Tom Jones Interview

[jon_burrows]

Apologies if this has already been posted.

I read a Tom Jones interview on the train to London the other day here is a couple of questions.

Q. Who's your all-time favourite singer?

A. A singer cannot do everything great. They shine in different areas. Frank Sinatra sang he sang great. But he couldn't sing Rock n Roll music or Rhythm n Blues. If you want to listen to Blues, you listen to Howlin' Wolf or John Lee Hooker. But then again Hooker could not sing "Fly Me To The Moon". Elvis covered a lot of ground, he had a big voice. His range was almost as big as mine.



Q. Would you have liked to record with him?

A. His manager Colonel Tom Parker would never allow it. Elvis would come to Caesar's Palace when I was playing and he wouldn't even come up and do something on stage with me as he knew Parker wouldn't like it. We'd go back to his suite and sing all night in private. They were always watching for someone recording it. I tried it once. There was a lad who worked for me called Chris Ellis. We were in my suite in Hawaii and Chris slipped in a tape. Joe Esposito, who worked for Elvis, just walked over and stopped it. We just wanted a souvenir of me and Elvis singing together.

"His range was almost as big as mine." This bit made me laugh out loud

[Raised on Rock]

"His range was almost as big as mine."

What with this recurrent thing about Mr. Jones wanting to prove that he is so great. I remember a TV show about blues once, were he appears with Jeff Beck and tries to give him "a lesson" in that matters, it was so ridiculous when he started to sing and sounded not bluesy at all, you couldn't help but laugh when you saw Beck's face, kind of saying, yeah sure, what ever you say dude!

[epmoodyblue]

tomjones

[elvislady]

I like tom jones but there was no way his range outshone elvis!!
elvislady

[epmoodyblue]

but there was no way his range outshone elvis!!
elvislady

thats right.......and i have also seen tom in concert...i enjoyed the showbut sometimes his comments are ridiculous

[Diane]

I like tom jones but there was no way his range outshone elvis!!
elvislady

Diane

[Tony Trout]

Tom Jones is also one of these people who think that if he'd been around Elvis more that he would've/could've gotten him straightened out and off the pills.

Put simply, even though I like some of his music, Tom Jones has his head so far in the clouds that I'm surprised that a Boeing 747 or the space shuttle hasn't hit him yet.....

[Sonny]

In his top days, Tom Jones did have a fabulous voice with a wide range!

And seeing him live (I did three times) that voice is still awesome.

True, he should not be comparing Elvis with him, or any singer for that matter.

[epmoodyblue]

Tom Jones is also one of these people who think that if he'd been around Elvis more that he would've/could've gotten him straightened out and off the pills.

Put simply, even though I like some of his music, Tom Jones has his heads so far in the clouds that I'm surprised that a Boeing 747 or the space shuttle hasn't hit him yet.....

tottaly agree with your comments...tom jones would of made no difference no matter how long he could of been around elvis... things would of ended up the same way for elvis.... i .hope toms put on a shuttle and sent on a one way trip

[SleepyJack]

Sorry if I offend any of the Tom Jones fans out there...... but I really can`t stand the man.If he was half as great as he thinks he is he would be phenomonal...but he isn`t and..ah...he isn`t! His voice doesn`t come anywhere near Elvis, I don`t know where he got the idea that he could sing blues... and Tom.....Please stop pretending to be 21....you aren`t...it`s gone man.

[epmoodyblue]

yeah gems like..

Sexbomb sexbomb youre my sexbomb
And baby you can turn me on turn me on
And baby you can turn me on turn me on
Baby you can turn me on turn me on
Ooh baby you can turn me on turn me on
Baby you can turn me on oh
Baby you can turn me on oh
Baby you can turn me on
Well baby you can turn me on.. blah blah and so on....

[Raised on Rock]

yeah gems like..

Sexbomb sexbomb youre my sexbomb
And baby you can turn me on turn me on
And baby you can turn me on turn me on
Baby you can turn me on turn me on
Ooh baby you can turn me on turn me on
Baby you can turn me on oh
Baby you can turn me on oh
Baby you can turn me on
Well baby you can turn me on.. blah blah and so on....

No offense to Tom Jones fans around here, but he is an overrated artist, or should I say: a self-overrated one? Anyhow, even if you are Elvis Presley you don't make comments like that, comparing your own "greatness" to other singers, it just looks bad. Elvis Presley, with all the talent he had, showed himself always, (at least in public), as a humble man.

