Tom Jones went into Lillie's Bordello looking for a drink and found a new career as a consulting songwriter. It was about four years ago, and the Welsh singer was in Dublin, Ireland, for an award show when he headed over to Lillie's, the famed Grafton Street club.
"I saw Bono and said hello and asked him if he wanted to come upstairs for a drink and a chat. We got to drinking and talking there, and I asked him if he would write me a song. He said, 'What I'd love to do is write a song about you. And I want it to be a Tom Jones song, not a U2 song. Tell me about yourself."
In the swirl of the club that night, the two stars, one born in 1940 and the other in 1960, talked about fame and rhythm, hard times and melody, and Bono was taking notes about his elder's previous life as a ditch digger and his youthful desire to have the right shirt and the right shoes to cover up the soot of his past as the son of a coal miner.
The conversation eventually led to "Sugar Daddy," a song of coiled funk and randy charm that would fit nicely on a mix tape between James Brown's "Sex Machine" and Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack." "Sugar Daddy" is the centerpiece on Jones' new album, "24 Hours," but more than that, it set the template for the collection.
After finding nothing but frustration in the submissions of young songwriters, Jones decided to sit down with the more promising of the bunch and give them guidance in finding "the real Tom Jones and what he sounds like," as the star himself put it.
"That was the beginning of it, back with Bono, although I didn't know it at the time," said Jones, 68. "That was the start, that was the first one. The first time I talked to somebody about my ideas and they wrote it down. That was the key. I have ideas all the time, but I don't think to write them down. I suppose I should ... It's been difficult getting good songs, the material I need. I should have put myself into it sooner."
The first single from the album, "If He Should Ever Leave You," has gotten airplay on a local NPR affiliate station, and the earliest reviews for the album have been upbeat about its strongest moments and generally forgiving of its perceived missteps.
All of this is welcome news to Jones, who in recent years had the sense that he was missing in action in the United States.
"I had an album called 'Reload' that did well in Europe, and it wasn't even released here. ... I mean, I live in America, this is where I am most of the time, and I do loads of shows here. To have a hit record overseas but not have it out here, it's frustrating. Then I did an album with Wyclef Jean which, again, did well worldwide but was not released here.
"So for this one I signed with a new label, S-Curve, an American company, and we're aiming it here. America first. We're aiming all over the world, but it's very important for me to get a hit here. "
He's hitting the talk show circuit hard, from "The Today Show" to "The Tonight Show" and everything in between. Jones, clearly, is a man on a mission. He has had plenty of hits — "It's Not Unusual," "Green Green Grass of Home," "What's New Pussycat?" among others — but he says he feels an urgency to burnish his legacy.
"I want to be a contender. Just because of my age, I'm in the autumn of my career. That's where I am. I was in the spring when I started. I went through the summer and that was great. And it was a long summer. A great summer. Now, well, maybe I'm getting serious, thinking more. I feel like I have to do something now. I want to do as much as possible before I can't do it anymore. I want to do it while my voice is still with me."
Jones has an intriguing spot in pop culture. There is no denying his powerful vocal instrument, but his choice of material often has been suspect. Also, his sex panther stage reputation can veer close to lounge lizard territory.
Still, younger artists such as Tori Amos, Portishead and Trevor Horn have, like Bono and Jean, collaborated with him after listening without prejudice. So Jones had a song by Bono and a gripping Springsteen song about a fighter called "The Hitter"; the hard part was the rest of the album.
"We tried again and the first writer came in with a song called 'T-Shirt.' I said, 'What is that?' She said, 'You look good in a T-shirt, I can't wait for you to take it off.' I said, 'I don't think so.'
"Then she said, 'Well, let's talk about you, then. You've been married a long time. How do you manage that?' I told her that my wife and I, well, look, we've been married a long time, about 50 years, and there's always been a lot of ups and downs, but the road always leads to her. I said it and she wrote it down. That became the song 'The Road.' Just like with Bono, I gave them guidance and ideas and they found me, they found a Tom Jones song that fit the real me."
The music-as-memoir approach continued with Jones sharing co-writing credits on more than half of the album.
In the studio, Jones sang into a vintage microphone and, with arrangements of baritone sax and plenty of room, the resulting songs have an Amy Winehouse-style return to vinyl-era soul for the digital era. At least Jones hopes so.
"I can't wait to play these new songs for the crowds," Jones says. "It's like I always say: If they're quiet at the beginning, they won't be quiet at the end. Not when I'm done with them."
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
