Jack Jones | |
|---|---|
 Jones in 1999 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | John Allan Jones (1938-01-14)January 14, 1938 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | October 23, 2024(2024-10-23) (aged 86) |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1958–2024 |
| Labels | |
Spouses | |
John Allan Jones (January 14, 1938 – October 23, 2024) was an American singer[1] and actor. He was primarily a straight-pop singer (even when he recorded contemporary material) whose forays intojazz were mostly of the big-band/swing music variety. He won twoGrammy Awards[1] and received five nominations for Grammys.[2] Notably, he sang the opening theme song for the television seriesThe Love Boat.[3]
Jones continued to perform concerts around the world and inLas Vegas. His recordings include "Lollipops and Roses", "Wives and Lovers", "The Race Is On", "The Impossible Dream", and "Call Me Irresponsible". He also sang the opening theme for the 1968 war filmAnzio ("This World Is Yours"), as well as the title song for the 1963 filmLove with the Proper Stranger, which played on a radio in the film contributing to the storyline.
Jack Jones was born inHollywood, California, the morning after his fatherAllan recorded his signature song "The Donkey Serenade", resulting in the younger Jones' assertion that he was "practically born in a trunk."[4] Jack attendedUniversity High School inWest Los Angeles and studied drama and singing.[5] His mother was actressIrene Hervey.
Jack Jones' first professional break was with his father, who was performing at theThunderbird Hotel and Casino inLas Vegas.[6] Jack recorded severaldemos for songwriterDon Raye, attracting attention from the music industry. In 1959, he was signed toCapitol Records and released the albumThis Love of Mine and a few singles.[5]
While performing at aSan Francisco nightclub, Jack Jones was heard by Pete King, a producer and artist forKapp Records, who quickly signed him to the label.[5] In August 1961, Jones recorded the ballad "Lollipops and Roses", which became a hit the next year.[7] His biggest pop hit was "Wives and Lovers", written byBurt Bacharach andHal David.[7]
During the years Jones was with Kapp, he recorded nearly twenty albums includingShall 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 (providing vocal lyrics toRamsey Lewis's earlier famous jazz instrumental version of 1965),Jack Jones Sings,Lady,Our Song, andI've Got a Lot of Living to Do!
Jones was an anomaly in the 1960s pop scene,[6] eschewingrock-and-roll trends and opting for abig band sound, lush romantic ballads, and theGreat American Songbook style of music, although sometimes he recorded something more pop,country, orbossa nova-oriented.[citation needed] For example, one of his biggest hits was "The Race Is On" by country musicianGeorge Jones (no relation). Besides the choice of material, he worked with arrangers likeBilly May,Nelson Riddle,Marty Paich,Shorty Rogers,Jack Elliott,Ralph Carmichael,Bob Florence, andDon Costa.[citation needed]
Jones moved from Kapp (London Records in the United Kingdom) toRCA Victor in 1967.[7] His first album for the label wasWithout Her.[7] The releasesIf You Ever Leave Me,L.A. Break Down, andWhere Is Love which followed, were in roughly the same style of the Kapp records, but with a somewhat more contemporary vocal styling.A Time for Us (1970) was one of the albums which marked his transition toward a moremiddle-of-the-road sound. He began recording more contemporary material including covers of such well-known songwriters asRandy Newman,Harry Nilsson,Carole King,Paul Williams,Richard Carpenter,Gordon Lightfoot, andGilbert O'Sullivan.[7]
The albumBread Winners (1972) was a tribute to the bandBread, with eight songs written byDavid Gates and two byJimmy Griffin and Robb Royer. Two more albums from this period were dedicated to two French songwriters:Jack Jones Sings Michel Legrand (toMichel Legrand, 1971) andWrite Me a Love Song, Charlie, featuring songs byCharles Aznavour (1974).
The Full Life (1977) was produced by Jones andBruce Johnston ofthe Beach Boys; on the album, Jones recorded the Beach Boys classics "God Only Knows" and "Disney Girls". His last LP for RCA wasWith One More Look at You (1977), which includes a rendition of theLittle Feat hit "Dixie Chicken";[8] this performance later resurfaced onGolden Throats 2: More Celebrity Rock Oddities.[9] In 1979 he moved toMGM Records, recording the albumNobody Does It Better, which featured adisco version of "The Love Boat", the opening theme fromThe Love Boat, and his Grammy winner "Wives and Lovers". His second (and due to MGM's closure, his last) MGM album,Don't Stop Now, features duets with singerMaureen McGovern.
