Sir Tom Jones

Presenter0:00

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young. Thank you for downloading this podcast of Desert Island Discs from BBC Radio 4. For rights reasons the music choices are shorter than in the radio broadcast.

Presenter0:10

For more information about the programme, please visit bbc.co.uk slash radio four.

Presenter0:34

My castaway this week is Sir Tom Jones. His career has spanned more than fifty years so far, and in that time he's shifted a remarkable one hundred and fifty million albums. Growing up, he was known as Tom the Voice. His talent for showmanship was evident from a young age too. He used to get his mum to introduce him before he'd sing at home.

Presenter0:57

Later on, his friend, Elvis Presley, said he was one of the greatest performers he'd ever seen and the best singer he'd ever heard.

Presenter1:05

It was assumed he'd follow his father's footsteps and become a minor, but he contracted T B when he was only twelve, and doctors warned his parents against sending their only son down the pit.

Presenter1:16

They said his lungs were too weak. He says simply, I really love to sing.

Presenter1:22

It's like breathing for me. So, Tom Jones, uh those lungs of yours, I'm wondering what we might have heard if they'd been even healthier than they apparently are.

Sir Tom Jones1:30

Uh

Sir Tom Jones1:31

Well, maybe they they they were built up. Maybe I I realized that um that I had to look after them. Yeah. Or maybe that that two years that I was in bed it it could have because I I couldn't sing for two years. They told me not to sing.

Presenter1:44

Yeah, and no exertion at all.

Sir Tom Jones1:45

No anxiety.

Presenter1:46

What about the showmanship? You know, life in the limelight. You s you seem very comfortable with it. You you know, you don't seem to shirk away from that.

Sir Tom Jones1:53

No, I enjoy it. You do enjoy it. Oh, yeah. I always wanted it. I mean, I think it's a good idea.

Presenter1:58

I'm saying that thing about your mother introducing you. I mean, I heard you say once that you used to go behind the kitchen window and close the curtains and open the curtains.

Sir Tom Jones2:07

Yeah.

Presenter2:07

Yeah.

Presenter2:08

How old would you have been?

Sir Tom Jones2:09

Oh, as far back as I can remember. I'm very young four, five, something like that.

Sir Tom Jones2:15

And I would get up in the window and pull the drapes over, and my mother would be cleaning.

Sir Tom Jones2:19

And I say, Mom, introduce me.

Sir Tom Jones2:21

She said, I'm busy. I've got to get on with the housework. She said, just sing. You know, if you want to sing, sing. No, no, I can't. Not until you introduce me. So.

Sir Tom Jones2:31

And I remember jumping out of the

Sir Tom Jones2:33

After my mother would introduce me, you know, ladies and gentlemen, Tommy Woodward, because that's my Woodward is my last name.

Presenter2:38

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones2:39

And I would just jump out of the onto the kitchen floor and start singing whatever it was. I mean, I love to sing. I it my my voice drives me. You know, it it it tells me that I that I have to I have to do it.

Presenter2:54

Given that your life has been lived through music and drenched in music, how difficult was it to narrow it down to eight?

Sir Tom Jones3:01

Well, I tried to pick songs that influenced me, and songs that I used to sing myself.

Presenter3:03

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones3:06

and songs that I like the sound of very much.

Presenter3:09

Tell me about the first one then and and why why you've chosen this?

Sir Tom Jones3:11

Yeah.

Presenter3:12

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones3:12

A whole lot of shaking going on.

Sir Tom Jones3:15

Well, when Elvis Presley came on the scene.

Presenter3:17

Mm-hmm.

Sir Tom Jones3:18

Everybody was saying, you know, this this is this there's this white man that sounds like a black man.

Sir Tom Jones3:23

He's a freak.

Sir Tom Jones3:25

And I said, but he can't be the only white person that's been affected by black music in in the Southern States. And then one day I was walking through Pont de Pride with some of my friends,

Sir Tom Jones3:36

uh my hometown and uh Jerry DeLewis a whole lot of shaking was was was coming over the speaker from the record shop.

Sir Tom Jones3:44

When I heard Jenny Lee Lewis with that piano, you know, with a whole lot of shaking going on, I mean.

Sir Tom Jones3:49

Good God, to me that was.

Sir Tom Jones3:52

That was it. I mean, I I I loved that record. And it was a white man singing boogie woogie music, really, that he had heard black people play.

Speaker 34:01

Ah Oh my

Presenter4:02

Uh

Speaker 34:02

Uh Whole lot of shake going on.

Speaker 34:07

It's actually come all over, baby. Baby, you can't go wrong.

Speaker 34:13

We ain't faking

Speaker 34:18

When I say all over vegan, we got chicken in the corner.

Speaker 34:30

We make it

Presenter4:32

That was Jerry Lee Lewis and a whole lot of shaking going on. You sang with Jerry Lee Lewis. He he came onto your American T V show.

Sir Tom Jones4:36

Yeah, but

Sir Tom Jones4:37

That's right.

Presenter4:38

I was that.

Sir Tom Jones4:38

I mean, that was.

Sir Tom Jones4:40

One of the highlights for me of of doing the the the T V series that I did, it was for A B C Television.

Presenter4:45

This was in nineteen seventy, seventy one.

Sir Tom Jones4:45

This is ninth

Sir Tom Jones4:47

Uh 69, 70, 71.

Presenter4:49

Right. And you also had Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder. I once heard somebody say that that singing next to you is like standing next to the tube coming in on the underground. And did you ever feel from other singers that they were

Sir Tom Jones4:53

Mm-hmm.

