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Way back on May 26, 2016, The Second Disc reported on Tom Jones' The Complete Decca Studio Albums Collection, then set for a September 2, 2016 release. Alas, the 15-CD release didn't materialize that fall. But this story has a happy ending. Sir Tom has announced on Facebook that the hefty box - now counting 17 discs, with two CDs comprising an expanded version of the 2020 digital-only rarities set Hide and Seek: The Lost Collection - will finally arrive on November 20 with over 200 tracks and 10+ hours of music.
Jones, who recently turned 80, has had an extraordinary career unlike few others in pop music, notching 36 U.K. Top 40 hits (19 here in the States) across five decades and selling more than 100 million albums worldwide. His mammoth voice and striking good looks made him an icon of the swingin' '60s, with tracks like "It's Not Unusual" and "What's New Pussycat?" becoming hits on both sides of the Atlantic and helping him pick up a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. As the decade wore on, Jones easily transitioned into more traditional pop and even country, with "Green, Green Grass of Home," "(It Looks Like) I'll Never Fall in Love Again" and "Delilah" becoming further Top 10 hits.
Jones kept riding high into the later '60s and early '70s, performing to frenzied crowds in Las Vegas and on the set of his internationally syndicated show, This is Tom Jones. Covers of "I (Who Have Nothing)" and "Till" kept him strong in the United Kingdom, as did the Paul Anka-penned "She's a Lady," his biggest American hit at No. 2 in 1971.
While his chart popularity cooled shortly thereafter, and the artist left his longtime home of Decca Records for other labels, Jones would never stay away too long, earning a string of Top 40 hits on the U.S. country charts in the early '80s before pairing up with a host of dance acts to massive U.K. chart success, from a cover of Prince's "Kiss" with The Art of Noise in 1988 to the chart-topping Reload, featuring collaborations with The Cardigans, The Stereophonics and Mousse T, in 1999.
In recent years, the artist returned to his deep-rooted love of folk, gospel, and blues on such albums as Praise and Blame, Spirit in the Room, and Long Lost Suitcase. He was awarded an OBE in 1999 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006. He remains in the public eye to this day, with constant gigging until the COVID crisis hit and an ongoing stint as judge/coach of The Voice U.K. since 2012. (When the show let Sir Tom go for Season 5, the outcry was so great that he was reinstated the following season.) Jones' career may be unusual, but his deserved success certainly is not.
The Complete Decca Studio Albums Collection brings together the 15 original studio albums (eight of which were Top 10 in the charts) Jones released in his homeland between 1965 and 1975. In addition to just about all the hits, these discs feature a host of unforgettable and varied standards as only Tom could sing them, from "Georgia on My Mind," "Ring of Fire," "Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Danny Boy" to "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," "Proud Mary," "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" and "Lean on Me."
Hide and Seek: The Lost Collection, featured as the final two discs in this box, was released digitally in March. That edition comprised 29 rarities (many never previously released on CD or digitally) including Burt Bacharach and Bob Hilliard's "Any Day Now," Bacharach and Hal David's rocking movie theme "Promise Her Anything" (featuring one of Tom's most deliciously gutsy vocals), and various B-sides, non-LP singles, and stray tracks that ended up on compilations. The box set's presentation greatly expands upon that digital release with 47 tracks, including non-LP hits such as "What's New Pussycat?," "Love Me Tonight," and the booming James Bond theme "Thunderball" as well as flipsides (among them "Smile" and the Paul Anka-adapted "My Way," originally the B-side of another Anka tune, "She's a Lady"), EP cuts, international sides, and more. With the addition of these two discs, The Complete Decca Studio Albums presents Tom's a comprehensive chronicle of Jones' released Decca studio discography. There is no word yet on whether mono or stereo masters have been used for the albums and the bonus discs. Note that, per the title, Jones' live Decca LPs are not included.
Jones has shared a YouTube unboxing video in which you can see the set which is packaged in a flip-top box. Each album is housed in an individual mini-LP replica sleeve with uniform Decca labels, and a booklet with liner notes is also included.
Fall in love again with Tom Jones' The Complete Decca Studio Albums Collection when it's released November 20! Pre-order links and the full album list is below.
Tom Jones, The Complete Decca Studio Albums Collection (Decca/UMC, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD)
Disc 1: Along Came Jones (Decca LK 4693, 1965)
Disc 2: A-Tom-ic Jones (Decca SKL 4743, 1966)
Disc 3: From the Heart (Decca SKL 4814, 1966)
Disc 4: Green, Green Grass of Home (Decca SKL 4855, 1967)
Disc 5: 13 Smash Hits (Decca SKL 4909, 1967)
Disc 6: Delilah (Decca SKL 4946, 1968)
Disc 7: Help Yourself (Decca SKL 4982, 1968)
Disc 8: This is Tom Jones (Decca SKL 5007, 1969)
Disc 9: Tom (Decca SKL 5045, 1970)
Disc 10: I Who Have Nothing (Decca SKL 5072, 1970)
Disc 11: Tom Jones Sings She's a Lady (Decca SKL 5089, 1971)
Disc 12: Close Up (Decca SKL 5132, 1972)
Disc 13: The Body and Soul of Tom Jones (Decca SKL 5162, 1973)
Disc 14: Somethin' 'Bout You Baby I Like (Decca SKL 5197, 1974)
Disc 15: Memories Don't Leave Like People Do (Decca SKL 5214, 1975)
Discs 16-17: Hide and Seek: The Lost Collection - Expanded Edition (2020)
Hide and Seek: The Lost Collection includes:
CD 1:
- Chills and Fever (Decca F 11966, 1964) (*)
- Breathless (Decca F 11966, 1964)
- To Wait for Love (Is to Waste Your Life Away) (Decca F 12062, 1965) (*)
- I Tell the Sea (Decca F 12121, 1965) (*)
- With These Hands (Decca F 12191, 1965) (*)
- What's New, Pussycat? (Decca F 12203, 1965) (*)
- Untrue (Decca F 12191, 1965) (*)
- (Won't You Give Him) One More Chance (from U.S. LP What's New Pussycat?, Parrot 6/71006, 1966) (*)
- Thunderball (Decca F 12292, 1966) (*)
- Stop Breaking My Heart (Decca F 12349, 1966) (*)
- Never Give Away Love (Decca F 12349, 1966) (*)
- Once There Was a Time (Decca F 12390, 1966)
- Not Responsible (Decca F 12390, 1966) (*)
- This and That (Decca F 12461, 1966) (*)
- City Girl (Decca F 12461, 1966)
- Promise Her Anything (Decca F 22511, 1966)
- Triple Cross (released internationally including The Great Tom Jones LP, Decca (Germany) ND 263, 1968)
- What a Party (Decca EP DFE 8668, 1967) (*)
- Any Day Now (Decca EP DFE 8668, 1967)
- It Ain't Gonna Be That Way (Decca EP DFE 8668, 1967)
- If I Had You (Decca F 22555, 1967)
- Things I Wanna Do (Decca F 12639, 1967)
- I'm Coming Home (Decca F 12693, 1967) (*)
- The Lonely One (Decca F 12693, 1967)
- Smile (Decca F 12747, 1968) (*)
- Day by Day (Decca F 12812, 1968)
- A Minute of Your Time (Decca F 12854, 1968) (*)
- Looking Out My Window (Decca F 12854, 1968) (*)
CD 2
- Love Me Tonight (Decca F 12924, 1969) (*)
- Hide and Seek (Decca F 12924, 1969)
- A Man Who Knows Too Much (Decca F 12990, 1969)
- Tupelo Mississippi Flash (Stereo Edit Version) (Decca F 13013, 1970)
- My Way (Decca F 13113, 1971) (*)
- Every Mile (Decca F 13183, 1971)
- Till (Decca FR 13236, 1971) (*)
- The Sun Died (Decca FR 13236, 1971)
- All That I Need Is Some Time (Decca F 13298, 1972)
- Golden Days (Decca F 13471, 1973)
- Goodbye, God Bless You (Decca F 13471, 1973)
- Thank the Lord (Decca 13393, 1974)
- Keep A-Talkin' Bout Love (Decca F 13550, 1974)
- Pledging My Love (Decca F 13564, 1974)
- I'm Too Far Gone to Turn Around (Decca F 13564, 1974)
- La La La (Just Having You Here) (Decca F 13490, 1974)
- Love Love Love (Decca F 13490, 1974)
- Ain't No Love (Decca F 13575, 1975)
- When the Band Goes Home (Decca F 13575, 1975)
(*) denotes track not on digital edition
Note: "Keep on Running" and "Don't Fight It" were originally on the digital edition but have been excised from this assembly; both songs are featured on Disc 5, 13 Smash Hits.
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It looks like a great box set,it would be nice to get some reissues of his country stuff from the 1980s I mean with this box set and ones from Shakin Stevens and Elton and countless others to mention mean it is a fantastic run up to Christmas but not great for the bank balance. I mean I am really pleased they are finally doing some archive releases for Tom as if there havent been many if memory serves me right.
Love it, wonder if any signed copies will go up anywhere.
Jeez almost 70 bucks shipping from the UK, guess I will wait til it pops up on Amazon US.
It’s quite reasonable at Amazon.it right now.
Yea I had originally looked at the Decca store link, that’s the one w the crazy shipping charges. I ordered from Amazon UK thanks.
Excellent news thanks and if my memory serves me well then discs 2-15 are in stereo and disc 1 mono. Decca used to add "S" to the pre-fix for the stereo versions .. so good news there.
Now is the Blondie box-set coming out any time soon ??
Yes, those discs should be in stereo; we'll confirm as soon as we can find out more information. I believe Blondie has indicated the box set will arrive in 2021 when they can (hopefully) get out on the road again. Stay tuned!
Thanks .. now that i didn't know .. will keep reading, and enjoying, your updates.
Day 1 purchase for me; while I have all of his Decca albums already on CD (via the Decca/Deram and Vocalion labels), it will be great to finally have the non-LP songs finally making their way to CD (a bug omission Decca did with Engelbert’s box set they released a few years ago)
Hi Robert,
Hope you don't mind the question. Could you elaborate on what was missing from the Engelbert Decca box set? I am a huge fan (along with Tom!) of Engelbert and wondering if an experienced Engelbert collector can tell me what of his has never been released on CD? I'm sure he has some songs that might have been B sides of 45's, song in the vaults, etc. that would be great of they came out on CD. Any thoughts? Thank you.
Hi James,
There are a number of non-LP tracks that were not included in the Decca box set; among them are “My Marie”, “Our Song (La Paloma)”, “Born To Be Wanted” (written by Engelbert), “Stranger Step Into My World”, “You’re The Window Of My World”, “How Does It Feel”, “A Hundred Times A Day”, “Love Is All”, “Lady Of The Night”, “Love, Oh Precious Love”, “‘My Friend The Wind”, “Precious Love” and “Forever And Ever”. In addition, there is a rare 1968 single that Engelbert recorded in Italian, “Dimenticarti Non Potrei” and “Piu di Ieri” that could have also been included providing that Universal has the master tape in their vaults.
Thank you very much Robert. I have a virtual meet and greet coming up with Engelbert and I am hoping to ask him about songs such as these and if there are any plans to release them. Jim
Hello Robert. Well I asked Engelbert about his songs that haven't been released on CD. He didn't have much to say. He said it was "totally up to the record company and they do what ever they want....." Because the call was relatively short it was hard to gauge if he had any interest personally for this to happen. Oh well I tried....... Jim
Have these been remastered?
