Tom Jones International

This video of Tom doing the great Al Green hit is Tired of Being Alone is from a BBC special called Tom Jones In Concert that was taped on March 16 and broadcast on December 31, 1971.

Paula alerted us that it was posted on youtube and sent along her personal memory of the taping:

“You can see that the mic wire is going down his sleeve. He told the audience that this was a new ‘radio mic,’ undoubtedly one of the first. He had a [battery] pack strapped to his calf — he lifted up his trousers to show us….and the wire was taped up the inside of his thigh and then up his body and down his sleeve.(!) From where I was (far left of screen; to Tom’s right) I could see the outline of the wire up his leg because his trousers were so tight, which must have been quite uncomfortable. In fact I think he said as much.”

The photo of Tom kissing Paula was taken at that show and was later printed in The World of Tom Jones tourbook.

In 1978, Tom appeared on The Midnight Special and, in a tribute to Elvis, sang Are You Lonesome Tonight? and Can’t Help Falling In Love.

Once again, the video is very poor, but the audio is very good, considering it’s most likely taken from 30 year-old VHS.

A video of Tom singing American Trilogy was posted yesterday on youtube. It’s from a 1975 concert he did with the Edmonton (Canada) Symphony Orchestra.

The songwriter he mentions, Mickey Newbury, also wrote Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings, a song Tom did so beautifully. Newbury was key in redefining country music in the 1960s and 70s and is ranked by many alongside such writers as Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Tom T. Hall. Check out his stuff.

Tom finished his run of seven shows tonight. Throughout the run he looked and sounded great. For long-time fans, the opening night was not to be topped. But those fans knew that they’d seen an extraordinary performance opening night and, for the rest of the run, were satisfied by just seeing Tom. New fans, the virgins at every show, were thrilled. What some consider, after many years, to be ordinary, these audience members thought was extraordinary. And that’s how it should be.

We must note that Tom came bounding onto the stage each night looking happy, healthy and sated — a man truly content with his life.

On Tuesday night, some cast members from Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular were in the audience. They all seemed to love the show. Before they went backstage to meet Tom, we spoke with Anthony Crivello, one of the two amazing Phantoms in the show.

Crivello, a Tony Award®-winner, played “Sicilian geography” with Ursula, discussing their heritage and their shared roots in Milwaukee. Ellen had reviewed him in Phantom when it first opened and again reviewed the show when it celebrated its first anniversary. When the opening night review was printed, she got a nice — totally unexpected — thank you note. He, like the show, is “spectacular.” We love it and highly recommend you see it when you’re in Las Vegas (after all, this is a terrific city for entertainment — even when Tom isn’t here).

Anyway, he led his really enthusiastic castmates in cheering for Tom. He said he “loved” the show and, this morning, sent us the photo here. The woman with them is Crivello’s wife, actor and producer Dori Rosenthal.

In all, a solid run for Sir Tom. Most nights sold out and audiences were loving it. He must have been pleased.

We look forward to hearing from fans who see Tom in California and AC before he returns to Las Vegas. Enjoy!

We’re posting this as a service to UK fans. But, if you saw Tom at MGM this week, or just want to comment, please refer to the post below.

This email came from Endemol, the UK production company responsible for scads of shows worldwide, including Fear Factor, Deal or No Deal, Big Brother, 1 vs. 100, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and lots more.

For Endemol, Alice Dodge wrote:
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In a word: WOW!

It is difficult for us to recall any show better than this one. It was just outstanding.

Where to begin? Well, first, Tom looked terrific. Rested and very happy to be performing. We noticed that he (wisely, we believe) didn’t kiss anyone but, rather, blew a kiss at the women in the audience who gave him gifts. Maybe there’ll be fewer throat infections.

The show was amazing. The audience was on fire and it energized this most dynamic performer even more than usual.

Tom was having a bit of trouble with the earpiece in his right ear (a new one that looks to be metal as you can see in the photos from the show, rather than the older plastic one). He jiggled it and then took it out, explaining to the audience how it is used as part of the sound system, that it is new and he had it fitted the other day.

“The lady who did the fitting said, ‘You know, your ears are different,’” he told the audience.

“Yes, I told her, one is on the left side; the other on the right.”

He took the earpiece out, breathed a sigh of relief and continued, “It’s too tight. There’s no sweating room here.”

As he put the offending object back in his ear, he uttered a prolonged “ouch!!” Then, when it was in, he noted, “It’s very tight.

