Tom Jones International

Here’s a preview of Tom at the Paragon Casino in Louisiana.

---

Booming baritone cuts loose at Plaza
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times/Article Launched: 02/13/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

Tom Jones swaggered with the best of them Tuesday night at the Plaza Theatre, moving provocatively at times on the stage, and finally letting loose when he peeled off his jacket.

Help Yourself, the second song he performed, was familiar. Then, as he promised, he went on to sing newer and older favorites.

His audience included people of all ages, and especially adoring women who cheered at his every mischievous gesture.

And yes, besides the requisite gifts of flowers, at least one woman managed to toss a pair of underwear onto the stage.

Jones, filling the place with the rich, booming baritone voice he’s famous for, belted out hit after hit from his vast repertoire of music.
(more…)

Amazon.com has raised the price of the new This Is Tom Jones: Legendary Performers to $35.99. (Amazon pre-orders will ship today at $27.99.)

TimeLife is still offering the new DVD set, released today, at $29.98 with free shipping if you use the special code for people who buy it through this website.

The code is AFTJSAVE.

To get this price — and free shipping — follow the link to the right. When you are on the TimeLife website, click the “Order Now” tab and it will take you to the shopping cart page. As illustrated at left, enter the code in the box on the left side of the page and your discount will appear.

Thanks in advance for ordering through TJI.com.

If you have any questions, just ask.

And, really, let us know what you think of the DVD.

—Ellen & Ursula

Here comes our TJI.com commercial: This Is Tom Jones: Legendary Performers will be released and shipped by TimeLife tomorrow, February 12 (the erroneous date on their website will be corrected). Please note that non-US orders cannot be processed by TimeLife, so please use the amazon.com link below right to order. Thanks!

We earn a small amount on each DVD ordered through our site — a bit more from TimeLife than from amazon. As always, we thank you for your support and hope in this small way you will continue to support tji.com.

---

The new DVD set, This Is Tom Jones: Legendary Performers, is about to be released and we were fortunate enough to have an advance look. It is terrific; in many ways better than the first set released last June and, in other ways, not as good.

Five of the six shows excerpted here are from Season 2 of TITJ. The episode with Jerry Lee Lewis (we’ll get back to that in a moment) is the eighth show of the first season. The set begins with Tom and Sammy Davis, Jr., in the Season 2 finale.

Disc 1: If you’ve never seen Sammy Davis, Jr., you’re in for quite a surprise and, if you remember him as the great entertainer he was, you won’t be disappointed. When he and Tom did Sammy’s great hit Mr. Bojangles, it brought us to tears. Literally. And in the segment that recaps some of the season’s guests they work so well together it is a joy to watch — best thing on the two DVD sets.

The second show on Disc 1 features Tony Bennett and Vicki Carr. Bennett is smooth as silk (he’s another who’s just keeps getting better) and this is the show where Tom, dressed in a Star Trek costume, sings Fly Me To the Moon. It’s all great fun.

Disc 2: We found this to be the weakest of the three discs. With Tom on the first show is Bob — not “Bobby” — Darin (who, we must note, looks eerily like Kevin Spacey) doing some country stuff. Blood, Sweat & Tears is great, but Diahann Carroll seems dazed and uncomfortable. Tom, however, as this set makes clear, is more and more comfortable in front of the camera. He’s having a ball and so does the viewer. His concert number on this show is a killer rendition of I Can’t Stop Loving You. Super.

The second show on Disc 2 features one song by Liza Minnelli — sadly, no duet with Tom — and an appearance by comic Pat Cooper, who opened for Tom on tour for quite awhile. It’s all kind of dated, but Tom’s concert on this show closes with Long Tall Sally and — wow! — we are reminded how this guy could move.

Disc 3: This one begins with Tom singing Funny How Time Slips Away, accompanied by piano and guitar. The pianist is Jerry Lee Lewis and the guitarist is the legendary Chet Atkins. They aren’t introduced before the song, but from the smile that plays across Tom’s face when the first notes of the song are heard, you just know — in that quiet moment (pictured here at the left) — that Tom is thrilled to share the stage with Jerry Lee. Must have been a dream come true for him.

Jerry Lee and Tom get to rip it up in a medley of Great Balls of Fire, Down the Line, Long Tall Sally and Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On. In the latter you get to see a bit of the legendary Jerry Lee being the legendary Jerry Lee — kicking the piano bench out of the way and letting loose. (And, trust us, this is mild for him.) It’s just a blast to watch, especially to see Tom having so much fun with his idol. We sense TJ isn’t joking when he talks to Jerry Lee about being a member of his fan club.

The last show features another aptly named “legendary performance.” This time it’s Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. In the first show on Disc 1, Tom does his impression of Cash singing A Boy Named Sue. That’s fun and the original is here. But why, when the scene is in front of a prison, did he do Folsom Prison Blues? But that is minor carping on our part. Cash does A Boy Named Sue here and it’s fine. He and Tom also do a terrific “coal miner” medley of Working in the Coal Mine, Dark As A Dungeon and the classic Sixteen Tons. It is a memorable show.