Sir Tom Jones4:59

And this

Presenter5:03

Well, I mean, intimidated, maybe, by the power of your voice and what you were able to do with it.

Sir Tom Jones5:07

But um the only person

Sir Tom Jones5:10

that I sang with that I felt

Sir Tom Jones5:13

was projecting more than I was, was Aretha Franklin.

Presenter5:16

But

Sir Tom Jones5:17

To stand next to this woman.

Sir Tom Jones5:20

And for her to sing. Maybe it's similar to when somebody stands next to me. Maybe, I don't know, because, you know, I can't.

Presenter5:26

Yeah, you can't.

Sir Tom Jones5:27

You can't hear yourself, you know, when you're in the middle.

Presenter5:28

So how did that feel for you? Was it intimidating or thrilling?

Sir Tom Jones5:31

Thrilling. Right. Thrilling because I didn't have to hold back. Because sometimes when I do duets, I don't want to be.

Sir Tom Jones5:38

Overpowering the other person. It's not good for the duet, anyway.

Presenter5:41

You talked about those uh T V specials. So you were getting the singers you wanted to sing with. What about the outfits? Who was choosing those? Because it's not everybody that could get away with a pair of tangerine high waist or trousers that I remember that you wore on a certain Episodes. Did you choose the clothes and song?

Sir Tom Jones6:00

Yeah, that was quite a long

Presenter6:00

Yeah, that was quite a loop.

Sir Tom Jones6:01

It all depends. I mean, sometimes when we were doing production numbers.

Presenter6:02

Can you hear you?

Presenter6:07

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones6:07

They'd have a designer there, you know, and so sometimes they they they were a bit more outrageous than others.

Presenter6:12

To ever say no?

Sir Tom Jones6:14

I'm not wearing that? Um no, they never I don't think they ever came up with anything that was really

Sir Tom Jones6:20

Outrageous enough for me to turn down so.

Presenter6:22

And when you did that, were you the b I mean, was it true you were getting paid nine million was it nine million pounds at that point?

Sir Tom Jones6:29

I I think so. I mean, I don't know, to be honest with you.

Presenter6:32

Right, cool.

Sir Tom Jones6:32

'Cause I don't like to think about money.

Presenter6:34

Even that amount of money I'm not s

Sir Tom Jones6:35

They said it was the most money that was ever paid.

Presenter6:37

Was it right?

Sir Tom Jones6:38

To a non-American performer. So I I had the record there for uh maybe it was the most that ABC television had paid anybody, maybe.

Sir Tom Jones6:46

I know it was a a record at the at the time.

Presenter6:49

There's so much to talk to you about, Tom Jones. I want to hear about your early life and more about little was it Tom or Tommy Woodward? What will you know now?

Sir Tom Jones6:55

Tom well, when I was young Tommy. Tommy, my mother called me Tommy'cause my father's name was Tom.

Presenter6:57

Tommy, I'm gonna tell me

Presenter6:59

More about that in a second, but we need to fit in the the eight discs. So tell us what we're going to hear next.

Sir Tom Jones7:02

Of course.

Presenter7:04

Yeah, there's that as well.

Presenter7:07

What have we got now? What are we going to use this number?

Sir Tom Jones7:08

Yeah, that's number two. The number two one is uh Vaughan Munro singing Riders in the Sky.

Presenter7:13

And what memories does this evoke?

Sir Tom Jones7:16

Well, I I love singing it in school. And, you know, little boys love westerns.

Presenter7:20

Hmm.

Sir Tom Jones7:20

And I like story songs. I like songs that paint a picture. And this definitely does. You know, Ghost Riders in the Sky. And I used to like to imitate people when I was when I was young. So in order to sing this song and to get the Vaughan Monroe sound, I would go you know what I mean? So it's like you know, like this. So when you hear it, you'll know what I mean.

Speaker 37:39

Yeah

Speaker 37:44

An old cowpoke went riding out one dark and windy day

Speaker 37:50

Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way.

Speaker 37:56

When all at once a mighty herd Of red-eyed cows he saw A plowing through the ragged sky And up a cloudy draw

Speaker 38:08

India, Indiana.

Presenter8:14

That was Vaughan Munro and Riders in the Sky and Memories for You Tom Jones of being little Tommy Woodward and singing that to your friends in school.

Speaker 38:14

That would

Sir Tom Jones8:21

Yes.

Presenter8:22

What sort of little boy were you then? Were you a b are wee bit of a show off?

Sir Tom Jones8:25

Yes. Yeah. A lot of the shore. A lot of the short. It was.

Sir Tom Jones8:30

It was my strength. You know, uh a lot of boys in school, they were great rugby players or football players or, you know, something.

Presenter8:31

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones8:37

So it was my strength. I'm not you know, I'm I'm dyslexic to start with. Right. So therefore I didn't like school. But I was lucky that I had this voice. It gives me confidence. Right. As where school I wasn't confident.

Presenter8:41

Yeah.

Presenter8:51

Was there a school choir? I'm I'm imagining there was a choice.

Sir Tom Jones8:53

I never sang in in the choir because they wanted me to, but I I it was too restricting for me. So even as a little boy, you you felt like a solo performer. Yeah. Yeah. When now that I come to think of it, when we used to go carol singing doe to do,

Sir Tom Jones9:08

And the boys would say to me, you know, We're going to go Carol singing tonight, you know, do you want to come? And I said, No, I don't think I will tonight. And I'd let them go off and I'd go myself. You know, I mean, people liked the way I sang. And if I was singing with, you know, with four or five other fellas, they drowned you out anyway, so you couldn't you couldn't shine.

