Jan. 14: Jack Jones - "Wives and Lovers," "Lollipops and Roses" - is 73 today.

 

John Allan Jones is the son of actors Allan Jones and Irene Hervey. He was born in Los Angeles on the very night that his father recorded his signature song "Donkey Serenade."
Jack was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1960s. Judy Garland called him the best jazz singer in the world, although Jones was mostly a pop singer whose ventures in the direction of jazz were mostly of the big band/swing variety.

Some of his best-known recordings are "Wives and Lovers" (1964 Grammy Award, Best Pop Male Performance), "The Race Is On," "Lollipops and Roses" (1962, Grammy Award, Best Pop Male Performance), "The Impossible Dream," "Call Me Irresponsible," "Lady," and "The Love Boat Theme."

Jones attended University High School in West Los Angeles and studied drama and singing. His first professional break was with his father, when Allan Jones was performing at the Thunderbird Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Jack recorded a couple of demos for songwriter Don Raye, and was signed by Capitol Records. They released the album This Love of Mine and a few singles, None of which sold well.

After being dropped by Capitol, Jones was drafted and spent time in the US Air Force. After being discharged, he had more recording success with his next company, Kapp Records. In 1962 ballad "Lollipops and Roses" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David (with lyrics that are "cringe-worthy" by today's standards), became a huge hit for him.


While with Kapp, Jones recorded almost twenty albums, including Shall We Dance, This Was My Love, She Loves Me, Call Me Irresponsible, I´ve Got a Lot of Living To Do!, 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 and Our Song.

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Jones with his straight-laced, well-groomed persons, was an anomaly in the sixties opting for the big band sound, lush romantic ballads and the Great American Songbook, rather than rock and roll. He did sometimes record more pop, country or bossa nova oriented songs, however. One of his biggest hits, for example, was "The Race Is On," by country music legend George Jones.

Jones moved from Kapp to RCA Records in 1967. His first album there was Without Her. The following releases, If You Ever Leave Me, L.A. Break Down, and Where is Love were in roughly the same style of the classic Kapp records, but with slightly more contemporary vocal stylings.

After A Jack Jones Christmas, he revamped his musical direction and image, changing his appearance from the smooth club entertainer of the 1960s Las Vegas scene to the long-haired singer of the early seventies. A Time For Us in 1970, was one of the albums which marked his transition towards a middle of the road sound.

Jones also started to record more contemporary material, including covers of people like Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Carole King, Paul Williams, Richard Carpenter, Gordon Lightfoot and Gilbert O'Sullivan. The album Bread Winners in 1972, was a tribute to Bread, with eight songs written by David Gates and two by Jimmy Griffin and Robb Royer.

Two of his more acclaimed albums of that period were dedicated to two French songwriters: Jack Jones Sings Michel Legrand in 1971, and Write Me a Love Song, Charlie in 1974, with songs by Charles Aznavour. The Full Life in 1977, was produced by Jones and Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys.


In 1979, Jones moved to MGM Records, recording the album Nobody Does it Better, which featured disco tracks of The Love Boat theme and his Grammy winner, "Wives and Lovers." His second (and last) MGM album, Don't Stop Now, featured duets with Maureen McGovern.

Since 1980, he has recorded only a handful of albums, and now performs in various concert arenas and occasionally appears on the supper-club circuit. He has performed all over the world and has a large following in England, a place he visits almost every year.

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