Tom Jones
Tom Jones was born Thomas Woodward Jones in Trefforest, Pontypridd on the 7th June 1940. He proved himself a talented singer at an early age before being struck down for a year due to Tuburculosis.
At the age of sixteen he married Melinda Trenchard (with whom he is still married after fifty years) and dropped out of school. At this time he took a number of jobs including lorry driver and door to door vacuum salesman.
He couldn’t quell his muscial ambitions however and the 1960s saw him rise to fame thanks in part to his exuberant performance style. He became lead vocalist for Tommy Scott and the Senators and began buiding a reputation within South Wales. Jones got his break in recording when producer, Joe Meek recorded a number of tracks which he then used to generate label interest. However, the recordings didn’t garner much interest.
It was when back in Wales that Jones was picked up by Gordon Mills who became Jones’manager. At the same time he encouraged the singer to perform as Tom Jones with his backing group becoming The Squires.
By 1964 he was signed to Decca Records, releasing first single Chills and Fever at the end of that year. The track made little impact but when Jones released follow up, It’s Not Unusual things really took off, despite an initial rejection from the BBC the song topped the UK charts as well as making the US top ten. Such a springboard gave Jones the opportunity to record the title track of Bond film, Thunderball following in the footsteps of his compatriot, Shirley Bassey.
By the end of the 1960s he sharpened his image up featuring more in the guise of a crooner releasing what is his most successful single to date Green, Green Grass of Home and following it up with tracks such as What’s New Pussycat and Delilah.
In 1967 Jones performed in Las Vegas for the first time and honed his performance skills - decreasing his recorded output. This led to international stardom and a friendship with his idol and influence Elvis Presley. His ever growing stardom in the states afforded him two short-lived TV series This is Tom Jones and The Tom Jones Show.
Jones’ manager, Gordon Mills died of cancer in 1986 and the singer’s son, Mark took over his duties. Following a decline, he did much to appeal to a younger audience when in 1998 Jones performed at Glastonbury (a feat repeated in 2009). This was continued into the new millennium when he recorded the album Reload which saw him record a collection of duets with contemporary artist including; The Stereophonics and Robbie Williams.
He continues to be a major draw as a live performer and has refused to tone down his act, 2008 saw him release the album 24 Hours.
