CD Odyssey Disc 1831: Tom Jones

As I pulled into my parking spot tonight my neighbour said with surprise and delight, “is that Tom Jones you’re playing?” Why, yes it certainly is – the skyscraper that is my musical tastes has many floors, and if you pick the right one you’ll find Mr. Jones waiting to escort you to the lounge for drinks, crooning, and whatever comes after.

Disc 1831 is…The Golden Hits

Artist: Tom Jones

Year of Release: 1986, but featuring music from 1965 - 1969

What’s up with the Cover? Feast your eyes, ladies, for it is Tom Jones, decked out in fancy blazer and ruffle-cuffed shirt, Behold the Welsh sex god, here to croon his way into your hearts, driving you to such distraction you may return home from his concert in a commando state of mind.

How I Came To Know It: My mom has been downsizing of late and recently passed along her CD collection. Some of those CDs belonged to my dearly departed stepfather, and Tom Jones is one of those (Mom’s more of a Johnny Cash kind of gal).

How It Stacks Up: This is a greatest hits record, so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: Usually there is no rating for compilations, but this one is half songs from other records, and half singles? What to do? Stay strong, L – no rating!

Back in 1986 CDs were new to the market most who bought them were audiophiles willing to invest in new equipment – often middle-aged folks. With limited selection available, what to market to this demographic? How about some hits from yesteryear, showcasing the versatility of the new system: play whatever you want! No searching! No complicated needle drops! If the music is familiar, well, sometimes better the devil you know…

Tom Jones is definitely the devil you know. His manly crooning showed that you could be a little rough around the edges and still romance the hell out of that microphone. That deep and profound baritone vocal, reverberating through your bones, makes everything more important. And when Jones wants to climb up into a high head voice he does it with the sure-footedness of a man ascending a polished marble staircase in Cuban heels; dangerously, recklessly, and absolutely certain he will not slip or stumble once.

The songs on this compilation are all early Tom, from his first few records and singles in the mid to late sixties. There’s an undercurrent of that sixties British folk revival in the production and delivery, but Tom transcends that and makes things more grandiose and theatrical, like a collection of James Bond theme songs (n.b. Tom did to the Bond movie song for 1966’s “Thunderball” which is regrettably not on this record).

There’s little not to like in this collection of Golden Hits, as even the schlocky stuff like “Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings” and “Without Love” transcend their own silliness, apparently through little more than Jones’ will to overcome. He’s one of the only artists I know that can both embrace schlock and then subsume it into genuine art. It’s a dangerous line to walk, but once again, there’s no slipping.

Jones is no songwriter but with his voice he doesn’t have to be. Can you imagine anyone else sing the jaunty “Not Responsible”? the tragic hyperbole of “Delilah”? Reader, you cannot. And while Conway Twitty and Merle Haggard both do strong versions of “Green Green Grass of Home” I gotta give the edge to Tom again.

Things aren’t perfect, however, even on a collection of Golden Hits. I know that “What’s New Pussycat” was a big hit for Tom, but this song was silly when it came out and it has aged poorly. Worst of all they refrain line of “you and your pussycat…nose” (later eyes, then lips) ends with a flat and discordant note that I can’t forgive. As the repeat listens I came to dread its arrival at Track 6.

Fortunately, the rest of the record was a lot of good, semi-clean fun. A love letter passed down many decades later to my stepfather, to my mother, and now to me.

Best tracks: Green Green Grass of Home, Not Responsible, It’s Not Unusual, Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings, Detroit City, Without Love, Delilah

CD Odyssey Disc 1679: AJJ with some bonus Tom Jones

My first random roll this time was of a single CD (like a 45) but that wasn’t enough to hold my full attention, so I rolled again and paired that 45 with a full record. So first, here is the full record review and when you are done that there is a bonus “mini review” that follows. You’re welcome!

Disc 1679 is…Disposable Everything

Artist: AJJ

Year of Release: 2023

What’s up with the Cover?  A disturbing skull creature stands amidst the detritus of humanity. There is a lot of bad stuff here such as rockets, bombs and (worst of all) a smart phone. There are also some useful things. I see a fire extinguisher, a compass and even a ladder. In the background there is a shack that – who knows? – may be full of tools!

To get there you’ll have to get past skull guy, who despite his casual sport socks looks like he could run pretty fast and brain you with that cannonball, and not even spill his beer while he’s doing it.

How I Came To Know It: I read a review of these guys and listened to a couple of tracks. This led me to listen to the whole album and, well, here we are. I believe I ordered it through my local record store, which is always my first option. Shop local!

