Television. One DVD at a Time.

"Ladies and gentlemen...this is Tom Jones!" - Jones' announcer introducing the boss

This is Tom Jones DVD Review

By A.J. Carson

During the variety show craze of the '60s and '70s, there were many missteps, usually when the shows lost sight of their host's true talents. It's refreshing, then, to see a show that actually gets it right. This is Tom Jones, a British/US co-production that ran on ABC from February 1969 to January 1971, allows Jones to do what he does best-perform songs in a muscular yet smoothly seductive style, mostly leaving the comedy bits to the professionals.

If you aren't a fan of the charismatic Welsh singer, you will be by the time you get through watching these episodes. Jones has the ability to sell almost any song he sings, from his massive hits like "It's Not Unusual," "Ain't That Good News," "What's New Pussycat?," and "Danny Boy" to covers of "Lodi," "Land of 1,000 Dances," "Lucille," and more.

Just as impressive are his stellar musical guests. Little Richard, his hair piled atop his head, gives scorching performances of his most famous songs. Aretha Franklin, dressed like a space-age Nefertiti, breezes through "I Say a Little Prayer." Joe Cocker gives several soulful performances while dancing so spastically you might think he's having seizures. Other guests include The Moody Blues, The Who, Burt Bacharach, Janis Joplin, and Stevie Wonder. Jones also performs with many of his guests.

The emphasis here is on music, but no variety show would be complete without a little comedy. This is Tom Jones is no exception, featuring performances by sketch comics The Ace Trucking Company (including Patty Deutsch and Fred Willard) and The Committee (including WKRP's Howard Hessman), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour's Pat Paulsen, Richard Pryor, Bob Hope, and even actress Anne Bancroft. Some of the comedy is dated, but it is still a fun primer on hip sketch comedy of the period. Even stale skits about Women's Lib hold a certain amount of charm thanks to Bancroft's innate likeability.

This set's main flaw is that the episodes are edited-sometimes heavily-because of music rights issues. The opening credits for a few episodes include names of guest stars who do not actually appear on the DVDs. Other guests-like Glen Campbell-have been reduced to cameo appearances. Still, while it would be nice to have the complete episodes, what is left here is almost pure gold. Music fans will be thrilled to have these nuggets, no matter how incomplete.

Here is a complete listing of the segments found in each episode, along with the truncated running times:

DISC 1 Original Air Date: FEBRUARY 7, 1969 (37:44)
•"It's Not Unusual" - Tom Jones
•"Help Yourself" - Tom Jones
•"Departure;" "Ride My See-Saw" - The Moody Blues
•Comedy Sketch - Richard Pryor
•"Those Were the Days" - Mary Hopkin
•Comedy Spot - Peter Sellers
•The Concert: "Kansas City" - Tom Jones
•"Danny Boy" - Tom Jones
Original Air Date: APRIL 18, 1969 (23:55)
•"It's Not Unusual" - Tom Jones
•"Hello Young Lovers" - Tom Jones
•Comedy Spot - Pat Paulsen
•"Pinball Wizard" - The Who
•"The Rose" - Tom Jones
•The Concert: "Turn on Your Lovelight;" "Shake" - Tom Jones
Original Air Date: SEPTEMBER 25, 1970 (33:21)
•"Ain't That Good News" - Tom Jones
•"I (Who Have Nothing)" - Tom Jones
•"What's New Pussycat?" - Tom Jones
•"The Look of Love" - Tom Jones with Burt Bacharach
•"What the World Needs Now Is Love" - Tom Jones with Burt Bacharach
•Comedy Spot - The Ace Trucking Company
•Dramatic Sketch - Anne Bancroft
•"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" - Tom Jones with Burt Bacharach and Big Jim Sullivan
•Comedy Sketch - Anne Bancroft with Tom Jones
•The Concert (medley): "I'll Never Fall in Love Again; "Green, Green Grass of Home;" "Love Me Tonight;" "It's Not Unusual" - Tom Jones