“Now I know how that feels.”

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As international superstar Tom Jones is set to open tonight at the MGM, we are taking another look back to the beginning.

What makes this 1965 shot from Record Week so interesting to us (aside from the fact it’s a good one?)?

Well, we agree with Paula, who sent it to us: Tom was so young (an “uncut gem,” in her words) and was probably yearning for the breakthrough recording that would make him a star. It’s Not Unusual had just charted. Could he possibly have known, despite his utter confidence in his talent, that he’d be a worldwide superstar for decades to come? At that time, the week ending February 20, 1965, the song stood at #19 on the UK charts.

This photo was used to accompany an article written by Peter Jones, who went on to write an early bio of Tom. Written at the very start of the fan frenzy, it takes away two years from Tom’s age and adds two inches to his height. It also says he uses his “real name” (guess he does, sort of). No mention at that time of a wife and child, but that would soon be revealed. And note, too, that the article tells us that Tom plays drums and guitar and, along liking with Brook Benton and Jerry Lee, he admires Jack Jones (!).

To read the article (and we apologize for the copy not being too clear but, remember, it’s newsprint that’s more than 40 years old and the scan was kind of crooked) click on this link: (more…)

Well, it’s another slow news day in Tom Jones Land, so we thought we’d amuse and entertain with some photos printed in the Daily Mirror in the early 1970s that were sent to us by Paula. This thumbnail is posted full-size along with three others from that photo shoot (along with this one full-size) are near the top of our Tom Then & Now set on Flickr.

Paula, who was way too young to drive at the time, tells us, “I once sat in the back of his Phantom 6. Sadly, he wasn’t in it! After a concert in Manchester (’71 I think, or could have been ‘72) we went back to our cars (I always went with other fans who were much older than me; women in their thirties and forties then because I wasn’t old enough to drive ). They were parked in an underground carpark. We saw Tom’s huge Roller parked there too. Somebody (driver? car park attendant? I don’t remember) had the keys and let us all have a look inside and sit in it. Very naughty indeed. I do remember it being very sumptuous.”

OK, we’re bragging, but we’re pleased that today TJI.com was added to the Best of Wales — The Best Hand Picked Web Sites.

There is no fee for being listed on the site. Before being added, each site is reviewed by a real person (or more than one) in a process that can take months.

This is a listing of all things Welsh online and we are happy to have been so recognized.

By the way, we’ve added that site to our Links We Like page and, if you haven’t checked that out, it can provide you with hours of endless amusement, entertainment and information.

There’s an eBay auction of Tom memorabilia from the 1970s and early 1980s, what makes it special is that half of the proceeds will go to Childhelp, an organization that is working to end child abuse and to help abused children.

The memorabilia was collected by Allentown, PA fan Annette Shabrin (shown here with Tom) at Caesars Palace in the 1970s. He son Sam explains that Annette and his dad would fly to Las Vegas every time he played here. She would go to every show and his father would accompany her to one show.

They became friendly with Angelo, the showroom maitre d’ and Annette would always be seated front and center.

He writes, “Tom would recognize the ladies who sat up front all the time and he’d play to them, give them his bowtie and take sips of champagne from them. She saw his show so many times that the members of his band would recognize her lounging around the pool and enjoyed chatting with her. Eventually, she was invited backstage and met Tom. Year after year, she went to see Tom, hung out with the band backstage (after seeing the show), and became good friends with a few of them. She kept in contact with Terry, Tom’s drummer during those years, and I personally became friends with, and was preparing to study arranging with Tom’s musical director, Johnnie Spence. (Johnnie was a terrific, giving person who passed away much before his time.)

“In the summer of 1975, Tom appeared at the Allentown (PA) Fair, and we his entire entourage over to our house for a picnic before the show. Johnnie sat at the piano, the Blossoms sang, everyone enjoyed a home-cooked meal after being on the road for so long – it was just amazing. They were all such nice people.

“Sadly time goes on. My mom passed away just over a year ago and going through her things, we found all of this Tom Jones memorabilia. I suggested trying to find the 2nd biggest TJ fan to pass all of it on to. This is her collection.”

At this moment, the auction stands at $184.75 and, (although one of the people bidding is a friend of ours), we did feel this is a special enough auction to spread the word. So, please check it out and consider bidding or, perhaps, joining with another fan or two (as there’s plenty of stuff) and honoring the memory of a devoted fan and helping a good cause.