Tom Jones International

Like much of the US lately, Pontypridd was lashed by a fierce storm on April 20. Among the debris found in the aftermath was the roof of Tom’s Bar (which is alternately known as Tom’s “Pub”). Its significance to fans (if any) lies in the fact that it is the site of the old Wood Road Non-Political Club where Tom used to play early on. We know it’s not much in the way of a TJ news story, but it did give us an excuse to post this circa-1957-or-so photo of Sir Tom when he began to sing there. If you’re interested, you might want to check out Pontypridd’s official website. The folks who run it are not fans but, we assume, there are different sides to this story, too. Tall poppies, perhaps? And what exactly do people expect from a native of their town who becomes wealthy and/or famous?

*Hope we got the correct Welsh word for “news.” If not, please correct us (as we’re sure you’ll do). Thanks.

Storm rips off bar roof
Apr 30 2008 by Ian Caleb, South Wales Echo

TOM “The Voice” Jones may have been credited with metaphorically raising plenty of roofs around the world with his energetic stage act.

But it seems the elements have gone one better, with high winds literally raising the roof of a South Wales bar named after the Pontypridd superstar.

Tom’s Pub, in Wood Road, Treforest, was closed after its metal clad roof was torn off. The first pictures of the incident, released yesterday, show the full extent of the damage. Police and Rhondda Cynon Taf council workers spent six hours cleaning up following the roof’s collapse, which happened during the early hours of April 20.
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Before we get into this, we have some “housekeeping” tasks to attend to:
(1) If you are not an American English speaker, you may not know what “cheesiest” means as used here. So, we’ll tell you. “Cheesiest” means the most sentimental, maudlin, melodramatic and corny” thing of its kind. If someone or something is “cheesy” it is usually also bad.
(2) In general, nowadays, we don’t like yahoo.com. It’s news isn’t well-presented and we can say nothing nice about most of yahoo.com groups that we’ve seen since jonesthevoice. In all, yahoo is not a go-to source for anything we can think of.

That said, this turned up and we thought posting it would get the blood going. And it is always — always! — interesting to know what people are saying. The guy listed Tom at #5, cheesier than Manilow! Sure, not every song of Tom’s is a gem and not every song meets with everyone’s approval but, overall, we disagree with the designation for Tom and object to the characterization of his fans. And that’s not the only place where we disagree: one of us loves Billy Joel (the “Bard of Long Island”) and Neil Diamond is a delicious guilty pleasure. As for David Clayton Thomas, come now! So, have fun!

The Ten Cheesiest Singers Of All-Time

Posted Wed Apr 23 3:33pm PDT by Rob O’Connor in yahoo.com’s List Of The Day

Using the word “cheesy” to describe someone’s singing isn’t often looked upon as a compliment. However, this is show-biz and a certain amount of Velveeta is often necessary if you’re going to be an entertainer. People come to your shows to see something larger than life. If they wanted to watch a bunch of average joes in everyday threads shyly singing into their armpits, they could attend a Yo La Tengo concert.

But some singers take cheese beyond one of the basic food groups and turn it into a way of life. Donny Osmond and his entire oversmiling family have made “corny wholesomeness” an accepted media trend. Donny (not even “Don”) makes John Denver seem nutritious by comparison.

Over the years, there have been plenty of obvious ham and cheese puffs. Anyone who performs a showtune is embedded with cheese. So when devising this list of the cheesiest singers, it was important to choose singers who didn’t have to resort to such over-the-top drama, singers who could’ve just sang the damn song and been done with it. But no–they insisted on a little Feta, a little Provolone to go along with the act.

10) Billy Joel: Billy Joel could’ve been a convincing rock ‘n’ roll guy, but he had too much of the “drunk uncle at the wedding” in him to tone it down. He’s a natural born ham likely to give himself a heart-attack-yack-yack-yack with all his extra showbiz flourishes. It hasn’t done him any good with critics, but his fans love the extra schmaltz.

9) David Lee Roth: David Lee Roth is perhaps the only hard rock singer who actually gets it. There are plenty of other hard rock singers, including his eventual replacement in Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, who are cheesy without wit, without self-knowledge. But DLR knew what he was doing and he reveled in his role as not only the lead singer of a hard rock band, but as the carnival barker eager to sell you whatever you might be interested in purchasing. Not just a gigolo, but the gigolo.
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We’re not posting this to open up another debate here but, instead, because we think it’s funny (and we get to use the title above for the post). Of course, we in the US thought Tom did a fine job with a difficult song. But, what do we know? In most places, (like the US, Canada, UK, France, etc.) citizens grow up singing the national anthem and, by the time they are out of school, certainly, they’ve learned it. But, apparently, Sir Tom’s rendition of the Welsh anthem reflects on a nationwide problem and lots of people just don’t know the song. (If you want to see video of the event, scroll down to the April 19 post.) For the record, we thought it was very human when Tom asked if the mic was on….and if they didn’t want their celebs to appear as if they’d partied, why have a pre-fight party. After all, the event was at 7 p.m. Las Vegas time. They was plenty of time to celebrate after the fact. Anyway, the writer here has a good suggestion that will save future anthem-singing-designees some trouble: “Call it Tom’s Law, put it on the curriculum and make it a legal requirement that every Welsh child is word perfect in the National Anthem by the age of seven.”

