He rose to fame in the mid-1960s, with an exuberant live act which included wearing tight breeches and billowing shirts, in an Edwardian style popular amongst his peers at the time. He was known for his overt sexuality, before this was as common as it became in subsequent years.
In 1963 he became the frontman for Tommy Scott and the Senators, a local beat group. Clad all in black leather, Tom soon gained a reputation in the South Wales area. The Senators were still all unheard of in London.
In 1964 they laid down a few tracks with maverick Telstar producer Joe Meek, and took them to various labels in an attempt to get a record deal. The plan was to release a single, Lonely Joe / I Was A Fool, but the ever-flighty Meek refused to release the tapes. The group returned to South Wales and continued to play gigs at dance halls and working mens clubs. One night, at the Top Hat in Cwmtillery, Tom was spotted by Gordon Mills, a London-based manager originally from South Wales. Mills became Tom's manager, and took the young singer to London. He also renamed him Tom Jones. The Senators became the Playboys, and later still the Squires.
Jones was awarded the Grammy Award for Best New Artist for 1965. It's Not Unusual, after the song having first been offered to Sandie Shaw. Jones recorded what was intended to be a demo for Shaw, but when she heard it she was so impressed with Jones' delivery that she declined the song and recommended that Jones release it himself. The record was the second Decca single Jones released, reaching number one in the UK charts in 1965. It was also the first hit for Jones in the US, peaking at #10 in May of that year. The single was released in the US on the Parrot label and also reached #3 on Billboard's easy listening chart. Jones used this song as the theme for his late 1960s-early 1970s musical variety series This Is Tom Jones. It has since become Jones' signature song.
In 1965 Tom sang the theme tune to the James Bond film Thunderball.
Jones' recording career slumped on the pop charts during the 1970s and 80s, although he placed 16 singles on the Billboard Country Music charts between 1976 and 1985, the biggest of which was "Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow" (# 1 Country, # 15 pop) in 1977, and his touring continued successfully. When his son Mark became his manager in 1987, his musical style was taken in a different direction. His recording career was revived with his first major hit single in over a decade, "A Boy From Nowhere", taken from the musical Matador. In 1988 he collaborated with The Art of Noise to record Prince's popular song "Kiss". Following this, he started to record in collaboration with a younger generation of musicians
His Reload album, released in 2000, became the biggest hit of his career. An album of cover versions recorded as duets with contemporary artists, using their record producers, and utilising their recording methods, it reached number one in the United Kingdom, and sold over 4 million copies worldwide.[1] In 2002, he released the album Mr. Jones, which was produced by Wyclef Jean and included the singles "Tom Jones International" and "Black Betty". In 2003, he was honored with a BRIT Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2004, his "Sex Bomb" single became a major club hit.
On New Year's Eve 2000 President Bill Clinton invited Tom to perform at the Millennium Celebrations in Washington. Throughout 2000, Tom garnered several honours for his work, including a Brit Award for Best Male. In 2001 Tom toured throughout the Middle East and Europe. In subsequent years Tom recorded albums in collaboration with such artists as Wyclef Jean and Jools Holland.
In celebration of his 65th birthday, on 28 May 2005 Tom returned to his homeland to perform a spectacular concert in Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd. This was Tom's first performance in Ponty since 1964.
For his contribution to the recording industry, Tom Jones has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Blvd.
In 2005 the album Together In Concert, was recorded live with John Farnham and his band.
He has collaborated with Chicane for "Stoned in Love", a dance track that was released 24 April 2006. It entered at number eight in the UK charts the following Sunday.
In 2007, he signed to New York-based independent label S-Curve, owned by music executive Steve Greenberg.
The singer was awarded an OBE in 1999 and a Knight Bachelor in the 2006 New Years Honours list for his services to music and was subsequently knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, London on 29 March 2006.[7]
On 1 July 2007, Jones was one of the invited artists who performed at Wembley Stadium at the Concert for Diana, joined on stage by guitarist Joe Perry of Aerosmith and British soul singer Joss Stone. He sang the British National Anthem before Ricky Hatton's fight against Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas on 8 December 2007. On 19 April 2008 he sang the Welsh National Anthem at the Calzaghe-Hopkins fight in Las Vegas.
