European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1969, Darmstadt, Hesse Re la to by Mary Ann Reese staff gym. So his Jpn Gniffin notes Call Ifil him and Tom Jones makes m Effort the ruin his Imam Early m his of Tszling career As pop artist and Baltic Yed soil Singer Tom Jones nearly got kicked out of Australia for & dance Ming the guardians of australian morality considered too but now it s aft accepted part of Misew his image. If he does t leave women in his audience gasping for More and fighting an urge to jump up on stage with him. Then his performances less than usual. Sex for me is the most important thing in life says the a Yea cd who in addition to a tremendous vocal Tal ent has roguish rugged Good looks going for him in my songs i paint a portrait of sex. When t sing. 1 sing for women already experienced in life Yand they apparently can Tell. Much of his fan mail comes from women in their 30s and 40s. Although teeny toppers collect his albums end have been known to scream at his concerts he says he thinks they re b Little afraid of of n stage Jones is a Good show Man. Every minute he s out there he leaps he moans he shouts he sweats he dances he swivels his hips he pleads baby Here i am. He is Only two songs into his performance when he rips off his tie in does a top shirt Button and whispers it s sure hot in Here in t lit and things get hotter. A woman in her 40s finally rushes up to the stage and offers him a Deli Cate White Hankey. He s grateful he by conveniently does t have one he wipes his brow and returns it. She the end of a performance women Are storming the barricades backstage which protect him from the Button and autograph his dressing room far from his madding fans Tom Jones Barefoot an lounging Between concerts in a Robe of Many colors sips Champagne an looks like some sort of mischievous god with Clouds of smoke rising Aroundhim. It s a Humidifier. The air in Germany s go dry. You know. The Doc Tor ordered it. It s the same thing in Las vegas very dry very hard Ona Singer s Throat. We Call it vegas a Tom Jones makes $38,000 a week has sold 24 million record a likes being mobbed by fans he likes signing autographs he love being adored being famous being Rich. It certainly beats Selling in South Wales. I m Content now he says Sav Oringa sip of Champagne the Diamond ring on his Little Finger sparkling. "1 use to be so frustrated before i made that was Back before 1965 when resold his first hit it s not since then he s sold More than 24 Mil lion records including Delilah Green Green grass of Home and funny familiar forgotten except for his new wealth he has changed much friends say. Talking about himself Jones says he dorm t go to Church any More but i still believe in he thinks narcotics Are terrible and Only takes an occasional Pill to stay awake. He never plays games because losing makes me aggressive and angry. I hate he avoids theater and opera an considers them he i Ptim a portrait of sex getting old. "1 can t and won imagine that one Day i la have Grey hair wrinkles and a paunch t try notto think about he s pleased with the British govern ment the work for Are getting on bet Ter than they fever Haw he used to dream of having silk pyjamas and a fantastically expensive Bathrobe. The Bathrobe i have. The pyjamas i Don to because i sleep without mostly though he s just pleased about his present and he Ddean t have to worry much about the future. remembers Hack when he and his wife and son lived with fats Mother in Law in Wales. "1 did t even have a car then he recalls. Sometimes when a signing autographs my fans say Don t you get tired of this. But i Don to just feel frustrated when i Don t have time to sigh an autograph the interview continues As Jones scribbles his name on picture Post cards of himself cards that will be spirited away to fans Etsell waiting at the backstage concedes with & Piti that his concerts May be another version of the Playboy look but Don t touch mys Tique. Like the famous bunnies who Areto be seen but not touched. Tom Jones pours out 40 minutes of passion set to music and then disappears behind his Green door unavailable for a hand shake an autograph a lock of curly then i can sing. And bunnies can t he can. He looks with disdain on gimmickry and the baby faced Rock group who he bets could t hold an audience without their electronic Gad gets. He gave up the White suits and Long hair he wore during his first Days of Fame because i sweat so much that in my White suit during a performance looked like lord Godiva and my 10 the stars and stripes every minute out there he leap he to Loans he shouts. Hips he pleads. Sunday january 2, he likes being mobbed by fftns9 he likes signing autographs he Ives being adored being famous being Rich. It certainly heals Selling encyclopedias in decided the one thing i must do h sing better and louder than anybody else hair is so curly if it grows out i lookalike Buffalo when i decided to become a professional Singer i decided the one thing i must do is sing better and louder than anybody furthermore he says Tye never sings a song already released by somebody else unless i feel i can do it better than the which just shows How intact his egos. One of his recent recordings was i can t Stop Loving you which already had been done brilliantly a few years ago by Ray Charles. J ones says he was particularly influenced in his singing style by negro singers blues and country music gos Pel songs and later by Tennessee Ernie Ford Elvis Presley Boogie Boogie and the beatles. The influence of negro singers on