Jill Jones

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Jill Jones (born July 11, 1962 in Lebanon , Ohio ) is an American singer , accompanist and songwriter . She worked with Prince , Rick James and Teena Marie , among others . Jones released three studio albums, which were not commercially successful. Their musical style can be assigned to funk , pop music and rock music.

Life

Childhood and youth

Jill Jones was born in Lebanon , Ohio, in 1962 . Her mother Winnie Martin Jones was a Black and worked as a model , she died in 1995 at cancer . Jones' father was Italian and as a jazz - drummer involved, but to him she has no contact - he was merely "sperm donor". Jones grew up mostly with her grandparents until her mother married a second time and moved the family to Los Angeles , California. Jones lived there with her mother, her stepfather Fuller Gordy (born September 9, 1918 - November 9, 1991), her step-sister Iris Gordy and with the American singer Teena Marie in a house. Marie was like a biological sister to her that she had never had, Jones said in 2013 about Teena Marie. She took Jones to school on occasion, and the two spent their free time with friends. Through Marie Jones found her own style . In addition, you have the Marie songwriting taught.

Jones' stepfather Fuller Gordy was the brother of Berry Gordy , founder of the Motown music label . As a result, she was exposed to people from the music industry as a teenager . In Los Angeles, Jones attended Beverly Hills High School, which she left at the age of 15. Jones originally wanted to become a lawyer , but after touring with Teena Marie and working with Rick James , she decided to become a musician.

family

Jill Jones is once divorced and from this marriage comes her daughter with the stage name Zuzu (* 1995), who is also a singer. Jones has been married to a German man since 2010. Jones' uncle Earl Jones († 2002), her mother's brother, was hired by Prince as a hairstylist in the 1980s .

Career

Collaboration with Prince (1980–1989)

Jill Jones has been a backing vocalist in Teena Marie's band since 1980 and took over the backing vocals on Marie's five studio albums Lady T and Irons in the Fire (both released in 1980), It Must Be Magic (1981), Starchild (1984) and Love Songs ( 2000), while Jones' mother was Marie's manager . When Marie and her backing band appeared as the opening act for the American musician Prince on his Dirty Mind tour in December 1980 , Jones and Prince met for the first time.

In 1982 Prince Jones invited to the Sunset Studio - a recording studio in Los Angeles - so that she could help him record his fifth studio album in 1999 . Jones did the backing vocals on the songs 1999 , Automatic , Free and Lady Cab Driver . They also worked in the music videos of 1999 , Little Red Corvette and Automatic with. She also took part in the 1999 tour from 1982 to 1983 , where she took over the backing vocals of the opening act Vanity 6 .

In 1983 Jill Jones moved to Minneapolis , Minnesota to take part in other music projects by Prince, who also lived in Minneapolis. For example, Jones played a minor supporting role as a waitress in the Prince film Purple Rain , which grossed almost $ 70 million in 1984. Jones also played a small supporting role in the Prince film Graffiti Bridge (1990). The song Mia Bocca can be heard as an instrumental version in the background of the Prince film Under the Cherry Moon (1986).

On April 15, 1987, Jill Jones signed a record deal with Prince's record label Paisley Park Records. On May 26th, their debut album Jill Jones was released, on which Prince composed all the songs and played all the instruments himself. “It wasn't my looks, it was my voice that got Prince's attention. He produced my first LP because he liked the songs. For no other reason, ”noted Jones. Clare Fischer also appeared on the album. The album and the three single releases Mia Bocca (Italian: Mein Mund), G-Spot and For Love were not commercially successful .

In the autumn of 1988 Jill Jones flew to England to work on a second album, which should also be released on the Paisley Park Records label. In the summer of 1989 she and Prince recorded the three unreleased songs Boom Boom (Can't U Feel the Beat of My Heart) , Flesh and Blood and My Baby Knows - also under the name My Baby Knows How to Love Me known - at Paisley Park Studio; Prince also produced a music video for Boom Boom (Can't U Feel the Beat of My Heart) . But the album wasn't finished. Due to differences of opinion between him and Jones, the cooperation between the two of them was discontinued. Jones moved to New York and on April 15, 1993, the record contract with Paisley Park Records expired after six years.

