Sir Thomas Jones Woodward, OBE (born 7 June 1940), known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer. He became one of the most popular vocalists to emerge from the mid-1960s. Since then he has sung nearly every form of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records. Jones has had thirty-six Top 40 hits in the United Kingdom and nineteen in the United States; some of his notable songs include "It's Not Unusual", "What's New Pussycat", "Delilah", "Green, Green Grass of Home", "She's a Lady", "Kiss" and "Sex Bomb". Having been awarded an OBE in 1999, Jones received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music" in 2006. Jones has received numerous other awards throughout his career, including the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1966, an MTV Video Music Award in 1989 and two Brit Awards – winning Best British Male, in 2000, and Outstanding Contribution to Music, in 2003. (Read more at Wikipedia)
Links To Peel []
Peel played Tom Jones records on daytime shows while working for Radio London, including on 17 July 1967, when it seemed as if he was forced to play an unlikely playlist that also featured Julie Rogers and the Shadows.
Perhaps surprisingly, when Jones hosted This Is Tom Jones, a TV series for ATV which ran for 57 episodes from 1969-1971, his guest list included many artists who had appeared in Peel's playlists, including the Moody Blues, Julie Driscoll, Arthur Brown, Donovan, the Who, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin and even Lonnie Donegan.[1] In the series, Jones sang duets with many of his guests and showed himself at ease with modern soul, R&B and rock material. Although many in Peel's audience (and possibly even the DJ himself) thought of the singer as a middle-of-the-road artist, because his biggest UK hits were pop ballads, the series was made for US TV and featured a wider range of artists than the typical British pop TV show of the time. Stephen Stills, who appeared on the show with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, expressed his admiration for Tom Jones' vocal ability in an interview for Rolling Stone magazine [ref], commenting that "he has incredible chops...his chops are incredible".
Tom Jones spent much of his career on the show business circuit, playing in the likes of Las Vegas rather than at venues specialising in rock or pop, until the late 1980s, when he made a chart comeback. In 1992, Peel saw Jones at Glastonbury and seemed to enjoy his performance, so much so that on 03 July 1992 he mentioned that he was considering getting hold of a recording and broadcasting it as a session. Sadly, it turned out to be one of the Sessions That Never Happened.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- None
Sessions[]
- None
Shows Played[]
Hard To Handle, Tom Jones, Live in Flamingo Hotel
'Hard To Handle', a cover of Otis Redding's track performed in Las Vegas at the Flamingo
(The list is incomplete. Please add further information if known.)
- 1967
- 17 July 1967: I'll Never Fall In Love Again (single) Decca
- 1992
- 03 July 1992: Hard To Handle (LP - Live in Las Vegas) Decca
- 19 July 1992 (BFBS): Hard To Handle (LP - Live in Las Vegas) Decca
- 1993
- 26 March 1993: Gimme Shelter (with New Model Army) (v/a album - Gimme Shelter) Food
- 02 Dec 1966: Green, Green Grass Of Home (5)
- 10 Dec 1966: Green, Green Grass Of Home (5)
- 17 Dec 1966: Green, Green Grass Of Home (1)
- 24 Dec 1966: Green, Green Grass Of Home (1)
- 31 Dec 1966: Green, Green Grass Of Home (1)
- 07 Jan 1967: Green, Green Grass Of Home (1)
- 14 Jan 1967: Green, Green Grass Of Home (1)
- 21 Jan 1967: Green, Green Grass Of Home (1)
- 28 Jan 1967: Green, Green Grass Of Home (1)
Covered[]
Listing taken only from the Cover Versions page of this site. Please add more information if known.
Performing Artist | Song | First Known Play
- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Sleeping Annaleah ('Weeping Annaleah') 26 August 1986
- Palast Orchester & Max Rabbe: Sex Bomb 11 January 2001
- Wedding Present: It's Not Unusual 11 July 1989