Sadly, on this set, there are no interviews with Sir Tom and, on that count, the set is really lacking. On the first set he told some fun anecdotes and the viewer got a sense of the offstage man. The small booklet that serves as liner notes here is, again, not wonderful….But the music! That is uniformly very good and, on some occasions, just great!

You should get it. And, please, let us know how you like it.

Tom — looking like “200 pounds of natural man” — attended the EMI Grammy© party in LA last night. (EMI is a British music company, one of the so-called “big four” in the industry.) Doesn’t he look great like this?

The El Paso Times has a feature today on Tom, who begins a winter tour of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota — with a March 1 jaunt to New Zealand thrown in — on Tuesday. There’s nothing new here (including that photo!) and there are a few glaring factual errors as the reporter didn’t interview Tom, but it’s nice anyway — except for that *”c-word.” But we love the word “comadres.” And, if you go to any of his shows please tell us about them. We wish Tom and his touring troupe good weather during what can be a rough time of year in the midwestern USA.

---

Timeless crooner has right mix of passion, showmanship

TOM JONES

By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times/Article Launched: 02/08/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

Tom Jones is noted for two things: his string of enduring hits, and the explosive, raw energy of his live performances, at which screaming female fans often throw underwear onto the stage.

The man from Wales first burst on the music scene about 42 years ago with hits including It’s Not Unusual, She’s A Lady, Delilah and What’s New Pussycat?

He has remained in the spotlight ever since.

Jones, who travels around the globe to packed venues, will perform Tuesday in the Plaza Theatre. His El Paso admirers include Jean Ames, Elvia Hernandez and Bertha Bailey, who remember his TV show (This Is Tom Jones from 1969 to 1971). They have their tickets for the concert.

“My son got me tickets for the concert in December as my Christmas present,” Hernandez said. “All my comadres (female buddies) are fans of his.

“The comadres and I used to take turns going to each other’s house to watch (Jones’) TV show. Our husbands, the men, would be in another room while we watched Tom sing and dance.” Bailey said she plans to do something daring during the concert.
(more…)

(February 7, 2008) Maybe you want to watch this video from Fox News. (Click on what is at the moment the top link: “(video) Singer Tom Jones….”) The always reliable “news” outlet spent more than one minute on this non-story. But at least the photo is nice and they say some great, true, things about Tom. We are hoping this is the last word on the matter. Thanks, Keith.

---

(February 6, 2008) Finally, Rolling Stone seems to have gotten it right:

“In what has to be fiction, singer Tom Jones has reportedly had his chest hair insured for $7 million by Lloyd’s of London, who have also insured Keith Richards‘ fingers and Jennifer Lopez’s ass.”

---

In a ridiculous story — why doesn’t someone stop them? — The Mirror, one of the UK’s two least reliable papers, says Tom’s chest hair has been insured by Lloyd’s of London. His management says no. We believe the quote attributed to his management, but don’t believe they were even asked. And, if he were going to insure something, wouldn’t it make sense to insure his voice? But, just because that would make sense it’s not sensational enough to write about. Oh, well, consider this our laugh for the day. Unlike another recent hugely erroneous story, we’re posting this only because it’s so silly. And the least they could have done is used a photo showing the allegedly insured body part, right?

But, do not worry on that last count. Just watch TJI.com for an item you’ll find fills the bill.

---

Hearthrob Sir Tom Jones insures his chest hair for £3.5million

The Mirror — 05/02/2008

With tough tour schedules and big money at stake, It’s Not Unusual for stars to insure their bodies. So it should come as no surprise to learn that Sir Tom Jones, 67, whose mop of luxurious curly brown hair has made him a hit with the ladies, has had his chest hair insured - for the princely sum of £3.5million!

Top insurance house Lloyd’s of London was approached about the deal and, after initial concerns that it might prove too much of a risk, went ahead.

“Like a vintage wine, Tom just gets better with age,” says our body hair mole.

“Even at the grand old age of 67, the ladies love his hip-thrusting moves and catching a sneaky peak of his famously rugged chest hair.”

Sir Tom, who is currently in LA working on his new album, is not the first celebrity to have a body part insured against damage.

Mariah Carey and supermodel Heidi Klum have both had their legs insured, while Jennifer Lopez is said to have had her famous derriere protected.

Rolling Stones rocker Keith Richards had his fingers covered and Ugly Betty star America Ferrera got her mouth insured for a stunning £5m.
(more…)

Because this is the official month of romance — what with Valentine’s Day and all — we’d like to know:

What is the one (1) single, love song you’d like to hear Tom sing?

It can be one he’s recorded and/or performed, or one he hasn’t. Doesn’t matter. Just tell us one, please.

And, if you believe your one song requires an explanation of why you chose it, please let us know that, too.

We know choosing just one song is difficult, but it’s a fun challenge. So, please, let’s try to keep it to one song — one response — per person.