Post by erik on Nov 20, 2022 0:26:55 GMT -5
Sir Tom Jones is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight with his R&B-influenced take on a long-standing C&W classic.
DETROIT CITY (Tom Jones; Parrot; 1967)—Although frequently lambasted for his over-the-top stage theatrics and overtly dramatic vocal gymnastics, Sir Tom Jones, the Welshman, was hugely admired by his fans both inside and outside the music business, including no less established legends than Elvis Presley and James Brown, to name a few. One of the things that became evident in 1966 is that, besides his fondness for American rhythm and blues, Jones also had a thing for country and western material as well, though when he did them during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s he did them in the R&B-influenced style he had learned from Elvis. Such had been the case with his version of the Porter Wagoner classic “Green, Green Grass Of Home”, which was a #1 hit for six weeks in his home territory of England, and reached a highly respectable #11 in America in February 1967. Another song of the Nashville canon that Jones recorded for his 1967 album Green Green Grass Of Home, besides the aforementioned title track, was the much-covered “Detroit City”, which had been written by Danny McDill and future country music heavyweight Mel Tillis back in 1961. Talking about a young man who leaves the South destined for the Motor City and a job in an automobile factory, only to find his nights being spent in miserable dive bars, and consumed by an ever-present desire to go back home. Country music superstar Bobby Bare had already scored a big pop/country crossover hit with the song; and though Jones’ version was to stall out at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1967, it nevertheless illustrated the approach that he was to take with other country songs over the next few years. “Detroit City” also hit #8 on the UK chart, and Top Five on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary/Easy Listening Chart as well. Jones’ other country covers during 1967 and 1968 would include Mickey Newbury’s “Funny, Familiar, Forgotten Feelings” and the 1962 Patsy Cline classic “Just Out Of Reach”. Early in 1977, however, he would get to #1 on the C&W chart (#15 on the Hot 100) with the wholly new “Say You’ll Stay Until Tomorrow”.
DETROIT CITY (Tom Jones; Parrot; 1967)—Although frequently lambasted for his over-the-top stage theatrics and overtly dramatic vocal gymnastics, Sir Tom Jones, the Welshman, was hugely admired by his fans both inside and outside the music business, including no less established legends than Elvis Presley and James Brown, to name a few. One of the things that became evident in 1966 is that, besides his fondness for American rhythm and blues, Jones also had a thing for country and western material as well, though when he did them during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s he did them in the R&B-influenced style he had learned from Elvis. Such had been the case with his version of the Porter Wagoner classic “Green, Green Grass Of Home”, which was a #1 hit for six weeks in his home territory of England, and reached a highly respectable #11 in America in February 1967. Another song of the Nashville canon that Jones recorded for his 1967 album Green Green Grass Of Home, besides the aforementioned title track, was the much-covered “Detroit City”, which had been written by Danny McDill and future country music heavyweight Mel Tillis back in 1961. Talking about a young man who leaves the South destined for the Motor City and a job in an automobile factory, only to find his nights being spent in miserable dive bars, and consumed by an ever-present desire to go back home. Country music superstar Bobby Bare had already scored a big pop/country crossover hit with the song; and though Jones’ version was to stall out at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1967, it nevertheless illustrated the approach that he was to take with other country songs over the next few years. “Detroit City” also hit #8 on the UK chart, and Top Five on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary/Easy Listening Chart as well. Jones’ other country covers during 1967 and 1968 would include Mickey Newbury’s “Funny, Familiar, Forgotten Feelings” and the 1962 Patsy Cline classic “Just Out Of Reach”. Early in 1977, however, he would get to #1 on the C&W chart (#15 on the Hot 100) with the wholly new “Say You’ll Stay Until Tomorrow”.