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If you weren’t around in the ‘60s, or old/sober enough to remember them, then you may not be familiar with the name Tom Jones. The young Welshman was one of the biggest things in the mid to late ‘60s as he strutted his stuff with the hit “It’s Not Unusual,” (think of Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air), strolled his way through the Burt Bacharach tune “What’s New Pussycat?,” a bizarre song that was the title track for an equally bizarre film by Woody Allen and he sang a number of other hits, including the song most overused now in Dr. Pepper commercials, “Help Yourself.”

The man gyrated like Elvis and threw in howls and yelps like The Beatles. He was a good looking man with a lot of charisma a sense of humor and popular enough that ABC decided to make him the host of a new kind of variety show. Creative as an elephant sneaking into a hen house, they named it This Is Tom Jones. Despite the name, the show was unlike Ed Sullivan, The Tonight Show or any of the other programs in 1969. This was some big-budget material that really relied on his talents as a singer and host, introducing other bands, comedians and surrounded by a troupe of male and female dancers as singers weave their way through expensive sets. Other shows would follow suit in the immediate years to come, but Tom Jones kind of kicked it all off and he did it while recording most of the shows in England, with an occasional trip to the States.

Jones and the network collaborated on who would appear on the show. It became an interesting mixture of British and American guests, some of them almost unknown at the time. The very first show features The Moody Blues, Peter Sellers and a very young Richard Pryor. The finalé of each show is a concert performance that is normally footage taken from a show performed in England with his orchestra in front of a live audience. The audience generally consists of about 99% women of all ages screaming every time he makes a jerky move or stretches out his hand. They basically attack him when he gets close enough, at times trying to pull him into the seats with them.

The next show on disc 1 features comedian Pat Paulsen and The Who whipping out “PinBall Wizard” to an excited crowd. This is followed by the third show with the comedy troupe known as The Ace Trucking Company, which launched a couple of comedians, actress Anne Bancroft in a sudsy bathtub and Burt Bacharach. Not only do a lot of the guests do their own material, but there is normally a duet with Tom that sometimes includes multiple songs or a medley.

The disc finishes with bonus material of the ABC promos for This Is Tom Jones and some other shows for the new 1969 season and a pre-taped interview with Tom & a TV station in Oregon. Then there is the full version of how Tom first met Bacharach and what he thought of “What’s New Pussycat?”

Disc 2 features more with The Ace Trucking Company, another troupe known as The Committee, the outrageous Little Richard, who looks like he’s about to sweat his wig off under the lights, a small piece with Glen Campbell that I’m sure is only a portion of what was actually shot for the show, (and the same thing happens with a couple of other artists such as when one band is in the background but the shows goes to the comedy as if the band had just played), Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker and more.

The third disc only has 2 shows on it, featuring Pat Paulsen, Stevie Wonder, Ace, Bob Hope and Aretha Franklin. The really cool thing about the Stevie Wonder show is that you can watch the show twice, once as the American version and once as the British version. Jones introduces each show on all of the discs, so he explains why there are two versions. Plus, Stevie, an amazing talent that I knew played piano and harmonica, jumps on the drums and even does a lengthy solo!

Finally, the bonus material on the third disc is a nice, long interview with Jones. The man, who is around 67 in the interview, still looks like he’s in his late 40s. He gives an interesting in-depth look at his life as a high school drop out and his path to stardom. And he has a relatively new album out, still tours and is now Sir Tom Jones after being knighted by Her Majesty in 2006. All of this is on his very interactive website at Tom Jones.

The packaging for this 3 disc collection also matches the newly released This Is Tom Jones Christmas. The DVDs are a Time Life collection. They come boxed in a nice slipcase with a booklet and are filled with some great performances, both musical and comedic. In addition to watching the entire shows, you have the option on each disc to watch just the performances of the other bands or just Tom’s performances. This Is Tom Jones is not only a variety show, but is filled with variety. If it weren’t for some shows obviously being cut, this would be “spot on.”

There are no options when it comes to audio or subtitles. Suffice it to say, the audio is great, the images and the tape have held up well over the past nearly 40 years and this collection should bring back a lot of memories.

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