0:00:02 > 0:00:03Ladies and gentlemen...
0:00:07 > 0:00:09APPLAUSE
0:00:09 > 0:00:13# It's not unusual To be loved by anyone...#
0:00:14 > 0:00:15Aow!
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Tom Jones is 70 years old.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26CHEERING
0:00:28 > 0:00:33And to mark that occasion, he's agreed to meet me and to talk candidly about a remarkable life
0:00:33 > 0:00:36lived in the showbiz spotlight.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41# Your hometown looks the same
0:00:41 > 0:00:44# As I step down from the train...#
0:00:44 > 0:00:50How did the son of a Welsh miner end up living in a Hollywood mansion?
0:00:52 > 0:00:55# My, my, my...#
0:00:55 > 0:00:58What was it like at such an early age to sing with legends?
0:00:58 > 0:01:02From Elvis to Stevie Wonder to Jerry Lee Lewis.
0:01:02 > 0:01:03# One more time
0:01:03 > 0:01:04# Well, sing it! #
0:01:06 > 0:01:12How did it feel to be the original hairy chested male hunk?
0:01:14 > 0:01:18And when did he realise he'd strayed into self parody?
0:01:20 > 0:01:26I thought I was a young, verile...you know, no bullshit artist.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28That's why...that's what I felt.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33But maybe it was coming across that I was exploiting the sexual part of it
0:01:33 > 0:01:34too much.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01This is Peter Gabriel's recording studio in Wiltshire,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05where I spent a remarkable couple of days with Tom,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and with his son turned manager, Mark.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Good to see you.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13And no questions were off-limits.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Who greyed first, you or him?
0:02:16 > 0:02:18In the real world?
0:02:18 > 0:02:22In the real world we know Tom is in denial, but what about you?
0:02:22 > 0:02:24I've been grey for a while, yeah.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28- So you never went the full black? - No, no, no.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Mark never dyed his hair.
0:02:30 > 0:02:31- No.- He left that to me.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34There's only 16 years between us, you see.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37- So you went grey before Tom?- Yeah.
0:02:37 > 0:02:38That's right.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42It works for him, I thought maybe it'd work for me.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47The hair may have gone grey and the hips may not swing as freely as they once did,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50but Tom Jones is still taking risks.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57He's back in the studio with a collection of rhythm and blues songs
0:02:57 > 0:03:00that are part celebration and part confession.
0:03:00 > 0:03:07With just three musicians and all mics live, it's a traditional way of recording that's long forsaken.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12And it leaves the voice fully exposed.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20# You may run on for a long time
0:03:20 > 0:03:23# Run on for a long time
0:03:23 > 0:03:25# Run on for a long time
0:03:25 > 0:03:28# Good God almighty We'll cut you down
0:03:28 > 0:03:32# My God almighty We'll cut you down
0:03:35 > 0:03:38# Well, you can tell that Long tongued liar
0:03:38 > 0:03:41# Tell that midnight rider
0:03:41 > 0:03:44# Tell that gambler, the rambler The pack biter
0:03:44 > 0:03:46# Tell them God almighty Will cut 'em down...#
0:03:46 > 0:03:50He's been singing for well over half a century.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55But when you're in the room, believe me, you still feel the presence and power of that voice.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58# You may throw a rock Hide your hand
0:03:58 > 0:04:00# Workin' in the dark With your fellow man
0:04:00 > 0:04:02# Sure as God made day or night
0:04:02 > 0:04:05# What you do in the dark Will be brought to the light
0:04:05 > 0:04:09# Run and hide Slip and slide...#
0:04:09 > 0:04:12It is like standing next to the tube coming in in the underground.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16It's just this sheer energy that comes rumbling up from somewhere.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19# You can run on For a long time
0:04:19 > 0:04:22# Run on for a long time
0:04:22 > 0:04:25# Run on for a long time
0:04:25 > 0:04:27# Good God almighty We'll cut you down
0:04:27 > 0:04:30# My God almighty We'll cut you down
0:04:30 > 0:04:35He's got the elements of someone like Caruso, an opera singer, because he has that power.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37But he also, more importantly,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41has the sensibility of a soul singer or rock'n'roll singer.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44# One of these days Mark my words
0:04:44 > 0:04:47# You think your brother Has gone to work
0:04:47 > 0:04:49# You sneak up and knock on his door
0:04:49 > 0:04:52# Look out, brother You'll knock no more. #
0:04:52 > 0:04:54The fact that he makes a hell of a noise,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57and it sounds like he's ripping something out of his own history,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00the history of Welsh singing, the history of gospel,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02the history of all the music he likes.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06it makes the voice have this kind of power that goes beyond just the fact that he can sing.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09There's something going on, it's desire.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13# Well you can tell that Long tongued liar
0:05:13 > 0:05:16# Tell that midnight rider
0:05:16 > 0:05:19# Tell the gambler, the rambler Pack biter
0:05:19 > 0:05:22# Tell them God almighty Will cut 'em down
0:05:22 > 0:05:25# Good God almighty will cut 'em down
0:05:25 > 0:05:27# My God almighty will cut you down
0:05:27 > 0:05:34# Oh, God almighty Will cut you down. #
0:05:36 > 0:05:37Yeah.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43CHOIR MUSIC
0:06:09 > 0:06:12You were born, 1940, Thomas Woodward,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16- in Wales, Pontypridd, your father, of course, was a miner. - That's right.
0:06:16 > 0:06:22What was the expectation? What did you think would happen to you?
0:06:22 > 0:06:24I always thought I'd become a singer.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Because I've always been singing, as long as I can remember.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29I had this voice.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31And the love of it.
0:06:31 > 0:06:37So any chance I would get, I wanted to get up and sing.
0:06:37 > 0:06:45- Were you a singer...and I was going to say a performer, but a singer and a show off as well?- Yeah.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Apparently I would say to my mother when I was a child,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50"You know, Mum, you have to introduce me."
0:06:50 > 0:06:53My mother said, "There's nobody here."
0:06:53 > 0:06:58I used to get up on the window, apparently, and pull the curtains over. You know, the drapes.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01And wait for my mother to say, "Tommy Woodward."
0:07:01 > 0:07:05"Ladies and gentlemen, Tommy Woodward."
0:07:05 > 0:07:10And I'd jump out of the window and sing in the kitchen to my mother.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12What were you singing?
0:07:12 > 0:07:17Well, one of the first songs that I remember was a song called Ghost Riders In The Sky.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20I used to bang the table so I could accompany myself.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Dum, de-de-deum, de-de-deum.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32# An old cowpoke went riding out One dark and windy day...#
0:07:32 > 0:07:33When I used to try and imitate him, I'd go,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35# An old cowpoke went riding out...#
0:07:35 > 0:07:36He had a voice like that.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42# On a ridge he rested As he went along his way. #
0:07:43 > 0:07:49So that affected me, the sound of people's voices.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54CHOIR SINGING
0:07:56 > 0:08:01The popular image of music in Wales today is still one of voices in harmony
0:08:01 > 0:08:04and the big sound of the great choir of voices.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09CHOIR SINGS
0:08:16 > 0:08:19People had hard jobs, whether it was factories or digging coal.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Women were in the house looking after very large families.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25And people didn't complain.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27People got on with it, had a great sense of humour,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30had a laugh. They looked forward to the weekend,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33and people got over it by having a sing-song.
