Tom Jones turns 82 years old today.
In an effort to celebrate, Ted Tocks Covers will feature his 1971 classic ‘She’s a Lady’. There are a couple of interesting twists to this post so please read on and enjoy the brief story and a handful of intriguing collaborations and covers.
Let me get this out of the way early. The song speaks to a different era and it is clearly sexist in its now hopelessly out of touch declarations. Being self-aware, Tom Jones has recently stated that he will no longer perform it live. This statement evolved from his appearance as vocal coach on the ‘The Voice – UK’.
My old song She’s a Lady’ from 1971 is the only one of my songs I won’t do on stage anymore. There are lines in there, like, ‘She always knows her place’, that just don’t work in this day and age. That song doesn’t sit right anymore.”
Tom Jones
‘She’s a Lady’ is a song written by Canadian singer/songwriter and composer Paul Anka. He released it in 1970 on his album ‘Paul Anka ‘70s’. Here is his version.
When listening to Tom Jones’s version you will note that it is his personal touch that puts it over the top as a recording. While the guitar and drums drive the intended message of reverence, the horns create the perfect accent to his powerful vocals.
When Tom Jones opted to release ‘She’s a Lady’ in January of 1971 he included ‘My Way’ as the B-side, which was also written by Paul Anka, but made famous by Frank Sinatra.
The link from Paul Anka to Tom Jones, and then Frank Sinatra is important because while reflecting on his life, Jones noted that there is another song that he can no longer listen to or sing.
Here is ‘Hungry Years’ by the Chairman of the Board and his passionate rendition of the song penned by another wonderful songwriter, Neil Sedaka.
Tom Jones married his childhood sweetheart, Linda Trenchard in 1957 when they were both just 16 years old. They remained married for 59 years, until she passed away, after a battle with cancer in 2016.
It jogs my memory of my wife and myself. We got married very young, you see, and she was with me up until five years ago when she had lung cancer and passed away.I tried to sing it as a duet with a lady on The Voice but every time I went to do it, I got a lump in my throat.”
Tom Jones
Getting back to the composition, Paul Anka recognized early on that he was creating a brash statement that could easily have been misconstrued. He claims he was writing lyrics that fit the style of the singer delivering the messenger. With Tom Jones, the stage persona and the man may have been two different things.
When I think about Tom Jones, I get a cocky, macho image— writing for other people is like playing a character, and I thought, “What would this character say?” What came out was pretty brash and arrogant, and sure, it was politically incorrect, but what the hell. I write like a Method actor, putting myself in his place. It’s the shortest time it ever took me to write a song. I knocked off the lyric on that TWA flight from London back to New York. Later I went to my den and pulled the melody out in about an hour and a half. But I can tell you this, I dislike “She’s a Lady” more than anything else I’ve written. I’m not saying I don’t have a chauvinistic side, but not like that. Still, I wanted to make it as realistic as possible, and Tom Jones is as swaggering and brash as a Welsh coal-miner in a pub on a Saturday night.”
Paul Anka
Audiences bought into it all in droves. ‘She’s a Lady’ became a #1 hit in Australia, Canada and the United States. Its ascent to #1 in the U.S. was temporarily delayed by the popularity of ‘Me and Bobbie McGee’ by Janis Joplin.
Paul Anka wrote ‘She’s a Lady’ following a meeting in New York City, between himself, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck and their manager Gordon Mills. Anka recalls that Mills was maneuvering to purchase his music catalogue in order to obtain recording rights for his acts. As legend has it, they drank so much champagne that the Brits mistook the decorative bowls of pot pourri for potato chips and through the night they devoured every bowl his wife Anne had set out to impress her company.
In 2013, Paul Anka released an album called ‘Duets’ which featured an updated version of ‘She’s a Lady’ with a rewritten opening verse.
“Well, she knows what love’s about
She turns me inside out
And that’s not easy.”
Paul Anka and Tom Jones
The easy listening style of this version shines through with the vocal accompaniment of the backup singers. The spoken passage is slightly cringeworthy though.
Oh, listen baby. You’re the only one for me. Don’t listen to these other guys. You belong to T.J. baby. Yah!”
Tom Jones
Speaking of cringeworthy…
Here is a cover version of ’She’s a Lady’ by a Hungarian heavy metal band known as Superbutt. They take chauvinism to a new level. Knowing what I know, it seems to be a cultural thing. Ouch!
But wait, there’s more. Here is Arizona glam metal band Big Cock. They describe themselves as sleaze metal and they offer no apology. In for a penny, in for a pound I suppose. I don’t even want to talk about what came up when I typed in my Google search for this band. Let’s just say I should have probably been a little more specific.
The bottom line is, at Ted Tocks Covers I just share the cover versions. The band names are beyond my control. The point is, Paul Anka and Tom Jones translate well into the metal genre, even if it is slightly ironic.
Just one more cover. Here is Ali Campbell along with Shaggy from 2009. They have lot of fun ‘building a mountain from a little pile of clay’. The blend of styles really works.
As you embark on this day, please heed the advice of Marge Simpson.
How about piping in some Tom Jones music. That always cheers me up.”
Marge Simpson
We could all use a little morale boost, and music is always the perfect remedy.
Since I began writing Ted Tocks Covers, I consider Tom Jones to be one of my most important awakenings. Not that my arriving very late to the party really matters, but the truth is, he is so much more than I ever gave him credit for, and the fact that he is an endless source of quality cover versions makes him a common source for this blog. I suspect that if I did not embark on this project in 2018, I likely would not have gained this respect for Sir Tom. Instead, I now consider myself a fan of his style and his distinct arrangements.
Do yourself a favour. Listen to his album of covers, ‘Reload’.
Here is a series of Ted Tocks features that have included Tom Jones.
In May of 2021, Sir Tom Jones once again hit the top of the U.K. albums chart with his collection of songs entitled ‘Surrounded by Time’. At the time he was a little over a month shy of his 81st birthday. This made him the oldest male to achieve this status. His achievements edged out Bob Dylan who set the previous standard just one year earlier, at the age of 79 years and one month with his album ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’.
Raise a glass to Sir Tom, but please…don’t eat the pot pourri.
Ted Tocks Covers 
His Duet with Janis Joplin was my eye opener, then his piece with Crosby Stills and Nash demonstrated his versatility and power
LikeLiked by 1 person
Long Time Gone is on my list of songs to write about.
LikeLike