After 1980 Jones recorded few albums and performed in various concert arenas and occasionally appeared on the supper-club circuit. He released the albumLive at the London Palladium in 1995, recorded inLondon on the Emporio label. He received recognition inJapan, where many of his earlier records were released on CD. In 1982 he recorded an album for Applause Records, covering songs bythe Beatles,Billy Joel, and theEagles.
Jones releasedI Am a Singer in 1987 for USA Records, and in 1992 he recordedThe Gershwin Album forSony Music, with songs written byGeorge Gershwin andIra Gershwin. In 1997 cameNew Jack Swing (Honest Entertainment), with big-band treatments of old standards and assorted pop/rock songs. 1999 saw the release ofJack Jones Paints a Tribute toTony Bennett (Honest Entertainment), which was nominated forGrammy 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 theMcCallum Theatre inPalm Desert, California. Guests includedPatti Austin,Alan Bergman, andMarilyn Bergman. In 2010 he recorded an album focusing on the Bergmans' work calledLove Makes the Changes. He also released an album featuring new recordings of some of his original hits, titledLove Ballad. In 2015 Jones releasedSeriously Frank: Celebrating the 100th Birthday ofFrank Sinatra, with an orchestra arranged and conducted byPatrick Williams, withDave Grusin on piano. The release was followed by a tour with dates in Los Angeles and the United Kingdom in 2016.[10] Jones commenced his 80th Birthday Celebration Tour in 2018.[11]
Jones made his film debut inJuke Box Rhythm (1959) playing Riff Manton, a young singer who is involved romantically with a princess (Jo Morrow).[7] He sings three songs in the film. He acted in films such asThe Comeback (1978), a gory British horror movie directed by Pete Walker along with the tele-filmCondominium (1980), andCruise of the Gods (2002). He had a humorouscameo in the film parodyAirplane II: The Sequel (1982); asRobert Hays' character avoids searchlights while escaping captivity, the beams become a spotlight on Jones, performing a verse from hisLove Boat TV theme song.[7]
He became a staple on 1960s and 1970s variety shows performing onThe Dinah Shore Chevy Show,The Ed Sullivan Show,The Andy Williams Show,The Dick Cavett Show,The Hollywood Palace,The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,The Carol Burnett Show,The Jerry Lewis Show,American Bandstand,This is Tom Jones,The Dean Martin Show,The Judy Garland Show,Playboy After Dark,The Jack Benny Program,The Steve Allen Show, andThe Morecambe and Wise Show in the United Kingdom.[citation needed]
Jones twice hostedNBC's top-ratedrock and roll music seriesHullabaloo (1965-1966), and was featured in two prime-time specials,Jack Jones on the Move (1966) andThe Jack Jones Special (1974). He appeared on thePassword TV game show withCarol Lynley in 1964 and multiple times withJoan Fontaine in 1967. He provided the vocals to the theme song ofFunny Face, "The Kind of Girl She Is". When the show returned renamed asThe Sandy Duncan Show, he was replaced by an anonymous chorus. He also guest-starred in a cavalcade of television series of the era, such asThe Rat Patrol,Police Woman,McMillan & Wife,The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries,$weepstake$; a game show ,Match Game, and the sitcomNight Court.[citation needed]
Jones played himself in the episode "The Vegas Show" ofIt's a Living. He sang the opening theme for the television seriesThe Love Boat (1977–1985), and appeared in a 1980 episode with his father Allan.[12]
