Did you know singer Tom Jones is a Welshman???

Question

Yes he is from Pontypridd, where his father worked the coal mines of the Rhondda Valley! And he is 80 years old now...what a talent, what tonsils! I watched him in duets with Cher, with Janis Joplin, and with Wilson Pickett so far. He seems to adapt to whatever singing style of his guests and make them look good.

Do you think he speaks Welsh?

Here he is with Janis, where you see a sexy little booty-bump that I am surprised got through the censors of the Sixties... 

And here is a June 2020 program celebrating his birthday, you don't have to watch the whole 53 minutes if you don't want, but if you go in a ways you WILL see one of those Welsh trains Sir Furry has been showing us! 

Answer 1

Hmmm... named Jones, like half the people in Wales, woolly black hair... maybe his mother was a black sheep...?

JK, SFA!   I think...  

Oh, and the little booty-bump, Virginia... wasn't Elvis doing a lot more than that at the time? And the twist???

Comments

N'kay Tink here is a history lesson for you!

...coz, the cameras of certain proper venues, when Elvis began to do his grinding, these virtuous cameras only showed him from the waist up. Then when he got proper again, the cameras pulled back for full-body shot...

Not totally sure but I doubt that Elvis's pelvis was EVER shown scandalizing like that on network TV of the Fifties, for example...you only had three channels anyway, huge big deal when a 4th channel was added!

...and yes I have started to wonder if maybe JONES is actually a Welsh surname...

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umm...

   This must have been an improper venue, what with all the pelvic thrusts. 

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Oh Tink you are so innocent! Nope there was nothing there The King was restraining himself here, actually quite stiff -- NOT even cutting loose at all...he was def holding back in this...all very proper compared to when he really got, well, rocking and rolling...

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But, but... is there any  film record of when he really "cut loose"?

I found this clip from the Ed Sullivan show, and indeed they barely showed anything below his chest, but I could tell he wasn't gyrating much with his pelvis, no matter how much the girls screamed.

Oh, here's an earlier one... that one must have led to the camera work on the later one. 

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Oh it's just a wonderful clip -- enjoyed it no end...surely YouTube has one with his gyrations, I will keep a lookout for it! 

I did not appreciate him during his lifetime, too much of a non-conformist I think. But a couple of years ago I attended a program of his songs, three hours worth! It was wonderful, and I am a big fan of his since then.

ima look for Jailhouse Rock -- maybe something authentic there?

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This is the closest I could find, Tink -- his 1968 comeback...see after 0:50 sec, there is just a bit of the sweet moves I thought I recall! 

The one that really might be best for this important issue is his rendering of STEAMROLLER BLUES, 1973; I had it bookmarked but now it has been blocked in the USA, copyright or something. 

But just as something quite poignant, here is UNCHAINED MELODY for you, as he sang it maybe six weeks or a few months before his death. He looks puffy and ill and you can see it leaves him exhausted, but still he puts everything he has into the song that splendorous voice, I came upon this again as I looked through my bookmarks. 

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Yes, he was obviously not well in that last clip, even being short of breath before he started singing.

But don't despair!  Elvis lives!  I saw him flipping burgers at a local Burger King the other day, but he ducked away into a back room when he noticed me staring at him.  He looks good for someone in his 80s.

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(words so the program will accept the smiley face I chose for you)

Answer 2

Strangely,I did know he is Welsh.

And he doesn't speak Welsh-hence the lack of a Welsh Language repertoire of songs.

Comments

Too bad he he does not speak Welsh...maybe nobody paid much attention to the language when he was born 80 years ago!

You should tell us your real first name, SFA, so we can see if it sounds Welsh! I mean, my first name is really Virginia, Tink's real first name is obviously "Other," are you one of the multitude of Gareths, perhaps?