What's New, Pussycat?
These are all the stories — in no particular category — that are posted for awhile on our home page. It’s a pretty good record of all we’ve posted in one place.
Talking With Tom
Monday, December 19th, 2005After Tom’s show at MGM Friday night December 16, we had the terrific experience of spending time with him, having a real conversation, telling him about tomjonesinternational.com and talking to him about a wide range of things.
He was with Don Archell, his friend and personal assistant, and we were joined a bit later by Mary, a long-time fan who is our friend and a friend of Tom and Don, too.
First, we took care of a bit of business.
“Tom, we have this t-shirt for you and one for you, too, Don.”
They thanked us and Tom held up the tomjonesinternational.com tee and said, “Oh, this has my name on it. I couldn’t wear it.”
“But will you pose for a photo with it?” we asked and, obviously, he did.
We told him about the website, why we started it and what we hope to accomplish. We told him about the just-completed fan survey “designed to help us learn who the fans are, their age ranges, how often they’ve seen you and what they want to see on the site.”
We mentioned that we’d shortly be compiling the survey results, adding that fans have plenty of opportunity on the site to ask questions and state opinions.
On that topic, we asked, “Tom, do you really care about what the fans think?”
He looked genuinely surprised at the question for a moment and said quite firmly, “Of course I do.”
Ellen had the “Reborn Vinyl” handbag shown on the home page of the website and took it out, asking him to sign it. “Why, is this a record? What is it?” he asked and, spotting the Parrot label, “Oh, Parrot was my American label. Decca was in Europe.”
When he realized what it was, he wanted to know all about it — Who made it? Where did we get it? — and then he signed it.
We talked about a few of the questions we and other fans have — basic curiosity — like, “What’s your favorite movie?”
He quickly answered, The Wild Bunch.
“Anything else?”
“Yes, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. [Note: 1947; Rex Harrison and Gene Tierney; available on NetFlix]
“What about a somewhat newer movie like, say, The Sixth Sense?” Ursula wanted to know.
“Oh, I liked that, but the end was very sad,” he said, going on to talk about what a “great guy” his friend Bruce Willis is.
Who’s his favorite singer? No hesitation here — “Jerry Lee Lewis.”
“Anyone more modern?”
“Me,” he said with a laugh, but explained that Jerry Lee has a “certain cadence to his music that’s unbelievable.”
“You are in hell,” Ellen asked, deftly ripping off a question she’d seen someone asked in a Rolling Stone interview. “What’s the soundtrack there?”
Again, no hesitation, and a shrug as if to say “of course” he answered, Great Balls of Fire.
“Has anyone in the family inherited your voice?” Ursula asked.
“Yes,” he replied, “Mark and Alexander both have great voices.”
“Do they sing?”
“Well, no. I guess they lack the…….” He searched for a word.
“Drive?” Ellen said.
“Yes, that’s it. They don’t want to do it like I do,” he replied.
Ursula asked if Tom has seen Usher, noting that Usher has some of the same kind of sexual energy that Tom has, even though it’s not as great as Tom’s and his voice isn’t as good.
“I’ve never seen him in person,” Tom said. “I heard they are throwing underwear at him, too.”
When Ursula mentioned she’d just seen Andrea Bocelli and that he was “fabulous,” Tom said, “He’s very good, but he’s a tenor, you know, so he doesn’t have as much range as I do, as I’m a baritone.”
Then, switching gears: “We want to tell you about someone at the show tonight, a [Tom Jones] ‘virgin,’” we said, and told him about Jeff who was there with his wife; the man who as a child used to sing What’s New Pussycat? in the tub and is still teased about that by his mom.
In addition to noting with a smile that “he likes a virgin,” Tom was delighted with the story.
We talked about the recent TV shows about him shown here in the US — the PBS show (“That was a rehash of the old Canadian series,” he said. “Not really very good.”) and the Biography show which, due to being on the road, he hadn’t had the opportunity to see. He did, however, want to know who was interviewed and what we thought of it.
Don was even kind enough to sing a few bars of The Wayward Wind, his own European hit of years ago.
We talked about some of the songs Tom sings. He likes Latin music “but I can only sing in English.”
Ellen requested he add Baptism By Fire to the show explaining that the first two lines of the song are just so honest and moving and, therefore, very touching.
Here, as we had the entire time, we noticed that Tom was really listening. In fact, Ursula said later he “really seemed moved” by what Ellen had said.
And, in the end, that’s what’s important — Tom Jones does care about his fans and what they think. He is open and much more accessible than so many other performers.
We left amid a flurry of good holiday wishes, some hugs and kisses and promises to “see you in January.”
We cannot wait.
Ellen & Ursula
December 19th, 2005 at 10:35 am
What an awesome story! Tom looks fabulous in the photo with the TJI.com shirt too. Great, great, GREAT!!!
