Could Sir Tom track for train

THE Great Western Railway is in the middle of its biggest fleet upgrade since its first train travelled between London and Bristol 175 years ago.

As part of the upgrade, it is looking to name 50 new trains after the Greatest Westerners of all time.

GWR wants to know who, past or present, has made the greatest contribution to the towns, cities, communities and regions along its routes.

We kickstarted the nominations with the great Welsh men and women we think deserve the honour of having a GWR train named after them. We are now making a case each week for people we think are worthy of the honour.

If you want to make your own nomination then you can visit the dedicated site www.greatwesterners.co.uk to submit the name of the person you think is most suited. Here, we take a detailed look at the case for Sir Tom Jones.

With a career that has spanned six decades, the South Wales singer has a fanbase that spans the globe and every age range. He has produced music that has included so many genres, from pop to rock, dance to gospel.

And as Sir Tom turns 77 this week, it seems the ideal time to put his name forward for one of the 50 new trains from GWR.

Sir Tom was born on June 7, 1940, in Pontypridd, as Tommy Woodward. Young Tommy didn’t like school or sports, but found joy in singing, preforming at family events, weddings and the school choir.

In 1957, aged 16, he married his childhood sweetheart Linda and their son Mark was born a month after their wedding.

While singing for bands in local clubs in the early 1960s, Sir Tom was seen by the London-based manager Gordon Mills. Mr Mills, who hailed from South Wales, took the young singer to the capital. It was at this point Tommy became Tom Jones, a move to capitalise on the popular Oscarnominated film of the time – Jones being his mother’s maiden name.

Mills got Sir Tom signed to Decca records and his second single was the huge hit It’s Not Unusual. He then recorded What’s New Pussycat and the James Bond theme for Thunderball.

Sir Tom was firmly established on the music scene and this was when he started moving in circles and with names that he drops as a judge on the TV show The Voice, such as John Lennon, Elvis Presely, Sammy Davis Jr and Frank Sinatra.

In the late 1960s Sir Tom released numerous hits, such as Deliah, Green, Green Grass Of Home, and Help Yourself as he became a crooner. He also played Las Vegas for the first time and he spent a lot of time with Elvis.

While his career continued it was at the turn of the century he hit meteoric heights again with the release of Reload. In 2012 he became a host on The Voice on BBC, he was controversially dropped from the show by the channel, but was reinstated when the show switched to ITV.

Last year Sir Tom lost Linda to cancer. The pair were married for 59 years, and while Sir Tom has been candid about his infidelities, they stayed together.

The singing legend admitted it took a special kind of woman to be so understanding about the world of music and showbusiness and put it down to the fact Linda was with him and supported him throughout his singing career.

Talking on Radio 2 with Michael Ball, Sir Tom said shortly after her death: “When we got It’s Not Unusual she was as thrilled about it as I was. It was a great feeling, I wasn’t only doing it for myself I was doing it for my wife and my son – for my whole family actually – but especially for my wife and son.

“It was a great feeling and and she shared that feeling with me. She was thrilled to bits – what it brought with it – she knew hat I was thrilled because I was finally a professional singer fulfilling a dream, and she was part of it. And she lived it with me and we used to understand one another so well.

“I mean she’s still with me every day in my brain and in my heart, she’ll always be with me. We shared our life together.”