Tom Jones goes nostalgic

Tom Jones has always had great success singing original materials. This was so with It’s Not Unusual, when he started his career during the ‘60s. It remained the same over the ensuing years when he moved on through The Green Green Grass of Home and down to Say You’ll Stay Until Tomorrow. So while other great vocalists like Rod Stewart and Michael McDonald were mining the oldies, no one thought that Tom Jones would also take the nostalgia trip. Why should he when the younger musicians can certainly provide him with another Sexbomb?

Still no singer worth his salt will pass up the chance to record the classic songs from the past. There is always some twinge of regret on the part of an artist for beautiful melodies he was not able to record. These may have been written before his time or were given to another singer. No matter what their origins though, there is always that desire on the part of any singer to show listeners how well or in what way he can interpret those songs. Well, it turns out that Tom Jones is no different.

So watch out, Rod and Barry Manilow, too. Tom Jones has invaded your turf. The Welsh pop legend, recently knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, has come out with When I Fall in Love, an album sub-titled 20 All-Time Classics where he sings songs from the 1920’s down to the 1960’s. It is a very rich harvest that includes the Depression Era spiritual Brother, Can You Spare a Dime, Broadway, Hello Young Lovers, Motown soul, (Sitting On) the Dock of Bay and compositions from Cole Porter, Begin the Beguine and down to Lennon and McCartney Hey Jude.

Jones’ choices make up an eclectic mix. Most of the other classics albums we get zero in on romance and plays on the memories of the listeners. This one goes every which way and has only Tom’s distinctive singing style to hold the concept together. But because he is so unique and sounds like nobody else, he proves himself more than adequately equipped for the challenge. He can go moony with When I Fall in Love and then move into a Latin-tinged My Prayer and nobody will complain. The album is by Tom Jones and that is what the listener gets.

Other wonderful songs included in the album are Autumn Leaves, Spanish Harlem, You Came A Long Way from St. Louis, My Foolish Heart, It’s Magic, Georgia on My Mind, A Taste of Honey, The Nearness of You, That Old Black Magic, My Mother’s Eyes, Fly Me to The Moon, and You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’. Surprises of surprises, the best of the lot is the country standard Let It Be Me which features a laid-back softly singing Tom Jones.

The best of country music

Let us now go to country music and more news in the continuing saga of Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix as recording artists. After earning a Gold Record Award for the soundtrack of the movie Walk the Line where they did their own singing as June Carter and Johnny Cash, the seemingly unlikely pop stars are up for an award at the CMT Music Awards. The most prestigious award giving body for country music has nominated the duo for the Collaborative Video of the Year for the song Jackson that they perform in Walk the Line.

They are no shoo-ins because they are up against country music greats like Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw and even Bon Jovi with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland. But Jackson once won a Grammy for Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash in 1967. Maybe if their luck holds out, Reese and Joaquin might also get a CMT for their efforts.

I do find it regrettable that the Walk the Line soundtrack is not available locally but for an idea of what the music of a legend like Johnny Cash sounded like, you might check out Ring of Fire The Legend of Johnny Cash. I am not at all surprised that this excellent collection is one of the Top 10 selling albums in the US today. It has all the Johnny Cash standards like Walk the Line and Folsom Prison Blues and newer stuff like I’ve Been Everywhere and that fantastic recording he did with U2 The Wanderer.