0:08:33 > 0:08:39SINGING
0:08:43 > 0:08:45In a working class town like Pontypridd,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48which is basically a coal mining town,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51or was, I never felt alone.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55The closeness of those streets, everybody looked out for everybody else.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58To grow up in that environment,
0:08:58 > 0:09:04I think, did a lot to form my character.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06'This is the BBC, from London.'
0:09:06 > 0:09:10What were the records being played, what were you listening to on the radio?
0:09:10 > 0:09:14The BBC played a lot of different kinds of things.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18So when something would come on, like a gospel song or a country song, even,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21I sort of, "Wow, that's great!"
0:09:21 > 0:09:26- So you're listening to singers and how they use their voice?- Yeah.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28And a lot of the time, they were black.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33# Sometime, I'm standing, crying
0:09:35 > 0:09:38# Tear running down my face
0:09:38 > 0:09:41# I cried to the Lord Have mercy. #
0:09:41 > 0:09:45Mahalia Jackson, who was the first gospel singer I knew by name,
0:09:45 > 0:09:46because of the voice.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49I remember being in school
0:09:49 > 0:09:55and I sang the Lord's Prayer and the teacher said to me, "Why are you singing this like a negro spiritual?"
0:09:55 > 0:09:58I didn't know what she was talking about.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02I really loved to sing, it was like breathing for me.
0:10:02 > 0:10:08But then, at the age of 12, Tom Jones contracted TB.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Tuberculosis was still a killer in the 1950s,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16and the doctors recommended complete bed rest
0:10:16 > 0:10:19and no strain on the lungs.
0:10:21 > 0:10:22COUGHING
0:10:23 > 0:10:26I was bedridden for two years in the house.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29COUGHING
0:10:31 > 0:10:35They told me not to sing. I couldn't do anything physical.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38I had to be as calm as possible
0:10:38 > 0:10:40You know, I couldn't really get out of bed.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Looking out the window and seeing kids play was terrible.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Tom had only the radio for company.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49But this was the 1950s,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52and filtering across the airwaves was a revolutionary new sound.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56# 9, 10, 11 o'clock 12 o'clock rock
0:10:56 > 0:10:59# We're gonna rock Around the clock tonight
0:10:59 > 0:11:00# Put your gladrags on...#
0:11:00 > 0:11:04Bill Haley and the Comets, Rock Around The Clock, that was the first rock and roll record that I heard
0:11:04 > 0:11:09and the sound of Rock Around The Clock was tremendous.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12# We're gonna rock, gonna rock Around the clock tonight. #
0:11:13 > 0:11:17# Come on over, baby Come on, shake on over...#
0:11:17 > 0:11:23And Jerry Lee Lewis? Jerry Lee Lewis was, I know, your idol.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28Whole Lotta Shaking, and I thought, "My God, this sounds like it's going to jump out of the radio."
0:11:30 > 0:11:34# Well, I said come on, baby...#
0:11:34 > 0:11:40I think maybe the tuberculosis was a blessing in disguise because maybe if I hadn't had it,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44I would have gone to work in the coal mine with my father.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48I learned to appreciate just walking down the street.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50# Let's shake, baby, shake...#
0:11:50 > 0:11:56The impression I get is, by the time teenage Tom sprang from his sickbed,
0:11:56 > 0:11:59he was keen to make up for lost time.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03And the first thing on the agenda, apart from Shake, Rattle and Roll, that is,
0:12:03 > 0:12:04was girls.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11And Tom already had his eye on local beauty, Linda Trenchard.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15I was aware of her when I was bedridden,
0:12:15 > 0:12:20I used to see her, and she was a very pretty girl.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23She lived around the corner from me on another street.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27She told me later on she was aware of me because I was a nice looking kid, apparently.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35In the 50s with the Teddy Boys, we started dressing different.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40We had long hair, tight pants, long jackets instead of those bum freezers, we used to call them,
0:12:40 > 0:12:42you know, that the older fella used to wear.
0:12:42 > 0:12:48# Come on, everybody And let's get together tonight...#
0:12:48 > 0:12:52I don't know whether it was rebellious, and the music went along with it.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57I remember some woman, she said to my mother, "You know, your Tommy's hair is longer than his girlfriend's"
0:12:57 > 0:12:59You know what I mean? It's, like, disgusting.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03# Woo, come on, everybody. #
0:13:04 > 0:13:06We thought we were, like, slick.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11But I was too slick for my own good, because she fell pregnant.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15And she fell pregnant before she became your wife?
0:13:15 > 0:13:18- Yeah.- At the precocious age of 15. - Yeah.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23Which, at the time, must have been a bit shocking in Pontypridd.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27Yeah, there was a family meeting about what was going to happen.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32And while all this was going on I was talking to Linda, we were so wrapped up with one another.
0:13:32 > 0:13:39We were in the corner of the room, chatting away while all this is going on. And my mother, God bless her,
0:13:39 > 0:13:46she said, "Look at this, we're trying to decide what's going to happen,"
0:13:46 > 0:13:53and she said, "Look at them, they're oblivious to what's going on here.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57"So how can we get in the way of that?"
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Linda gave birth and Tom's son, Mark, was born.
0:14:06 > 0:14:13So 16-year-old Tom was a husband and a father working in a glove factory in a small town in Wales.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16It was 1956.
0:14:17 > 0:14:23You've got to make a living, you've got a child, a Teddy Boy wheeling pram.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28- Yeah.- You were still you were going to be a singer? - Oh yeah, definitely.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30I didn't know how far it was going to take me,
0:14:30 > 0:14:32or if I'd ever make a recording,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36but I knew there were these working men's clubs.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41If you had to do job of work in the day, you could still go and get your kicks.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45I could, anyway, by going into a working men's club and singing.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Tom worked on building sites by day
0:14:49 > 0:14:52and sang in working men's clubs in the evenings.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56It was a rough and ready showbiz apprenticeship
0:14:56 > 0:14:58that required him to live off his wits.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02This club said I stole a chicken and I said I never stole a chicken in my life.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04It was a turkey. LAUGHTER
0:15:05 > 0:15:07And there was a fight broke out in the club,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10so everything went mad, you know.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12Brand new club, all the furniture was flattened.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16So they closed the curtains and there were these three hampers on the stage.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19They were going to raffle them off. It was Christmastime.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22I saw this turkey on top and thought, "I've got to have that."
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Everybody was fighting, nobody knew what was going on.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27I stuck it in the back of the amplifier.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29When I got home for Christmas...
0:15:29 > 0:15:31I said, "Look at this." The turkey.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33"Where did you get that?"
0:15:33 > 0:15:35I said, "It was in the raffle."
0:15:35 > 0:15:39I didn't say... I didn't say I'd nicked it!
0:15:39 > 0:15:40LAUGHTER
0:15:40 > 0:15:42Ladies and gentlemen,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45the boy with the voice for the future.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50In 1961, Tom found himself a band,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52but the new sound of rock and roll
0:15:52 > 0:15:55wasn't always welcomed in the traditional Welsh working men's clubs.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58# ..in the chapel... #
0:15:58 > 0:16:03'The first night I remember... I was booked there by myself.'