Presenter9:28

Did you make a bit of cast?

Sir Tom Jones9:29

I I've made more money singing by myself than I would have with this, you know.

Presenter9:31

But I would have

Presenter9:32

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones9:32

With the fellas I was hanging hanging out with.

Presenter9:35

What about your dad? Did he sing in a choir? Is did he have a good voice?

Sir Tom Jones9:37

Do you have a good voice? My father could sing. He did have a voice, but he didn't have the nerve for it. He was a shy man.

Presenter9:42

Was he?

Sir Tom Jones9:43

Yeah. But he could sing, you know, I mean, if he if he'd had enough beer.

Sir Tom Jones9:47

Yeah.

Presenter9:48

And what were your earliest memories of your dad then? I mean, is it him sort of literally having a bath in front of the fire blackened with the coal dust?

Sir Tom Jones9:54

Yeah.

Presenter9:54

Yeah?

Sir Tom Jones9:55

Yeah, that's that's that's a very vivid memory for me.

Presenter9:58

Really? Did he ever get you to scrub his back and?

Sir Tom Jones10:00

Yeah,'cause it was a tin bath. We didn't have a bathroom, is it?

Presenter10:03

Sure, yeah.

Sir Tom Jones10:04

So, um,'cause the bath was so small, he would have to kneel on on the floor first of all and take his shirt off and wash his top half, as he used to call it. And then when he had done that, he would then stand in the bath and wash his bottom half.

Presenter10:10

Yeah.

Presenter10:12

Yeah, so

Sir Tom Jones10:18

and he would shout for my mother to come and

Sir Tom Jones10:20

Scrub his back, and my mother's name was Frida, so I remember him. Frieda

Sir Tom Jones10:25

You don't get any here and

Sir Tom Jones10:27

Scrub my back. And if they'd had a row, my mother would say, Get in there and wash your father's back.

Sir Tom Jones10:32

I said, Ma'am, you'll know it's me, and she said no, you won't don't say anything.

Sir Tom Jones10:37

And as soon as as soon as I'd start, you know.

Sir Tom Jones10:40

You say, Frida, that's not you, is it, Frida? I say, No, dad, it's it's it's me, you know. Get your mother, I want your mother to do it Well, she won't come in Well, it was it was such a thing. I mean, it was funny, really. It wasn't it wasn't nasty, you know.

Presenter10:50

No, I get it. And did they ha I mean, was it quite a lively household? Did they have quite a a sort of um fiery relationship?

Sir Tom Jones10:56

Oh yeah. Did they? Well, especially on the weekend when they'd had a few uh'cause my my father always took my mother out

Sir Tom Jones11:03

to the local workermen's club on a Saturday night.

Sir Tom Jones11:07

Sometimes they'd come home.

Sir Tom Jones11:09

And they'd start.

Sir Tom Jones11:11

All this stuff that was pent up in the mot through the week, I suppose, would all start to uh to come out.

Presenter11:17

And you say your dad was shy. What was your mum like? Was was she a more robust character?

Sir Tom Jones11:20

Yes, my mother used to get up to sing. You know, she would sing in the club, in the local club.

Presenter11:24

Right.

Sir Tom Jones11:24

But she didn't have a very good voice, but she could carry a tune.

Sir Tom Jones11:28

My father had the better voice, but my mother had the bravado. She wanted to get up and

Sir Tom Jones11:33

You know, shake it, but she did.

Presenter11:34

Let's have some more music then. What are we gonna hear now?

Sir Tom Jones11:37

Oh yeah, Mahalia Jackson.

Presenter11:39

Why have you chosen this?

Sir Tom Jones11:40

Well, she was the first gospel singer I ever heard.

Sir Tom Jones11:44

On the radio.

Sir Tom Jones11:46

God, you know, who is that? I'd heard gospel songs, but I'd never heard them sung like that.

Sir Tom Jones11:53

And I love there's a song that we all sing in Wales, you know, at funerals and things called The Old Rugged Cross. So I wanted to put that on the list as well.

Presenter12:00

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones12:03

So it's like we're killing two birds with one stone here.

Presenter12:06

Wanna heal

Presenter12:08

Far away

Presenter12:10

Stood it up, rugged crown

Presenter12:14

I am not a

Presenter12:17

Suffer any change

Presenter12:21

Overall.

Presenter12:23

That old Quran

Speaker 412:24

Uh

Presenter12:24

Where the deer is and bad

Speaker 412:27

Uh

Presenter12:28

By a word of love, sin of spleen.

Speaker 412:29

For a word

Presenter12:35

That was Mahalia Jackson and Old Rugged Cross. So let's talk a little, Tom Jones, about those years when you were um confined to barracks, as it were. You were in bed watching what were you just watching Be like the Curtain, your your playmates in the streets.

Sir Tom Jones12:47

In the streets. Nineteen fifty two to fifty four, that's when I had it. So I would look at kids through the through the window, you know, and and I lived uh close to a hill, a Welsh hill, you know, all the terraced houses.

Presenter12:53

Okay.

Speaker 312:54

And on Uh

Speaker 312:59

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones12:59

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones12:59

And I would see the kids they'd wave to me as they come past my friends, you know, and that was a t a terrible feeling, you know, that you couldn't go and play.

Sir Tom Jones13:07

With these kids, especially at that age.

