{"id":6893,"date":"2025-03-05T16:16:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T16:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=6893"},"modified":"2025-03-05T16:17:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T16:17:36","slug":"issue-161-tom-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=6893","title":{"rendered":"Issue #161 \u2013 Tom Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Las Vegas. Hairy chest. \u2018Sexbomb\u2019. We all know about that stuff, but what is it that made TOM JONES such a sensation in the first place? <\/strong><\/p>\n

HUW THOMAS tells the story of how the Teddy Boy from Pontypridd brought maximum R&B to South Wales, 304 Holloway Road and beyond, with contributions from his former bandmates in The Squires<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Jones\u2019 first EP On Stage<\/em> is all the proof anyone should need that he was no Proby wannabe. It was a showcase for The Squires \u2013 settled on a line-up of Hopkins, guitarists Mickey Gee and Dave Cooper and drummer Chris Slade. \u201cThe band was shit hot,\u201d Hopkins enthuses. \u201cWe were a unit, like The Rolling Stones, like The Beatles. We were doing harmonies and all that business.\u201d The EP contains four bursts of relentless, razor-sharp R&B; Jones and The Squires would only have had competition if Mitch Ryder had been born a Welshman. Jones attempts to out-Richard Little Richard with explosive takes on ‘Bama Lama Bama Loo\u2019 and \u2018Lucille’ before slowing right down for Ray Charles\u2019 \u2018I Can’t Stop Loving You\u2019. Sixty years on, the lines between his act and James Brown\u2019s look very hazy indeed. The only original number on On Stage<\/em> is \u2018Little By Little\u2019, which appears to be \u2018Hi-Heel Sneakers\u2019 with the names and dates muddled to earn Gordon Mills a writing credit, and it\u2019s the most frantic rocker of the lot. Jones was thrilled about the EP release, telling NME<\/em> it would \u201cgive people the chance to hear me as I really am\u201d. \u201cThere\u2019s a twist to that,\u201d Vernon Hopkins points out today. \u201cThe only thing that was live was us. The cover shows Tom on stage with the audience screaming at him but that was all added. They were going for bloody gold doing that.”<\/p>\n