0:16:03 > 0:16:06But I took this group in with me.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10Well, when they saw the amplifiers and, you know...
0:16:10 > 0:16:13And the drums, you know, coming through the door,
0:16:13 > 0:16:17that was the first, "Pay 'em off!" I said, "Wait a second."
0:16:17 > 0:16:20So I got on stage and I said,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23"Let us play," you know what I mean.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26"Now, come on, now, Tommy!" You know, cos they all knew...
0:16:26 > 0:16:29"We don't want any of this bloody...electric guitars and that."
0:16:29 > 0:16:31I said, "Look, just let us play."
0:16:31 > 0:16:37Tom got the break he desperately needed on the 10th of May, 1964,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40when a songwriter on holiday from London,
0:16:40 > 0:16:42went to the Top Hat Club in Tonypandy
0:16:42 > 0:16:45to see what all the Welsh girls were screaming about.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48An old school-chum of mine
0:16:48 > 0:16:50said, "What are you doing?" "Not much."
0:16:50 > 0:16:53He said, "You must come and see this boy."
0:16:53 > 0:16:54The place was heaving!
0:16:54 > 0:16:58Half-way through the first number, the greatest thing I'd ever seen.
0:16:58 > 0:17:04Gordon Mills was a former musician who recognised Tom's raw talent.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09He became his manager and would steer his act for the next 20 years.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11He had a vision for the voice
0:17:11 > 0:17:15and he began by changing the name to Tom Jones.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17# What I say
0:17:17 > 0:17:18# Tell me what I say... #
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Gordon said, "What do you think?" I said,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24"I think he's fantastic! The best voice I've heard in my life!"
0:17:24 > 0:17:29This rough, tough guy in his leather jacket and his broken nose.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Gordon Mills brought his discovery to London
0:17:32 > 0:17:37and persuaded Decca to release his debut single, Chills And Fever.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40# Now when it's late at night
0:17:40 > 0:17:44# And I wanna hold you tight
0:17:44 > 0:17:45# I tell you... #
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Tom was crushed when it failed to make the top 40.
0:17:48 > 0:17:53Chills And Fever hadn't done what I expected it to do,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56so I was still working on building sites.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59I needed a hit record.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03Homesick and broke, with his first record a flop,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Tom needed a miracle.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09It was like a spark of magic that came out of the air.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12I wanted Sandie Shaw to sing it.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Gordon wanted Frankie Vaughan to sing it,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17but we'd get Tom to do the demo.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22Les wanted Sandie Shaw to have it because she'd already had a couple of hit records.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Tom, I think you could improve it...
0:18:24 > 0:18:27'So I went and did the demo for Sandie Shaw'
0:18:27 > 0:18:28and when I heard it back,
0:18:28 > 0:18:32I said, "Gordon, this is... This is it!
0:18:32 > 0:18:34"This is the song."
0:18:34 > 0:18:37And he said, "No, not for you. It's a pop song."
0:18:37 > 0:18:40It was a song called It's Not Unusual.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43And there was this person singing it
0:18:43 > 0:18:45and I was totally mesmerised
0:18:45 > 0:18:49and so she said, "Do you like it?" I said, "Absolutely brilliant!"
0:18:49 > 0:18:52She said, "Shall I book the studio?" I said, "No way! Why?"
0:18:52 > 0:18:56So she said, "You're doing it." I said, "No, I'm not. He has to do it!"
0:18:56 > 0:18:58"Oh, no. He's just the demo singer."
0:18:58 > 0:19:01We were in the pub and he had a face as long as a fiddle.
0:19:01 > 0:19:02I said, "What's the matter?"
0:19:02 > 0:19:05He said, "I want that song."
0:19:05 > 0:19:09So I said, "Look, if I don't get this song, I'm going back to Wales."
0:19:11 > 0:19:15And I said, "That's going to be the end of it." I felt so strongly about it.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20I said, "No, he's not just a demo singer. This is going to be a really big, big singer.
0:19:20 > 0:19:25"It's his song! This would be the making of him! How could anybody take this away from him?"
0:19:25 > 0:19:27CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:19:29 > 0:19:33# It's not unusual to be loved by anyone
0:19:35 > 0:19:39# It's not unusual to have fun with anyone
0:19:40 > 0:19:44# But when I see you hanging about with anyone
0:19:45 > 0:19:49# It's not unusual to see me cry
0:19:49 > 0:19:52# I wanna die... #
0:19:52 > 0:19:55When it came out, I was sitting in the bar
0:19:55 > 0:19:58and these fellas were playing darts, I'll never forget it,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00and they kept playing it.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04And they said, "Who the hell is this Tom Jones? Who is this?"
0:20:04 > 0:20:09You know, they were saying this amongst themselves. And the bar maid who was there, you know,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12washing the glass and drying the glasses going...
0:20:12 > 0:20:13You know, like...
0:20:13 > 0:20:17It was a tremendous, such a tremendous feeling.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19I felt, "Wow. I going to make it now."
0:20:21 > 0:20:24# Love will never do
0:20:24 > 0:20:26# What you want it to
0:20:27 > 0:20:34# Why can't this crazy love be mi-ii-ii-ii-ne... #
0:20:34 > 0:20:37So you get your massive number one hit. What next?
0:20:37 > 0:20:41Well I thought now that I've gotten in with a hit record
0:20:41 > 0:20:44I want to get some rhythm and blues songs.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46And I thought that I would be doing more of that.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51# Oh, baby Lucille
0:20:51 > 0:20:55# Baby, satisfy my heart, yeah... #
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Tom may have wanted to return to the blues
0:20:58 > 0:21:02but now he was a pop star and his manager Gordon Mills had other ideas.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05CROWD SCREAMS OVER BAND
0:21:09 > 0:21:14He wanted to harness the flagrant sexual energy that Tom had displayed to great effect
0:21:14 > 0:21:18and attach it to a naughty novelty pop song
0:21:18 > 0:21:20to be written by Burt Bacharach.
0:21:20 > 0:21:21# What's new, pussycat?
0:21:21 > 0:21:24# Whoa, whoa, whoa, oh
0:21:24 > 0:21:25# What's new, pussycat?
0:21:25 > 0:21:29# Woah, woah, woah, woah, oh
0:21:31 > 0:21:33# Pussycat, pussycat... #
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Burt, you know, he's not a very good singer.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37He knows that, you know. So he's...
0:21:37 > 0:21:40MIMIC BACHARACH: # What's new, pussycat? Whoa, whoa... #
0:21:40 > 0:21:42And I thought, "What the hell is this?"