Sir Tom Jones13:09

You know, at that time I was starting to notice girls and uh and and my wife, who became my wife, she was, you know, a girl that used to go

Sir Tom Jones13:19

up there, which well I'd noticed before, before I got sick.

Presenter13:22

Um I I've seen photographs of you in those very, very young days. I suppose they would be the photographs just before you you started to try to make your way. Are you I mean you were quite a

Sir Tom Jones13:30

Uh-huh.

Presenter13:32

You look like a bad boy, quite a dangerous boy.

Sir Tom Jones13:34

Well, I was a bit cheeky. A bit mischievous, yeah, I would think. You know, so that is.

Presenter13:43

Is that it? Is that all I'm getting on the whisker front?

Sir Tom Jones13:44

Well, it's not no, no, I I you know, you'd get into fights, but those those things, I mean, that's that was normal.

Presenter13:49

Did you have a broken nose?

Sir Tom Jones13:51

Yeah. How did you break your nose? I got nutted, you know, head a few times.

Presenter13:56

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones13:56

And um and I punched in on so you don't notice it, but it it's it was moving left.

Presenter14:03

So it's nice and straight now, you got it fixed. Famously, you got it fixed. Yeah, yeah. Did they were you told by a a I don't know, by a T V person, a record company person to get it fixed?

Sir Tom Jones14:03

So it's not

Sir Tom Jones14:05

Yeah, famously you got it fixed. Yeah, yeah.

Sir Tom Jones14:11

No, it was my idea. Right. They didn't want me to. They liked the rugged look.

Presenter14:16

And by that time you were married and you'd al you'd already had your sons. Oh yeah.

Sir Tom Jones14:18

And you don't

Sir Tom Jones14:20

Oh yeah.

Presenter14:20

Right.

Sir Tom Jones14:21

Yeah.

Presenter14:21

So that's a lot of responsibility. Did you feel confident enough to think, well, you know, I can support my wife and child by making a living at singing? Did you think it could be your full time job?

Sir Tom Jones14:32

Yes but I couldn't make enough money as a singer in Wales.

Sir Tom Jones14:37

I had to get jobs in in the daytime so I could go and sing in these pubs and clubs at night. You know, I'd work on construction and I would work uh uh selling vacuum cleaners and you know, anything I could do in order to provide, I would do.

Speaker 314:49

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones14:49

I thought one day somebody is going to come to one of these clubs and see me.

Sir Tom Jones14:54

I take me to London.

Sir Tom Jones14:56

I'll go for hit record.

Presenter14:58

And what do you think do you think now looking back at that? And I'm sure you you've just celebrated your seventieth birthday. When you look back at that young boy with the factory job during the day and singing in the clubs at night, but always believing he was going to be a star, what do you what do you make of that?

Sir Tom Jones15:03

When you

Sir Tom Jones15:08

Uh

Sir Tom Jones15:13

Now, when I look back at it, because we went to Wales the other day.

Sir Tom Jones15:18

to my hometown.

Presenter15:19

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones15:20

That was my word.

Sir Tom Jones15:22

And I thought it was pretty big. You know, Pontypreith to me was a pretty big town in those days.

Sir Tom Jones15:28

My God, I must have had

Sir Tom Jones15:31

Some kind of spirit, but I must have had some

Sir Tom Jones15:35

Yeah

Presenter15:35

Uh

Speaker 315:35

Yeah.

Presenter15:35

Yeah, it's

Sir Tom Jones15:36

Uh

Presenter15:36

Uh

Sir Tom Jones15:36

But I must have.

Presenter15:37

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones15:37

In order to think I can I can break out of here.

Sir Tom Jones15:41

But when you you know, when you're young like that and and you know you have a talent, I had all the bravado to go with it.

Sir Tom Jones15:47

At that time.

Presenter15:48

We'll talk more about your first hit record in a second. For now, let's listen to somebody else singing. Who are we going to hear now?

Sir Tom Jones15:54

This next one is Bill Haley and the Comments Rock Around the Clock.

Presenter15:58

And what's your memory?

Sir Tom Jones16:00

I left school when I was fifteen.

Sir Tom Jones16:03

I s I was working in a in a glove factory as an apprentice glove cutter.

Sir Tom Jones16:08

In factories they always have a radio playing, you know, to keep the workers happy.

Sir Tom Jones16:14

And all of a sudden this rock around the clock came on.

Sir Tom Jones16:17

I mean, I thought, good God, this is like

Sir Tom Jones16:19

You know, this is jumping out of the radio at me.

Sir Tom Jones16:23

What?

Speaker 316:23

1, 2, 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock, rock. 5, 6, 7 o'clock, 8 o'clock, rock. 9, 10, 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock, rock. We're gonna rock. Around 10 o'clock tonight, what is your flag?

Speaker 316:36

We hope you have some fun And

Speaker 416:38

That's my own

Presenter16:49

That was Bill Healy and the Comets and Rock Around the Clock. You were saying during that, Tom Jones, that y you used to uh used to have the pick of them at the at the Christmas dance at the factory. Why was that?

Sir Tom Jones16:57

What was that? Well, there were two rooms. There was the boys' room, the gl the glove cutters, and then the people that sold the sold the gloves were girls. Right.

Sir Tom Jones17:06

So of course we'd all mix uh at the Christmas party, and I was the only male that could jive. Well.

Presenter17:12

Spoil for choice.

Sir Tom Jones17:14

Yeah

Sir Tom Jones17:15

It was, as you say, kid in the candy shop.

Presenter17:16

Yeah. Um let's talk then about those uh Fresh Days Famously. Um you you did have one uh single that was not a hit. Yes. What was that single called?

