Tom Jones International

You can pre-order Tom’s new CD, 24 Hours by clicking the link at right.

In the UK tabloid The Sun Gordon Smart’s BIZarre column offers a first look to Tom’s new video and a first listen to some of the CD.

If you go to the link above, the video and some of the songs are posted.

We love that and are grateful. And we love this new photo of Tom that, we assume, is part of the PR package for the CD. Finally! Some good, up-to-date pictures! Life is good.

But (sorry, there always seems to be a “but” with Tom and this kind of thing) why was this guy chosen to be the first to hear it and see the video? He’s no friend of Tom’s and, in fact, neither is The Sun.. Mr. Smart calls it “surprisingly good” and calls Tom a “veteran lothario” and says the album is “another attempt by Tom to find a new audience.” Mr. Smart, he’s found new audiences over the years and they stay with him. Gads! And, how much of this CD did Tom actually write? The whole album? We’re curious to find out.

Doesn’t whomever makes these decisions realize that the negative and the smarmy is the stuff that gets picked up by other news outlets? Surely, one of the music pubs in the UK or — why not? — the US would have been more suitable. We have to wait more than two months for the product. (He also got the release date wrong and the name of the producers.) What’s the rush?

Tom’s new CD … it’s unusual

IT’S taken 40 years — but TOM JONES has finally turned his hand to writing an album.

The Voice Of The Valleys has reinvented himself yet again for new collection 24 Hours — which echoes JOHNNY CASH’s late renaissance when he worked with producer RICK RUBIN.

I’m the first journalist to hear Tom’s soulful new record and, I have to say, it’s surprisingly good.
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Click here to Pre-Order Tom Jones: 24 Hours Ships worldwide Nov. 25! Note: It ships in the USA on November 25. Earlier posted dates were, apparently incorrect.

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OK! By last count — and the number will continue to rise — Google picked up 549 news stories about Tom’s new CD. That number doesn’t include the multitude of blog entries. All of them are pretty much the same, except for two.

The first, from walesonline.com is a two-days-later after-the-fact (uncredited) rehash of the original story with some TJ history thrown in. What galls us is that when they choose a fan to quote they choose a 78 year-old woman. And, they mean Neil Diamond’s CD is Home Before Dark, not Gordon Mills’ CD. Anyway, here’s what’s different in that article:

A spokesman for EMI, which looks after Jones in the UK, revealed there will be a single out in Britain called If I Should Ever Leave You. That is expected to be out on November 10.

He said: “The UK album will have slightly different tracks on it. But that is literally still being decided.”

Jo Mills is the widow of Gordon Mills, who wrote It’s Not Unusual.

She said from her home in Weybridge, Surrey: “I am always pleased if he has a new record out, I wish him the best of luck with it.

“He can sing anything, anything at all.

“I hope it’s a big hit out there.”

Her son, Gordon Mills, was invited to write for the record but was unable to find time in his schedule.

The 34-year-old, who co-wrote Newton Faulkner’s hit Dream Catch Me, claimed the record would see a Neil Diamond style reinvention, whose last album – Home Before Dark – was produced by rock producer Rick Rubin.

Mr Mills said: “I was given a brief that he wanted to do something like the new Neil Diamond record, but I did not actually do any writing for it.”

He added: “I thought Rick Rubin (who produced Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash) was going to do it.

“It’ll be good.”

Lifelong fan and mum-of-three Christine Wyatt, from Treharris, couldn’t wait to get her hands on the record.

The 75-year-old said: “That’s fantastic, Tom will show them all, with his sexuality, his voice all of it.

“They love him over there, He’ll be in the top ten, maybe number three. There’s so many Tom Jones fans.

“I’ll be in the queue to get a copy.”

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Now, we love this story from RTÉ Entertainmentin Ireland because it’s so….so….typical:

U2 stars teaming-up with Tom Jones

U2’s Bono and The Edge are to make a guest appearance on the new album by Tom Jones.

The Associated Press reports that the 68-year-old will release his new album 24 Hours in November, with the sound said to be reminiscent of Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black.

The U2 duo join Jones on the song Sugar Daddy.

U2’s new album will be released early next year.

Because we couldn’t use the photo of Bono that was posted with the article, we used this one of Bono and The Edge at the Brooklyn Bridge at the release of their 2004 album, HTDAAB.

Oops! We forgot and we knew this: Rolling Stone noted on September 17 that: “24 Hours features U2’s Bono and the Edge guesting on Jones’ Sugar Daddy.” This is the song they wrote for Tom and to have them actually back him will bring a whole new audience to the project. It’s great news. You can catch some video of the story here

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Tom’s official website still lists different release date and the name of the CD seems to have been changed, but the publicity is great and we’re thrilled that it’s starting a month out. This Associated Press story is everywhere we look.