0:21:43 > 0:21:46I'm saying, "I don't know about this." HE LAUGHS
0:21:46 > 0:21:50# Pussycat, pussycat I've got flowers
0:21:50 > 0:21:54# And lots of hours to spend with you
0:21:54 > 0:21:59# So go and powder your cute little pussycat nose... #
0:22:00 > 0:22:04What's New Pussycat turned out to be an even bigger hit in the US charts
0:22:04 > 0:22:05than it was in Britain.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10No British solo singer had yet conquered America.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12But Tom Jones would be the first.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16# What's new, pussycat? Woah, woah, woah, oh... #
0:22:16 > 0:22:18The British invasion was well underway
0:22:18 > 0:22:23but amidst the rock'n'roll bands - the Beatles, the Stones and the Kinks,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26here was an old-school, all-male solo singer
0:22:26 > 0:22:28that America would take to its heart.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31# ..To care for you
0:22:31 > 0:22:36# So go and make up your big little pussycat eyes... #
0:22:36 > 0:22:42So Gordon obviously decided that the world was bigger than London and England
0:22:42 > 0:22:44because he took you to America.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Things happened so fast.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53I remember when I was in, in New York and I stayed in this small hotel...
0:22:54 > 0:22:57..and it was hot outside, so I had the windows open.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01In those days the taxi cabs used to honk the horns, you know.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Beep! Beep! Which I'd seen in movies.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09And I'm laying on the bed and I'm thinking, "Good, God! I'm in New York!"
0:23:09 > 0:23:13For or five months before, you know, I was struggling.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15It was unbelievable, really.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17And Gordon, you know, was with me.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21# Oooh, with these hands
0:23:22 > 0:23:26# I-I-I will sing to you... #
0:23:26 > 0:23:30When I first met Elvis Presley in '65...
0:23:30 > 0:23:33um, in Hollywood. I went to see him at Paramount Studios.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36He was walking towards me, singing With These Hands.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38- As you sang?- Yeah.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45# ..I'll provide for you... #
0:23:45 > 0:23:50And I thought, "My God. Here comes Elvis Presley, singing my song!"
0:23:54 > 0:23:58It's interesting because at this time, if you were thinking about your career path,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02- here you are, you really wanted to be a rhythm and blues singer...- Hmm.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07On the other hand what you've done doesn't kind of classify it as quite that.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10For example, Green Green Grass of Home.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13# The old hometown looks the same
0:24:13 > 0:24:19# As I step down from the train
0:24:19 > 0:24:22# And there to meet me
0:24:22 > 0:24:26# Is my mama and papa... #
0:24:26 > 0:24:30That's a smash hit, but it's a country song.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32So how did that happen?
0:24:32 > 0:24:34I've always been a fan of Jerry Lee Lewis so I said,
0:24:34 > 0:24:40"Has Jerry Lee got a new album out?" And he said, "He's got this album called Country Songs For City Folk.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43"That's what he's doing, he's done this country thing."
0:24:43 > 0:24:46The Green Green Grass Of Home was on there
0:24:46 > 0:24:48and it stuck out to me.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52I though, "My God, what a great song this is."
0:24:52 > 0:24:56I don't care what you call it, this is a meaningful song.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01You know, he's singing about the green grass of home, you're thinking about your home.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04But then, then I awake and look around me
0:25:04 > 0:25:07and thought, "Good God, this man is in a prison cell."
0:25:07 > 0:25:13# Yes, they'll all come to see me
0:25:13 > 0:25:18# In the shade of that old oak tree
0:25:18 > 0:25:32# As they lay me 'neath The green, green grass of home. #
0:25:34 > 0:25:37The thing about the human voice is that it's the one instrument
0:25:37 > 0:25:40that all of us have and all of us carry with us.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Tom, he has a very powerful voice, but that doesn't make a great voice,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45What makes a great voice is where it comes from.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47It comes from the heart.
0:25:47 > 0:25:48So when he sings a song,
0:25:48 > 0:25:50as well as having a beautiful voice,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52he believes the song.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55And he has to believe a song to be able to sing it.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58So you, the listener, are taken into the song.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Really, only the really great singers have that.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03That's the bit of Tom Jones I've always liked.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05The dark side, something dark
0:26:05 > 0:26:08that means when he sung some of them songs,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11that in the the hands of others could be really schmaltzy and kitschy,
0:26:11 > 0:26:16they take on a great grace, a kind of operatic power.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18He's bringing something darker to it.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27# I saw the light on the night that I passed by her window
0:26:30 > 0:26:35# I saw the flickering shadows of love on her blind
0:26:37 > 0:26:42# She was my woman
0:26:45 > 0:26:51# As she deceived me I watched and went out of my mind
0:26:53 > 0:26:57# My, my, my, Delilah... #
0:26:59 > 0:27:02It's strange because most people think... They hear the chorus.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05# My, my, my, Delilah... #
0:27:05 > 0:27:06You know, it's like...
0:27:06 > 0:27:10..with the waltz tempo and people can sing it.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15But it's actually, you know, a serious song about,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18"Why did this girl do this to me?"
0:27:18 > 0:27:24# She stood there laughing
0:27:26 > 0:27:33# I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more
0:27:34 > 0:27:37# My, my, my... #
0:27:37 > 0:27:42By the late '60s, Tom Jones was firmly established as a pop star.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47# I've been in love so many times
0:27:47 > 0:27:51# Thought I knew the score
0:27:52 > 0:27:53# Now you treated me... #
0:27:53 > 0:27:57But in so many ways - his voice, his dress, his demeanour -
0:27:57 > 0:27:59he was at odds with the times.
0:28:04 > 0:28:101967 is remembered as a year of LSD, sexual liberation and flower power.
0:28:12 > 0:28:19But it was also the era that housewives' favourite Tom Jones had five top ten hits in 12 months.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23# Fall in love
0:28:23 > 0:28:32# No, I'm never gonna fall in love
0:28:32 > 0:28:34# I mean it... #
0:28:34 > 0:28:38The truth is, not everyone was growing their hair and dropping out.
0:28:38 > 0:28:45And Tom's craggy good looks, drug-free lifestyle and classic foot-tapping songs
0:28:45 > 0:28:47appealed across the generations.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52Part of his charm was that you could tell he was from the valleys
0:28:52 > 0:28:54and that he was a miner's son.
0:28:54 > 0:29:01He was just kind of naive and just totally in love with the fact that he could actually sing.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05His whole life...like, the lights came on as soon as he started to sing.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08It's always been like that with him.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13# I can't get no satisfaction
0:29:13 > 0:29:14# I try
0:29:14 > 0:29:16# Oh, and I try
0:29:16 > 0:29:17# We have tried
0:29:17 > 0:29:19# We try and we try, try try... #
0:29:19 > 0:29:22He always handled fame very well, I thought.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24He's a very polite man.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26He's Welsh to the core.
0:29:26 > 0:29:27He loved going back there.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32One day I took a picture of him in the street with his new Rolls-Royce.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35And the neighbours were out waving at him...
0:29:35 > 0:29:38I mean, he was like the Pied Piper, they used to follow us about everywhere.
0:29:38 > 0:29:43I took him round the mines with the mine background, he's lighting a big cigar and all that.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46Papers loved him. They couldn't get enough of him.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51How did you behave during this time? Were you a bit of a prima donna?
0:29:51 > 0:29:53I don't think I've ever been a prima donna.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55I hope not, anyway.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59But sometimes you catch yourself maybe getting a little complacent.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03You know. I remember I had to be in the make-up chair at nine o'clock in the morning.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06So... And I'd been drinking the night before.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09And I'm in the back of a Phantom 6 Rolls-Royce.