Sir Tom Jones17:25

Chills and fever.

Presenter17:26

Is it the case that, you know, you suffered a quite a kind of flash of depression at that point? You

Sir Tom Jones17:32

Yeah, well the problem was that my wife had to go to work.

Sir Tom Jones17:36

In order for her to go to work she'd have to go to a factory.

Sir Tom Jones17:40

And I didn't like that, so I did get depressed.

Sir Tom Jones17:44

And I s I said to my band members, I said.

Sir Tom Jones17:47

I don't think we're gonna, you know, this is not gonna happen. This record didn't make it. I've got a good mind to, you know.

Sir Tom Jones17:52

to go back home. Or I might even jump jump under a train. And th they thought I was serious. I wasn't really. But uh you know, I I was f really f frustrated.

Presenter18:01

And of course Linda was there with your son, so there was I mean at a time when you probably more than ever wanted to be there.

Sir Tom Jones18:02

So there was

Sir Tom Jones18:06

Exactly.

Sir Tom Jones18:10

And my my wife had to go to work, you know, and uh

Presenter18:13

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones18:13

I di and I was stuck in London, and I didn't like it.

Presenter18:16

And then, we need to pop this down because there is so much to talk about, but you were singing a demo to show people what a song could sound like.

Sir Tom Jones18:23

Well, I was doing demos'cause I was getting paid for it, because they used to give me five pounds a time.

Presenter18:27

Okay, so that's just a a jobbing singer, and the song that you demoed was it's

Sir Tom Jones18:32

Not unusual. So Gordon Mills wrote it, and Les Reed helped him with it.

Sir Tom Jones18:37

Gordon said I have this song that um Les Reed has been commissioned.

Sir Tom Jones18:42

by uh Sandy Shore's manager to write her next single. And she'd already had like two number ones or something.

Sir Tom Jones18:48

And he sang it to me in the car.

Sir Tom Jones18:51

So I said, Right, okay. Yeah, okay, yeah, okay, I got it. And I sang it.

Sir Tom Jones18:57

And when I heard it back I thought, My God, this this is hit song, eh?

Sir Tom Jones19:03

And Gordon said, Not for you, you don't want this, it's a pop song and I said Gordon, I don't this to me sounds like a hit song.

Sir Tom Jones19:12

And I said, and if I don't get it, I'm going back to Wales. You know, I was.

Sir Tom Jones19:16

That was another one of those

Sir Tom Jones19:17

Tantrums that I was throwing.

Sir Tom Jones19:19

So they said, Well, we've got to just play it to her.

Sir Tom Jones19:22

So thank God the sand is shore.

Sir Tom Jones19:24

I didn't know at the time, but later on then I'd heard it say

Sir Tom Jones19:29

Whoever is singing this song, this is his song.

Sir Tom Jones19:32

I wouldn't be able to sing it like that.

Presenter19:34

I'm not sure I know that song. Can you remind me what it sounds like?

Sir Tom Jones19:36

Is that unusual?

Presenter19:37

Yeah.

Presenter19:38

Just can't quite

Sir Tom Jones19:40

I can sing a bit of it if you like.

Sir Tom Jones19:42

Huh.

Sir Tom Jones19:43

It's not unusual want to be loved by any one.

Sir Tom Jones19:49

It's not unusual want to have fun with any one.

Presenter19:53

There you go. I love this job. We're going to have somebody else. I'm afraid. I mean, I wish we could have you sing all of that. It was slightly unfair of me, but thank you for indulging me. That was super.

Sir Tom Jones20:01

See Ferrari?

Presenter20:03

We're gonna hear one of your tracks that you've chosen. Who are we gonna hear next?

Sir Tom Jones20:06

This one is um is a comedy record.

Sir Tom Jones20:10

I was born in 1940.

Presenter20:11

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones20:12

And Spike Jones used to come on the radio with comedy records.

Sir Tom Jones20:17

And he came on with one about the war.

Sir Tom Jones20:20

And this one is called the Furious Face. So it's really.

Sir Tom Jones20:26

Giving the finger to Hitler, you know, which we all loved, of course.

Speaker 420:31

says me is the master ace be pile pile right in the pure space not to love the purer is a great disgrace so be pile pile right in the pure space

Speaker 420:45

Remember that?

Speaker 420:53

Gering says he'll never farm this place in Ireland.

Speaker 420:58

Hi!

Presenter21:00

That was Spike Jones and the City Slickers and Deer Fiora's face. Did you enjoy that, Tom Jones? Yeah, I loved it.

Sir Tom Jones21:04

Yeah, I loved it.

Presenter21:05

Tom, what did your pare I mean, obviously your parents lived well to see your enormous success. What sort of sense did they make of it? What did they say to you about it?

Sir Tom Jones21:15

Well, my mother loved it. Did she? Oh, she absolutely loved it. But my father was still shy, you know.

Sir Tom Jones21:22

But they would come and see him shows, you know, and

Sir Tom Jones21:25

My father would watch me from the wings. He would we were very similar, you know, in build in build when he was

Presenter21:28

Uh Uh

Sir Tom Jones21:30

when he was younger. So, I mean he used to like to look at me as well as listen to me'cause he said, I'm so proud of looking at you, the way you

Sir Tom Jones21:37

handle yourself, you know, on on stage and this is great.

Presenter21:40

Did he tell you that he told you he was proud of you?

Sir Tom Jones21:43

Oh yeah.

