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Tom Jones - Biography
 Tom Jones (born June 7,
1940) is a Welsh pop singer with a large and powerful voice. He was
born Thomas Jones Woodward in Pontypridd, Wales. He married
and had a child at the age of sixteen, long before becoming a pop
idol. Despite frequent and much publicized infidelities, including
an affair with the dethroned Miss World of 1973, USA's
Marjorie Wallace, he has remained
married and a family man. He lives in the USA, but makes regular
visits to his native land of Wales.
Musical career
He rose to fame in the mid-1960s,
with an exuberant live act which included wearing tight breeches and
billowing shirts, in an Edwardian style popular amongst his peers at
the time. Jones was awarded the Best New Artist Grammy in 1965.
Following several hits in the UK,
he became a Las Vegas lounge singer
and his image quickly changed. He was known for his overt sexuality
in the 1960s, before this was as common as it became in subsequent
years. Ladies would swoon and scream, and in 1968, starting at New
York's Copacabana night club, some would throw their panties on
stage. Soon after, in Las Vegas, they started throwing hotel room
keys.
Jones had an internationally
successful television variety show from 1969-1971 titled "This Is
Tom Jones."
His early hits include:
-
It's Not
Unusual (1965)
-
What's New
Pussycat?, written by Burt Bacharach for Woody Allen's
What's New, Pussycat? (1965)
-
Thunderball,
the theme for the James Bond film (1966)
-
The Green,
Green Grass of Home (1966), his most successful single, which
became associated with his native Wales, despite being written
about the USA
-
I'll Never
Fall In Love Again (1967)
-
Delilah
(1968), the usual choice of song for impressionists "doing" Tom
Jones
-
Help
Yourself (1968)
-
Without
Love (1969)
-
She's A
Lady (1971)
Jones's recording career slumped
during the seventies and eighties, though his touring continued
successfully. When he appointed his grown-up son as his manager,
another change of image followed, and he is now highly respected by
other singers.
His recording career was revived in
1987 with his first major hit single in over a decade, A Boy From
Nowhere, taken from the musical Matador. Following this,
he started to record with a younger generation of musicians. These
recordings included:
-
Prince's song
Kiss (1988, with The Art of Noise)
-
Talking Heads'
song Burning Down The House (1999, with The Cardigans)
-
Baby, It's
Cold Outside (1999, with Cerys Matthews of Catatonia)
-
Iggy Pop's
song Lust for Life (1999, with The Pretenders)
-
Randy Newman's
song Mama Told Me Not To Come (2000, with Kelly Jones of
the Stereophonics)
-
Sex Bomb
(From 1999's Reload (perhaps the single was released in
2000?), with Mousse T)
-
You Need
Love Like I Do (2000, with Heather Small of M People)
-
Tom Jones
International (2003)
His Reload album, released
in 2000 became the biggest hit of his career. An album of cover
versions recorded as duets with contemporary artists, using their
record producers, and utilising their recording methods, it reached
number one in the United Kingdom, and sold over 5 million copies
worldwide. In 2002, he released his latest album,
Mr. Jones, which was produced
by Wyclef Jean and included the singles Tom Jones International
and Black Betty. In 2003, he was honoured with a Brit Award
for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2004 his Sex Bomb
single became a major US club hit.
Tom Jones Official
Website
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