0:30:09 > 0:30:14I came out of the back of this Rolls-Royce going, "Oh, God, I got to go and do this..."
0:30:14 > 0:30:16And there was a kid going up a ladder with this rod.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20And he went, "Hey, Tommy, can you give us a hand with this?"
0:30:20 > 0:30:22And I looked at this kid
0:30:22 > 0:30:27and I thought, "Jesus Christ," you know, "there but for the grace of God..."
0:30:27 > 0:30:32Ladies and gentlemen, this is Tom Jones.
0:30:32 > 0:30:33APPLAUSE
0:30:33 > 0:30:36The mix of classic songs and old school charm
0:30:36 > 0:30:40had attracted the attention of an American television network,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43who believed they'd found the British Elvis.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45Hello!
0:30:48 > 0:30:51# I gotta wait till the midnight hour... #
0:30:51 > 0:30:57In 1969, Tom signed up to present a TV show on an unprecedented scale.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01# It's not unusual to be mad with anyone... #
0:31:02 > 0:31:04'This Is Tom Jones.'
0:31:04 > 0:31:05'He's a turn-on.'
0:31:05 > 0:31:07'From Motown to Nashville to London.'
0:31:07 > 0:31:09'I like the way he moves.'
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Shot in London and Los Angeles,
0:31:12 > 0:31:16This Is Tom Jones would be broadcast in the UK and the US.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20Thank you and good evening from Hollywood, California, America.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23# Na, na, na, na, na... #
0:31:23 > 0:31:27It was worth a staggering 9 million over three years,
0:31:27 > 0:31:33but perhaps more importantly, it would put Tom in homes all over America.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35# Na, na, na, na... #
0:31:35 > 0:31:39When I first saw Tom Jones, it would have been on the television
0:31:39 > 0:31:45when I was a young lad sitting in a small terraced house in South-East London and we'd see him.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48# Do I have to keep on talking till I can't go on...? #
0:31:48 > 0:31:51So you're talking about a huge star in America.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54# At the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone
0:31:54 > 0:31:56# We can work it out
0:31:56 > 0:31:58# We can work it out... #
0:31:58 > 0:32:01The producers set out to make a mainstream variety show
0:32:01 > 0:32:04and Tom was more than happy to play along.
0:32:04 > 0:32:09# ..time for fussing and fighting, my friend... #
0:32:09 > 0:32:15But he was also adamant that the show should reflect his passion for rock and roll.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19I said I wanted rock and roll singers.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22You know, if you want me to sing with the people that you want,
0:32:22 > 0:32:26I need to sing with the people that I REALLY want.
0:32:26 > 0:32:32The thing that I really loved was doing duets with people that I really, really liked.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36# It's not unusual to be mad with anyone
0:32:37 > 0:32:41# It's not unusual to have fun with anyone
0:32:43 > 0:32:47# But when I see you hanging about with anyone
0:32:47 > 0:32:48# Oh, it's not unusual
0:32:48 > 0:32:52# It's not unusual to see me cry
0:32:53 > 0:32:54(BOTH) # I wanna die... #
0:32:54 > 0:32:56# ..16 times
0:32:58 > 0:33:01# You get another day older and deeper in debt
0:33:01 > 0:33:05# St Peter, don't you call me cos I can't go
0:33:05 > 0:33:10(BOTH) # I owe my soul to the company store... #
0:33:10 > 0:33:13Far from just being a middle of the road entertainment show,
0:33:13 > 0:33:18This Is Tom Jones captured many of the rock and roll greats in their prime.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21# Oh, I got me a date and now I won't be late
0:33:21 > 0:33:24# I picked her up in my 88
0:33:24 > 0:33:27# Shag on down by the Union Hall
0:33:27 > 0:33:29# When the gang starts jumping I'll have a ball
0:33:29 > 0:33:30# Gonna rock it up... #
0:33:30 > 0:33:34It's a unique slice of music and television history.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37# I laughed at love and thought it was funny
0:33:37 > 0:33:40# Then you came along and you moved me, honey
0:33:40 > 0:33:43# I've changed my mind Love is fine
0:33:43 > 0:33:47# Goodness, gracious Great balls of fire... #
0:33:47 > 0:33:51I mean, to have Jerry Lee on my show was great
0:33:51 > 0:33:55because I was a fan from when he first started.
0:33:55 > 0:34:00I used to sing those songs and there I was, looking across the piano.
0:34:00 > 0:34:01# One more time
0:34:01 > 0:34:02# Sing it
0:34:02 > 0:34:05# Shake, shake it, baby
0:34:05 > 0:34:07# Shake it, baby, shake it... #
0:34:07 > 0:34:12His transatlantic TV extravaganza made Tom Jones
0:34:12 > 0:34:14one of the biggest stars in the world.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18America couldn't get enough of him
0:34:18 > 0:34:22and Tom moved with his wife Linda and son Mark to LA,
0:34:22 > 0:34:26buying Dean Martin's old house in the Hollywood Hills.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30It was funny, cos when I moved to America somebody asked me,
0:34:30 > 0:34:36"What do you think they're going to think of you in the valleys, you know, moving to America?"
0:34:36 > 0:34:39I said, "They still haven't got over the fact that I moved to England."
0:34:39 > 0:34:41America is nothing!
0:34:43 > 0:34:48# Glory, glory, hallelujah... #
0:34:49 > 0:34:52He was living the Hollywood life to the full.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56He had plenty of money, coast-to-coast fame.
0:34:56 > 0:35:03He was courted by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr, and granted a rare privilege -
0:35:03 > 0:35:07The King's seal of approval.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12We became friends. I think there was a lot of similarities between us.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16You know, very passionate about his music, like I am.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20But I think he genuinely loved the way I sing.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22So he felt the kinship.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26- Did you ever sing with Elvis? - Elvis and I sang in his suite.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29You know, we would do... Cos Elvis loved gospel music
0:35:29 > 0:35:32and we would sing gospel music most of the night.
0:35:32 > 0:35:37And I liked to stay up late, but he would stay up as late as possible.
0:35:37 > 0:35:44So I said, "Elvis, I got to go now. I got two shows to do tonight, so let me go to sleep."
0:35:44 > 0:35:45"OK, Tom."
0:35:45 > 0:35:49I'm sort of halfway out the door and he goes, "Tom." "Yeah?"
0:35:49 > 0:35:50# Why me, Lord? #
0:35:51 > 0:35:55So I got to go back in and sing with Elvis.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00# I'm going down
0:36:00 > 0:36:03# To the crossroads
0:36:03 > 0:36:08# With no devil will I make a deal. #
0:36:08 > 0:36:10It's quicker than that.
0:36:10 > 0:36:15What do you call somebody that hangs out with musicians? The singer.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17LAUGHTER
0:36:17 > 0:36:20- What are those, Tom? - Keep a clear voice.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24Cos there's menthol and liquorice in there. It was invented by a Welshman.
0:36:24 > 0:36:25It works, does it?
0:36:25 > 0:36:30Yeah, I got one this side and one this side. I never go on stage without them.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33If I don't have them, I'm... Oh, Jesus.