Presenter21:44

By Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones21:44

Um m my my father at the at the beginning

Sir Tom Jones21:48

It was after the first year and I'd had, you know, quite a few hit records.

Sir Tom Jones21:52

And I bought this new Jaguar.

Sir Tom Jones21:54

and I drove to Pontyfraith.

Sir Tom Jones21:57

to show my parents my new car.

Sir Tom Jones21:59

and my mother started cutting sandwiches for my father.

Sir Tom Jones22:04

And he said, Well, I'm going to work tonight. I said, You can't go to work tonight He said, Of course I can. I'm a coal miner, that's what I do.

Sir Tom Jones22:11

I said, Dad, please I mean, you know, I'm making all this money now.

Sir Tom Jones22:15

You know, I don't want to think about you

Sir Tom Jones22:17

In a coal mine?

Sir Tom Jones22:18

And he said, Yeah, but, you know, how long is this thing going to last with you? You know, who knows? You know, he was really thinking about it. And he was fifty seven then. And I said, How much money do you think you're going to make from now t till you're sixty five?

Sir Tom Jones22:32

I said, then what about if I can put that in the bank for you? Would you then?

Sir Tom Jones22:37

Stop, he said well.

Sir Tom Jones22:38

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones22:40

I said, Well then, okay, let's work it out.

Sir Tom Jones22:43

You know, I'll I'll I'll do that so I can stop you from

Sir Tom Jones22:46

From doing what you do.

Presenter22:48

Uh you were saying you were born in nineteen forty, of course, which makes you seventy. This year you're seventy in June. How did you celebrate?

Sir Tom Jones22:55

Ah well, I was in Los Angeles with my wife and my sister and my son, my daughter in law and my grandson. My granddaughter couldn't make it because she's studying to go to Cambridge University.

Presenter23:06

Right. And home full time is is LA, is it? You just

Sir Tom Jones23:10

Yeah, that's that's where my house is.

Presenter23:11

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones23:11

That's where my stuff is.

Presenter23:13

But

Sir Tom Jones23:13

You know, and that's where my wife is, and my sister also lives in Los Angeles, you know, so and they both like it very much there.

Presenter23:13

Yeah.

Presenter23:20

And there's no sense at all uh I'm sure I know the answer to this of of of saying maybe it's time to just do other things in life.

Sir Tom Jones23:27

There is no there is no other thing to do. Not for me there isn't.

Presenter23:29

No.

Sir Tom Jones23:31

No, no. So, I mean this is it. I love singing. Singing's like breathing to me. It's it's I've never known life without it.

Sir Tom Jones23:38

And I dread the time, if it ever does come, when when I can't sing.

Presenter23:43

Let's have some more music then. We're at I'm afraid we're at disc number six. That seems to have gone so quickly. What are we going to hear now?

Sir Tom Jones23:45

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones23:49

This is Aretha Franklin.

Sir Tom Jones23:50

And uh I I never loved a man.

Presenter23:53

And why have you chosen this particular Aretha Franklin?

Sir Tom Jones23:56

This was the first Aretha Franklin record that I heard.

Sir Tom Jones23:59

And I was driving back to London from up north. I'd been playing some gigs up there.

Sir Tom Jones24:06

And I had the radio on.

Sir Tom Jones24:07

This record came on.

Sir Tom Jones24:10

And then of course at the end they said this is a new singer called Aretha Franklin.

Presenter24:14

You're no good.

Presenter24:16

Pawnbreaker

Presenter24:19

You're a liar and you're a dream.

Presenter24:23

I don't know why.

Presenter24:26

I'll let you do these things to me.

Presenter24:31

My friends keep telling me

Speaker 324:35

That are you a

Speaker 324:38

Whoa, whoa, but they don't know.

Presenter24:45

That was Aretha Franklin and I Never Loved a Man. In nineteen sixty seven, I read, you had five top ten hits in twelve months. I mean, that level of fame must have just hit you like a fireball, you know. How did you make sense of it? How did you keep orientated?

Sir Tom Jones24:56

Email

Sir Tom Jones25:00

Well, you're right in the middle of it and and

Sir Tom Jones25:03

So, you're not really thinking about it. You know, you think.

Sir Tom Jones25:06

Soon as I broke through with this not unusual, and right at the beginning of'sixty five.

Sir Tom Jones25:11

That changed my life. There wa that was the big change. I had It's not unusual, and then once New Pussycat came right behind that, then I had a ballad called With His Hands, which was al also a hit.

Presenter25:21

Wasn't that the one Elvis sang as you met him the first time?

Sir Tom Jones25:23

Yes, quite right. So when I met Elvis Presley, he was what it was me singing With These Hands, which were was my single. So that that w that was mind-boggling. That was like, my God, you know, I've

Presenter25:32

That was like, My God, you know.

Presenter25:34

And what about family life? I mean, that, you know, that must have been murderous, trying to somehow.

Sir Tom Jones25:39

Yeah. Well, my my wife would bring uh my son to the States for summer holidays, you know, when he was out of school.

Presenter25:48

You've only had two managers, is that right?

Sir Tom Jones25:51

Yeah.

Presenter25:52

It strikes me you've been incredibly lucky with both of them.

Sir Tom Jones25:54

Oh yeah.

Presenter25:56

Because your biggest selling album.

Presenter25:59

I understand, was in nineteen ninety nine.

Presenter26:02

And it was when your son by then had been managing you for a good chunk of time.

Sir Tom Jones26:06

Mm.

Presenter26:06

And you recorded with Remind Me of Who Was On Reload, Who Who Was On That?