For the record, we think the decision on this bout goes to Jones by a knockout.

We don’t all sing from the same hymn sheet
Apr 28 2008 Carolyn Hitt, Western Mail

THE town of Pontypridd has given two marvellous gifts to the world – the Welsh National Anthem and Tom Jones. Just don’t put the two together.

Jones the Voice has long been the global ambassador for the Land of Song. But Tom why, why, why didn’t you learn the lyrics to the Land of My Fathers? His pre-Calzaghe fight performance was less than knockout.

I blame Catherine Zeta Jones. You know what Welsh ex-pats are like out on the lash. Maybe she slipped him a few too many cans of Brains Dark out of her handbag before he stepped into the ring.

Yet Tom’s Vegas version certainly brightened up a Monday morning as the video clip was e-mailed to offices across Wales. We were clutching our stomachs laughing at the improvisations… particularly the one that sounded a bit like “bl**dy”.

Across the Atlantic, they lapped it up in the Thomas & Mack Center. Tom is such a legend Stateside he could get away with singing What’s New Pussycat? in Serbo-Croat. Given the average Yank’s knowledge of Wales, they wouldn’t have known the difference if he had. But closer to the green, green grass of home, there was mixture of amusement and embarrassment.
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Our friend AF sent us the book discussed below and we found this interesting (when we have time we’ll post the entire interview). This is posted as a look at Tom’s musical judgment, not for any other purpose. Let us say up front that just about anyone reading this site agrees that Tom should join Jerry Lee and all those other early influences in the Hall, and not again comment repeatedly about it. Thanks!

It’s certainly no secret that (1) Jerry Lee Lewis is Tom’s favorite singer and that (2) he’s felt that way for most of his life.

In a 1981 book about Lewis called Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, author Robert Cain interviewed Tom who said, “As far as contemporary music from the fifties on, Jerry Lee Lewis has been my biggest influence. I’ve bought more records of Jerry Lee Lewis than any other entertainer.”

And, of course, we all know that Tom’s biggest hit, Green Green Grass of Home was from a Jerry Lee album called Country Songs for City Folk, that Tom found in the (late, lamented) Colony Record Shop in New York City. We also know how he gleefully introduces End of the Road today: “This is a JERRY LEEEEE LEWIS song!”

Thus, this exchange between Tom and Cain should not be a surprise:
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The annual Sunday Times “Rich List” has been published. In 2007, Tom was ranked 10th with £190 million. We’re not sure these things have any way of being accurate. (Looking at last year’s list compared to this year’s, all we can say is, come election day, be sure to vote for the people who will solve the economic mess in your country so the worldwide economy will recover. Just about everyone on this list is said to be worth less this year than last. And that’s not due to lack of work — although Macca’s divorce might have cut into his wealth, estimated last year at £750 million.) The “=” sign next to a number indicates a tie for that position. The list is broken into categories. To see the entire list, click the link above. And, please look at comment #2 for an explanation as to why this entire list is probably specious.

Britain’s Top Music Millionaires

1 Clive Calder £1,300m • 2 Lord Lloyd-Webber £750m • 3 Sir Paul McCartney £500m • 4= Simon Fuller £450m 4= Sir Cameron Mackintosh £450m • 6 Madonna and Guy Ritchie £300m • 7 Guy and Julia Hands £250m • 8 Sir Elton John £235m • 9 Sir Mick Jagger £225m • 10 Robert Stigwood £212m • 11 Sting £200m • 12 Keith Richards £190m • 13 Sir Tom Jones £170m • 14= Olivia and Dhani Harrison £160m • 14= Jamie Palumbo £160m • 16 Sir Tim Rice £155m • 17= Eric Clapton £140m • 17= Phil Collins £140m • 17= Ringo Starr £140m • 20 David and Victoria Beckham £125m

Summer in the southern United States is sure to be hotter for a few days judging from the new concert dates have been announced on tomjones.com, (Keep watching, as we hear at least one terrific northeast date may be in the works.) The first date is especially nice as we believe a hurricane caused a cancellation of the last date there.

Here they are, with links to the box offices. As of today, tickets are only on sale at Beau Rivage. Keep checking for the others.

June 26: Beau Rivage in Biloxi, MS • June 27 & 28: L’Auberge Du Lac Casino, Lake Charles, LA • June 30 & July 1: HOB New Orleans • July 3: Nokia Theater Grand Prairie, TX (Note: the Grand Prairie Nokia site is “undergoing maintenance.” This is the site for AEGLive, owner of the venue.)