0:36:38 > 0:36:39# But she's all you'd ever want
0:36:39 > 0:36:42# She's the kind I'd like to flaunt... #
0:36:42 > 0:36:44By the beginning of the 1970s,
0:36:44 > 0:36:49Tom Jones was embarking on record-breaking tours right across America.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51# She's a winner... #
0:36:51 > 0:36:56His live gigs were famed for bouts of what they called "Tom Jones fever" -
0:36:56 > 0:37:01a sexually-charged, mass female frenzy.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06There's something about those concerts at the peak of that part of your career,
0:37:06 > 0:37:13when the hysteria was sort of palpable. How was it to be at the centre of that?
0:37:13 > 0:37:15A little scary.
0:37:15 > 0:37:17Played Madison Square Garden
0:37:17 > 0:37:21and I played it in the round, so they could get more people in.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25And they used to shut the lights off right at the end
0:37:25 > 0:37:28and I would jump off the stage and...gone.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33Just before the lights went out, I saw the exit - where I was going to run.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36I saw the gap starting to close in.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41And then the lights came back on. All these women were grabbing for me.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45So I was up in the air and they ripped the pants, the shirt.
0:37:45 > 0:37:50So this fella that used to work for me, he had hold of me, up, with his foot against the stage
0:37:50 > 0:37:53and was pulling me off and I was suspended
0:37:53 > 0:37:57and he's pulling and they're pulling and I'm going, "My legs!", you know.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59That was frightening.
0:38:02 > 0:38:07By the end of the '70s, the rock'n'roller was a distant memory.
0:38:07 > 0:38:14Tom Jones was now a mere entertainer, a lounge lizard, a cabaret act,
0:38:14 > 0:38:16the ultimate ladies' man.
0:38:16 > 0:38:21But was he aware that all the kissing, flirting and unbuttoning
0:38:21 > 0:38:25was damaging his reputation?
0:38:25 > 0:38:28# Hollywood, stardom, fame
0:38:28 > 0:38:31# Yes, that's you, girl... #
0:38:31 > 0:38:33Did you worry that, successful as you were,
0:38:33 > 0:38:39your image on stage was actually more prominent than your singing ability, your real talent?
0:38:39 > 0:38:44Yea, yeah. Yeah, it got...frustrating.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48That... Reviews that I would be getting
0:38:48 > 0:38:54would be more of the reaction of the audience and what I was wearing
0:38:54 > 0:38:56rather than what I was singing.
0:38:56 > 0:39:01# Girl, you're a hot-blooded woman-child... #
0:39:02 > 0:39:08Your style of performance, how you looked on stage, was that all something you had to think about?
0:39:08 > 0:39:12Well, it was suggested that I wore a tuxedo...
0:39:12 > 0:39:13which I did.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18Because prior to that I was playing in ballrooms and theatres
0:39:18 > 0:39:23and I used to wear open-neck shirts with the tight pants and the big shirt.
0:39:23 > 0:39:24And so...
0:39:24 > 0:39:26Your preferred outfit?
0:39:26 > 0:39:29Well, it was easier to work in.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32You know, you're not restricted to a jacket.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35- Oh, come on!- Honestly! On my life! Hand to God!
0:39:35 > 0:39:37And that was it.
0:39:37 > 0:39:38I've always perspired a lot so...
0:39:38 > 0:39:41And the buttons would be undone.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44Well, yeah. I mean, you know, that was it. So...
0:39:44 > 0:39:47Once you start to undo buttons and...you know...
0:39:47 > 0:39:52and girls scream, then you... You sort of tend to open another one!
0:39:58 > 0:40:02But it became, then, you know, a part of a thing.
0:40:02 > 0:40:07But looking back on it, you know, I've only got myself to blame,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09because the pants WERE tight.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13You know, I didn't know it was going to catch up with me.
0:40:13 > 0:40:18I thought my voice was going to shine through.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21# We sailed on the sloop John B
0:40:21 > 0:40:24# My granddaddy and me... #
0:40:24 > 0:40:28'My image took over more than my voice.'
0:40:28 > 0:40:34The voice was rapidly eclipsed, as the focus moved to the medallion,
0:40:34 > 0:40:41the body and the screaming girls that followed him everywhere.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43Bye-bye, girls!
0:40:43 > 0:40:47He had rugged good looks. All the girls loved him.
0:40:47 > 0:40:49I mean, they all just went potty about him.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52Come on, what's Tom Jones doing out here in Barbados?
0:40:52 > 0:40:54Well...just chatting up Miss World.
0:40:54 > 0:41:01I shot the first male pin-up. I remember, in Bel Air,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04he had this fantastic house and this fantastic bed
0:41:04 > 0:41:07and I shot him in bed. Instead of shooting the girls in bed,
0:41:07 > 0:41:08I shot the guys.
0:41:08 > 0:41:13And those pictures had a tremendous impact on his career.
0:41:13 > 0:41:19I mean, women loved them, cos it's the first time they sort of had a male pin-up.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23I mean, he always used to wear tight pants and things there and medallions and all that
0:41:23 > 0:41:24but that was him!
0:41:24 > 0:41:28Tom Jones had become a victim of his own success.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33Notoriously, women began to throw their underwear onto the stage.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36It was a potent but comedic image
0:41:36 > 0:41:41that became an easy way to mock Tom for the rest of his career.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43The thing about the whole knicker thing.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45Wasn't it that he wanted to mop his brow and he couldn't,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48so some woman said "OK, take..." and she took her knickers off -
0:41:48 > 0:41:51it's a reasonable reaction - and handed him the knickers.
0:41:51 > 0:41:57And I think that that then was taken by his press people, cos it's great,
0:41:57 > 0:42:00and turned into a headline - it's a great bit of press.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04but then I think it's become a... Well, I KNOW it's become a bit of a millstone.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06I think the knickers thing was almost like a PR gimmick
0:42:06 > 0:42:08that got out of hand
0:42:08 > 0:42:12and confirmed the idea that he was pure sex and pure lust
0:42:12 > 0:42:16and he had a kind of erotic power that the knickers became a logo for.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19The caricature of Tom Jones was so easy to find -
0:42:19 > 0:42:23it was the knickers and mopping his brow.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25I think, in the end, he drowned, to some extent, in the knickers.
0:42:25 > 0:42:31This was also a period in your career when the hit records weren't coming.
0:42:31 > 0:42:36The name Tom Jones wasn't as in the foreground, certainly in the UK and elsewhere as it had been.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38How did you deal with that period? How did you feel about it?
0:42:38 > 0:42:45People weren't taking me seriously because of the way I was presenting myself.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47But I couldn't see it at the time.
0:42:47 > 0:42:54# You will find me here Where the heart is... #
0:42:54 > 0:42:58By the 1980s, the hits really HAD dried up,
0:42:58 > 0:43:04and Tom Jones seemed destined to play out his days as a hen-night cabaret act.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08He'd lost his friend, Elvis, in 1977...
0:43:10 > 0:43:16..and then, in 1986, his manager and close friend, Gordon Mills, passed away.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Tom was at his lowest ebb in years.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26Well it was losing a friend...
0:43:26 > 0:43:28and a very close friend.
0:43:31 > 0:43:37that's what hit me more than... I didn't even think about, you know, I've lost a manager.