Sir Tom Jones26:09

Oh god, the stereophonics, uh the Cardigans, Manic Street Preachers, Kerris Matthews, Robbie Williams.

Sir Tom Jones26:18

Mark knows me better than any anybody else. And he knows what I'm capable of, you know, singing wise, you know, and and knows really what I love to do.

Presenter26:27

Does he feel more like a a brother than a son?

Sir Tom Jones26:30

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones26:31

Having a son that young, you know, we grew up together, really. You know, I mean, I was still growing up, I was a teenager when he was born, so.

Sir Tom Jones26:39

Yeah, more like a more like a brother.

Presenter26:41

When did he start? Wa was there a period maybe in his late teens when he started coming on on tour with you, when he'd finished up school and?

Presenter26:47

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones26:48

Yeah.

Presenter26:48

And how did that go?

Sir Tom Jones26:48

Well my

Presenter26:49

Um'cause it's not every mother that would want their son on a Tom Jones tour.

Sir Tom Jones26:53

Well, my my wife thought it was a good idea. She was the one that said, you know, Mark is missing you more and more now.

Presenter26:57

Can we do that?

Presenter26:59

Right.

Sir Tom Jones27:00

And I liked it'cause he was with me, you know, because I I I wasn't seeing a lot of him before.

Sir Tom Jones27:04

Maybe I was a little selfish there, you know, looking back on it. Yeah. But I mean, as it happened, ni it it's turned out, you know, everything's turned out well. But it could have it could have not turned out well, you know.

Presenter27:12

Oh well.

Sir Tom Jones27:16

But things sometimes happen for the best, you know. And he met his wife, you know, Donnet. So I mean, if if we had stayed in Britain, then that wouldn't have happened and I wouldn't have my daughter in law and these two beautiful grandchildren that I have. So I think there's a reason for stuff that happens.

Presenter27:30

What kind of grandfather are you? Are you very indulgent?

Sir Tom Jones27:34

Yeah. I w I was m m more when they when they were smaller, you know, I loved it when they were I mean, they're wonderful adults now, but they were great kids. I wouldn't have missed it for the world, you know, being a a a grandparent. Let's have some more music.

Presenter27:47

Then what are we gonna hear? We're on disk seven now.

Sir Tom Jones27:51

Now then, this is uh Big Bill Brunzy.

Sir Tom Jones27:54

This is the the first bluesinger that I was ever aware of.

Sir Tom Jones27:59

He came from the South and he moved into Chicago and he worked in a slaughterhouse or a meat packing factory.

Sir Tom Jones28:05

He was working side by side, you know, with with white men.

Sir Tom Jones28:07

And this white fella said that he was getting paid

Sir Tom Jones28:10

Twice as much as Big Bill Brunsey, and why wouldn't he do something about it?

Sir Tom Jones28:14

So the only way that he could

Sir Tom Jones28:17

as far as he was concerned, was to sing about it.

Speaker 428:19

Me and a man with working side by side

Speaker 428:23

This is what it meant.

Speaker 428:27

They was paying him a dollar an hour, and they was paying me fifty cents to say if he was white.

Speaker 428:36

Be alright.

Speaker 428:38

If he was brown.

Speaker 428:40

Stick around, but as you black

Speaker 428:44

Mm-mm more.

Speaker 428:47

Get back, get back

Presenter28:50

That was Big Bill Brunsey and Black, Brown and White. The latest album that you've had, Tom Jones, that has garnered tremendous critical acclaim. Praise and blame is you really going back to the very beginning again, back to Pontypreet and the memories of music. But the words and the feelings that go with an album like this, they are very reflective. What sort of feelings has it stirred up in you?

Speaker 328:57

Mm-hmm.

Sir Tom Jones28:57

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones29:03

That's right.

Sir Tom Jones29:05

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones29:13

The longest time taken making this album.

Sir Tom Jones29:17

was finding the songs.

Presenter29:18

Right.

Sir Tom Jones29:18

My son and my daughter-in-law they they you know, they listen to a lot of stuff and my son is sort of he's really, really musical. He will find things, you know, and say, What do you think of this?

Sir Tom Jones29:29

A different me was there. You know, it was I I I read more into the lyrics, I think, and I tried to hold it. I tried to sing it to myself rather than than sing it to uh

Sir Tom Jones29:39

to people.

Presenter29:40

You're saying that your son has a big hand in choosing the music that you sing, and I'm wondering when your son says to you, Dad, I think you should sing Nobody's Fault But Mine?

Sir Tom Jones29:47

Hmm.

Presenter29:48

Because it means something. Do you ever have a sort of what what are you talking about?

Sir Tom Jones29:51

No, no, no, no. If I feel I can do it.

Presenter29:54

You don't take it personally then, if you

Sir Tom Jones29:55

Oh no, oh no. Well well this is a personal record though.

Presenter29:55

Oh no no no.

Presenter29:58

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones29:59

You know, so, uh, nobody's fault but but mine is is is very uh poignant, yeah.

Presenter30:04

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones30:05

Because it it's it's about questioning yourself.

Presenter30:05

Uh

Presenter30:07

So where do you get to when you reflect on how you've lived your life? What are your conclusions thus far?

Sir Tom Jones30:13

that I've had a great time. I mean, there's more ups and downs. You know, I had a dream when I was a kid of becoming a a singer, a professional singer.

Sir Tom Jones30:23

And I'm still living that and I and I I haven't forgotten it, you know, I haven't I haven't finished yet, you know, because I'm loving it so much I don't want it to stop.