As for the “15 years” stuff, just remember, Reloaded and Mr. Jones weren’t released here. Like them, The Lead was released only as an import (we think) and stuff like Reloaded were mostly remasters of old songs. And he’s right, but we think he understates the issue when he calls the failure to release Reload “a shame.” We think it was malpractice on someone’s part….maybe the record company’s.

This time, Tom’s covering a fabulous Springsteen song from the acoustic album, Devils and Dust — an unusual tune for him that we cannot wait to hear him do— and included is the song Bono and The Edge wrote for Mr. Jones that wasn’t used.

So, yes, there’s been nothing new here in years and we’re so happy there is now. Aren’t you? And, for the record, he’s right, he’s a “goodie.”

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Tom Jones to release 1st album in US in 15 years

By JAKE COYLE/AP Entertainment Writer/Sept. 16, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) — After 15 years without a new album in the U.S., Tom Jones will release a disc of almost entirely original material this fall.

The 68-year-old singer will release 24 Hours on Nov. 25 on S-Curve Records. It’s a retro-tinged album much in the style of Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black that finds the Welshman’s voice as strong as ever.

“The fire is still in me,” Jones told The Associated Press in a recent interview, speaking by phone from his home in Los Angeles. “Not to be an oldie, but a goodie. I want to be a contender.”

The disc was produced by British production duo Future Cat, who have cut tracks for Lily Allen, Kate Nash and others. With backing horns and an almost Stax Records kind of soul, the sound is distinctly retro.

“We’ve been thinking about this for a while, doing a retro sound but new,” said Jones. “And Amy Winehouse, she cracked it. When that album came out, my son called me right away and said, `You know what we’ve been talking about? Listen to this.’”

Since he released the hit It’s Not Unusual in 1965, Jones has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. While his 2000 album Reload was a hit in Europe and elsewhere (buoyed by the club hit Sex Bomb), it was never released in the U.S. — which Jones calls “a shame.”

“The hits that I’ve had recently have all been European,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of success worldwide, which is a pain because I live here and I do most of my shows in America. … Hopefully this will straighten that out.”

Jones, who regularly performs in Las Vegas, believes his voice hasn’t aged - thanks partly to his careful treatment of it; he takes a humidifier with him traveling to keep his throat from drying. Jones even believes his lower registers have gotten richer.

“I wanted my voice to sound as natural as possible,” Jones said of the album. “The arrangements and the production needs to be modern, but the vocal needs to sound like me.”

There are two covers on the album - Bruce Springsteen’s The Hitter and I’m Alive by Tommy James and the Shondells - but the rest Jones either co-wrote or collaborated with the songwriters. Bono and the Edge of U2 guest on the song “Sugar Daddy.”

“I love doing the songs that I’ve had success with and the audience keeps those alive,” Jones said. “But I love moving on.”

This is a preview of Saturday night’s (July 19) show at the Silver Legacy in Reno, NV. Even though the interview is a couple of years old, it reads like it’s new. Ignore the list of recordings at the end, as it’s not quite complete and we think some of the singles listed were only released in the UK. But no matter. It’s a fun read. The photo is from Tom’s publicity kit.

Please remember to send a review of the show in Contra Costa Tuesday night.

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Tom Jones knew he was destined to be a star

July 16, 2008/Go To Reno Tahoe Who:

Tom Jones • When: 8 p.m. July 19 • Where: Reno Ballroom, Fourth and Center streets• Cost: $45, $70, $80 and $95 • Details: 888-288-1833 • Web: downtownreno.com

Best Bets

Picture this, pussycat. It’s the late ’50s in Wales, and it’s a Friday night at the local YMCA.

Onstage is a popular area band, Tommy Scott and the Senators, singing the hits of the day of artists such as Elvis, Little Richard, Fats Domino and Chuck Berry.

You might have been impressed by the strong vocals and good looks of Tommy Scott, a Welsh lad whose real name was Tom Woodward. But it’s unlikely you would have turned to your friend and said, “Wow, in a couple of years, that kid up there in the black leather is going to have a huge hit, win a Grammy and become one of the top sex symbols of an era.”

But that’s just what happened to Woodward, renamed Tom Jones in the mid-’60s by London manager Gordon Mills to link his new client to the good-looking, lowborn character of a popular movie of the day, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. (It was Mills who turned plain-sounding Arnold George Dorsey into Engelbert Humperdinck.)

Jones said he wasn’t surprised by his success. He had been expecting it since he was a youngster.

“When I was a child singing at parties, people always told me that I had something different,” he said in a 2006 interview.

“So, I believed as a child that I was going to become a star. … I thought if I can make a living at singing and not have to do a job of work that I didn’t like, that would be it.”
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Please do not forget to add your review (or comment) to the San Diego review below. Thanks!

