Tom Jones
Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich On tour until Fri
At 78, Tom Jones is on an alfresco tour. At the Old Royal Naval College, a sell-out crowd is treated to the sight of a magnificent stately edifice, and the building is quite something too.
Sir Tom has been around so long that he has a son of 61. His one concession to the passing years is to stand still, like an elderly elephant.
He doesn’t even dance during Sam Cooke’s Shake, a song about dancing – but the big screen shows us his younger self, a blur of black-and-white movement, all hips and sideburns. The contrast is delicious.
Whenever he sings gospel he goes straight to the heart. An early highlight is Did Trouble Me, first sombre, then gently stirring, with Jones caressing the words
These days his sex appeal surfaces in a crinkly old smile, some cheesy chat and, of course, the voice. It takes five numbers to warm up, but you forgive him because, for the next 90 minutes, it’s everything you expect: the world’s most flirtatious foghorn.
After 41 studio albums, Jones has far too many tracks to choose from, and sometimes picks a dud. When he says, ‘Here’s a song by Bob Dylan’, you’d hope for something more memorable than On A Night Like This. But the good choices are very good.
Whenever he sings gospel he goes straight to the heart. An early highlight is Did Trouble Me, first sombre, then gently stirring, with Jones caressing the words and showing what a short journey it is from the southern churches to South Wales.
He also sings Prince (Kiss, radiating delight), Leonard Cohen (Tower Of Song, a gem that doesn’t suit him) and, best of all, Randy Newman. Mama Told Me Not To Come, fortified by a tuba, is immense, and You Can Leave Your Hat On manages to be both frisky and funny. Jones should do a whole album of Newman’s songs, as Harry Nilsson once did.
The other highlights are the biggest hits: Sex Bomb, taken nice and slowly; It’s Not Unusual, given a twist of mariachi; and Delilah, still the most fun you can have while singing about a murder.
By the end, the warm night air is full of smiles.
Now That’s What I Call Music 100
Sony Music, double CD Out now
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In the beginning there was Hot Hits. And it was pretty vacant, all ropey impersonations and scantily clad models. But then along came Now, offering original recordings, smartly curated – a sure-fire bestseller, now celebrating its century.
Even when the chart is dire, Now is decent. Targeting ten-year-olds without making parents tear their hair out, it half-fills the hole left by Top Of The Pops.
The first disc here is the familiar snapshot of recent hits, a parade of likeable young women waxing tearful over pared-down beats.
The second is a cheerful collage of the past 35 years, from Red Red Wine to Uptown Funk. Every family car should have a copy.
THIS WEEK’S CD RELEASES
Pusha T
Daytona Out Fri
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Kanye West’s monthlong working holiday in Wisconsin produced no fewer than five albums, including this for Virginia rapper Pusha T. Even at 21 minutes and seven tracks, West’s atmospheric production is a perfect setting for Pusha’s articulate, flinty street stories, the insistent If You Know You Know perhaps the best combination of the two. The horrible cover is Whitney Houston’s bathroom, for some reason.
Underworld and Iggy Pop
Teatime Dub Encounters Out Fri
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Iggy Pop and Underworld shared a moment in 1996, when his Lust For Life and their Born Slippy were on the soundtrack to Trainspotting. Now they’ve joined forces for a four-song EP. Iggy dispenses rumbly, sometimes amusing wisdom on diverse subjects over some propulsive electronic sounds and some pretty ambient ones. Let’s be glad he didn’t retire as intended.
Sons Of Bill
Oh God Ma’am Out now
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Led by three Virginia brothers, Sons Of Bill have a harrowing back story for this, involving divorce, mental illness and a hand cut from a champagne glass that nearly put the youngest brother out of commission. Opener Sweeter, Sadder, Farther Away sounds like something from Springsteen’s Nebraska arranged for piano, and the laughs don’t come any faster after that, but there’s redemption in the anthemic indie-rock of Firebird ’85 and Old And Gray.
Public Image Limited
The Public Image Is Rotten Out now
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The Sex Pistols secured his place in the history books, with only one real album, but John Lydon made more considered statements with Public Image Limited. They became an alarmingly tuneful Eighties singles band, peaking with the majestic Rise. They’ve bounced back, ornery as ever, and this huge box set captures it all, with singles, remixes, offcuts and a lot of live things.