Tom Jones: 'Not unusual' to make another comeback

Jones rocks with some pretty hefty stars in his latest offering "Reload"

April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 5:35 p.m. EST (2135 GMT)

A CNN WorldBeat Report

(CNN) -- Consider the careening career of Tom Jones. He's gone from swinger to crooner to variety-show host to Vegas lounge act to country star to art rocker and is back now as a swinger in the latest retro craze that began in the '90s.

Jones, loose of limb and tight of pants, has no complaints. In the past 30 years, few have embraced change as heartily as the Welsh singer.

But all those changes would have meant nothing if Jones didn't have the singing talent to back up his image du jour.

	AUDIO
Tom Jones and Mousse T: "Sex Bomb" 128K MP3 or 192K WAV sound Tom Jones and Sterophonics: "Mama Told Me Not To Come" 120K MP3 or 224K WAV sound (Sound courtesy Gut Records)

That talent began taking shape nearly three decades ago, when Jones said he developed his signature baritone in his earliest performances. They took place long before he ever headlined a stadium tour.

"[Wales] was a great training ground if you wanted to become a professional musician," Jones told WorldBeat Correspondent Gary Imlach. "There's a lot of clubs there -- workingmen's clubs -- and pubs (where) I used to get up and sing.

"And you learn to project, because when I started singing in the pubs in Wales, we didn't use microphones."

Old swinger, young rockers

"Reload," his latest album, finds Jones joining in duets with The Cardigans, Cerys Matthews, Mousse T and the Stereophonics. They cover such rock favorites as "Burning Down the House" and "Mama Told Me Not to Come."

By singing with the younger rockers, Jones said, he felt as if he'd reinvented himself again -- returning to music that harkened to his pub-performing days.

For example, singing with Matthews felt like he was back in a club, Jones said. "We have the same accent and we have the same sense of humor," he said. "Cerys was great to sing with, you know, because she's funny and she's Welsh. Singing with the Stereophonics was like I was back in my hometown, getting up on a Saturday night with a local rock band."

Pairing with popular young artists doubtless has helped Jones keep his star shining. He appreciates that.

"When I was 25, if somebody said, 'You're going to be still singing as strong as ever at 60,' I'd think, 'Really? Is that possible?'

"But it is possible."