Tom Jones // Spirit in the Room
"The final track and also the brightest moment, with its spine chilling choral finale, it is quite simply stunning"
Tom Jones – Spirit in the Room (Universal Island Records Ltd)
For me Tom Jones has always been the black man in a white man’s suit from the Valleys of South Wales. What I mean is, what other white man sings the way that Tom does?
As a youth I led a somewhat traumatised existence, due to my Mum constantly playing Tom Jones, ‘Live At The Town’. Oh, the seventies certainly have an awful lot to answer for, in more ways than one.
These days, hopefully his adoring legions of female fans do not at least throw their underwear at him in the manner in which they used to? I certainly pity poor Tom if they do!
Over the years he has been unafraid to try different styles during his long and very distinguished career and in all seriousness Sir Tom ‘The Voice’ Jones, deserves a lot of credit for this now at the ripe old age of seventy two. So here is my contribution:
His previous album in 2010 that sought much inspiration from the American spiritual repertoire, ‘Praise and Blame’ reached number two in the UK and received much deserved critical acclaim. ‘Spirit in the Room’, as with the previous album, draws on his musical roots, inspirations and influences. He has recruited Brit award winning producer Ethan Johns and as a result it actually throws up a few very pleasant surprises. It is indeed a very worthy successor.
These songs are all handpicked cover versions from many of his favourite artists, ranging from The Low Anthem through to Tom Waits, Paul McCartney, Blind Willie Johnson and Paul Simon.
‘Tower of Song’ (Leonard Cohen), allows TJ to demonstrate his raw and soulful dulcet tonsils to the full and when he sings, “I was born with a gift, with a golden voice”, he really is not lying, while on ‘All Blues Hail Mary’ (J.Henry) and ‘Hit or Miss’ (Odetta) he gets deep, deep down and into the moodiest and grooviest of grooves.
It’s The Low Anthem’s ‘Charlie Darwin’ that is the final track and also the brightest moment, with its spine chilling choral finale, it is quite simply stunning. Leaving you to have much respect for him for daring to push the boundaries for yet another new, fresh musical challenge, clearly he is not one to sit back and rest on his laurels of musical royalties as he could so easily do from his ample collection of songs that are nestling in his back catalogue. There is clearly much potential for repeated and repackaged greatest hits packages in various guises, but TJ is not a musical highwayman robbing his legions of loyal fans to pay for the same old songs in a new format - other artists should take note from this, the Master’s voice.
After fifty years in the music business, the tower that is Tom Jones still has plenty of strength and fighting spirit (Thanks Mum).
Steve Plunkett 8/10
