This is Tom Jones 1969 variety series starring Tom Jones

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Tom Jones

Sir Tom Jones OBE (born Thomas Jones Woodward, June 7, 1940), is a Welsh singer particularly noted for his powerful voice. He was born in Treforest, Pontypridd, near Cardiff in South Wales, Great Britain. more...

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Musical career

He rose to fame in the mid-1960s, with an exuberant live act which included wearing tight breeches and billowing shirts, in an Edwardian style popular amongst his peers at the time. He was known for his overt sexuality, before this was as common as it became in subsequent years.

In 1963 he became the frontman for Tommy Scott and the Senators, a local beat group. Clad all in black leather, Tom soon gained a reputation in the South Wales area. The Senators were still unheard of in London.

That year they laid down seven tracks with maverick Telstar producer Joe Meek, and took them to various labels in an attempt to get a record deal - with no success. (Only after It's Not Unusual became a massive hit, Meek was able to sell the tapes to Tower in the USA and Columbia in the UK). The group returned to South Wales and continued to play gigs at dance halls and working men's clubs. One night, at the Top Hat in Cwmtillery, Tom was spotted by Gordon Mills, a London-based manager originally from South Wales. Mills became Tom's manager, and took the young singer to London. He also renamed him Tom Jones, an ingenious moniker which not only linked the singer to the image of the title character - a good-looking, low-born stud - portrayed in Tony Richardson's film of Fielding's Tom Jones which was a huge contemporary hit, but also subtly emphasised his nationality. Gordon Mills gave many rock stars their stage names, among them Engelbert Humperdinck (born Arnold George Dorsey). The Senators became the Playboys, and later still the Squires. It was the beginning of the second phase in Tom's career.

Record companies were finding his style and delivery to be too abrasive and raw. Tom's vocals were considered to be too raucous, and he moved like Elvis. But eventually, Decca rekindled their early interest, and Jones recorded his first single, Chills And Fever in late 1964. The single didn't chart, but the follow-up, It's Not Unusual, (co-written by Les Reed), was an instant smash hit, released in early 1965. Initially the BBC refused to play it, but an offshore pirate station Radio Caroline picked it up. Its orchestrated arrangement coupled with Jones' energetic delivery proved infectious, and by March 1st the song reached number one in the UK and the top ten in America. In the same year, Tom sang the theme tune to the James Bond film Thunderball. Jones was awarded the Grammy Award for Best New Artist for 1965. In 1966 Jones' popularity began to slip somewhat, causing Mills to redesign the singer's image into a more respectable, mature tuxedoed crooner. Tom released his most successful single ever, Green Green Grass of Home (written by Claude "Curly" Putman Jr. in 1965), and began to sing material that appealed to a broad audience, as well as a string of hit singles and albums including What's New Pussycat?, Help Yourself and Delilah. The strategy worked, as he returned to the top of the charts in the UK and began hitting the Top 40 again in the U.S.