his style is so evident that Jones even fooled one of the most critical audience sin America the Apollo theater goers. When Jones made a guest appearance at the famous Harlem theater fans who have launched such greats Asella Fitzgerald Duke Ellington Ahmad Jamal and Oscar Peterson and who boo and throw eggs if displeased enthusiastically received him after recovering from the initial Shock. They could t believe it when they saw my White face. They had just assumed from my singing that i was a soul his fans Are said to include Elvis Presley and the Queen of England. The latter following a Royal performance on May 13, stretched out her hand to Jones and asked How do you Man age to keep your voice in such Good condition because i sleep eight hours Ever night he answered he also gargle before every con Cert with a special mouthwash but How could you Tell that to her majesty commented one wry member of his private entourage. They travel with Jim and worry about his career and theirs. They include manager Gordon Mills who discovered him a press agent Road manager musical director photographer recording specialist a Man who looks after his health an four musicians Presley who reportedly drove 250miles recently to hear Jones at Las vegas told him later say Tom we should do a show together one of at stage left the other at stage right and the beatles in the Middle to a Al he Saga of Thomas Jones Wood Ward started Back in june 7, 1940. Ina South Walt s Coal mining town even smaller than Pontypridd where he Gre up a place called to Forst. He was a rough and Tumble sort of kid who like mainly two things singing and girls. He Sang with a couple of Rock groups and sometimes by himself on weekends in local miners pubs to supplement his income from various jobs As a Cut Ting apprentice in a Glove factory paper roller in a paper factory and Hod Carrier. He also sold his boyhood Jones recalls when i would drink i d beat up even my est friends. My parents noticed naturally when 1 came Home bloody an torn up every evening. But they were very understanding. I made a lot of trouble for them. 1 Hud such a bad reputation that most parents forbade their Little Darlings to talk to one person who apparently was Al Lowed to speak to him was the girl next door Melinda Rose proposed to her when they were ii and at 16 they were defends Young marriages As the Best guarantee for a Happy marriage sunday january 26, 1969 the stars and stripes even if statistics indicate otherwise. Believe there is More tension and prob lems when two fully ripened adults Are put together in the Joneses and their 11-year-Oldson Mark now live in a modest five bedroom mansion in Surrey a pos area 12 Miles outside London. Their furniture includes his White piano and a$3,000 custom made Pale yellow leather Couch. Jones tries to spend at least six months a year in London with Melinda and Mark. They rarely accompany Himon concert trips. For one thing As she told a London reporter it makes me feel insecure and jealous to see All those women setting their Caps for Are genuinely interested in his singing but some Are just interested in him. I just can t stand to see them that s Why i rarely go to watch him besides that another London reporter visiting the Jones at Home reports Tom is a Man with staunch som might think victorian views on marriage. He can Cook for instance Buthe wont it s not a Man s Job. I like women to do a woman s Job. I d hate to come Home and not find Linda Here " Jones got his big break in a round about Way because of the Empire Shak ing Profumo scandal. Mandy r i c e Davies one of two Young women who received considerable International at Tention during the Case was unable to keep a scheduled singing appearance in Wales. Jones then 23, was her Emer gency replacement. Talent scout Gordon Mills liked him so much he signed Bun immediately. Jones changed his name from Tommy Scott after Albert Finney s portrayal of Tom Jones turned into a Gold last few years have been filled with successes that would make Horatio Alger Blush but Jones apparently in t embarrassed about them. In fact his program notes during recent whirlwind concert tour through Germany read like a True confession tothe internal Revenue. They Tell How Jones in 1967 paid $75,000 for his Home and an equal amount for he travels in a $20,000 Silver Cloud Rolls Royce with dark windows and he also owns a Mercedes 230 so three racing horses and a 40-foot yacht which Cost $40,000. Before that the Jones family in1965, had moved to a $23,000 h o m e in Shepperton Middlesex where Jones drove a red Jaguar. A car Accident forced him to invest in a Rolls which his friends hoped would slow me his Mother and father for decades Coal Miner now live there. He earns $38.000 a week with better things to come. The newest and biggest breakthrough yet in h i career is a series of 13 one hour Tele vision shows contracted by american and British networks at a Cost of roughly $21.6 million. Jones will see $2 Mil lion from the 1969 contract alone. The series to be filmed in England and feature guest stars and some future stars opens in the states feb. 7and in England feb. 9. The two net works producing the show modestly claim the Deal puts Jones in the same league with Crosby Sinatra who incidentally is Jones favorite entertainer and Hopes the Deal will Lead to movie roles. "1 Don t care so much if sing he says but 1 should be Able to shout a Little bit he fancies himself in a Western or any kind of Good adventure Jones sees himself As an enter Tainer of global proportions and Well he s right. 11