How It Stacks Up: This is my only AJJ album so it can’t stack up

Rating: 4 stars

AJJ is the type of music you put on when you want to confront your anxiety. Maybe even get introduced to a few new anxieties you didn’t know you had. It is OK though, it’ll make you think your way through this new anxiety (you know you were going to do that anyway) and emerge the other side having befriended the experience. Mostly.

Lead singer Sean Bonnette is the focal point of the music, with his high quaver, and slightly manic phrasing, he infuses every song with restless energy. He doesn’t go for a deep emotional delivery but makes up for it with an innate vulnerability. You want to put your arms around him, knowing he’ll be shaking a little like a cat on the veterinarian’s examining table.

Bonnette channels that energy into some of the most thoughtful music I’ve heard in some time, although it doesn’t feel that way when you first encounter it. On the surface AJJ feels like a cheap party trick, bouncing about with clever turns of phrase that will get old on repeat listens.

Instead, the reverse happens. You start to dig in. Behind that plain language, there is some genuine earthly dread being expressed. AJJ is not going to suggest it is all going to be OK, they’re going to question whether – like the album cover suggests – everything is disposable. Even the basic values that underpin our society. On “Death Machine” they fire it at you with an up tempo and impotent fury:

“This is no exaggeration, we're living in a death machine
And no, it's not just your imagination
You've been living in a death machine
Some of us are passengers, and some of us are driving
Almost everybody's getting bled to death to keep the motor running”

On the title track, it is introspective and awkward, but no less apocalyptic:

“Lately I've been feeling good and that makes me feel so bad
If happiness is finite, then I've had all I should have
Do I steal it from another? Does it come right out of me?
Disposable everything…”

It would be so easy for this stuff to slip into the maudlin, like an indie version of emo, but that’s not what happens. It rides the edge of uncertainty from the opening note until the last drumbeat.

It helps that the music is thoughtful and pitch perfect to the message. There is a bit of a folk element, at times tinged with a bit of Bill Withers soul. The sensibility is punk, but the melodies are just too intricate and interesting to remotely be punk. It is the soul of punk, pushed through the meat grinder of a half dozen other styles.

Ever-ready to examine their own situation, AJJ even confronts even their stylistic choices with the same existential dread. On “I Hate Rock and Roll Again” Bonnette opines:

“I hate rock and roll again, Rock and roll is not my friend
I hate rock and roll again
Insipid lyrics and boring riffs, Every choice is obvious
I hate rock and roll again”

Yet this song is the most rock and roll on the album, with a tune that is obvious at times, but also timely. They hate rock and roll but at the same time they love it. And hate themselves for loving it. And the whole time remind us that rock and roll is at its core, an art form rooted in rebellion and like any rebellion, it must inevitably turn on itself.

Throughout all this onion-peeling and philosophical exploration, AJJ consistently delivers songs with compelling grooves and melodies. For a bunch of guys claiming to hate rock and roll, they sure are good at it.

Best tracks: Dissonance, Moon Valley High, Death Machine, Disposable Everything, I Hate Rock and Roll Again, Schadenfreude

Bonus Content: Tom Jones & Stereophonics

Mama Told Me Not to Come – CD Single!

Year of Release: 1999

What’s Up with the Cover?: Some downtown scene. Based on the local stores, probably not the nicest part of town. Unless of course that store is selling true love and playing arthouse films. I just kinda doubt it.

How I Came To Know it: I was in Powell River and Sheila was off on her own vintage shopping and bought a bunch of used CDs cheap at a local vintage store. This was one of them.

Rating: Yes!

Yes, you read that subtitle correctly. This is a CD single (which is what passed for a 45 back in the late nineties/early oughts) of the Tom Jones single “Mama Told Me Not to Come” which he performs with the Stereophonics.

I was NOT looking for this record, but holy crap am I glad Sheila bought it for me on spec., because this is Tom Jones at his cheesiest, which is to say, his best.

Three Dog Night made this song famous, and their version is OK, but it is nothing compared to the gratuitous machismo of Tom Jones, who takes a cautionary tune (mama tells you not to do a thing) and makes doing that thing sound like the single best party ever.

The CD single format often has an alternate version of the song on it, and this album is no exception, with a “Rotten Remix” version which features some rapping, followed by Tom Jones trying to keep up with said rapping and entirely succeeding.

There is also a “B Side” for 45 traditionalists, with “Looking Out My Window” – also on the main record, also over the top and funky as hell.

This led me to look up the full record, which is called “Reload” and is full of duets with various famous people who clearly relished the chance to ham it up with Tom. That album is now fully going on my “want” list, so consider this little snippet a warmup to the full review!