According to Wales Online, “Speaking in Los Angeles at the Grammy Foundation’s Starry Night Gala, Tom revealed who his dream duet at the moment would be: “’Duffy, you know because she’s Welsh. And she can sing, not just because she’s Welsh. I’d like to do something with her.’”

And the much-in-demand star is on Prince Charles’ short list to entertain at his 60th birthday bash on November 14 in London. The Spice Girls have allegedly been invited and he’d also, according to a news report also like to ask Kylie Minogue, Tom Jones and Status Quo. ITV will telecast the event. Tom is at the MGM from October 30 through November 14.

A trip to the UK would please UK fans, we know (and we’re pleased for them) but we hear — Rumor or Reality? — that at the end of November he has a couple of dates on the East Coast of the US.

The ever-tasteful Sunday Mirror today (June 29) has a story about the Christie’s auction. The paper continues it’s tradition of amusing, yet lame, headlines (and they’ll never be as good as the New York Post classic: “Headless Body In Topless Bar,” but that’s another story). Meanwhile, please note, that if you count the internet as “media” and remember that this site has a bona fide award-winning journalist as one moderator and a magazine writer as another, what “media” had the auction story in print first after it was on the radio in the UK? Um…..that would be www.tomjonesinternational.com. That’s why we love doing this.

Note: The Western Mail reconsidered the headline (”Want to hear young Tom Jones singing in the toilet? You’ll need to be feeling flush”) they used in yesterday’s first edition and in later editions changed it. Twice. First they said, “Rare Tom Jones recording goes under the hammer.” Then, they reconsidered and went back for the laugh or, at least, for the mention of a toilet: “Our Tom singing in the loo up for grabs.” Ah, well, no guts, no glory. Wonder who complained. The story’s the same, though.

Anyway, here’s today’s story:

Sing a lav song, Tom

A recording of Tom Jones singing in a toilet is expected to sell for up to £3,000.

The star made the demo in the YMCA in his home town of Pontypridd, Rhondda, in 1962, three years before his first hit, It’s Not Unusual.

Tom’s band, Tommy Scott and The Senators, recorded in the toilet because of the acoustics. The reel-to-reel tape contains four songs — Don’t Pretend, Time Alone, What About Me and That’s What Love Will Do.

Its unnamed owner is putting it up for auction at Christies in London on July 10.

For our original post about the auction, click here.

Another story — surely more to come as the July 10 auction gets closer — about the Christie’s auction of early tapes from a Tom Jones-Senators session (see June 19 post below). If the provenance is exactly what the seller claims, these are, indeed, valuable. We just sense there’s something missing somewhere. We can certainly believe that Tom recorded in the Ponty YMCA with the Senators. And we have no doubt that the acoustics were fine. What we have problems with are, first, the person who owns the tapes, a former recording engineer from Cardiff, telling Christie’s that Tom himself sought him out to manage the recording. Second, we’ve read the Ellis-Sutherland bio again and all it says about the recordings (on page 30 of the book) is:

“…the songs were recorded on a portable eight-track studio in the unlikely setting of the football changin room toilets at the YMCA in Pontypridd. Apparently that was wehre myron and Byron deemed that the acoustics were optimal.

“The resulting tracks included an original Godfrey-Glastonbury instrumental called ‘David’s Theme’ and songs such as ‘Lonely Joe.”

None of the songs mentioned in the book are part of the auction. And the book, containing little or no original research, just a tired rehash of old interviews, gossip and innuendo, doesn’t seem a particularly reliable source. We hope all is on the up-and-up. In truth, Christie’s probably wouldn’t be listing the lot if it weren’t. We just cannot help considering the source. But we love the headline of this story.

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Want to hear young Tom Jones singing in the toilet? You’ll need to be feeling flush

Jun 28 2008 by Robin Turner, Western Mail

AS FAR as Tom Jones recordings go, this one definitely is unusual.

A rare reel-to-reel master-tape recording of Tom in 1962 made in the unlikely setting of the toilets at the YMCA in Pontypridd is about to go under the hammer at London auction house Christie’s. The unique tape, the earliest known recording of the Welsh star to have survived, is being sold by a one-time “sound man” at former Cardiff based TV firm TWW (Television Wales and West) who actually made the recording.

The recording’s current owner — who wishes to remain anonymous — hopes to gain between £2,000 and £3,000 for it.

Back in 1962 when the tape was made, Z-Cars was making its debut on TV and the charts were dominated by the Tornados (with their hit Telstar) and the likes of Ray Charles, Cliff Richard and the Shadows and Elvis Presley.

Tom Jones – born Thomas Woodward in Pontypridd in June 1940 – was going by the name Tommy Scott at the time and was fronting a rock and roll band, The Senators, who played in South Wales’ lively pub and club scene.

