W L INTERVIEW
SIR TOM JONES : WHAT ’ S NEW PUSSYCAT ?
During a career where he ’ s chalked up 36 Top 40 hits and sold 100 million records , Tom Jones is still filling concerts despite Covid postponing his latest tour twice ! It ’ s been almost 60 years since he first exploded into the limelight as a musical heart throb , and he ’ s still the original sex bomb .
The singer , who has won Grammy , Ivor Novello and Brit awards , was knighted by The Queen for his services to music in 2005 .
Now scheduled to play at Haydock on 28th August we asked Tom what he ’ s been up to since our chat last year ….
We spoke to you last Summer about the tour and luckily , we haven ’ t got long to wait now ! Since then , you ’ ve brought out a new album haven ’ t you ?
Surrounded By Time is one of the best albums I ’ ve ever made . Over the years , thank God , I ’ ve had the good fortune to sing some really interesting stuff . I ’ ve gone through a lot of different genres of music .
I ’ m still doing it and enjoying it as much – maybe even more now – than in years gone by .
This is a poignant album filled with a lot of heartfelt memories of your wife Linda isn ’ t it ?
Yes , it ’ s my first album since I lost Linda , my wife , and for a while , I thought that I ’ d never make another record . I didn ’ t think that I was going to make it . I didn ’ t think I ’ d be able to sing again . I didn ’ t know if I could get the songs out . They were sticking in my throat .
It really was just the lowest point of my life . Because she was my strength , you see . She kept me grounded . We talked for two weeks in hospital in Los Angeles with my son and she said you two have got to look after one another now and hold each other up .
The album features the song ‘ I Won ’ t Crumble With You If You Fall .’ When I first heard the song , I thought , my God , this is unbelievable .
It says , ‘ I ’ ll do everything for you when I wake up in the morning if you call for as long as I can . But I won ’ t crumble with you , if you fall ’. Linda didn ’ t actually use the word ‘ crumble ’, but she may as well have . Instead , she said : ‘ Don ’ t fall with me . That ’ s what you ’ ve got to do . You ’ ve got to go forward and keep doing it .
Songs are more important to me now , and they take on a different meaning when you ’ ve lived a long time . And you ’ ve lived through things , you read more into lyrics than you do when you ’ re young .
You ’ ve just celebrated your 81st birthday , and last time we talked , you had just hit the milestone of 80 . Are you coming to terms with the fact you ’ re now in the twilight of your life ?
In one of the new songs ‘ I ’ m Growing Old ’ I talk about exactly that .
Several years ago , I ’ d been sick with something , and a doctor told said that perhaps it was time to slow down a little well those words were like a red rag to a bull . Not happening yet !
When people used to say to me , ‘ How long do you think you ’ d want to be on stage ?’ I said to them about 97 . Now , I don ’ t know why I came up with 97 , but I did . I want to sing as long as I can . A lot of old people lose the flexibility , especially with their vocals .
So we won ’ t expect you to retire anytime soon ! Your voice is as amazing as ever , but is it not tough touring at the age of 81 ? You ’ re in Sweden , Spain , the Netherlands and the Ukraine as well as the UK .
Things have been tough for me , but I feel the audience have understood that . It felt like Linda was with me all the way through it , too . I could see her laughing . She loved jokes . I could just see her laughing when I told her one . So , when I think of my wife , I think of her laughing .
She got me through that first show back as she does with every show I do now . It ’ s made me stronger , as opposed to falling .
Tickets are still available for the postponed Tom Jones show at Haydock Racecourse which has been rescheduled for 28th August 2021 . You can find out more including other dates in the tour at https :// www . tomjones . com / wirrallife . com 21