In 1965, when Sir Tom Jones achieved his breakthrough with the number one hit “It’s Not Unusual,” his father remained employed in the coal mines of the Rhondda Valley.
Jones, often referred to as “the miner’s son from Pontypridd,” had seen his life diverge significantly from the working men’s clubs where he initially honed his performance skills.
By his mid-20s, Jones had secured a three-record deal with Decca Studios, sharing a label with The Rolling Stones and launching his initial string of successful hits.
However, the pop star has stated that he never forgot his roots. In an appearance on the BBC series, In My Own Words, he revealed the distress he felt knowing his father was still working in the mines while his own life was being transformed by fame.
The episode is filmed at the first home he purchased with his late wife, Linda, in 1966, following his initial surge of success.
Manygate Lane, located in Shepperton, Surrey, is 150 miles from Pontypridd. At the time, the estate was home to a number of celebrities, but Jones remained deeply connected to his Welsh heritage.
“I had a new Jaguar, I had a new house, and I went back to Wales, because I would go back whenever I could,” he recalled.
“One Sunday night, I’d been out with my father and when we got home, my mother was cutting sandwiches for him. I said, ‘where are you going?’ He said, ‘I’m going to work, I’m on the night shift.’ I said, ‘You can’t go to work.’ And he said, ‘I’m a coal miner, that’s what I do’.”
“I said, ‘but I’m making a lot of money now’. He said, ‘yeah, but how long is it going to last?'”
“That was a big deal for me, to get him out of the coal mine – it was a dangerous job.”
Jones eventually gifted the Manygate Lane house to his parents, but the relocation did not suit his father, who would sometimes experience depression and be unable to leave his bed.
“Everything they knew was in Pontypridd.”
Growing up in Pontypridd, Sir Tom’s childhood was characterized by love and a strong sense of community.
“I enjoyed my life in south Wales. I liked going to the local club with my father and his brothers and my cousins in Treforest. I couldn’t wait to be one of them.”
“It was a great community to come from. You know, the salt of the earth. Coal mining. That’s what they were. It was a wonderful experience and I wouldn’t change it for the world. There was so much love.”
Although his father was a miner, and many Welsh boys followed in their fathers’ footsteps upon leaving school, the 85-year-old stated: “I never fancied it because I always wanted to be a pop singer.”
The episode also features Sir Tom reflecting on a lighter moment: his spontaneous decision to stop dyeing his hair in 2009.
After watching a performance he gave on “Later… with Jools Holland,” he recalled thinking, “My God, my hair, it looks dyed.”
“And it looked permed!”
“And people were saying, ‘Tom Jones with his dyed, permed hair’.”
“Well it wasn’t permed, but the dye made it look more like that.”
Not wanting to appear “false,” he allowed his hair to go gray. To his surprise, “nobody complained.”
“Everybody said, ‘Your hair looks great, Tom’.”
“I said, ‘Thank you very much.'”
In My Own Words – Tom Jones is available on the BBC iPlayer.
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