It would be another two years before Jones received global acclaim with his hit single, It’s Not Unusual.

The origins of the recording date back to early in 1962, after a gig in Bedwas, near Caerphilly. Jones and The Senators (later known as The Playboys and The Squires) were approached by two local songwriters, Ray Godfrey and John Glastonbury who had adopted the music management name of Myron & Byron.
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Yesterday we posted youtube video of Sir Tom at the Face The World Foundation gala in Vancouver on June 2 (newspaper photo at left).

As he said during that video, this year was his fourth at the event. In fact, Sir Tom, along with Jackie Collins and some others, is an honorary board member of the organization.

Face The World, a strictly local Vancouver charity, was formed in 1991 by Jacqui Cohen, president and CEO of Army & Navy Department Stores (greeting Tom at the 2007 gala in photo at right), the organization’s website says, “in order to give something back to the city she called home. She is still amazed at the generosity of the people of Vancouver and feels very proud of the fact that many lives have been improved through the hard work of those associated with Face The World.”

2007 was Sir Tom’s third time joining the festivities and, as he did again this year, he seemed to have a great time at the Face The World Foundation in 2007. Not much footage of him — or enough to please those of us who visit TJ websites — but it looks like a terrific event. Note: It is video from 2007 despite the number the video voice over guy gives as Tom’s age.

Here are two more photos from the red carpet at the 2008 event. Dom Perignon, the title sponsor, seems intent on teaching everyone how to drink champers! Without them, how would Sir T. and the others ever learn?

















Thanks so much to AF for finding the video for us and to the Wonder Woman at vegascommunityonline.com for helping us post it. You’re both terrific!

On May 28 it was reported in an online blog that ?uestlove (that’s “Questlove”) has said he’ll produce Tom Jones. He says, too, that he has a meeting with Tom in July.

According to wikipedia, “Ahmir Khalib Thompson (left) (born on January 20, 1971), known professionally as ?uestlove or Questlove, a.k.a. BROther ?uestion or Brother Question, is an American drummer, DJ, music journalist and record producer. He is best known as the drummer for hip hop band The Roots and has produced for artists such as Common, D’Angelo, and more recently, Al Green. He is a member of the production teams the Soulquarians, the Grand Negaz, and The Grand Wizzards.” If you read his full bio, you’ll see that his music credentials are really solid.

We first heard of him when someone told us what a terrific drummer he is. He’s certainly played with some great people. We don’t doubt, at the least, that there’s a meeting set for next month. Still, we’d sure like the CD still being worked on now to be completed before a new project is begun. (Unless this is merely but one cut on that CD.)

We have to give ?uestlove props for his comments about critic Robert Christgau in the same article. The former Village Voice music critic used to write for Newsday, the daily on Long Island and, a few months ago, we posted his review of Tom and Enge from the Westbury Music Fair in 1972. These reviews are well-worth reading again. (Photo of Tom at right was taken in 1972.)

So, it might be jumping the gun to say for sure what’s going to happen, but it is great that artists from every music sector admire Sir Tom.

For Tom’s birthday, tomorrow, we’re going to post a very special charity appeal from a special fan of his with whom we’ve been corresponding for several weeks. Of course, we hope you’ll be moved to help that cause and, to show you that we are following in Tom’s spirit, here’s a story about his charity work.

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Each year for the last few years, Tom has traveled to Vancouver to perform at a charity gig — Jacqui Cohen’s Face The World Foundation Annual Gala. The 18th annual event was held June 2 between gigs in other Canadian cities. The photo is of Tom with Ms. Cohen. And, we apologize for this awful photo. That’s what was in the newspaper. Be sure to look for the typo (typographical error) in the story. Or, was it a typo? Freudian slip, perhaps? If you find it, please don’t post it. Let others discover it for themselves. Thanks.

It’s not unusual
Social Eyes by Catherine Barr/Metro News Canada/June 05, 2008 02:12

It was time for Tom and Dom at socialite Jacqui Cohen’s 18th Annual Face The World Foundation Annual Gala.

The Army and Navy [store] heiress looked positively festive in a gorgeous ruffled orange gown as she escorted none other than Sir Tom Jones down the driveway and into her lavish Point Grey home. The 60s-something sex symbol, who is both a friend and Honorary Patron to the foundation, was dressed in a stunning black ensemble complete with a diamond studded silk tie.

The well-heeled and breast-dressed crowd sipped Dom Perignon champagne and mingled during the reception before heading in to dine on fabulous five-star service and food from David Aisenstat’s The Shore Club. Media personality Vicki Gabereau and musician Jim Byrnes served as the evening’s MCs. Later, Sir Tom took to the stage in person to entertain.

I’m not telling if any panties were thrown — but let’s just say — it’s not unusual.