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A winner even now

Tom Jones reached great heights, a problematic childhood notwithstanding

Born Thomas Jones Woodward in Pontypridd, Wales, Tom Jones's expressive voice may have been silenced when he was 12 and afflicted with TB. Setting off in the '60s, his career spanned the Seventies and revived in the next decade too.

Born to a coal miner, his home had no bath and his singing began in church. Drinking and delinquency problems plagued him early but he was married by age 16. Odd jobs included carpentry, glove-cutting, construction and pub singing. Following the success of the film of the same name, he changed his to Tom Jones. Decca records signed up Jones but his first single hardly made a ripple. He sang It's not unusual, a track meant to be sung by Sandie Shaw. It reached the pinnacle of the British charts and cracked the US top ten as well.

What's new Pussycat, the theme he did for the Bacharach-David film sold a million copies in 1965.

Two years later, Jones' "Green, Green Grass of Home" reached No. 11 and a string of hits followed, including "Delilah", "Love Me Tonight", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "Daughter of Darkness", "I (Who Have Nothing)", "Without Love (There Is Nothing)" and "She's A Lady".

From `mere' singer, he became a celebrity with his show on U.S. television, This is Tom Jones.

His highly suggestive show with Janis Joplin on TV and a much-publicised affair with Mary Wilson of The Supremes contributed to his persona. Jones, now a grandfather, continues to be married to his first wife. While the critics were not very fond of him, his admirers included the King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley, and Paul McCartney, the latter writing The Beatles number "The Long And Winding Road" for Jones.

His fans never really left him, for along with those loyal followers came the new ones, who lapped up The Right Time, his musical series on VH1 in the 1990s.

A. GEORGE ANTONY

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