Was Tom Jones originally Englebert Humperdinck?

Answer 1

Engelbert Humperdinck, the singer, whose real name is Arnold George Dorsey, was originally not believed to have written or composed any songs for Tom Jones, whose own real name is Thomas Jones Woodward. They were often compared to each other, however; a large part of this might have had to do with the facts that both were proteges of British music producer and impressario Gordon Mills and that both recorded on the same record label, the Parrot Records label, in the earliest phases of their respective careers.

THE ABOVE ANSWER IS, IN FACT, FALSE.

Engelbert Humperdinck wrote the song "This and That" which Tom Jones recorded in his early career.

The last person who answered this question did so without actually knowing the facts, yet answered the question anyway.

What confuses many people about this question was that Mr. Humperdinck, when he wrote and composed "This And That" for Mr. Jones, used the pen name of Gerry Dorsey when he did.

Answer 2

NO. Jones manager, Gordon Mills, formerly of the vocal group The Viscounts, discovered Jones playing with his band Tommy Scott and The Senators around 1964 in a night club in the London area. Mills was seeking to get ot of the music peformance end of the industry and into writing and management, thus he began promoting Jones as his artist. It took a while, over a year, before he could land Jones a significant record deal as most record companies were focussing on groups, not solo acts, and there was an impression that Jones was too old fashion, too much like a 50's rocker, that he would not appeal to audiences in the mid 60's.

After "It's Not Unusual" broke Jones into the Top 10 in both the US and UK during the spring of 1965, he released several singles, all aimed at the teen market. Most of them found little success, although he made the Top 40 on both sides of the Atlantic with the James Bond Movie Theme "Thunderball". A ballad, "With These Hands", also found moderate success. The novelty song "Whats New Pussycat?", a Woody Allen movie theme, put Jones in the Top 5 in the US and peaked at No. 11 in the UK.

Mills still felt that Jones best chance for continued success was to broaden his appeal to a larger age group. In late 1966 Jones changed his image from a blue jeans clad, long hair belting rocker into a auit and tie or tuxedo clad pop singer. His records began focussing on more midle of the road music as well. His single "Green, Green Grass Of Home", a slow country song, was vast departure from the slew of singles he had released previously. It reached No. 1 in the UK, No. 11 in the US, and thus his new image was cemented.

In concert however Jones continued performing a wide array of music, much more diverse than many of his most popular albums and singles. He would mix Broadway show tunes and Frank Sinatra tributes with cover versions of Wilson Pickett and Stevie Wonder songs and routinely paid hommage to the 50's rockers he enjoyed like Litttle Richard. This initially increased his popularity, as did his flirtatious manner with females in the audience, as well as his penchant for Elvis style thrusting, hip swiveling dance routines during uptempo numbers. Jones became an iconic sex symbol of the late 60's and early 70's, although his musical versatility helped him maintain enough popularity and acceptance with a male audience that he won the Playboy Magazine annual readers poll for Best Male Vocalist in 1969, placing third in 1970.

Mills discovered Humperdinck after Jones had already had hit records on the charts. Impressed with his three and half octave vocal range and his striking, almost exotic looks, Mills immediately saw Engelbert (real name Gerry Dorsey) as a strict pop balladeer, and promoted him as such. Musically Engelbert stayed strictly with pop ballads and the occassional forays into pre rock standards and counry music (his first two major hit singles "Release Me" and "There Goes My Everything" were country songs, albeit done with string laden pop friendly arangements). Where as Mills allowed Jones the freedom to promote his macho ladies man image on stage and sing Rock Music, Engelbert stayed much more true to form as a modern day romantic baladeer.

There was some crossover in their appeal, although Jones maintained a higher profile in both the US and UK, due in part to his versatility and popularity as a live concert act (he released three different live concert albums between 1967 and 1972, each one reaching Gold status for a million sales in the US). Engelbert had his share of success, more in the UK than the US, but even stateside he enjoyed million seller status with multiple Top 20 albums while radio was friendly to singles such as "The Last Waltz" (US#25, 1967), "A Man Without Love (US#19, 1968), "Am I That Easy To Forget (US#18, 1968), and "Winter World of Love (US# 16, 1969).

Answer 3

No, but Englebert Humperdinck changed his name from Jerry Dorsey in the early '60's.

Answer 4

The road