DISC 2 Original Air Date: NOVEMBER 27, 1969 (21:37)
•"It's Not Unusual - Tom Jones
•"I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'" - Tom Jones
•Comedy Spot - The Ace Trucking Company with Tom Jones
•"Lucille" - Little Richard
•Comedy Spot - The Ace Trucking Company
•Medley: "Jenny, Jenny;" "Rip It Up;" "Send Me Some Lovin';" "Good Golly, Miss Molly" - Little Richard and Tom Jones
•Comedy Spot - The Ace Trucking Company
•The Concert: "Don't Fight It" - Tom Jones
Original Air Date: DECEMBER 4, 1969 (36:35)
•"It's Not Unusual" - Tom Jones
•"You Came a Long Way From St. Louis" - Tom Jones (Glen Campbell intro)
•Comedy Sketches - The Committee
•"Little Girl Blue" - Janis Joplin
•Comedy Sketch - The Committee with Tom Jones
•"Raise Your Hand" - Janis Joplin with Tom Jones
•The Concert: "In the Midnight Hour;" "Danny Boy; "Land of 1000 Dances" - Tom Jones
Original Air Date: FEBRUARY 19, 1970 (24:58)
•"It's Not Unusual" - Tom Jones
•"We Can Work It Out" - Tom Jones (Leslie Uggams intro)
•"Delta Lady" - Joe Cocker and the Grease Band with Tom Jones
•"Angel Eyes" - Tom Jones with Johnnie Spence
•"The Letter" - Joe Cocker and the Grease Band
•"Somewhere" - Tom Jones with Leslie Uggams
•The Concert: "She Loves Me" - Tom Jones

DISC 3 Original Air Date: APRIL 25, 1969 (21:11)
•"It's Not Unusual" - Tom Jones
•Medley: "For Once in My Life;" "Thank You Love;" "For Once in My Life" - Stevie Wonder
•Comedy Sketch - Pat Paulsen
•Medley: "A Place in the Sun;" "Uptight (Everything's Alright);" "It's Not Unusual;" "Nothing's Too Good For My Baby;" "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" - Stevie Wonder with Tom Jones
•The Concert: "Lucille" - Tom Jones
Original Air Date: OCTOBER 9, 1970 (30:09)
•"Ain't That Good News" - Tom Jones
•"I Say a Little Prayer" - Aretha Franklin
•Comedy Sketch - The Ace Trucking Company
•Comedy Sketch - Bob Hope
•Medley: "It's Not Unusual;" "See Saw;" "Spirit in the Dark" - Aretha Franklin with Tom Jones
•Comedy Sketches - The Ace Trucking Company
•"The Party's Over" - Aretha Franklin with Tom Jones
•The Concert: "Lodi" - Tom Jones

The eight episodes that make up this collection are divided onto three discs. The DVDs are housed in a foldout digipak. The digipak is decorated with photos of Jones and the series' distinctive stage set. The digipak also includes a listing of the original episode airdates and a listing of the songs and comedy segments included in each. A booklet (housed in its own pocket) provides an informative background notes on each episode. The digipak slides into an outer cardboard sleeve. In total, the packaging is stylish and eye-catching.

The full-motion menus are set to "It's Not Unusual" and include clips from the series. Viewers can choose to watch all of the disc's episodes, or can choose an individual one. Viewers may also choose to watch only the musical performances or only Tom Jones' musical performances. The episodes are generously divided into chapters.

Video and Audio

Shot on videotape in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the video is far from perfect. Small imperfections-like horizontal, static-like lines and vertical lines running down the side of the screen-are usually present. One of the episodes (featuring The Who) is in black-and-white because the color version is missing. The episodes sound okay, though, so sit back and enjoy.

Extras

All of the episodes except one include a brief video introduction by Tom Jones.

On disc one, the "ABC Network Promo for the Series Premiere, 1969" (1:03) touts ABC's February 1969 Friday night lineup-This is Tom Jones, the brilliantly moronic-looking game show The Generation Gap, and a nighttime version of Let's Make a Deal.

When This is Tom Jones premiered, interviews via satellite were not yet possible, so Jones filmed the answers to several questions so that local stations could splice in footage of their own news anchors "interviewing" the singer. In "1969 TV Interview, KATU-TV Portland, OR" (5:52), the reporter for channel 2's program mid-day misinterprets the concept, producing this hilariously stilted clip.

"Tom's Burt Bacharach Story" (4:05) is a charming new interview in which the crooner tells about how he initially turned down the opportunity to record Burt Bacharach's "What's New Pussycat?" because the song sounded so weird. Luckily, Bacharach persisted, and a classic was born.

The remaining extras can be found on disc three. Because of differences in broadcast techniques (NTSC in the US, PAL in the UK), each episode of This is Tom Jones was filmed twice, once in each format. The Stevie Wonder episode allows viewers to use their DVD player's angle button to toggle back and forth between the two versions.

The "Exclusive Tom Jones Interview Videotaped on February 11, 2007 in Los Angeles" (33:54) explores the creation of the show, how the guests were chosen, and censorship issues. The Burt Bacharach story told on disc one is rerun here, but the remainder of the interview is interesting.

Summary

This is Tom Jones could be viewed as pure kitsch, but the terrific musical performances really raise it to another level. Its many extras add to the fun. Even better is that the packaging indicates that this is merely the first of several volumes to come. Ain't that good news!

6/28/07