Beyond the open shirts, gold chains and knickers
Sean Smith biography chronicles Tom Jones’s search for artistic integrity
Tom Jones, the singer known for his exposed chest, swivel hips, sexual escapades and deep, strong voice, has always wanted to be respected as an artist, according to a new biography.
Bursting onto the music scene with “It’s Not Unusual” at the same time as the Beatles and Rolling Stones led the “British invasion,” Jones attracted a more mature audience than his rock counterparts.
Now knighted and a judge on the British version of The Voice, he’s dialed down the “sex bomb” image, let his hair go grey and buttoned up his shirt.
The transformation from a poor, Welsh miner’s son to pop star and Vegas headliner and critically acclaimed performer (with the 2010 blues/soul album Praise & Blame) is chronicled in celebrity biographer Sean Smith’s Tom Jones — The Life, released by HarperCollins Canada on Tuesday. The book about Jones, 74, is already a bestseller in England.
Smith’s prior subjects include Kate Middleton, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Victoria Beckham, J.K. Rowling, Kylie Minogue and Jennifer Aniston. The difference with the Jones biography was the sheer breadth of stories Smith was able to mine in research that took him from Wales to California, where Jones currently lives.
“He spans so many generations and so many types of music,” says Smith. “He was born during the Second World War, there was rationing and blackout curtains. He was a fan of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard and had an influence on modern music. I was able to track his progress,” said Smith in an interview.
Smith discovered that Jones felt trapped in the sweaty, sexy persona that resulted in fevered audiences throwing their “knickers” onstage. It was distracting and irritating, and possibly kept him from being taken seriously by critics.
After the death of long-time manager Gordon Mills, Jones’s son Mark took over. Gradually, he was transformed into a man acting more his age and returned to performing new work in the U.K. where he is still ragingly popular.
“He could have stayed in Vegas, but he wanted something more. He was reclaiming his credibility. He wanted respect,” says Smith.
Although much has been written about Jones in the tabloids over the years, Smith was astonished to discover that Jones — given his image of strength and vitality — had been confined to bed for two years as a child with tuberculosis.
His devotion to his family resulted in him bringing his parents and sister to London once he made it in the business. He didn’t want his father to continue working as a miner. Later, Jones moved his sister to California. His teenage marriage to wife Linda has withstood the test of time.
And there were many tests, including headline-grabbing romances with 1973 Miss World Marjorie Wallace and Mary Wilson of the Supremes. Linda only got upset when something became public knowledge, Smith said, adding she is not a “downtrodden” woman.
She has been Jones’s strongest supporter from the very beginning, staying behind in Wales with their child and working to support them all while he sought a music career.
The small circle of friends and family around Jones have been constant throughout his life, says Smith, adding that he doesn’t socialize a lot or have casual friends. The author admitted he had a change of heart about Jones while working on the book. “I really liked the man. He was so much more than the swagger image.”