We’re revisiting a December 8, 2002 interview from The Times Online in which Tom and his son/manager Mark Woodward discuss their “Relative Values.” It is long, 1,700+ words, but interesting. The photo from this page was, obviously taken for this story. See anything familiar about Mark’s facial hair? If you read the entire piece, there are two more of Tom and his son when the latter was a young child and a young man. Thanks to the UK fan (UKF) who sent them.

Relative values: Tom Jones and Mark Woodward

The singer Tom Jones and Mark Woodward, his son and manager. By Bridget Freer

TOM: Mark was weaned on rock’n'roll. You could put him on the couch with a cushion and a bottle, and as long as music was playing he’d lie there happily. But as soon as that record stopped: ‘Waaaaaa!’ I’d run to change it, and he’d start sucking the bottle again. He loves music.

Mark has a lovely voice, but he couldn’t get up and sing. He’s like my father: he got the voice but not the showmanship. I got them both. I’d have liked that for Mark, if he wanted. I don’t see anything wrong in show business — I’ve enjoyed it so much.

It’s worked well, him being my manager. He’s always thrown his two-penn’orth in, and nine times out of 10 he’s right. He knows how to deal with me. We’re not parent and child, we’re friends. But we can go at it. It’s a Welsh thing. When we were on the road together we argued. He’d go on about something in music, and I’d go: ‘Wait a minute, what do you know?’ Then I’d say: ‘F this. I’m going back to Wales.’ I don’t know why I’d say that. I must’ve been drunk. But Wales was like a security blanket.

Mark’s had a life most kids haven’t had with their fathers. We became closer as men than we did when I was a teenager and he was a little boy, and that was through working together. We got older together.
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The TJI.com poster — made from a fan photo — is being removed from sale at the request of Tom’s management.

All money will be refunded, so please watch for an email notice of refund.

As this is a matter between us and Tom’s management, we are not taking comments.

Sorry for any disappointment.

—Ellen & Ursula

Our first Tom Jones poster is now on sale!

In response to fan requests when our 2008 TJI.com calendar was published without a photo capturing this precise moment, we secured a photo of Tom singing “You can’t be too flirty mama, I know how to undress me.”

The poster is 11.5″ by 17.5″(suitable for hanging almost anywhere, even behind a door or in your closet!) and is, of course, in full color (although the color on these low-resolutions photos don’t do the real poster justice).

The poster costs $20 in the US and Canada; $25 in all other countries. The price includes shipping and handling.

This will be on sale for a limited time. Our 2008 Tom Jones International Calendar sold out and, because we weren’t able to fill later orders, some fans were disappointed.

To order your poster with secure payment via PayPal, just click on the appropriate link at right (”For N. America and Canada” on top or “Outside N. America and Canada” on the bottom). We’ll let you know when they are mailed to you. We’re hoping you’ll have them by the end of May.

If you cannot use PayPal, or have other ordering problems, please email Ellen.

James Lawton, a columnist in The Independent wrote on April 22 about the fight last weekend. This guy may know his pugilism, but not his Tom Jones or his Tom Jones fans. And his writing is confusing. There’s something wrong with his quote about what Tom said on stage — unless it actually is a quote from more than 10 years ago. We cannot believe Tom would say such a thing to his fans.

But the comparison Tom makes between singers and boxers is interesting (in bold italics below), so we posted it. (And it is nice to see a mention of Budd Schulberg, who wrote some terrific novels and screenplays.)

In discussing Sir Tom’s friendship with fighter Tommy “Hitman” Hearns, Lawton writes:

Sir Tom poses question that all fighters must answer

“Sir Tom Jones’ spell-binding rendition of the Welsh national anthem in the ring before Calzaghe-Hopkins was a reminder of his interest in the sport through a close friendship with Tommy “Hitman” Hearns.

“I suppose fighters and singers have something in common in that that they have to go out to perform under pressure, though in my case I’ve never actually been hit,” he said on a night out here with his friend a few years ago. The ‘Hitman’ was at a point in his career when he was causing much concern by his decision to fight on, one which threatened a split with his long-time mentor Emanuel Steward.

“In his dressing room before his duties at the showroom of the MGM Grand, Sir Tom gently shifted the conversation to the eternal dilemma of when a man should seek new roads in life. This, he suggested, was probably a more pressing issue for a fighter, in that everyone you met professionally was anxious to knock your head off.

“His own challenge in Las Vegas was merely to continue to entertain matronly farmers’ wives from such places as Kansas and Iowa. He put on his face and strode on stage to receive an ecstatic reaction for belting out, What’s New Pussycat? But perhaps his earlier musings still played on his mind. He said from the stage, ‘Ladies, you know we’ve been doing this for 30 years — and on a night like this it doesn’t seem a minute less.’”

Photo above is Tom with Ray J. And, yes, you can still see the anthem video by clicking on the link in the post below.