Tom Jones Biography

Sir Thomas Jones Woodward, OBE (born 7 June 1940), best known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer particularly noted for his powerful voice. He was born in Treforest, Pontypridd, near Cardiff in Wales.

He rose to fame in the mid-1960s, with an exuberant live act which included wearing tight breeches and billowing shirts, in an Edwardian style popular amongst his peers at the time. He was known for his overt sexuality, before this was as common as it became in subsequent years.

In 1963 he became the frontman for Tommy Scott and the Senators, a local beat group. Clad all in black leather, Tom soon gained a reputation in the South Wales area. The Senators were still unheard of in London.

That year they laid down seven tracks with maverick Telstar producer Joe Meek, and took them to various labels in an attempt to get a record deal - with no success. (Only after It's Not Unusual became a massive hit, Meek was able to sell the tapes to Tower (USA) and Columbia (UK). The group returned to South Wales and continued to play gigs at dance halls and working men's clubs. One night, at the Top Hat in Cwmtillery, Tom was spotted by Gordon Mills, a London-based manager originally from South Wales. Mills became Tom's manager, and took the young singer to London. He also renamed him Tom Jones, an ingenious moniker which not only linked the singer to the image of the title character - a good-looking, low-born stud - portrayed in Tony Richardson's film of Fielding's Tom Jones which was a huge contemporary hit, but also subtly emphasised his nationality. Gordon Mills gave many rock stars their stage names, among them Engelbert Humperdinck (born Arnold George Dorsey). The Senators became the Playboys, and later still the Squires. It was the beginning of the second phase in Tom's career.

Record companies were finding his style and delivery to be too abrasive and raw. Tom's vocals were considered to be too raucous, and he moved like Elvis. But eventually, Decca rekindled their early interest, and Jones recorded his first single, Chills And Fever in late 1964. The single didn't chart, but the follow-up, It's Not Unusual, (co-written by Les Reed), was an instant smash hit, released in early 1965. Initially the BBC refused to play it, but an offshore pirate station Radio Caroline picked it up. Its orchestrated arrangement coupled with Jones' energetic delivery proved infectious, and by March 1st the song reached number one in the UK and the top ten in America. In the same year, Tom sang the theme tune to the James Bond film Thunderball. Jones was awarded the Grammy Award for Best New Artist for 1965. In 1966 Jones' popularity began to slip somewhat, causing Mills to redesign the singer's image into a more respectable, mature tuxedoed crooner. Tom released his most successful single ever, Green Green Grass of Home (written by Claude "Curly" Putman Jr. in 1965), and began to sing material that appealed to a broad audience, as well as a string of hit singles and albums including What's New Pussycat?, Help Yourself and Delilah. The strategy worked, as he returned to the top of the charts in the UK and began hitting the Top 40 again in the U.S.

On February 9, 1964 Tom appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, the first of several imminent appearances. In 1967 he performed for the first time in Las Vegas, at The Flamingo. In 1968, starting at New York's Copacabana night club, women would swoon and scream, and some would throw their knickers (underwear) on stage. Soon after, he began to play Las Vegas, where he began recording less, choosing to concentrate on his lucrative club performances. At Caesar's Palace Tom's shows were traditionally a knicker-hurling frenzy of raw sexual tension and good-time entertainment. There, they started throwing hotel room keys. Tom and Elvis became good friends, spending time together in Las Vegas. They had a friendship that would endure until Presley's death in 1977.

Born Thomas Jones Woodward, the son of coal miner Thomas Woodward (died 5 October 1981), and Freda Jones (died 7 February 2003, of cancer), of Pontypridd, South Wales, United Kingdom. Tom began singing at an early age. He'd regularly sing at family gatherings, weddings and also sang in his school choir. He was struck down by tuberculosis and bedridden for almost a year. It was a critical time for him, but he could do little else but listen to music and draw. At the age of sixteen Jones married Linda Trenchard in 1957 and had a son named Mark, long before becoming a pop idol. Tom quit school with no qualifications and took a variety of jobs including a builder's labourer and a door-to-door vacuum salesman.

In 1974, Tom moved to America, buying the mansion formerly belonging to Dean Martin in Los Angeles's Bel Air.

Despite publicised infidelities, including an affair with the dethroned Miss World of 1973, USA's Marjorie Wallace, and a one night stand with Cassandra Peterson a.k.a. Elvira, in which he claimed her virginity, he has remained married and a family man. One of his dalliances with a fan produced a love child, Jonathan Berkery born June 27th, 1988. He lost a paternity suit when DNA testing proved to be positive.

Tom has two grandchildren, Emma and Alexander Woodward. Alexander competed in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, representing Wales as a Full-Bore marksman.

Tom Jones was knighted (knight bachelor) for his contributions to music by Queen Elizabeth II on 29 March 2006, granting him the title of "Sir".

Jones lives in Los Angeles, California and continues to tour extensively.

For a detailed discography, see: Tom Jones discography

Bert Schwartz: "Tom Jones" (Grosset & Dunlap, New York City, 1969) 76-103307

Peter Jones: "Tom Jones: Biography of a Great Star" (Avon Publishing, 1970 (1st edition), 1971) ASIN: 0213002477

Colin MacFarlane: "Tom Jones: The Boy from Nowhere" (W.H. Allen, London, 1988 St Martins Press, New York) ISBN 0-491-03118-1 ASIN: 0312026587

Stafford Hildred & David Gritten: "Tom Jones : A Biography" (Isis Large Print Books, April 1991) ISBN 1-85089-486-8

Roger St. Pierre: "Tom Jones - Quote Unquote" (Parragon Book Service, LTD. publishers, Great Britain, 1996) ISBN 0-7525-1696-5

Stafford Hildred & David Gritten: "Tom Jones : A Biography" (revised edition '98) (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1998 an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Ltd) ISBN 0-283-06312-2

Chris Roberts: "Tom Jones" (1st edition) (Virgin Books, 1999 an imprint of Virgin Publishing Limited) ISBN 1-85227-846-3

Lucy Ellis, Bryony Sutherland: "Tom Jones: Close Up" (Omnibus Press, 2000) ISBN 0-7119-7549-3 (Hc) ISBN 0-7119-8645-2 (Pb)

Robin Eggar: "Tom Jones - The Biography" (1st edition) (Headline Book Publishing, 2000) ISBN 0-7472-7578-5