The voice, silver fox, prince of Wales are just some of Tom Jones’ many nicknames, in fact Tom Jones is technically one too. He was born Thomas Woodward. But one that seems to be the most prevalent, especially on the Voice, is legend.
There is something not right about a 16-year-old saying ‘Legend’ to Sir Tom. While I am sure they are being polite, they can’t possibly know what he did to deserve this title. Not many of us would do in fact. Jones is now 76 and his past hides a show business career on a terrifyingly grand scale.
Early Days
Born in Pontypridd Wales he was born to a coal mining father and like many of his fellow Welshman was destined to go down the mines. Not Tom. He had a passion for singing and showcased his talent for the school choir and family parties.
At the age of 12 he overcame being bed ridden for two years with tuberculosis. While it was understandably the worst period of his life, the illness is said to have not only given him time to love music, but also given him his iconic rasp.
Jones was a small-time singer touring the valleys before Gordon Mills spotted him. The music manager took him to London where he would be able to make his name away from the coal pits. Mills gave Thomas Woodward his stage name Tom Jones too. It was after a film starring Albert Finney who played a singer with the name.
Birth of a Legend
It was a single hit that really opened the door for Jones to make singing his life. The song was It’s Not Unusual, it still follows him to this day. Back in 1965 when it was released it reached No 1 in the UK and top ten in America. This enabled Tom to move to an even bigger pond than London and he travelled to the west coast of the USA.
He won the best new artist grammy in 1966 and with a handful of songs had built up a hardcore fan base of mostly women. This was because of his Elvis-esque dancing and his choice of clothes including low buttoned shirts and tight trousers.
He discovered that he would be able to live off this new-found persona much better in Las Vegas where he would be payed handsomely for club nights. It was in Vegas he not only discovered that ‘what happens in Vegas’ lifestyle but also befriended a certain Elvis Presley.
Television and Genre Changes
After a decade in Las Vegas and the untimely death of Elvis Presley, Sir Tom moved on to television. His hit show, This Is Tom Jones, allowed him to duet with the most famous singers in the world. It provides most of his anecdotes for The Voice!
Another TV show on ABC followed called simply ‘Tom Jones’ and Jones anchored himself in Hollywood where he would remain and live for the rest of his life.
In the 1980’s Tom took a genre shift and moved into country music. He made a whole album of Country music and the single Say You’ll Stay Till Tomorrow topped the US Country charts. Unfortunately, in 1986 his long-time manager Gordon Mills dies and Jones lost his way in the music world, only making a handful of TV appearances, but as a character of the past.
Rebirth
His son Mark took over as manager and started a plan to get Tom Jones away from the outdated sex symbol image and make him more relevant and attractive to younger audiences. Jones started to appear at festivals playing his classics, while working on a studio rebirth. His album Reload featured duets with a plethora of famous artists from 1999. Stereophonics, The Cardigans and Catatonia to name but a few.
The album was a commercial success. Along with his various stadium performances Jones kept his relevance through the naughties, appearing in a song by Chicane in 2006 which reached No 7 in the charts.
His incredible experience and, let’s be honest, voice, led him to be one of the judges on The Voice UK. Despite a blip last year when BBC dropped him, he is back to his best, showing off his talent spotting abilities as well as his infamous roar ‘Yeah!’.
Legend Status
Tom Jones may not be on the radar of most music followers today but there is no doubt you know who he is. And that is because for 50 years he has grafted his way into everyone vocabulary as a legend. His exploits from Vegas, to Country to The Voice has given him an incredible history. While he will always be remembered for his booming voice, it is his adaptability that has enabled him to find new audiences no matter the decade. The sheer fact he has been going this long is the reason he is a legend. It takes serious work to achieve.