0:43:37 > 0:43:38It didn't enter my mind.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42It was just that I had lost a friend.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50# What good am I
0:43:50 > 0:43:53# If I'm like all the rest
0:43:55 > 0:43:59# If I just turn away
0:43:59 > 0:44:04# When I see how you're dressed
0:44:05 > 0:44:09# If I shut myself off
0:44:09 > 0:44:13# So I can't hear you cry
0:44:15 > 0:44:24# What good am I?
0:44:25 > 0:44:28# What good am I
0:44:28 > 0:44:32# If I know and don't do
0:44:34 > 0:44:39# If I see and don't say
0:44:39 > 0:44:43# If I look straight through you
0:44:44 > 0:44:48# If I turn a deaf ear
0:44:48 > 0:44:52# To the thundering sky
0:44:55 > 0:45:02# What good am I?
0:45:04 > 0:45:08# What good am I
0:45:08 > 0:45:12# While you softly weep
0:45:14 > 0:45:18# And I hear in my head
0:45:18 > 0:45:22# What you say in your sleep
0:45:24 > 0:45:27# And I freeze at the moment
0:45:27 > 0:45:32# Like the rest who don't try
0:45:34 > 0:45:41# What good am I?
0:45:44 > 0:45:51# What good am I? #
0:45:53 > 0:45:57MUSIC CONTINUES: "What Good Am I?"
0:45:59 > 0:46:02'I thought I was a young, virile, you know,
0:46:02 > 0:46:05'no-bullshit artist. I mean, that's why... '
0:46:05 > 0:46:07That's what I felt.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10But maybe it was coming across as...
0:46:10 > 0:46:15that I was exploiting the sexual part of it.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18Too much.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30# What good am I
0:46:30 > 0:46:35# If I say foolish things
0:46:35 > 0:46:39# And I laugh in the face
0:46:39 > 0:46:43# Of what sorrow brings
0:46:45 > 0:46:49# And I just turn my back
0:46:49 > 0:46:55# While you silently die
0:46:55 > 0:47:02# What good am I?
0:47:05 > 0:47:12# What good am I?
0:47:15 > 0:47:25# What good am I? #
0:47:32 > 0:47:34OK.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38Tom Jones's career was saved by his son, Mark.
0:47:40 > 0:47:45Mark had grown up watching his father's meteoric rise to the top.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48My son was always close to me. I was 16 when he was born.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52I mean, there's some brothers that are, age-wise, that far apart.
0:47:52 > 0:47:58In 1986, 29-year-old Mark became Tom's manager.
0:47:58 > 0:48:03Times had changed, and Mark had to take his father aside
0:48:03 > 0:48:05and tell him a few home truths.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08I always had a strong opinion
0:48:08 > 0:48:12that some things were just wrong. Certain choices of material.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14And not challenging.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17In an ideal world, the focus of his image
0:48:17 > 0:48:20will shift about three feet upwards.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23And last always with his voice, and nothing else.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25When I started to do this,
0:48:25 > 0:48:28Mark said, "You've got to be tough with him."
0:48:28 > 0:48:34He said, "There's nothing that my dad likes better than to...
0:48:34 > 0:48:37"You know, he'd like to jump out of a box and wiggle his bottom,
0:48:37 > 0:48:40"that's what he'd really like to do at heart."
0:48:40 > 0:48:42How much do you need to be told what's good for you?
0:48:42 > 0:48:49Well, yeah, I need to, because... I'm still 25 in my head.
0:48:49 > 0:48:55You know. So I've got to be... You've got to be saying,
0:48:55 > 0:48:59"I don't think you... Are you sure you really want to do that?"
0:48:59 > 0:49:01Boys! I don't suppose...
0:49:01 > 0:49:04- I don't suppose you know Kiss, by Prince, do you?- Yeah.
0:49:04 > 0:49:10'Mark made me aware of things that maybe I wasn't aware of before.'
0:49:10 > 0:49:15About, what are you? You know, what is really you?
0:49:15 > 0:49:17You're not smoking back there, are you?
0:49:17 > 0:49:21Mark encouraged Tom to take risks.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23No, but they'll be cooking in a minute, ba-boom.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26Tom, you wouldn't do it for us tonight, would you?
0:49:26 > 0:49:28- Let's encourage Tom! - APPLAUSE AND CHEERS
0:49:28 > 0:49:33So as a last resort, he put him on a risque late-night Channel 4 show
0:49:33 > 0:49:35and made him tackle more edgy material.
0:49:35 > 0:49:40# You don't have to be beautiful
0:49:40 > 0:49:43# To turn me on
0:49:44 > 0:49:48# I just need your body, baby
0:49:48 > 0:49:51# From dusk till dawn... #
0:49:51 > 0:49:55He came out and he was cool as you like, in black leather,
0:49:55 > 0:50:00and he seemed to have a fantastic sort of confidence about him.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04But he didn't take himself so seriously.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06Tom Jones had really fallen off my radar.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09I knew that he was a big star in Las Vegas,
0:50:09 > 0:50:11and I knew he did cabaret,
0:50:11 > 0:50:16but I really thought that the days when he would make great records were probably in the past.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23Mark put Tom together with the avant-garde Art Of Noise,
0:50:23 > 0:50:26and Kiss became his comeback hit.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29# You don't have to be rich to be my girl
0:50:29 > 0:50:33# You don't have to be cool to rule my world
0:50:33 > 0:50:37# Ain't no particular sign I'm more compatible with
0:50:37 > 0:50:41# I just want your extra time and your
0:50:43 > 0:50:45# Kiss. #
0:50:45 > 0:50:48Out went the medallions, the country music and the kissing girls.
0:50:48 > 0:50:53In came sharp suits, slick videos, and shades.
0:50:53 > 0:50:57# ..If you wanna impress me... #
0:50:57 > 0:51:00To be able to make that unbelievable transformation,
0:51:00 > 0:51:03making you realise that what he had was the great gift of the voice,
0:51:03 > 0:51:07to be able to deliver a great song, and that was never going to let him down.
0:51:07 > 0:51:11# I just want your extra time and your
0:51:11 > 0:51:14# Kiss Think I better dance, now... #
0:51:14 > 0:51:18And it was just a wonderful way of reinventing yourself
0:51:18 > 0:51:21without it looking corny or strained.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23Tom had found a second wind.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27Throughout the '90s, he cleverly cultivated
0:51:27 > 0:51:30a cool, ironic, sexy image.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33MUSIC: "Sex Bomb" by Tom Jones
0:51:33 > 0:51:38The old sexual power had been harnessed for a new era.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40Oh, baby! # Sex bomb, sex bomb
0:51:40 > 0:51:42# You're my sex bomb
0:51:42 > 0:51:46# You can give it to me when I need to come along
0:51:46 > 0:51:50# Sex bomb, sex bomb You're my sex bomb
0:51:50 > 0:51:53# And baby you can turn me on. #
0:51:53 > 0:51:56Some of the coverage, obviously, was still slightly ironic.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00You were still "the ex sex god", and stuff like that. Does that just make you smile?
0:52:00 > 0:52:06I mean, young people have told me, you know, they think that I'm honest.
