Jack Jones (American singer)

Jones was born in Hollywood on the night his father recorded his signature song "The Donkey Serenade," resulting in the younger Jones' assertion that he was "practically born in a trunk."[4] He attended University High School in West Los Angeles and studied drama and singing.[5]

His first professional break was with his father, who was performing at the Thunderbird Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. He recorded several demos for songwriter Don Raye, attracting attention from the music industry. In 1959 Jones was signed to Capitol Records and released the album This Love of Mine and a few singles. One track from that album was titled, prophetically, "This Could Be the Start of Something Big."[5]

While performing at a San Francisco nightclub, Jones was heard by Pete King, a producer and artist for Kapp Records, who quickly signed him to the label.[5] In August 1961, he recorded the ballad "Lollipops and Roses," which became a hit the following year.[3] Jones' biggest pop hit was "Wives and Lovers," written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.[3]

During the Kapp years, Jones recorded nearly twenty albums, including Shall We Dance, This Was My Love, She Loves Me, Call Me Irresponsible, Bewitched, Wives and Lovers, Dear Heart, Where Love Has Gone, The Jack Jones Christmas Album, My Kind of Town, The Impossible Dream, The In Crowd, Jack Jones Sings, Lady, Our Song, and I've Got a Lot of Living to Do!

Jones was an anomaly in the 1960s pop scene, eschewing rock-and-roll trends and opting for the big band sound, lush romantic ballads, and the Great American Songbook, although sometimes he recorded something more pop-, country-, or bossa nova-oriented.

For example, one of his biggest hits was "The Race Is On" by country musician George Jones (no relation). Besides the choice of material, he worked with such arrangers as Billy May, Nelson Riddle, Marty Paich, Shorty Rogers, Jack Elliott, Ralph Carmichael, Bob Florence, and Don Costa.

Jones moved from Kapp (London Records in the UK) to RCA Victor in 1967.[3] His first album for the label was Without Her.[3] The following releases If You Ever Leave Me, L.A. Break Down, and Where Is Love were in roughly the same style of the Kapp records, but with a somewhat more contemporary vocal styling. After A Jack Jones Christmas, he changed his musical direction and appearance from the smooth club entertainer of the 1960s Las Vegas scene to the long-haired singer of the early 1970s.

A Time for Us (1970) was one of the albums which marked his transition toward a more middle-of-the-road sound. He began recording more contemporary material, including covers of such well-known songwriters as Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Carole King, Paul Williams, Richard Carpenter, Gordon Lightfoot, and Gilbert O'Sullivan.[3]

Jones c. 1970s

The album Bread Winners (1972) was a tribute to the band Bread, with eight songs written by David Gates and two by Jimmy Griffin and Robb Royer. Two more albums from this period were dedicated to two French songwriters: Jack Jones Sings Michel Legrand (to Michel Legrand, 1971) and Write Me a Love Song, Charlie, featuring songs by Charles Aznavour (1974).

The Full Life (1977) was produced by Jones and Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys; on this album, Jones recorded the Beach Boys classics "God Only Knows" and "Disney Girls." His last LP for RCA was With One More Look at You (1977), which includes a rendition of the Little Feat hit "Dixie Chicken";[6] this performance later resurfaced on Golden Throats 2: More Celebrity Rock Oddities.[7] In 1979 he moved to MGM Records, recording the album Nobody Does It Better, which featured a disco version of "The Love Boat," the opening theme from the TV series of the same name, and his Grammy winner "Wives and Lovers." His second (and, due to its subsequent closure, his last) MGM album, Don't Stop Now, featured duets with Maureen McGovern.

Since 1980 he has recorded few albums and now performs in various concert arenas and occasionally appears on the supper-club circuit. He released the album Live at the London Palladium in 1995, recorded in London on the Emporio label. Jones has received recognition in Japan, where many of his earlier records were released on CD. In 1982 he recorded an album for Applause Records, covering songs by The Beatles, Billy Joel, and The Eagles.

Jones released I Am a Singer in 1987 for USA Records, and in 1992 he recorded The Gershwin Album for Sony Music, with songs written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin. In 1997 came New Jack Swing (Honest Entertainment), with big-band treatments of old standards and assorted pop/rock songs. 1999 saw the release of Jack Jones Paints a Tribute to Tony Bennett (Honest Entertainment), which was nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance and Record of the Year. In March 2008 Jones celebrated his 70th birthday and a half-century in show business with a concert at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Springs. Guests included Patti Austin, Alan Bergman, and Marilyn Bergman. In 2010 he recorded an album focusing on the Bergmans' work called Love Makes the Changes. He also released an album featuring new recordings of some of his original hits, titled Love Ballad. In 2015 Jones released Seriously Frank (Celebrating the 100th Birthday of Frank Sinatra), with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Patrick Williams, with Dave Grusin on piano. The release was followed by a tour with dates in Los Angeles and the United Kingdom in 2016.[8] Jones commenced his 80th Birthday Celebration Tour in 2018.[9]

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Jack Jones among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.[10]