The time after (since 1990)

In the early 1990s, Jill Jones worked with Indigo Girls , Ryuichi Sakamoto and The Listening Pool , among others . The productions were not commercially successful and Jones' popularity fell over the years. It wasn't until 2001 that she released - together with the instrumental musician Chris Bruce - her second studio album Two , which is an acoustic album . In 2009 Jones returned to the charts with the single Living for the Weekend .

On February 12, 2016 Jones released I Am , their third studio album after 15 years, and after Prince 's death in April 2016, she released the song I Miss You in December 2016 , the lyrics of which are a tribute to the deceased musician.

Lyrics

Jill Jones' 1980s song lyrics , which Prince wrote, contain the occasional sexual innuendo; Examples for this are:

  • The song Mia bocca (Italian: "my mouth") begins with the words "I have only had one lover since I was 12 years old" ("I only had one lover since I was 12"). About another man in the song, she sings, "He drives me koo-koo" - a sexual slang expression invented by Prince for being crazy about a person . Jones also sings that the man could also “to be a page in my diary” - the expression stands for a one-night stand .
  • In the song G-Spot , Jones sings “I am a clock, the time is 9:15” (“I'm a clock, it's a quarter past nine”) - the expression stands for legs spread wide.
  • In the song For love she sings: "For love I would suffer kisses from another if that was what turned you on" ("For love I would endure kisses from someone else if that would turn you on").

In addition, Prince released the song She's Always in My Hair in July 1985 , the lyrics of which are by Jill Jones. The song serves as the B-side of his top ten hit Raspberry Beret .

Discography

Studio albums

  • 1987: Jill Jones
  • 2001: Two (Jill Jones & Chris Bruce)
  • 2004: Wasted (The Grand Royals featuring Jill Jones)
  • 2016: I Am

Single releases

  • 1987: Mia Bocca / 77 Bleeker St. (from the album Jill Jones )
  • 1987: G-Spot / Baby Cries (Ay Yah) (from the album Jill Jones )
  • 1987: For Love / Baby, You're a Trip (from the album Jill Jones )
  • 1990: You Do Me ( Ryuichi Sakamoto featuring Jill Jones) / Amore (from the album Beauty )
  • 1994: Soon (from the sampler Flying )
  • 1999: Call Me (Jill Jones vs. Todd Terry )
  • 2001: Station / The Mission / Gorgeous Wonder (Jill Jones & Chris Bruce) (from the album Two )
  • 2007: Someone to Jump Up (Jill Jones vs. Funky Junction)
  • 2009: Living for the Weekend
  • 2011: This Is How to Feels ( Get Far vs. Jill Jones)

Guest singer with Prince

Jill Jones also worked as a background singer on the following albums:

  • 1980: Lady T - Teena Marie
  • 1980: Irons in the Fire - Teena Marie
  • 1981: It Must Be Magic - Teena Marie
  • 1984: Starchild - Teena Marie
  • 2000: Love Songs - Teena Marie
  • 1988: Kristen Vigard - Kristen Vigard
  • 1989: Earth Girls Are Easy ( soundtrack to the film Zebo, the third from the center of the stars ) - sampler
  • 1990: Beauty - Ryuichi Sakamoto
  • 1990: Pandemonium - The Time
  • 1994: Flying Sampler
  • 1994: Still Life - The Listening Pool
  • 1996: Chic Freak and More Treats - Nile Rodgers
  • 1999: Live at the Budokan - Chic
  • 2000: A Brighter Day - Ronny Jordan

literature

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ a b Nilsen (1999), page 257
  2. ↑ a b c d e K Nicola Dyes: The Question of U: Jill Jones Talks 2 Beautiful Nights. February 17, 2013, accessed March 19, 2013 .
  3. ↑ a b c Jill Jones. In: Princevault.com. November 24, 2017, accessed February 25, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b Interview - Jill Jones. In: immusicmag.com. February 23, 2016, accessed February 25, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Booklet of the Prince and the Revolution CD 1999 , Warner Bros. Records, 1982
  6. ