Sir Tom Jones unveils songs at church gig
- Published
Sir Tom's new single comes out on Monday, which is also his 70th birthday
Sir Tom Jones chose an historic church to give the first performance of songs from his new spiritually-themed album.
The Welsh veteran performed tracks from Praise and Blame for the press at the 180-year-old One Mayfair in London, formerly known as St Mark's.
Leaving his Sexbomb days behind, the silver-haired singer's latest reinvention has seen him compared with Johnny Cash and Robert Plant.
The material is so fresh that he forgot the words during one track at the gig.
The album has been recorded with producer Ethan Johns, who has worked with Laura Marling, Kings of Leon and Paulo Nutini.
The first single is released on his 70th birthday on Monday.
It is a double A-side featuring covers of John Lee Hooker's Burning Hell and What Good Am I? by Bob Dylan. The album is out in July.
"I've been into spiritual music since I was kid," the star said recently. "We always sang a lot of gospel stuff in the chapel and at funerals.
"And I realised that when rock 'n' roll kicked in in the 50s that that's where it came from - gospel, country and blues."
- Published1 June 2010