DVD Review: This is Tom Jones

By June L. Jun 6, 2007, 15:34 GMT

Tom Jones, a man who oozed charisma thanks to his powerhouse voice and slick stage moves, hosted his own weekly musical variety show from 1969 to 1971. This 3 DVD set captures all his swagger and sex appeal. Featuring guest performances from Little Richard, Stevie Wonder, and Aretha Franklin, this set is a collector\'s treasure. ...more

From 1969 to 1971 singer Tom Jones hosted and performed in a musical variety show on ABC-television.  Top named stars and musical groups were his guests, with recurring comedy sketches by The Ace Trucking Company and Pat Paulsen.   It was filmed in both Hollywood and in London, and was hip and energetic and a lot of fun.

Time Life has issued a three disc DVD set of The Very Best of This is Tom Jones, and much of it really is, the very best.  The “concert” section at the end of each episode is a wonderful presentation of Tom Jones’s showmanship and voice.  The guest star segments, whether musical or comedy, are grand.  It is wonderful to see dear departed performers such as Richard Pryor, Janis Joplin and Bob Hope in such good form!

Personally, I like the bits when Tom joins the guests in musical numbers.  It is Rock and Roll bliss to watch and hear Tom and Stevie Wonder, Tom and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tom and Aretha Franklin, Tom and Janis Joplin…these are nothing short of amazing. 

However, this set is not The Very Best in organized presentation.  Disc one begins with show number one, and there is some mention of the show’s newness, and some indication that other than commercials, we are seeing all that was televised originally.  Well, Joey Heatherton was on the guest list, and never made an appearance in this version of the episode. 

Suddenly for episode two, it is episode 11 and only Pat Paulsen and The Who are shown before the ending “concert” segment, and this whole episode is in black and white.  It gets worse, the first episode on disc two, which is episode 26 and has Janis Joplin as a guest, is in very poor condition.  Oh come on, there HAS to be a better copy of this somewhere that TL could use…And Tom gives this great introduction to Glen Campbell, who then has a tiny musical intro into Tom’s next song. 

The same thing happens with Leslie Uggams, a tiny musical intro and then the “guest” is seen no more.  In addition to these flaws, we have to hear “It’s Not Unusual” at least eight times, it is a good song, but once is enough for a collection that is not the complete season, or series.

My suggestion would be to decide up front whether you are presenting the episodes in total, or if you are doing a “best of” and then structure the set accordingly.  If it is the complete series, issue it season one, season two, and season three, with ALL guests, even those who are now considered “unknown.” 

People who are interested in the show will be interested in seeing everything.   If it is truly only “the best of,” then look through ALL the episodes for THE BEST.  One disc could be “best of musical guests” and then have the wonderful combined performances (mentioned above) that have aged well.  The second disc could be “best of guest stars” and have Peter Sellers, Bob Hope, Richard Prior, and others who were outstanding.  Finally the third disc could be a “best of Tom Jones show concerts” and put together those wonderful performances from the concerts at the end of each episode.

The set is 3 discs, with approximately 300 minutes of play. They are presented in Aspect Ratio 1.33:1.  The sound is better than I expected it to be, but it is easy to forget about late 60’s technology flaws in the wonder of seeing these performances.   The colors are good, but scratches or dots in the video in several places (most notably the Janis Joplin episode) are distracting.

This is a very good set, but with a little more care, it could be great.

This Is Tom Jones is now available for pre-order at Amazon for a June 26th release. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.