Tom Jones in Chicago

A few weeks ago I watched a recording of Tom Jones performing in Chicago on PBS. The concert took place nearly two years ago, on February 12th, 2016. I was blown away. Jones performed a mix of his more recent recordings, and other numbers from his career spanning over fifty years:  Gospel, blues, ballads, and pop. The “pride of Wales” is now in his mid seventies, but his voice is as strong and has as great a range as it did when he was in his twenties. It’s remarkable.

My first exposure to Tom Jones was through my mother. She had a record that she would play when I was a child. I think my father was a little jealous. Jones’s voice and on stage demeanor generated a large female following for his music. The themes of many of his early hits were often romantic, and tragic. “Green, Green Grass of Home” speaks to a universal yearning for an idealized past, and one’s loved ones. But it’s a yearning expressed in the face of an early and violent death. “Delilah” is the lament of a murderer crazed with jealousy begging forgiveness from his dead lover. Jones went in and out of fashion several times over the years, but he has survived and is now thriving in the winter of his years. His 2012 album “Spirit in the Room” was a critical success and presaged the work he’s doing now. His cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Tower of Song” is, perhaps, his most powerful recording since “Green, Green Grass of Home”. His set for Soundstage in the film, begins with “Tower of Song” and then segues into a rollicking gospel number that Jones learned from Elvis Presley. Thoughtful, playful, dark, full of swagger, the variety of songs allow for a full expression of Jones’s talents. Alison Krauss also joins Jones on stage for three duets. She’s a great talent in her own right. The energy on stage is electric. Jones’s backing band is full of accomplished musicians such as Tom West, Neal Pawley, and lead guitarist, Doug Lancio.

It is on the new arrangement of “Delilah” and Jones’s cover of John Lee Hooker’s “Burning Hell” that Lancio’s guitar adds a powerful, almost sinister, edge. This is a liberated Tom Jones. Even his old standard “It’s Not Unusual” has a fresh new sound. The trombone is still there, but its accompanied by an accordion, and quasi-Caribbean percussion from Marco Giovino. As a Jones fan, I can say with absolute conviction that these new versions are superior to the originals. But Tom Jones is still Tom Jones. I admire him taking chances as an artist in his seventies.