Although his manager and public relations staff have attempted to change his sex-bomb image and neutralize the knicker-throwing fans, to the delight of his audiences Jones has never felt the need to tone down his behavior in the shows. Tom Jones has remained highly respected by other singers and continues to attract audiences of all ages. As of 2008, Jones continues to tour and record. A major portion of the year he regularly performs his show at the MGM Grand hotel, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, USA. His show at the MGM is performed in a cabaret-style theater. Other venues on his yearly schedule include numerous shows at Atlantic City, NJ and appearances in the USA, United Kingdom and Canada. In February 2007, Jones made a long-awaited South American tour.
On 17 September 2008, Jones announced the release of his retro-tinged album "24 Hours" on S-Curve Records, his first for 15 years in the US; notably, this is the first record in which he's had a direct song-writing input. It was produced largely by drum'n'bass stalwarts Future Cut.
"It's all very well just singing songs," says Jones, "but for this record I really wanted to get properly personal. I've been getting reflective recently, looking over my journey through life, and I wanted to get that down on song. This time I wanted to make something that was all about me, my stories, my life. In other words, you listen to this album and you get the real me."
Let There Be Love
Tom Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So I can be loved by you
In Paradise Avenue.
Let there be life,
So everyone lives to love.
Let it happen to me and you.
So take me for what I am.
I'll never have everything,
But let there be love.
Let there be love,
Let there be love.
I can be nothing,
Or I can be something,
I've got to give you my life.
I'm tired of living
Without your giving.
I've got to get you for my wife.
Can't hold on much longer.
Feeling's getting stronger.
I never begged,
But I'm begging now.
Let there be love,
So I can be loved by you
In Paradise Avenue, oh yeah.
Let there be life,
So we can all live to love
And let it be both of us.
I am a man,
So take me for what I am
I'll never have everything,
But let there be love.
Let there be love,
Let there be love.
The lyrics to Tom Jones's song Let there be love express a longing desire for love and companionship. The opening lines "Let there be love, so I can be loved by you in Paradise Avenue" indicate the singer's need for love and the desperation that comes with it. The second line "Let there be life, so everyone lives to love, let it happen to me and you" emphasizes the importance of love in life and how it should be shared by everyone.
The next set of lines "I am a man, so take me for what I am, I'll never have everything, but let there be love" portray the singer's acceptance of his imperfections and that love is all he wants. He acknowledges that he can be nothing or something, but what he can give is his life to the person he loves. The lines "I'm tired of living without your giving, I've got to get you for my wife" illustrate the singer's exhaustion of living a life without the person he loves and the need to make that person his wife.
The closing lines of the chorus "Let there be love, so we can all live to love and let it be both of us" reinforces the importance of love being shared by everyone, not just the singer but also the person he loves. The last line of the chorus, where the singer repeats "let there be love, let there be love" emphasizes the urgency and importance of love, and how it is the only thing that he wants.
Line by Line Meaning
Let there be love,
The singer wants there to be love between him and another person.
So I can be loved by you
He wants the love to be mutual, and for the other person to love him too.
In Paradise Avenue.
The location doesn't really matter; the point is that he wants to be loved.
Let there be life,
He wants everyone to experience the joy of love.
So everyone lives to love.
He wants love to be the driving force behind all people's lives.
Let it happen to me and you.
And specifically, he wants to experience that love with the person he is addressing.
I am a man,
He is acknowledging his humanity and imperfections.
So take me for what I am.
He wants the other person to accept him as he is, flaws and all.
I'll never have everything,
He is admitting that he is not perfect and can't provide everything.
But let there be love.
But he believes that love can make up for those imperfections.
Let there be love,
He repeats the refrain, emphasizing how important love is to him.
I can be nothing,
He recognizes that without love, he feels like he is nothing.
Or I can be something,
But with love, he can be so much more.
I've got to give you my life.
He is willing to give everything he has to the other person.
I'm tired of living
He is tired of living without the love he desires.
Without your giving.
He wants the other person to give him the love he seeks.
I've got to get you for my wife.
He wants the other person to be his spouse.
Can't hold on much longer.
He can't go on living without the love he desires.
Feeling's getting stronger.
His feelings for the other person are getting stronger.
I never begged,
He is admitting that he hasn't asked for love before.
But I'm begging now.
But now he is asking for it because he wants it so badly.
So we can all live to love
He wants everyone to experience the joy and fulfillment that comes from loving and being loved.
And let it be both of us.
And specifically, he wants to experience that love with the person he is addressing.
Let there be love,
He repeats the refrain one final time, emphasizing the importance of love to him.
Let there be love.
And his desire for love is so strong that he repeats it again.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BARRY GIBB, MAURICE GIBB, ROBIN GIBB
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind