Those of you who know me well are probably already quite familiar with my love for all things Tom Jones. Though my appreciation for the "Pontypridde Powerpack" began as an early exercise in irony — back in the late '70s, I used to cut ads for ToJo's Vegas gigs out of the LA Times and put them on my Mom's pillow, because I knew one look at this open-shirted, gold-chain-sporting Welsh lothario would make her recoil in horror with a grossed-out exclamation of "Ewww!" — it turned into full-blown admiration once I realized that the man could actually sing his ass off.
I also dug (and still dig) the fact that here was a guy who, at the height of the fey flower-power era, made no bones about being a hyper-masculine dude who loved the ladies. In the Turtles documentary, Happy Together, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman tell a hilarious tale of the time they shared a bus with him on one of Dick Clark's mid-'60s package tours: Tom would wave and smile at his female fans from the bus, all while muttering a running monologue under his breath about his dick, which he'd apparently nicknamed Wendell. "Oh, Wendell likes you," he'd say, whenever some comely lass caught his eye. "Wendell's a big boy, yes he is..."
So then, not the most politically correct cat to ever stalk a stage, but at least he's always exhibited a self-deprecating sense of humor, and a twinkle in his eye that attests to the fact that he never takes himself too seriously. Soul and R&B music, on the other hand, has always been something he's taken very seriously — his 1960s albums were filled with loving (and extremely respectable) covers of hits by Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Ben E. King, etc. And next to Eric Burdon of the Animals, I don't think there's ever been a better white soul belter than ToJo. Case in point is this amazing clip of him duetting with Wilson Pickett on "Hey Jude": I defy anyone to name another white dude, living or dead (and not named Eric Burdon), who could have gone toe-to-toe with the Wicked Pickett in his prime, and acquit himself admirably enough to warrant an affectionate hug from the soul great himself.
Nope, you can't. But you can wish Tom Jones a happy 70th birthday, or celebrate it by spinning some of his wax... or just by digging the following clip...
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Posted by: Jordan Spizike | September 16, 2010 at 08:29 PM