0:52:06 > 0:52:08# Sex bomb... #
0:52:08 > 0:52:12As long as you don't try to be what you're not,
0:52:12 > 0:52:14or be what you were,
0:52:14 > 0:52:18as long as you accept certain things and be honest with it...
0:52:21 > 0:52:24Throughout his life, Tom's sexual antics
0:52:24 > 0:52:27were not just confined to the stage.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30Being married to a sex symbol is never easy,
0:52:30 > 0:52:33and Tom admits there were difficult times for his wife
0:52:33 > 0:52:35and for those close to him.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39Given the strength of your marriage and your family life,
0:52:39 > 0:52:43did all that publicity about your dalliances and affairs,
0:52:43 > 0:52:45did it trouble you?
0:52:45 > 0:52:49No, it didn't trouble me because my marriage was solid.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52And that was a thing that...
0:52:52 > 0:52:55Still, you know, I mean, it's...
0:52:55 > 0:52:58My wife sort of read things in the paper from time to time
0:52:58 > 0:53:03and we had a few blow-ups, you know, and she would explode -
0:53:03 > 0:53:05rightfully so, I mean, she was...
0:53:05 > 0:53:09But it didn't... It was all sort of
0:53:09 > 0:53:13part and parcel of the thing, you know, I felt.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17That... But I was never tested, you see.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20My wife never tested me.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24You know, she never came to the point of saying,
0:53:24 > 0:53:28"If I read any more of this, then that's me and you finished."
0:53:28 > 0:53:30It didn't get to that point.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33We love one another.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36We fell in love young and it's been with us,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39all the time. No matter where I've been or what I've done,
0:53:39 > 0:53:42the road always leads back to Linda.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46With his son Mark in charge of his career,
0:53:46 > 0:53:48Tom was a born-again artist.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52MUSIC: "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Tom Jones & Cerys Matthews
0:53:59 > 0:54:01# I really can't stay
0:54:01 > 0:54:04# But, baby, it's cold outside
0:54:04 > 0:54:07# I've got to go away
0:54:07 > 0:54:09# Oh, baby, it's cold outside
0:54:09 > 0:54:11# This evening has been
0:54:11 > 0:54:13# And hoping that you'd drop in
0:54:13 > 0:54:15# So very nice... #
0:54:15 > 0:54:18'He absolutely loves music, he's so passionate about it.'
0:54:18 > 0:54:22I asked Tom, "Tell me what your perfect day would be,
0:54:22 > 0:54:25"and it can't involve music." And he just went,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28"Well, then it wouldn't be a perfect day, would it?"
0:54:28 > 0:54:30# Mama told me not to come
0:54:33 > 0:54:35# Mama told me not to come
0:54:36 > 0:54:41# She said that ain't no way to have fun, son... #
0:54:41 > 0:54:45His musical credibility restored,
0:54:45 > 0:54:47in 1998, he recorded Reload,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50his most successful album ever.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53We had an amazing connection. I think he's probably
0:54:53 > 0:54:57the best story-teller I've ever sat down with.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59I mean, he could be a stand-up comic, really.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02He told us when Elvis first met him, he said to him,
0:55:02 > 0:55:06"You sound like a black man. Is there many black people where you come from?"
0:55:06 > 0:55:09He said, "Only the ones coming out of the mine."
0:55:12 > 0:55:16He became Sir Tom in 2006.
0:55:16 > 0:55:22In 2009, 44 years after his first Number 1,
0:55:22 > 0:55:24he was back at the top of the charts,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28this time with a charity single for Red Nose Day.
0:55:30 > 0:55:35'One of the things that's served him well is his enthusiasm.'
0:55:35 > 0:55:39You know, let's not forget, having hit songs in your 60s
0:55:39 > 0:55:42is incredible, really.
0:55:42 > 0:55:48And now, Tom's gone platinum, too. He's ditched the hair dye
0:55:48 > 0:55:51and seems to revel in the role of godfather of British pop.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57# I crossed the street to her house and she opened the door
0:55:59 > 0:56:05# She stood there laughing
0:56:05 > 0:56:06# Ha ha ha! #
0:56:06 > 0:56:11Young and old sang along when he stormed Glastonbury in 2009.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15And yes, they still bring along the knickers!
0:56:15 > 0:56:16But now, Tom is in on the joke.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19# Why, why, why, Delilah? #
0:56:19 > 0:56:22'I'll go onstage as long as I possibly can.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26'It's a high that you don't really get from anything else.
0:56:26 > 0:56:32'Not quite. That's when you're on there, and the band and the people,'
0:56:32 > 0:56:36and it's like, phew! You've gone into another place.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40And I think any true performer would say, "I don't want that to stop."
0:56:40 > 0:56:42CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:56:45 > 0:56:47# Hey!
0:56:50 > 0:56:52# Huh!
0:56:56 > 0:56:59# I'm going down
0:56:59 > 0:57:02# To the crossroads
0:57:02 > 0:57:04# With no devil
0:57:04 > 0:57:06# Will I make a deal
0:57:07 > 0:57:10# I'm going down
0:57:10 > 0:57:13# To the crossroads
0:57:13 > 0:57:16# With no devil
0:57:16 > 0:57:17# Would I make a deal
0:57:19 > 0:57:21# Maybe there ain't no heaven
0:57:21 > 0:57:25# Maybe there ain't no hell
0:57:25 > 0:57:28# No heaven
0:57:28 > 0:57:30# No burning hell
0:57:30 > 0:57:31# No! #
0:57:31 > 0:57:36So, Tom, you're 70. How long can you keep this up?
0:57:36 > 0:57:39'I will sing as long as I possibly can.'
0:57:39 > 0:57:41# Hey, hey! #
0:57:41 > 0:57:47'You know, it's a part of my life that I don't want to give up.'
0:57:47 > 0:57:49# Huh! #
0:57:51 > 0:57:53The thing is, I just don't want it to end.
0:57:53 > 0:57:58- You know, that's the thing that... - I believe you, Tom!- ..that bothers me, honestly.
0:57:58 > 0:58:04'My enemy is time. It's going to catch up with me, but...'
0:58:04 > 0:58:06as long as it's not tomorrow, then I...
0:58:06 > 0:58:07HE LAUGHS
0:58:07 > 0:58:10# When I die
0:58:10 > 0:58:13# Where will I go?
0:58:13 > 0:58:16# When I die
0:58:16 > 0:58:19# Where will I go?
0:58:19 > 0:58:22# Somebody tell me
0:58:22 > 0:58:25# Somebody please tell me
0:58:25 > 0:58:27# Where will I go?
0:58:30 > 0:58:33# Maybe there ain't no heaven
0:58:33 > 0:58:36# No burning hell
0:58:36 > 0:58:39# Maybe there ain't no heaven
0:58:39 > 0:58:42# No burning hell
0:58:42 > 0:58:45# Maybe there ain't no heaven
0:58:45 > 0:58:48# Maybe there ain't no hell
0:58:48 > 0:58:50# Maybe there ain't no heaven
0:58:50 > 0:58:55# No burning hell, no
0:59:02 > 0:59:04# Hey, hey, hey!
0:59:07 > 0:59:09# Yeah!
0:59:12 > 0:59:16# Hey, hey, hey, hey, yeah!
0:59:17 > 0:59:19# Oww! #