I’m not at a Tom Jones concert right now, but my housing complex has the quirky acoustics which channel to me the PA of the nearby cricket ground where he’s performing, right now.
And he’s as dark and bluesie as anything, even with some of his hits. Weirdly similar to Nick Cave’s Elvis fanship. Did not think I’d ever say that.
When I saw the title I thought you were talking about the movie starring Albert Finney:
It’s not unusual.
While I’ve never been a fan of his hit songs, or their arrangements, I’ve always thought he had a great rock-and-roll voice.
I’ve seen him in concert twice. He puts on a great show.
Here he is doing Trouble in Mind / Bring It On Homewith Van Morrison. When the video was finished I actually stood up and applauded my computer!
I’m pretty sure that when he was first becoming known in the US, I saw him on (probably) Ed Sullivan, dressed in a puffy shirt in full Tom Jones (movie) mode.
What’s new, Pussycat?
Years ago Martin Scorsese did a film about the blues. As a longtime fan of the blues I didn’t think it was that great. Tom Jones did some blues stuff and really nailed it. Same for Lulu.
Reading TJ’s entry in Wikipedia, I came across this bit o’ trivia about him singing Thunderball:
*
…according to Bond production legend, [Jones] fainted in the recording booth when singing the song’s final note. Jones said of it, “I closed my eyes and I held the note for so long when I opened my eyes the room was spinning.”*
I’ve done 4 or 5 shows with him and he’s always knocked it out of the park. Fantastic voice; tons of presence in it.
Do you mean you played guitar in his backup band, or were you in the warmup act?
Either way I’m impressed!
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Are you aware Cave covered Tom Jones in Sleeping Annaleah? And indirectly gave him a big shoutout in quoting from Green, Green Grass of Home in Sad Waters (not a Tom Jones original, but generally considered a Tom song). Not so strange a connection, really.
IIRC, Bo’s an A/V guy, isn’t he?
Sir Tom’s gotten especially gravelly in his old age but is still a powerhouse, so the rock/gospel-y side of blues suits his voice to a T. Bam-a-lam!
Doctor: The tests came back, you’ve got Tom Jones disease.
Patient: Oh my God! Is that rare?
Doctor: It’s not unusual.
Tom showed incredible kindness to the son of his old friend Lonnie Donegan . Tom & Lonnie toured together in the late 1960’s. Lonnie gave Tom his song I’ll Never Love Again to record. Tom had #1 hit with it.
Lonnie died in 2002. His son Peter was on the UK Voice a few months ago. Tom immediately offered to sing that song with him. A dream come true for Peter and the Donegan family.
Peter’s Coments
Tom & Peter singing together. The band didn’t know the song. Peter played accompaniment on piano and sang.
This reminds me of Ray Charles in a way. Even when singing something that wasn’t really blues, like “That Lucky Old Sun”, the blues were in every note he sang.
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I was going to post that link since it’s one of my favorite Van Morrison clips (he actually smiles!)
But since you beat me, I’ll contribute this clip of Jones singing Tennessee Waltz with the Chieftans. It’s not blues or rock, but I found it eye opening.
Hey! You tryin’ to start something?!?
Don’t piss off the lighting guy!