Presenter30:34

And what about the point in your career where

Presenter30:37

in a sense, and of course I'm sure this is something that that you're familiar with, the idea that the image overtook the actual the business of making music. You know that you wear this guy in the tight pants and the flimsy shirt and the knickers were being thrown and all that stuff.

Sir Tom Jones30:42

The youngs

Sir Tom Jones30:46

That is fine.

Sir Tom Jones30:49

Well, that's that's that's is the sometimes you you say, Well, I you know, I'm a singer though, you know, all that other stuff. You don't don't take any notice of that. I've listened the way I sing, but people see

Sir Tom Jones31:01

More than they hear, most of the time.

Presenter31:03

But the image that you promoted, of course, was so powerful, wasn't it? It was such a kind of uber-male, sexually voracious image. Well, I did feel it.

Sir Tom Jones31:06

It was such a good thing.

Sir Tom Jones31:09

Security.

Sir Tom Jones31:10

Well, I d I did feel like that though. You know, I wasn't putting it on. That's the thing, you know. But so I've only myself to blame. You know, if if

Presenter31:18

Yeah. You were the man who released Help Yourself, after all. Yeah, well, you know.

Sir Tom Jones31:18

Not

Sir Tom Jones31:20

Yeah, well, you know.

Sir Tom Jones31:22

And sex bum.

Presenter31:23

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones31:24

You can't get away from the title. It's one of those things. So, you know, when you do things sometimes, you're creating a monster sometimes without actually realizing it.

Presenter31:33

And what about the crazy times offstage? I mean, you know, you've been asked this plenty of times, but y you know, your reputation.

Presenter31:40

For being a womaniser is, I think it's fair to say, second to none.

Sir Tom Jones31:42

Uh

Sir Tom Jones31:46

Well, you know, you can't believe everything you read in your paper, you know. You can't.

Presenter31:50

He's looking at me over his glasses now. Yes. Okay.

Presenter31:55

Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones31:58

No, no, I d well, I I don't admit to I mean, you can't there are parts of my w of my life that sort of

Sir Tom Jones32:05

It's not what you would say is uh is a wonderful thing. You know, it's it's sometimes it's

Sir Tom Jones32:12

overindulgence maybe sometimes, you know, that uh

Sir Tom Jones32:16

that I should sort of rein myself in a little bit, but

Presenter32:19

Do you know?

Sir Tom Jones32:21

Uh yeah, I tried to. I've always tried to though.

Presenter32:24

Have you?

Sir Tom Jones32:25

Yeah, I've always tried to rein myself in. Yeah.

Sir Tom Jones32:28

Yeah, but sometimes things get the better of you.

Presenter32:30

Right.

Sir Tom Jones32:30

And then

Sir Tom Jones32:32

I'm a little weak-minded in in certain areas. No, but you know, I mean, it's all I'm only saying this now to to have a bit of fun really. But, um, it's not a part of of of my life that uh that I'm proud of.

Presenter32:44

Let's have some more music now. What are we gonna hear? In fact it's our last disc ton.

Sir Tom Jones32:49

Well, this is a record by Humphrey Lyttelton.

Sir Tom Jones32:52

This was the record that bridged the gap between traditional jazz and rock'n'roll, it it just jumped out of the radio.

Sir Tom Jones33:00

Wha when I heard it.

Sir Tom Jones33:02

I I still love to play it now, so I would if I was on a desert island I would

Sir Tom Jones33:07

Love to play it.

Presenter33:08

Let's see.

Sir Tom Jones33:08

Yeah.

Speaker 333:36

In the middle.

Presenter33:39

That was the Humphrey Littleham Band and Bad Penny Blues. So we come to the point, Sir Tom, when I'm going to give you a copy of The Bible and the Complete Works of Shakespeare, and you get to take your own book onto the island as well. What book would you like to take?

Sir Tom Jones33:48

And yes.

Sir Tom Jones33:51

Mm-hmm.

Sir Tom Jones33:53

Um well, the one that I've already read, which I enjoyed very much.

Sir Tom Jones33:58

Is uh

Sir Tom Jones34:00

The Rise and Fall of the British Empire

Sir Tom Jones34:03

Because I've always been interested in history, and especially British history.

Sir Tom Jones34:08

I am Welsh, but I'm also British, you know, so I've I've always been very interested in that.

Presenter34:14

We'll give you that book. And you can also have, on this island of yours, as you're cast away, a little luxury to make life more bearable. What's your lux?

Sir Tom Jones34:22

What's your luxury gonna be? Well, when I used to go to um to Barry Island, you know, talking about an island, so

Sir Tom Jones34:30

Barry Island was was where I used to go when I was a a child.

Sir Tom Jones34:34

And you never went to the beach without a bucket and spade.

Sir Tom Jones34:38

So, if I was on a desert island, I would have to have my bucket spade. It's yours.

Presenter34:43

And um if I were to force you to pick just one record, if the waves were to threaten to wash away your discs, which one would you run to save?

Sir Tom Jones34:50

Which one?

Sir Tom Jones34:53

Uh that would be a be a hard one, but I I would I would stick with a whole lot of shaking going on, I think.

Sir Tom Jones34:59

Because I like singing along with it as well.

Sir Tom Jones35:01

And I can't sing along to Bad Penny Blues.

Presenter35:04

Sir Tom Jones, thank you very much for letting us hear your desert island discs.

Sir Tom Jones35:08

My pleasure.

Presenter35:54

You've been listening to a download from the BBC. You'll find more information on the Radio Four website bbc. co dot uk slash radio four.