Jessie J and I were doing the Diamond Jubilee, Jessie asked me, ‘Are you going to do the next Voice?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. Are you?’ She said, ‘I will if you will’. Danny and Will were already in, so I decided right then to return.”

Sir Tom was victorious last series when he took his act Leanne Mitchell to the final, which she then won – but her debut single only reached number 45 in the charts and Sir Tom’s fellow judge Will.i.am slammed Universal for the way the label handed it.

“I don’t think people were considering today’s behaviour and how we digest content. It was television five years ago,” he told Digital Spy. “I hope we’ve learned from that because I’m part of this show.I hope the label that the artists have to go with have learned from it.

“So with this year’s winner, we already have songs ready to go. The label need to have an understanding of what the market is thirsting for and yearning for.”

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The Voice – Will.i.am Starstruck By Tom Jones On The Voice
contactmusic.com | 26 March 2013

will.i.am shows off his journalism skills on the set of U.K. talent show The Voice by interviewing his hero Tom Jones.

The Black Eyed Peas rapper is a panellist on the singing contest alongside Jones, Jessie J, and The Script frontman Danny O’Donoghue, and admits he still pinches himself when he takes his place alongside the Welshman.

He is so starstruck by the It’s Not Unusual singer he bombards him with questions about Jones’ heyday and fishes for rock ‘n’ roll anecdotes.

The I Gotta Feeling hitmaker tells Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, “I find myself interviewing him. We sit there and I say, ‘Tell me about being backstage with Little Richard. Tell me about James Brown. Were there fights?’. I mean, he was up there with all the dudes.

“I remember once asking him if he’d seen much racial tension and he said, ‘Damn right!’. People had only heard his music and assumed, with the voice and the name Jones, that he was black. He didn’t know what sort of reception he was going to get when they realised he wasn’t.”

For a free download of Hit or Miss (from SITR) and an article about Tom that might indicate an upcoming concert (or might just be PR for the US album release) please click here to Read the rest of this entry »

To all who celebrate, a wish for a ziessen Pesach (a sweet Passover) and to all who do have spring break, may it be loads of fun (but not like the new movie, Spring Brreakers).

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From an article in Entertainmentwise.com we learn:

The Voice: Will.i.am Reveals ‘Gangsta’ Tom Jones Cracked His Tooth!
Talk about competitive behaviour!

The Voice returns for a new series this weekend and coach will.i.am has revealed to EntertainmentWise just how competitive things can get on the TV talent show.

The BBC talent search is back on Saturday night with a brand new twist and shaken up rounds but the same celeb coaches with Jessie J, Sir Tom Jones, will.i.am and Danny O’Donoghue all returning to those famous red chairs for a second year.

Whilst they might insist they’re all good mates, will has let slip that showbiz veteran Sir Tom has a mean streak, telling EntertainmentWise when we asked if there had been any show spats: “Tom threw a cup that cracked my tooth so I was like ‘dang that was kind of gangster of him!’”

We’re sure it was just an accident especially as will added that the reason he returned to the show for a second season was the “legend” Tom:

“To do The Voice the first time I was kind of wary, like who’s going to be on the panel and they said Tom Jones and I was like that’s cool, Tom’s a legend!”

“The gel was really unique, it was relieving because we got along and the show was a success, you don’t want to fix what’s not broken.”