Soon after his arrival, Tom Jones was due to record at Paramount Studios, he told Graham Norton. He was then told that the King would be there himself the next day, and that Elvis was keen to meet him. On his arrival at the studios, Jones eagerly awaited the legend's filming to conclude ("They closed the doors again, and I'm standing in the back with the Memphis Mafia," he stated, via "The Graham Norton Show"). When Presley did emerge, he sang Jones' new single at the time — "With These Hands" — to him as they approached each other.
It was the beginning of an extraordinary friendship. "Elvis used to love to sing ... late at night in Vegas after we'd do the shows," Jones told Jonathan Ross (via "Friday Night With Jonathan Ross"). "We'd go to his suite and we would sing gospel songs." They even, Jones went on, bought their clothes at the same outlet in Los Angeles, North Beach Leather. An intimate friendship indeed.
Things would go on to take an even greater turn for the intimate. In another interview, this time with Conan O'Brien in 2015, O'Brien asked whether it was true that Presley had been offered a song he felt would be a better fit for Jones. "He kept bugging you, 'You've gotta record this song,' is that right?" the host asked, via Team Coco.
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