In the latest issue of Hot Press, U2 are not the only long-standing musical icons opening up; au contraire. Tom Jones, in fact, has enjoyed a career which predates that of our homegrown heroes significantly. He’s still going strong, of course, and as he tells Colm O’Hare, he has some other Irish acts to thank for the contributions to his latest record.
“We had done a version of ‘Factory Girl, but Ethan [Johns, producer] said, ‘I think it needs more of a Celtic feel to it’. He had heard this Irish band, Rackhouse Pilfer, so he gave me their album which I loved and we got them over. Then he said ‘Imelda May is interested in doing ‘Honey Honey’ with you,’ so that’s what we did.”
The finished products can be found on his new collection Long Lost Suitcase, which is released in conjunction with an autobiography for which fans have been waiting decades. Over The Top And Back is a predictably lively tale, though Tom says the delay was with good reason.
“I’ve been asked to do a book before but I always said I’m not old enough yet. When I was doing The Voice, Jessie J said she’d written an autobiography and I said how many pages are in it. It’s a joke, people writing autobiographies when they’ve been two or three years in the business.”
For more of the crooner’s straight-shooting, check out the full interview in the new issue of Hot Press – the U2 Special Collector’s Edition – on sale now.
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