Sophie McVinnie celebrates Sir Tom Jones’s singing success during 60 years in the music industry.
THERE is no denying that the Sixties were a phenomenal era for music. But who springs to mind as your stand-out star of this influential decade?
One singer’s stentorian voice burst through the seams in 1965 with the chart-topping hit “It’s Not Unusual”.
Soon, he’d shimmied his way to becoming a national treasure.
Who do we mean? Welsh singer Sir Tom Jones, of course – and what a powerhouse! Now eighty-three, he still shows flawless prowess on stage.
To mark his six decades in the limelight and the upcoming festivals he’s playing this summer, we explore Sir Tom’s early influences and the career that never stops growing . . .
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
All legends start from somewhere, no matter how big they get.
Although Sir Tom’s repertoire of styles and genres stretch far and wide, he began as a promising R&B singer.
The very first record that he bought was “Treasure Of Love” by Clyde McPhatter, an American soul singer.
“I was going [to buy it] with Linda, who became my wife,” he told “The Independent” in 2021, “and she was the Treasure of Love, you see, so that was the romantic part.”
He admits the soundtrack of his teenagerhood involved some rock, too – largely Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
He has a distinct memory of listening to Elvis’s “Heartbreak Hotel” on the radio in 1956, wondering why he was singing about being “so loamy” and whatever it could mean.
It happened to be Sir Tom’s wife, Linda, who enlightened him with the fact Elvis was singing about being lonely – and he’ll never live it down!
THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’
If you were old enough to hear Sir Tom in his heyday, you will no doubt remember it.
It doesn’t matter whether you were watching him on a television screen or squealing adoringly amongst a live audience, his bellowing tenor would carry over the top and mute you in
