Just Help Yourself - Tom Jones, The Squires and the Road to Stardom — Tom Jones, The Squires and the Road to Stardom

Disgrifiad Cymraeg / Welsh Description

Mae'n 1960 ac mae newidiadau mawr ar droed ym Mhrydain. Yn nhref Pontypridd mae Vernon Hopkins - un ar bymtheg oed - wedi darganfod canwr newydd ar gyfer ei fand, bachgen lleol a ddaw, maes o law, yn enwog fel Tom Jones. Mae stori ddilys Vernon Hopkins yn cynnig golwg ddadlennol ar uchafbwyntiau ac isafbwyntiau byd canu pop y cyfnod, gan gynnwys rhai lluniau nas gwelwyd o'r blaen.

Disgrifiad Saesneg / English Description

1960. Britain stood at the cusp of new times, and in Pontypridd, sixteen-year-old Vernon Hopkins found a new singer for his band: a local boy who would come to be known as Tom Jones. Vernon Hopkins' authentic narrative is a revealing insight into the highs and lows of the music business, full of gritty detail, and previously unseen photographs.

Dosbarthu

Byddwn yn dosbarthu eitemau sydd mewn stoc o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith, fel arfer drwy Royal Mail Tracked 48. Ar gyfer archebion o flaen llaw, byddwn yn dosbarthu’r eitem o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith ar ôl ei derbyn gan ein cyflenwr.

Dispatch

In-stock items will be dispatched within 3 business days, usually by Royal Mail Tracked 48. For pre-orders, we’ll dispatch within 3 business days of receiving the item from our supplier.

Adolygiad y Cyhoeddwr / Publisher Review

We are warned in the Book of Daniel to beware of adoring golden idols as they tend to have feet of clay. I was reminded of this while reading this fascinating first-hand account of Tom Jones’s elevation to greatness. The rise of the chapel-going boy from Pontypridd who became Tom Jones is the stuff that legends are made of. It is the blueprint that has motivated countless aspiring pop singers. Those who do make it are few and far between. Being in the right place at the right time is a key; but not the only key. As we learn from the man who knew Tom Jones as well – if not better – than anyone, ruthlessness is a prime ingredient. And this attribute became a key factor in the combination of an ambitious young rock singer and a money-grabbing manager. In the swinging sixties, the days of slicked-back hair and drape suits, an emerging band from the Valleys was in search of a new singer. The bass player, Vernon Hopkins, chanced upon young Tommy Woodward, who reluctantly stood in one night for the regular singer. He had an immediate effect. For eight years he helped make the band a huge success. Then a music entrepreneur, Gordon Mills, spotted young Tommy’s potential and, Svengali-like, lured him into his web. And thus Tom Jones was born. The band was abandoned, sacrificed on the altar of greed. Unlike the naive Elvis and his evil manipulator Colonel Parker, it seems that Tom and Gordon were equal partners in their ruthless quest for success. They were made for each other. Without their talisman, the band played on and did manage to forge a musical career. But nothing like the fame and fortune they could have achieved with their fabulous vocalist. This is a vivid account of the Babylon of rock written by a man who has been there and worn the T-shirt. Hopkins relives the days of Teddy-boy clashes and the new sexual freedom when rock and roll changed the world. I can imagine some die-hard fans dismissing this re-evaluation of Tom Jones as reeking of sour grapes, a book born of bitterness and jealousy. But no, this book is born out of sadness, with Tom spurning the friends and the town that had made him. And there lies another Biblical connotation – that of a man who gains the whole world but loses his soul.