Or as they say, Big Dogs don't bark... Tom.

[Brian]

No offense to Tom Jones fans around here, but he is an overrated artist, or should I say: a self-overrated one? Anyhow, even if you are Elvis Presley you don't make comments like that, comparing your own "greatness" to other singers, it just looks bad. Elvis Presley, with all the talent he had, showed himself always, (at least in public), as a humble man.

Or as they say, Big Dogs don't bark... Tom.

lots of singers compare themselves to other singers all the time. Tom Jones isn't the first and he won't be the last to do this.

Tom Jones is egotistical but I've seen others singers say worse

[Getlo]

Tom Jones' vocal range was always bigger than Elvis', especially during the sixties.

Live with it.

[Getlo]

yeah gems like..[LEFT]Sexbomb sexbomb youre my sexbomb
And baby you can turn me on turn me on

Your point, exactly?

Listened to the lyrics of Rubberneckin' lately?

They're just as inane.

[KPM]

I like Tom Jones and have many of his records-my mother was a huge Tom fan and had all his records-so I heard of lot of them back then.
I would say he had a wider range than Elvis in the 60s-lets face it most of the music Elvis recorded in the 60s did not push his range and without pushing your voice it does not grow. But as Elvis returned to live performing his range obviously expanded yearly till his death. The ending on "Cant Help Falling in Love" shows the expansion-in 69 he really did not climb with his voice on the ending-the chorus did. But by 1972 we have that marvelous climb by Elvis-full voice to a crescendo. I think Elvis's range was wider in the 70s than Toms.

[john carpenter]

Tom Jones' vocal range was always bigger than Elvis', especially during the sixties.

Live with it.

Thanks for making me laugh Getlo! To compare the two is like compairing a cadillac(Elvis) to a Toyota(tom)

[SleepyJack]

Tom Jones' vocal range was always bigger than Elvis', especially during the sixties.

Live with it.

I can live with this quite easily...Ol` Tom`s "range" doesn`t even come into the equation..... I`d rather listen to Elvis gargle than listen to Mr. Jones. If anyone has anything to deal with it`s Tom.....

[Diane]

I like Tom Jones and have many of his records-my mother was a huge Tom fan and had all his records-so I heard of lot of them back then.
I would say he had a wider range than Elvis in the 60s-lets face it most of the music Elvis recorded in the 60s did not push his range and without pushing your voice it does not grow. But as Elvis returned to live performing his range obviously expanded yearly till his death. The ending on "Cant Help Falling in Love" shows the expansion-in 69 he really did not climb with his voice on the ending-the chorus did. But by 1972 we have that marvelous climb by Elvis-full voice to a crescendo. I think Elvis's range was wider in the 70s than Toms.

Agree 100%

Diane

[Cryogenic]

This is what I wrote about the matter on FECC (For Elvis CD Collectors) :

Jones gives Elvis a back-handed compliment, again -- falsely equating range with ability.

He clearly DOES resent the fact that Elvis knocked him from the top spot in Vegas and has become famous for playing there -- one of Las Vegas' true icons, unlike Jones.

It's especially ridiculous (this issue of Jones') because Elvis was around a decade before Jones and was a pivotal figure in popular culture. Jones never acknowledges this basic fact.

On the other hand, I can kinda understand the jealousy. The male ego is a fragile thing, bless it. It must be somewhat frustrating to have Elvis directly put to him or orbiting around certain questions almost EVERY SINGLE TIME he gets interviewed. Then again, if he's prepared to give so many interviews to promote himself (not that Elvis ever needed that kind of PR), he could suck it up, like a man. But he can't let it slide.

The funny thing is that you never heard Elvis putting singers down in public (except in playful ways like, "It feels like Bob Dylan slept in my mouth", "BJ Thomas has out a record. I don't particularly like it ... ", and "Good evening, I'm Wayne Newton"). Elvis was actually very complimentary to other performers, particularly black singers, who he actually claimed were superior to him at spirituals. Elvis was never silly enough to promote his "range" or anything like that, either.

