When they gave Tom Jones a TV show, he knew what to do with it.

When I was a very young, self-defined hep cat, I waded through every sound wave of the British Invasion, bestowing accolades on the obviously eternal, swearing allegiance to the ones who struck my truest chords and learning to move beyond the faddish and minimally talented. 

Among the popular musicians my generation welcomed ashore, most faded into the mists of memory while only a select few endured.  Among the latter whom time and tides washed upon our shores, the one who seems most deserving of reevaluation all these years later is Tom Jones.

 

When I first heard that poverty stricken son of a Welsh coal miner and his booming, brawling, bottle baritone it was, in a word, "unusual". Then the guy turned up wearing a tuxedo! He then compounded the problem when he chose to display his spray tan and chest hair while singing catchy but silly movie songs.  That's when  I decided we were on very different wavelengths.

What followed for Tom was a string of soggy hits and inferior covers. Then came the death knell to these listening ears; when the son of post WWII Walsh coal miner with a voice informed by true Anglo-American blues, decided to forsake his musical legacy and cash in his chips by selling his musical soul in the form of "soft sock in the jock rock" to Las Vegas. 

In the late 1960's and early '70s, while his contemporaries were either striking off in new directions, vying among themselves for the title of The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band or discovering their true muses, Tom Jones got his own television show.  

The TJ show concluded in 1970 after two seasons and TJ resumed his wayward ways in the company of the likes of Humperdinky and Wayne Newton and he became largely forgotten to my hipper generation. 

In the course of pursuing his chosen career path as King Lounge Lizard, Jones forfeited his rock credentials and a possible place in the pantheon of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

It wasn't until many years later when I read of a Jones collaboration with my all time personal fave, his British Isle contemporary and that elfin son of Eire, Van Morrison, that I took a look back at what TJ had done with that TV show of his. (No, he didn't put Van on it. Must'a been afraid of losing the charisma contest).

What I found was that TJ used his program to provide a forum for some of his own youthful rock idols. And that is why, at long last, I elected to forgive him the indiscretion of abandoning his true rhythm and blues heritage in favor of filthy lucre and used panties. 

In the early '90's, graying and likely realizing his days as King Lounge Lizard were at an end, this poverty stricken post WWII son of a Welsh coal miner reversed the process of so many performers of his generation when they ran out of material. Rather than reach back to the Great American Songbook of Gershwin, Porter, Arlen, etc., Jones returned to rock roots, recording songs by Prince and a number of other younger rockers. Then, he reached out to a contemporary, the son of another into poverty born son of an Irish ship yard worker who had held onto his musical roots as if his mortal soul depended on it and who, in his own words had, "pierced the rim of glamour/so I know just who I am." 

 Yep. TJ called on Van Morrison to produce a new studio album, "Carrying a Torch". It led to further collaborations and, even though the spotlight had waned, it led too some of the most compelling music of Jones' career.

And so, ladies and gents, without further ado, a respectful look back at one of the great voices of the 1960's British Invasion, Sir Tom Jones. 

Tom to Ella: "Is the tempo alright for you? Ella to Tom: "Let's find out." She then proceeds to swing Tommy's lead right into the ground.  

Is there any white British soul shouter who did not worship at the shrine of Ray, the High Priest? Tom sure did. 

Aretha: We can talk or we can sing. What's it gonna be, Big Boy?, before she absolutely unloads on It's Not Unusual

Stevie Wonder is just so ... so ... so wonderful.

Walking the country line with Johnny Cash and June Carter

If I were Crosby, Stills, Nash or Young, I would have made TJ a grandfather offer - ditch this Vegas gig and give us a VOICE!
Long Time Gone

TJJ pays tribute to The Killer. 

Little Richard - Another of TJ's childhood icons who could still bring it on home. WOOOO!

Tom and Tina Turner - What a pair.

Tom Jones and Joe  Cocker attended the

Church of Ray Charles.

Janis Joplin lets it all out and drags it out of 

Tom too while she's at it.

I always wondered what Raquel Welch's true talent was.
I'm still wondering because it sure wasn't singing. 
She's only here because after all, she's Raquel Welch.

Leave it to network television to take a great pair of singers and a classic song and dip it into phony crud. 

Tony Bennett Fly Me to the Moon

Even at his shuckin' and jivin' worst, Sammy Davis, Jr. has more talent at his command than any performer ever. Too bad about that shuckin' and jivin' nonsense.

Sammy Davis Jr.

When I first heard Sammy Davis, Jr. sing Mr. Bojangles, I immediately concluded, "Sam, my man, you're guessing. The years went by, I learned more about life and it dawned on me how deeply this song must have resonated with Mr. Davis -cheesy Hollywood set piece and all.

Tom Jones with Van Morrison - Cry for Home

Van Morrison bring Tom back to base. In Studio performance of Van's "Not Feeling It Anymore"

Carrying a Torch with Van

Sometimes We Cry Van Morrison

Tom brings it on home with Van Morrison and Jeff Beck. 

If it appears from this retracing of the Tom Jones story that VM was the trigger to the Tom Jones' reclamation project, I concede there is more to the tale than that. But every tale needs a hero and in my retelling, that hero is Van Morrison, who got TJ to ditch the lead and really swing it.