five star records

To be honest with you, the U.S. release of this Tom Jones LP was one of my favorites long before I dug up this Spanish copy some time ago. Yep, one of the earliest Five Stars to appear in Goldmine magazine was Tom's 'Live at the Talk of the Town'. Remember Goldmine magazine? Remember magazines in general? Well, before the Internet, folks used to actually go to places called 'bookstores' or 'newsstands' and buy hard copies of what they wanted to read. No shit.

Anyway, way back when I used to actually get paid for penning the Five Star Record feature, I confessed at the time that I'd always had a weakness for Tom's act. He's a dynamite performer and really the only white singer (Tom's Welsh) who can come close to doing justice to James Brown or Otis Redding, in my humble opinion.

What makes this release different and better than the copies that were issued here in the States is that it includes a couple more songs and pretty much keeps the live set intact from start to finish. It's almost like you're sitting right there at the club listening. Tom's hit theme song from the 007 flick 'Thunderball' appears here but is missing from the U.S. version (I'm guessing there were publishing conflicts with the record company that owned the soundtrack), as does a nice take by Tom on the pop standard 'That Old Black Magic'.

'Talk of the Town' came out in 1967, right on the heels of one of Tom's bigger hits, his first country crossover 'Green, Green Grass of Home', which has been recorded by almost every C&W star before and since, but was originally made popular by Dolly Parton's old partner Porter Wagoner. You'll find that one here, along with a variety of material that really serves to illustrate just how versatile a vocal performer Tom really was and still is. 'My Yiddische Momma' is surprisingly touching (and may be the best version of the tune I've ever heard recorded - live or otherwise), and Tom's bold readings of a pair of Sam Cooke numbers ('Ain't That Good News' and 'Shake') whip the crowd into a party frenzy.

All in all, this may be one of the best live sets by a pop singer that I've ever experienced, Tom freshly re-working early hits 'What's New Pussycat' and 'It's Not Unusual' and folding them into his tour de force performance. And it's not just Tom's vocals that are spot-on here, either. The house band never hits a sour note and his backing group The Squires, who had been with him since the beginning of his career, moves the music along nicely.

Tom has managed to stay relevant for decades (while outlasting other male singers of the era by thirty years) primarily because he is supremely talented in the vocal department. His singing on the Art of Noise's remake of Prince's 'Kiss' (1988) makes the single almost as good as the original (tough for me to admit because I'm also a huge Prince fan), and his foray into country and western music during the seventies and eighties not only revived his career but garnered him a series of charting country singles, 'Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow' shooting to number one in 1977.

But it's always been about the live performances for Tom. The same year 'Talk of the Town' came out Tom made his Vegas debut, becoming a fixture performer on the Strip for a number of years while releasing a series of great live LPs recorded in Sin City.

Also known for his rapacious sexual appetite and infamously large private parts, Tom screwed his way around the world (in spite of being married his entire career), including one legendary encounter with horror host Elvira (Cassandra Peterson), who claims to have lost her virginity to Tom when she was working as a showgirl in the '60's. In an appearance on the 'Howard Stern Show' Peterson went so far as to compare the girth of Tom's member to a beer can, and reportedly had to make a trip to the emergency room post-coitus.

Apparently she never heard the phrase: “Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”.

And if you don't believe me about Tom's ability to sing soul music, just listen to his 'Fever Zone' album, which came out in '68. The LP not only includes his smash hit 'Delilah', but also has a nice mix of country, soul and Motown tunes as well, from 'Funny How Time Slips Away' to 'It's a Man's Man's World', which Tom takes on in a balls-out fashion that would win over even the staunchest James Brown fan.

So maybe Tom was just the 'Second Hardest Working Man in Show Business'. He still worked damn hard. And as far as I know, the dude's still working.