Akin to the old Celtic legends where amid the beautiful, tranquil green country of Wales immortal proud dragons roamed the vast lush countryside sprouting fire, feasting and ruling the terrain from dusk till dawn, hailed a young Thomas Woodward who roamed the streets of Pontypridd unaware of the vast fame and fortune that soon awaited him.
Whether his stage name was picked for a specific reason but like English playwright Henry Fielding’s titular character; Tom Jones as he became known, also grew into a vigorous and lusty, yet kind-hearted, singer who has entertained the masses during the past four decades.
It is undoubtedly the voice that is the sole bold spectacle, to which he gave birth with the classic Its Not Unusual and brought to maturity with the timeless Green Green Grass of Home coupled by that Welsh virile swagger that entices women of all ages.
Tom Jones represents that old school artiste who during the 1960s mingled with the likes of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack and managed to blend their music in his own unique style. In an interview last February on the BBC with Jonathan Ross, Tom revealed that he and Frank were drinking buddies and enjoyed a few glasses of champagne from time to time.
Bond movies have always been synonymous with dramatic theme tunes, and in the film Thunderball audiences had the pleasure of listening to Tom’s velvet inimitable voice belting those powerful lyrics blended with those Bond-ish musical orchestrations. The movie hit song that reignited his career with a younger audience in 1989 was Kiss, taken from My Stepmother is an Alien starring Kim Basinger. Tom’s voice certainly improved on Prince’s original especially the ‘and’ addition in the ‘Women and Girls rule my world’ line as opposed to the ‘not’ in Prince’s original. When questioned by Parkinson on the BBC as to why he added the ‘and’ in the line; Jones answered with a chuckle: “Because I did not want to leave any of them out”.
Another successful cover version is without a doubt You Can Leave Your Hat On from the hit film The Full Monty, which spawned the rousing Full Monty medley live performance at the 1998 BRIT Awards, where Jones entertained the masses.
Jones would reinvent his image for the 2000s with the album Reload, indeed this was the collaboration album as Tom Jones recorded duets of cover songs with younger artistes of the likes of Robbie Williams, Zucchero, Simply Red, Nathalie Imbruglia and The Cardigans.
From Sex Bomb to Mama Told Me, Jones’s music after four decades is as contemporary as ever reaching out to a new generation of fans, during an interview with Michael Parkinson, he was asked will he ever retire and he replied, so long as my voice remains strong I will continue to perform, there is no doubt he will continue to delight us with his inimitable voice for years to come.
Tom Jones will be performing at the MFCC Ta Qali on November 15. Tickets are available from www.nngpromotions.com .
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