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band were hoping to release a single called ‘Lonely Joe/I Was A Fool’, but Meek then refused to release the tapes. It was an extremely frustrating period for all concerned. But Godfrey and Glastonbury did have those all-important London contacts and so it was that Tom was discovered for the first time by Peter Sullivan of Decca Records, who realised that here was a truly impressive singing talent. He was persuaded to move briefly down to London, where, on the recommendation of Decca Records A&R [Artist & Repertoire] man Dick Rowe, he was given a manager: Phil Solomon, described by one person as an ‘imperious entrepreneur’. What seemed like a major breakthrough was not to last, however. The two men did not get on and so, with his career still at its earliest stages, Tom returned to Wales.

      While he was having that early London adventure and trying to make it as a singer, back in Wales Linda kept the home fires burning, working to support the family. She is remembered as being a vivacious girl in those days, bright and easy-going and very popular. ‘She was a beautiful girl,’ said Dorothy Woodward, another of Tom’s cousins on his father’s side. ‘Maybe she grew up too quickly. She was very glamorous, right up to date. The short crop hair, the DA. At that time she was quite outgoing. When Tom was in London trying to make his name she worked the evenings with my other sister on Treforest Trading Estate. She was always jolly, quite good fun to be with, chatty.’

      Of course, Linda was young and pretty, and all alone while her husband was trying to make the big time in London. What, Tom was once asked, would he have done if the unthinkable happened and Linda had cast her eyes elsewhere? He was incredulous at the very thought. ‘My wife cheating on me?’ he asked. ‘Well, it would never happen. When I first went to London, that was the closest. She used to go out with a girlfriend and fellas would bring her home but that’s as far as it went. I’ve got a lot of friends there, see. I don’t think she’d be able to get away with it without being noticed. She never wanted to, as far as I know. I would never question her about it, unless it was brought to my attention.’ It never was, of course, as Linda remained an utterly loyal wife, keeping the little family in Wales together.

      Meanwhile, Tom slogged on. Here is a taste of what life for him was like in those early days. In 1964 he sang in the White Hart pub. ‘I was paid a tenner,’ he said, ‘which I had to split five ways.’ But his life really was changing now, for his reputation was spreading and, while he still hadn’t broken through in London circles, people were beginning to talk about this handsome young Welshman with the astonishing voice. He had his own following and fans would follow him around Wales to see him. Sooner or later it was inevitable that he would be discovered and the person who finally did so was fellow Welshman Gordon Mills. A character in himself, he was a former bus conductor who later informed the public that he had the largest collection of orang-utans in the world!

      Gordon went to see the Senators at the Top Hat in 1964, a club in Cwmtillery. It took him no time at all to realise quite what a talent was on show there. ‘The first few bars were all I needed to hear,’ he said. ‘They convinced me that here was a voice that could make him the greatest singer in the world.’ He lost no time in approaching Tom. This time singer and manager hit it off and Gordon took Tom to London to begin the serious business of getting him known. To do so, he had to make a deal with Godfrey and Glastonbury, who were still his managers. In return for 5 per cent of Tom’s future earnings they gave up their role, which unfortunately became the subsequent basis for legal wrangling.

      Tom takes up the story. ‘So, I was singing with The Senators in this club in Cwmtillery called the Top Hat Club,’ he said. ‘It sounds very posh, but it wasn’t! So, we were playing there and Gordon with his wife came and saw the show. When he saw it, or heard me singing, he said, “My God, you should be in London!” And I said, “I understand that, but who do I talk to when I get there?” And he said that he would help me. He wasn’t thinking about management at that time. But he said he was writing songs for Leeds Music, a music publishing company, and he would do whatever he could. He called me another night and said that he was thinking about management. He said he’d never managed anybody before because he was singing with a group called The Viscounts up to that point, and he had had some success with writing songs.’

      Actually Tom already knew of Gordon Mills, which gave him some confidence, as did Gordon’s track record. Apart from his time as a singer, he had also had some success as a songwriter, which meant that he knew all the different aspects of the trade. ‘He wrote “I’ll Never Get Over You” for Johnny Kidd and The Pirates, and he wrote a song for Cliff Richard,’ said Tom. ‘Cliff had a hit with one of Gordon’s songs so he was doing well as a songwriter. So he said he would like to manage me if I was up for it. And I said, yes, definitely. Because I knew who Gordon Mills was, I’d seen him on television, so I knew that he knew what he was talking about. He wasn’t one of those guys that said he could do something and then he couldn’t. I mean, I knew this man could.’ He was right. Gordon did, once famously telling him, ‘You just sing. I’ll do the rest.’

      A few preparations had to be made, starting with his name. There was already a Tommy Scott in London, so a new moniker was needed, and fast. Tom’s real name, Woodward, was felt to be not quite right. But finally Gordon Mills had a stroke of genius: a new film had just been released starring Albert Finney, which was receiving a huge amount of publicity. Why not take advantage of that and give him the name of the film, Tom Jones? And so a legend was born. On Gordon’s part this was a very canny move and a sure sign that Tom had finally got the right person to help him on his way. The various stop-starts up to this point certainly hadn’t hurt him, too, for they gave him a certain resilience necessary for any performer who has a career spanning decades and an ability to bounce back; they also helped him keep his feet on the ground. Even now, Tom has never made the error of believing his own publicity: while he has talent by the sack-load, to get to where he is now takes a great deal of luck, too. He has always acknowledged this and never denied how fortunate he has been.

      Even so, it was not all plain sailing – it took a while before a record deal came through, a time that was to prove miserable for the young Tom. He was scruffy and perceived by many records companies to be too ‘raw’. He and the band were living in London’s Notting Hill on the £1 a day paid to them by Gordon, which was less than the average wage in 1964, while back in Wales Linda was still working. He really considered giving up. ‘There was only one time when he wavered and that wasn’t because he was thinking about himself,’ said Freda Woodward. ‘He had come home for Christmas. “Mum,” he said, “I think I’ll just have to throw it in and take up work again.” He felt really bad about his wife having to work to keep the home fires burning. I said, “Don’t worry, it will come out all right. I know you can do it.” “Do you really think that, Mum?” “Yes, just be a little patient.”’

      Times were so tough that on one occasion Tom actually stole a steak from a passing waiter at a trendy club where they had all gone to be seen. Indeed, for one very brief moment, he even contemplated ending it all. He was on a platform on the London Underground when it occurred to him how easy it would be to jump. ‘For a split second I thought, aww, f**k it! If I just step to the right it’d be over,’ he said. ‘I felt so down because I didn’t know what to do. That very rarely happens to me. I didn’t want to go back to Wales without proving myself. I wasn’t making any money. F**k it! But then things flash through your mind. What about your wife? What about your son? What about your mother and father, how would they feel? But for that split second, that’s as low as I ever got, just before “It’s Not Unusual”.’ But he didn’t jump.

      Ironically, it was just a few weeks after that when Tom signed with Decca record label. They had not forgotten their initial interest in the young man with the astounding voice. But what was needed now was a hit. For all the power and magnificence of his voice, Tom still had to channel it into the right material and this was not immediately forthcoming. Indeed, his first single, ‘Chills and Fever’, released in 1964, sunk without trace. But Decca knew what it had on its hands and the company determined their new singer was to make the grade, and so plans began for a second, follow-up single. The choice, ‘It’s Not Unusual’ (1965), was not an obvious one. For a start, it had originally been intended for the singer Sandie Shaw and, in its early state, was very much more watered down than Tom’s version would become. Written by Gordon Mills

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