I have tried to look past Jones' self-aggrandising, but it keeps reappearing. In certain contexts, self-aggrandisement is fine and can make for brilliant entertainment. Just consider the kind of assertiveness found in black figures like Muhammad Ali, Mr T and Will Smith. Even a white singer like Roy Orbison wasn't above venerating himself ("Wink is famous for the 1952 State Class A Champion football team and Roy Orbison"), but he was very gentle about it and didn't take shots at anybody else.

Now, in all of that, and all my subsequent responses on FECC, it's not that I dislike Tom Jones' music, per se (though I don't think much about the man -- for all above and other reasons).

It is rather churlish to deride a random snatch of lyrics from a single song. One of Tom Jones' early singles, "Delilah", has some very pointed lyrics. Consider: "She stood there laughing / I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more" So dark! The song is about a tormented man who murders his lover. And it was a very surprising hit (in some ways) for the mid-60's. That's lyrics.

Jones also pioneered a seminal kind of rock-country-gospel-pop hybrid, best heard in his early stuff, like "What's New, Pussycat?" and "Green, Green Grass Of Home", the latter of which Elvis became obsessed with and covered himself. For a later example of magic, Jones injected serious new energy into Prince's "Kiss" when he covered it in the 1980's. I also like his duet with The Cardigans on "Burning Down The House". And "Help Yourself", from back in the day, is one of my favourite pop records. That's sound.

Then there is Jones' muscular delivery, which really has no equal. Tom Jones does have a greater range than Elvis ... just. The lowest and highest notes Elvis was able to hit with chest voice were Double Low G/Double Low E and High C respectively, while Jones has hit Double Low E and High D in his time. (Not including fasletto for either man, of course). The difference is miniscule. A couple of semitones! And we're talking about both men stretched to their limits. A better comparison is what they were able to do with some regularity. I have seen a bunch of videos where Jones actually shies away from notes that Elvis routinely hit (as in a performance of "An American Trilogy", where Jones steers clear of the High A ending, finishing a couple of notes lower, if memory serves). That's kinda funny, since it was one of Elvis' signature stage tunes, and live singing (in Jones' own words) is the real test, yet it's actually Elvis that comes out on top. But whatever. Jones style of delivery, his assured power, has no equal. He belts even tamer notes out with astonishing energy. And his sound is recognisable in seconds. That's voice.

Sticking with the voice for a second, since it's Jones' defining attribute, the bottled magic that people continue to pay money for, revel in and admire, here is a page that captures his range: http://tjfanmari.tripod.com/highlow.htm That is the page I used to quote Jones' range, by the way. I've searched since, but I've never found anything to contradict it. Tom Jones has also earned plaudits from other singers in his time. I believe Otis Redding called him one of the great soul singers -- high praise from a black soul singer. Elvis definitely knew a good thing when he heard it, too. According to Tom Jones, he emerged from a helicopter on the set of "Paradise Hawaiian Style" singing (perhaps somewhat satirically, given that he was walking towards Jones at the time) "With These Hands". A friendship grew from there. There is definitely a disarming ease to what Jones does. "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" might be considered the one recording, both studio and live, where he trounces Elvis. Or not. It can be fun to hear that richness, that fullness, that virtuosity. It should also be said that Jones is very professional, giving quality stage performances again and again, year after year, decade after decade. Few people (certainly not Elvis) can claim, or could have claimed, the same.

Still, for all his talent, Jones is not one of the greats -- and, deep down, I'm sure he knows it. His jealousy issues with Elvis are very sad. Jones is clearly not a very deep man, either. He's never witty in interviews, his vocabulary seems extremely limited (count the number of times he uses the word "great" in place of ANY OTHER adjective), he can neither dress TRULY flashy (though he has a style) nor give of himself in ways Elvis could and did, and he can't, to the best of my knowledge, play any instruments, make lyric changes or breathe stylistic changes into the music as Elvis frequently could and did. Nor has Tom Jones changed popular culture and the political landscape as we know it. Nor is he a tenth as good looking and mysterious as Elvis was. Nor -- last, but not least -- does he have Elvis' unreal, unearthly voice, capable of multitudinous moods, an exultant litheness, a solemn heaviness and a hundred things in between; authentic, unvarnished intimacy; a deep sense of longing; a beauty and subtlety beyond words ... and an all-encompassing unknowable quality that keeps us wanting more.

When Jones compares himself to Elvis, or rather, Elvis to Tom Jones, it's like a street artist comparing themselves to Picasso. We should be content that Jones is revealing more about himself than Elvis.