TOM JONES

I was working day jobs and singing at night in the pubs around South Wales to support my family, but I knew that I could sing pofessionnally. I was encouraged by the people who knew me, so I took up with my band, The Squires, and went to London. We lived in a one-bedroom flat in Ladbroke Grove, played some gigs, and basically tried to find how to make a record. I was very naive, had absolutely no idea. Finally I managed a meeting with Jimmy Savile, who was very encouraging and gave me some sound advice: make a demo on venyl. Since the cassette format hadn't been invented yet, he knew that anyone in A & R would toss a reel-to-reel in the bin. So after managing to gather the funds, we went off to make our first demo at Regent Sound Studios in Denmark Street. This was an exciting place to be, as all the big acts of the time, like the Rolling Stones, were working there.

As it happens, the demo never accomplished anything for us, but I suppose we did manage to create a presence in London. We were very discouraged, and finally went back to Wales, back to pretty much what we came from. But that's where Gordon Mills was, and that's where he heard me sing, so I guess that was how it was meant to happen. Gordon took us back to London, but it was another difficult period of working, waiting and hoping before IT'S NOT UNUSUAL came about. That record really means a lot to me. Along with being a great record, it opened the door to a real career. I was lucky enough to work with some very talented people during this time, and in the next few years we continued to make records that were hits all over the world.

I'm proud of the work in this collection. It was a magical time in my career, and it produced material that has enabled me to continue to perform worldwide.

I am indebted to The Decca Record Company for their faith and support, to all the men and women who were involved in the making of these records, and especially to all those who have purchased them and enjoyed them over the years.

TOM JONES
January 1993

Taken from the booklet of the album
"Velvet+Steel=Gold Tom Jones 1964-1969"

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Cette page a été créée par Lucie Chartrand avec Angelfire
This page created by Lucie Chartrand with Angelfire

"Yesterday...Today...This is Tom Jones"