Elvis Always Tried to ‘Knock’ Tom Jones Because His Own Ego Was ‘Out of Control’
One of Elvis Presley’s good friends was Welsh singer Tom Jones. The two singers met in the 1960s and began spending time together. Though Elvis was fond of Jones, he reportedly could be relatively unpleasant to him. According to Elvis’ bodyguard, Sonny West, the “Heartbreak Hotel” singer often put Jones down in order to make himself seem better.
Elvis could be unkind to Tom Jones
While on vacation in Hawaii with Priscilla Presley, Elvis met Jones. The two singers quickly hit it off and continued to spend time together after the vacation ended. Still, Elvis’ bodyguard said he liked to be the most important person in the room, which caused him to put down Jones.
“We used to see a lot of Tom Jones in Las Vegas and he was a real gentleman,” West said in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy. “We would go to his shows and Elvis always would say something to knock him. Tom wears very tight pants and Elvis would always say, ‘He sticks a damn sock down his pants.’”
Elvis also insulted Jones’ singing as a way to lift up his own.
“He would comment on Tom’s singing, and during a performance, when he was in the audience, he would sing the songs along with Tom, making out that he could sing the high notes, which he couldn’t,” West said.
West believed that Elvis’ ego made it difficult for him to speak positively about other artists, particularly toward the end of his life.
“Unless he is the center of attention, he just isn’t interested,” West said. “His ego is just out of control … and it’s a pity because he wasn’t like that way back … It hurts to see someone you love change so very much.”
Elvis wanted to start a band with Tom Jones
Though West said Elvis consistently commented on Jones’ singing, Jones said Elvis hoped to collaborate with him.
“Elvis says to me, ‘Is that right? The Beatles have split up?’” Jones said on an episode of WTF With Marc Maron. “I said, ‘Yeah.’ And he said, ‘Wow, what a shame.’ I said, ‘Yeah, they’ve done some great music.’ He said, ‘Oh no, I’m not talking about that. I thought it would be great if we had them as our backing band. Wouldn’t it be great to do a show and have The Beatles play for us, you do some of your songs, I do some of my songs.’”
Though Elvis may have said this to Jones, this sort of supergroup would never have come to be. The Beatles were the biggest band in the world; they wouldn’t have performed as a backing band while Elvis and Jones sang. In addition, Elvis was no fan of The Beatles at this stage. The same year they announced their break up, Elvis tried to convince Richard Nixon that they were a threat to The United States.
He was not particularly welcoming to other artists
Jones was not the only other artist Elvis insulted. According to his bodyguards, he talked poorly about anyone who could compete with him. He liked to be the most important person in the room.
“He wasn’t interested in other performers. In fact, he didn’t like other performers,” West said. “He would always have something catty to say about them. If they came to his dressing room to see him, he would keep them waiting for an hour on end before he would make his entrance.”
