It is unusual to be this talented

Tony Clayton-Lea keeps up with the Joneses.

What can you say about Tom Jones that hasn't already been said? It's an onerous task to get to talk to the Welsh singing legend, let alone conjure up anything that hasn't been read before. The simple fact is that Jones of an age (he's 68 this year) and era (1960s pop music) where he has probably heard all the questions before, has a steady stream of stock answers, and is the owner of a 'been-there, seenthat, done-that' demeanour.

Yet to meet him face-to-face is to put a different light on matters altogether. The first thing you notice is how leathery his wellknown face is. After years of living in sunny climes, Jones has become fully accustomed to having a tan that shows no signs of decline. Incredibly, after more than 40 years on the top of the pile, Jones shows no signs of decline - his voice is still in range, even though his days of dominating the pop charts have long since disappeared.

Born in the Welsh valleys, close to Pontypridd, on June 7th, 1940, Thomas Jones Woodward worked as a miner by day and a singer by night. His love of music was formed as much by the allpervasive local choirs, as by rock'n'roll singers from America - the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino and Elvis Presley, who later on became a close friend.

After baffling his school choir teacher by singing The Lord's Prayer in the style of a Negro spiritual, he quickly adapted to the burgeoning rock'n'roll movement that was sweeping Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s. "I just sang right along with it," he remarks. "I asked people if I was singing songs the right way and they said I was a natural. So I continued."

Jones began his pop star career in 1963, quickly graduating from belting the songs out at working men's clubs around Wales and the UK Midlands to signing to Decca Records under the guidance of songwriter and manager Gordon Mills. It was Mills that co-wrote Jones's breakthrough 1965 hit, It's Not Unusual, a UK number one that was followed quickly by another hit, the title song to the spoof movie What's New Pussycat? Another movie song, Thunderball, from the James Bond film of the same name, wasn't as successful and before long it seemed that Jones might just have to return to playing working men's clubs again.

Within months, however, Mills - through hooking for his client a series of ballads that included Green Green Grass of Home, Detroit City, Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings and I'll Never Fall in Love Again - refashioned Jones into the choice object of desire for discerning housewives. To this end, Mills took Jones to America, where he hosted an immensely successful television show, This Is Tom Jones. Since then, Jones hasn't stopped. What keeps him going?

"Versatility, basically. I like a lot of different kinds of songs. Some bands are in one kind of area and want to stay there, but I've always liked a wide variety of stuff," he tells me. "A lot of people who started in the '60s are still there, but I wanted to move on. The old songs are still great - I still do a lot of the songs I did then - but trying new things is what keeps me going and it's certainly more exciting and challenging. That said, I'm not overly stupid about it, I only try the material I'm reasonably sure I can do. I wouldn't really want to change my style."

Style, say his fans, is what Tom Jones is all about. While there was perhaps a concerted effort to shoehorn him into a form of cabaret type of performance come the early 1970s (where he worked out of Las Vegas, servicing the supper-club industry) from that decade onwards the singer has consciously tried to adapt to music trends without embarrassment.

His re-entry into the charts was engineered by his son, Mark, who took over the managerial reins when Gordon Mills died. Come the late 1980s, Jones had removed himself from expensive chickenand- chips venues and situated himself in the upper regions of the pop charts, first with a re-release of It's Not Unusual and then with a version of Prince's Kiss. Throughout all of this success, he seems to have kept his head down, rarely allowing his fame and wealth to impact on his personality. How much does his public persona reflect the real person? What you see is what you get, he says: "I don't change my image when I walk into my house. There is, of course, more effort when you go on television, or in the recording studio, or when you do live shows. You put your energies into the time allotted to you, but I don't change. My attitude is the same."

Being from a staunchly Celtic and working class background has also ensured that Jones the man is pretty much indivisible from Jones the performer - this guy leaves his airs and graces well behind him. Although now living in a sprawling mansion in Los Angeles with his wife Melinda (the pair have been married for over 45 years, despite there being many rumours about the singer's extra-marital flings over the decades), it appears that while Jones's head is in America, his heart is still in Wales.

How does it feel to know that some of your songs are aired before Welsh rugby international matches? "It makes me feel very proud, especially when it is sport and particularly when Wales is involved. I have even sung in certain stadiums, just before Wales played England and beat them! I think I can sing better than I can play rugby."

Would he ever consider moving back to Wales, to the homeland? "Well," he considers. "To be honest with you I don't think I ever really left. Having a house in Los Angeles is fine - but LA is where the house just happens to be. I have a Green Card and I still have a British passport. I haven't become American, it's just that for various reasons it's more convenient for me living there. So would I move back to Wales? Yeah, I would think so - I carry Wales around with me." EM