“It’s Not Unusual” was the big breakout hit for Welsh singer Tom Jones, and it’s today’s classic song of the day. Released in January of 1965 in the UK (March in the U.S.), this track went to #10 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, and #3 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. The song went all the way to #1 in the UK and #2 in Canada.
“It’s Not Unusual” was written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills. Reed would go on to write hits like “There’s a Kind of Hush” for Herman’s Hermits, “Kiss Me Goodbye” for Petula Clark, and another hit, “Delilah,” for Tom Jones. Mills would go on to write songs like “Lady Godiva” for Peter and Gordon and “I’m the Lonely One” for Cliff Richard, as well as a bunch of other tunes for Mr. Jones.
After they wrote the tune, Reed and Mills recruited a then-unknown Tom Jones to record the demo and then they sent it to Brit songbird Sandie Shaw. She was so impressed with the demo that she convinced the songwriters that Mr. Jones should release it, instead. Which he did.
The final recording featured some of the best studio musicians in England at the time, including Jimmy Page (of future Led Zeppelin fame) on lead guitar, Joe Moretti and Vic Flick on other guitars, Kenny Salmon on organ, Eric Ford on bass, and either Andy White, Ronnie Verrell, or Alan Grahame on drums. (Apparently they recorded the song four times with three different drummers; nobody’s sure which version the label ended up releasing.) When the keyboard player they originally booked didn’t show up for the session, they ended up running across the street to the La Giaconda coffee house and recruited a kid named Reginald Dwight to fill in. You probably know him better for the stage name he adopted a few years later, Elton John.
Tom Jones was born Thomas John Woodward in 1940, the son of a Welsh coal miner, and began singing at an early age. He joined the beat group Tommy Scott and the Senators in 1963. Producer Gordon Mills met Mr. Woodward a year or so later, became his manager, and convinced him to change his name to Tom Jones. Mills got Jones a recording contract with Decca Records, which released Jones’ first single, “Chills and Fever,” late in 1964. It didn’t do much, but his second effort, “It’s Not Unusual,” did.
Tom Jones became known for his full-throated, soulful voice and for his hip-swiveling onstage persona. He quickly became a sex symbol, with female fans having no shame in throwing their undergarments at him during his sweat-soaked performances. More important, he was one of the most successful singers of the 1960s and 1970s and beyond, with hits like “What’s New Pussycat?,” “Thunderball” (the theme from the James Bond movie of the same name), “Green, Green Grass of Home,” “Detroit City,” “Delilah,” “Love Me Tonight,” “Without Love (There is Nothing),” “Daughter of Darkness,” “I (Who Have Nothing),” “She’s a Lady,” “Say You’ll Stay Until Tomorrow,” “Puppet Man,” “Touch Me (I’ll Be Your Fool Once More),” “If I Only Knew,” “Sex Bomb,” and, with the Art of Noise, a 1988 cover of Prince’s “Kiss.” He’s still performing today at age 85, as well as a being a coach on The Voice UK.
Now, for your viewing pleasure, here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day. It’s 28-year-old Tom Jones belting out a big and brassy (and somewhat abbreviated) version of “It’s Not Unusual” live on the April 21, 1968, episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. What a hell of an entertainer!
