Tom Jones Was Told “It’s Not Unusual” Would Be Too Risky — Then One Song Made Him a Global Star

A Welsh singer about to get his big break

In 1965, Tom Jones was still a relatively unknown singer from Wales when he recorded “It’s Not Unusual.”

The song was written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, Jones’s manager. Mills had recognized something special in Jones’s powerful, almost raw voice and was determined to find a record that could introduce him to a much larger audience.

Then came the recording

“It’s Not Unusual” was released in January 1965.

Jones’s explosive vocal performance immediately stood out. Instead of the restrained delivery common in British pop at the time, he attacked the song with enormous energy.

The arrangement combined brass, strings and a driving rhythm, creating a sound that felt both sophisticated and wildly energetic.

America noticed

The song quickly became a major success in Britain, reaching No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.

It also crossed the Atlantic, reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.

Suddenly, the Welsh singer who had been performing in local clubs had become an international star.

The beginning of a remarkable career

“It’s Not Unusual” became Jones’s signature song and established the vocal style that would define his career: powerful, dramatic and impossible to ignore.

Over the following decades, he would move through pop, soul, country and rock, becoming one of Britain’s most recognizable performers.

But everything changed with that first breakthrough.

A singer from Pontypridd, Wales, had arrived on the international stage.

And his voice was impossible to mistake.

Listen to “It’s Not Unusual”

▶️ YouTube: Tom Jones – It’s Not Unusual

Buck Owens Turned a Lonely Road Into a Country Classic — Then “Together Again” Became One of His Signature Songs

A heartbreak song with a different sound

By 1964, Buck Owens had already become one of the leading voices of the Bakersfield sound — a harder, cleaner style of country music that stood apart from the polished Nashville sound.

Then came “Together Again.”

Written by Buck Owens, the song tells a simple story of heartbreak finally coming to an end. The narrator is reunited with the person he loves, and the sadness that filled his earlier songs suddenly gives way to relief.

But the recording itself had an unusual ingredient.

That crying steel guitar

One of the most memorable sounds on “Together Again” comes from the steel guitar played by Tom Brumley.

Its high, aching notes almost sound like another voice answering Owens.

That distinctive steel-guitar sound became a defining feature of the Bakersfield style and gave the song an emotional quality that made the simple lyrics hit much harder.

Owens’s relaxed vocal delivery kept everything grounded.

He didn’t oversing the emotion.

He simply told the story.

Then it reached No. 1

Released in 1964, “Together Again” became one of Buck Owens’s biggest successes.

The song reached No. 1 on Billboard’s country chart, adding another major hit to a remarkable run for Owens and his Buckaroos.

The recording also demonstrated why his music was becoming so influential.

It was country music, but it had energy.

The electric guitars were sharp, the rhythm was driving and the steel guitar cried above everything.

The Bakersfield sound

Owens and his Buckaroos helped establish Bakersfield as an important center of country music during the 1960s.

Their sound would influence artists for generations, particularly musicians looking for an alternative to the smoother Nashville production style.

“Together Again” remains one of the clearest examples of that approach.

It was simple.

It was direct.

And it sounded unmistakably like Buck Owens.

A song that still feels honest

The beauty of “Together Again” is that it doesn’t need a complicated story.

Someone has been gone.

Someone has come back.

And suddenly the loneliness is over.

That emotional simplicity, combined with Tom Brumley’s unforgettable steel guitar, helped make the recording a classic of 1960s country music.

Listen to “Together Again”

▶️ Buck Owens – “Together Again”