When it comes to singing legends, it’s fair to say that Sir Tom Jones is up there with some of the best.
He may have hit the scene in the ’60s but the Pontpridd-born singer, now 84, is still belting out the classics as good as ever before. The singer, from Wales, is also still a respected judge on ITV’s The Voice.
But even though he has a number of hits under his belt – like Green, Green Grass of Home, Sex Bomb and She’s A Lady – when it comes to his personal favourites, you may be a little surprised.
The topic formerly came up on Reddit when a social media user posted about stars opening up about their favourite Bob Dylan songs. Sir Tom featured in the line-up and it turns out he’s a big fan.
While he wasn’t struck by Dylan’s voice at first, a certain song is said to have captivated him. The track then went onto stay with him forever, and could even be considered one of his favourites.
“I wasn’t struck by Dylan’s voice at first,” Sir Tom told The Guardian. “But then I heard ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’, and I’ve been a fan ever since. The lyrics are fantastic. He’s basically asking, ‘How many times do we have to go through all this s**t before we realise that we’re f***ing up the world?'”
During the interview, Sir Tom also hinted that the track makes it within the list of his all-time favourites – especially when it comes to songwriting. He added: “He paints pictures with his songs so you can see things happening.
“What good am I if I just stand by and let things happen that I know I should be changing? He was the first singer-songwriter to make me think.”
It seems Sir Tom has always remained quite a big fan of Dylan’s work over the years too, even though his own singing styles are more conventional. Back in 2010, he covered Dylan’s 1989 song “What Good Am I”, and it formed a part of his album, Praise & Blame.
As well as this, in 2021, he recorded a version of “One More Cup of Coffee” for his album Surrounded By Time.
Blowin’ In The Wind (1963)
“Blowin’ in the Wind” was written by Bob Dylan in 1962, and was released as a single as a part of his album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, in 1963. It’s often dubbed a “protest song” as it asks a variety of rhetorical questions about peace, war and freedom.
In 1994, the song was actually added to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Then, 10 years later, it was also ranked number 14 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.
Even though it didn’t make the charts when it was first released, it was very popular on radio stations. In fact, it got to number three in France on the airplay chart.
However, in 1963, Peter, Paul and Mary also released a cover of the song, which dropped three weeks after Dylan’s album. This version became the most commercially successful, as it managed to reach number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and also held the top spot on the Middle-Road charts for five weeks.