I can't imagine they haven't been, but the initial information didn't include mastering credits. We will share as soon as we know who handled the mastering.
Tom Jones, The Complete Decca Studio Albums Collection (Decca/UMC, 2020)
Why isn't it showing up on Amazon U.S. for Pre-Order????
I've been waiting for this box set since September 2016!!
Hi Kimberly, Amazon has been very erratic since COVID, but I suspect the pre-order link will go live very soon!
At the moment in JPC.de price of this box is 45 €. About 37£ or 50$!
Kiss Kiss appears to be missing along with a handful of unreleased at the time tracks tagged onto some of the Deram CD reissues.
I pre-ordered my box set right when you announced the Tom Jones Box Set! So much for getting mine on November!
Was just notified by Amazon UK that the Tom Jones package will be delayed until the end of Dec - early Jan 2021.
They are citing problems with their supplier & apologizing all over the place.
Ridiculous! 😡
Thanks for notifying us, Kat. It appears that the new release date from the manufacturer (Universal) is December 18. We'll update the article accordingly once we have confirmation.
Thank you!
I received a reply from customer service about the box set (I asked whether mono or stereo):
"Thank you for your email.
All the full CD albums are stereo, and most of the bonus tracks on the additional 2CD Hide & Seek Collection are too, except for a few tracks.
Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us."
I have noted the abridged U.S. version of the first album ("It's Not Unusual", Parrot Records) had a stereo version.
Few songs are not present in the set from Tom’s early studio recordings. We can find these songs in the “Velvet+Steel=Gold” 3CD set.
Release date is missing now from Amazon.UK and the Pre-Order...Decca Records site says December 18, 2020...AmazonUS says December 25, 2020 and Classic Direct says August 1, 2021...I hope they don't pull this release from being released like they originally did in 2016.
Does anyone know what date this will be released ?
The release dates have changed yet again. The UKAmazon site now says Unavailable . The USAamazon that said Unavailable now says Dec, 25, 2020.
The Decca Records site says Dec. 18, 2020.
ClassicsDirect says Aug. 1, 2021.
Does anyone know of a correct release date? Thanks
December 18 is the current U.K. date per the label, and December 25 in North America; if that changes, we'll update the Release Calendar entry here accordingly. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen, though...
Thanks Joe and YES, fingers crossed!
And the Classics Direct date is Australian format, which is actually Jan 8 2021.
Finally got this and I like it a lot. My only small quibble is I wish the back cover art for each mini lp sleeve was reproduced as originally presented like the front cover art is instead of the bland looking type they used.
I agree completely; the similar Engelbert Humperdinck set did the same thing. It's a disappointment in an otherwise terrific and well-worth-the-wait collection.
How much extra effort could it be? Well you would know Joe. I am loving it though. I have the Englebert set too.
That's often the most heartbreaking kind of decision; it was clearly a choice rather than a requirement to reformat the original back covers (and in fact, would likely have been more work than just doing a straight scan!), and all the more disappointing for it. I suspect the choice was made because the CD track listings aren't included in the booklet, and someone felt that those sequences (rather than being broken up by Side One and Side Two as on the original back covers) needed to be accessible to listeners. Que sera sera...
The B-side of “Delilah” is Smile (Decca F 12747, 1968), also known as “Smile Away Your Blues”, written by Gordon Mills. This is not to be confused with the Charlie Chaplin song “Smile”.
I wish to say a BIG THANKS to The Second Disc and Joe for providing the information about the sources of "Hide and Seek: The Lost Collection". It was disappointing to discover the poor presentation of discographical information in the box set, and having the information compiled on this website is very helpful.
I am trying to work out what Decca studio tracks are missing from this box set, Single A's or B's, EP tracks, etc. If anyone who has this knowledge of Sir Tom's Decca recordings can shed some light, that would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again Joe and The Second Disc.
There are a dozen tracks missing from the set. All 12 can be found in the Velvet + Steel=Gold 3 cd Set.