Jack Jones promoted theChrysler New Yorker automobile in the mid-1970s with the "It's the Talk of the Town" ad campaign. On October 30, 1972, he appeared as a guest singer at theLondon Palladium in the United Kingdom in front ofQueen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.[citation needed] Between 1973 and 1978, Jones hostedThe Jack Jones Show,[13][better source needed] directed byStanley Dorfman, produced and broadcast by theBritish Broadcasting Corporation'sBBC-2 network.[13] In 1990, Jones recorded "Three Coins in the Fountain", which was used in the remake version filmCoins in the Fountain that year. He also appeared in theChris Elliott television showGet a Life on theFox television network. Beginning in the 21st century, Jones was active inmusical theater, appearing inGuys and Dolls,South Pacific, and others. During that time he went on a national tour performingDon Quixote in the productionMan of La Mancha.[14][better source needed]
In 2013, Jones appeared as himself as the nightclub singer in the filmAmerican Hustle. In 2014, he sang several of the songs, including the theme song, for the cable TVCartoon Network miniseriesOver the Garden Wall.[15][better source needed]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Awit Awards | Male Recording Artist of the Year (Foreign Division) | — | Won | |
| 1961 | Grammy Awards | Best Solo Vocal Performance, Male | "Lollipops and Roses" | Won | [2] |
| 1963 | Record of the Year | "Wives and Lovers" | Nominated | ||
| Best Vocal Performance, Male | Won | ||||
| 1966 | "The Impossible Dream" | Nominated | |||
| 1998 | Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance | Jack Jones Paints a Tribute to Tony Bennett | Nominated |
Jones was married six times. In the second half of the 1960s, he had a well-publicized relationship with actressJill St. John and they were briefly married. In the early 1970s, Jones married Gretchen Roberts. Later, he was linked romantically toSusan George. From 1977 to 1982, he was married to Kathy Simmons. From 1982 to 2005, he was married to British-born Kim Ely and they had a daughter, Nicole (born in 1991). Jones had another daughter, Crystal Thomas, from a former marriage to Lee Fuller. He lived with wife Eleonora inIndian Wells, southeast ofPalm Springs, California.[18]
Jones died from leukemia atEisenhower Medical Center inRancho Mirage, California, on October 23, 2024, at the age of 86.[19][20]
| Year | Single | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [22][23] | CB [24] | US AC [25] | ||
| 1962 | "Lollipops and Roses" | 66 | 42 | 6 |
| "Gift of Love" | - | 108 | - | |
| "Poetry" | - | 110 | - | |
| 1963 | "Call Me Irresponsible" | 75 | 62 | - |
| "Wives and Lovers" | 14 | 12 | 9 | |
| "Toys in the Attic" | 92 | 115 | - | |
| 1964 | "Love with the Proper Stranger" | 62 | 59 | 17 |
| "The First Night of the Full Moon" | 59 | 62 | 12 | |
| "Where Love Has Gone" | 62 | 69 | 12 | |
| "Dear Heart" | 30 | 15 | 6 | |
| 1965 | "The Race Is On" | 15 | 12 | 1 |
| "Seein' the Right Love Go Wrong" | 46 | 41 | 9 | |
| "Travellin' On" | 132 | - | - | |
| "Just Yesterday" | 73 | 83 | 5 | |
| "The True Picture" | 134 | 109 | 27 | |
| "Love Bug" | 71 | 56 | 5 | |
| 1966 | "The Weekend" | 123 | 100 | 20 |
| "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" | 35 | 32 | 1 | |
| "A Day in the Life of a Fool" | 62 | 55 | 4 | |
| 1967 | "Lady" | 39 | 34 | 1 |
| "I'm Indestructible" | 81 | 84 | - | |
| "Afterthoughts" | - | - | 19 | |
| "Now I Know" | 73 | 74 | 3 | |
| "Our Song" | 92 | 76 | 13 | |
| "Open for Business as Usual" | 130 | 104 | 26 | |
| "Live for Life" | 99 | - | 9 | |
| "Oh How Much I Love You" | - | 129 | - | |
| 1968 | "The Gypsies, the Jugglers and the Clowns" | - | 134 | - |
| "If You Ever Leave Me" | 92 | - | 5 | |
| "Follow Me" | 117 | - | 20 | |
| "I Really Want to Know You" | - | - | 15 | |
| "The Way That I Live" | - | - | 33 | |
| "L.A. Break Down (and Take Me In)" | 106 | - | 21 | |
| 1970 | "Sweet Changes" | - | - | 24 |
| "I Didn't Count on Love" | - | - | 38 | |
| 1971 | "Let Me Be the One" | - | - | 18 |
| 1974 | "She Doesn't Live Here Anymore" | - | - | 45 |
| 1975 | "What I Did for Love" | - | - | 25 |
| 1977 | "With One More Look at You" | - | - | 21 |
| 1980 | "Love Boat Theme" | - | - | 37 |
| International | |
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| National | |
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