Tom Jones is really amazing, thanks for sharing the story.
December 19th, 2005 at 10:56 am
I really enjoyed seeing Tom in the t-shirt! I’m so happy you were able to share time with him and Don and have such an honest discussion with him.
I must admit that I do agree with him that the Canadian program wasn’t very good. But as a young Canadian girl (at the time) it was heaven to me. I look back now and realize that a lot of the songs were rushed or the arrangements weren’t right. And I couldn’t stand watching the dancers, even then. I’m not blaming them, it was whoever choregraphed and some of the costumes they wore!
Thanks for continuing to share with us the information and pictures!
December 19th, 2005 at 2:57 pm
How can some of the web site’s members get a chance to join you on the next meeting with Tom? Maybe some sort of contest can be held. It sounds like a real treat to be there. Was there a picture taken of Tom with the t-shirt?
December 19th, 2005 at 3:05 pm
Vince, we would love to do that, but are not planning on it happening. And, yes, the photo of Tom holding our t-shirt graces our homepage. We’ve learned that it is not coming through on AOL sometimes, but if you switch browsers, you can see it.
We’ve found that, with Tom, so much depends on luck and happenstance. It’s always a treat to spend time with him, but we don’t ever really count on it. Through the years we’ve been lucky. We know that.
We wish we could give a definitive answer, and we’ll do our best to make something like that happen. Ellen & Ursula
December 19th, 2005 at 4:43 pm
Great story, but I really liked the other picture with the song when you open the website. So I hope you’ll put it back. I will be at the TJ concert in Morristown NJ in February. I just saw my first TJ concert in November at Resorts, so now I am hooked. I am hoping to bump into him like you did. Any advice, this is a small venue with maybe one back door!!!
December 19th, 2005 at 11:35 pm
While I was reading the story, I imagined myself asking questions to Tom, what a dream!! He really is a wonderful guy!
Many many thanks to you and the super job you do.
December 20th, 2005 at 11:17 am
Hi, Girls,
Great story about meeting Tom. How lucky were you? A lot of us are wondering where you ran into him. Could you let us know? Just curious.
Great website, keep up the good work.
December 20th, 2005 at 2:36 pm
Thank you for sharing your fun meet-and-greet with Tom!
And thank you, Ellen, for asking him to add Baptism by Fire! I have been dying for him to sing that live. It would also be fantastic if he changed up his set before I see him again in Vegas on Jan. 29 and Feb. 1 (front row both nights!!) . But, of course, I am happy just seeing him live no matter what he sings.
I’m glad he commented that the Legend TV show wasn’t that good. The production was so not worthy of him…of course that didn’t stop me from watching it all three times PBS aired it!
Thanks again for telling us about your lucky experience.
Maybe we will cross paths in LV one day.
Keep up the good work and Happy Holidays!!
December 23rd, 2005 at 6:42 am
INCREDIBLE!! Wonderful story and opportunity. Good job to keep your heads about you and ask such in-depth questions. I so wish I could have been there but will live vicariously through you in this instance. Until I get my chance to meet him..well done, ladies.
I also love Baptism by Fire.
December 25th, 2005 at 1:28 pm
Hey, I was at that same show………..I’d never seen Tom before and I must admit, I was pretty blown away……….very awesome show………Tom Jones Reloaded hasn’t left my CD player since……..
December 25th, 2005 at 2:29 pm
Hi, Gabriel, and a warm welcome to the family of TJ fans. You might want to try some of the other CDs, like the original Reload that was released only in the UK (that one of your site moderators thinks is leagues better than the US Reloaded), or the CD Tom did with Jools Holland in 2004. And, if you like the blues, check out the soundtrack to Red, White and Blues. You can get to them through our page on “Tom’s Musical Roots” or, quite often, find them on eBay. They’re well worth it.
December 29th, 2005 at 4:44 pm
I enjoy your website so much. We all wish we could have been there to meet Tom. I do wish you would find a picture of Tom and his wife Melinda. I think it speaks highly of him and his wife that they have endured the industry and remained together through it all. He seems to be such a gracious and down-to-earth man. I guess that’s why he is still around and still drawing in the fans. We love Tom Jones….
December 29th, 2005 at 5:51 pm
Thank you so much, Julia, for your very kind words.
When we planned this site we were clear in our own minds that it was to be about Tom Jones as a professional and not about his family or personal life, except when they intersect his professional life. Thus, we’ll write about his son and daughter-in-law when appropriate as his management, but not about them or other family members who are not involved in his career.
If and when he (and they) choose to make their private lives public, we’ll happily go along. We understand the very natural curiosity about Tom’s family and personal life — because everyone is of course curious — but hope you all understand our position.
Thanks, Ellen & Ursula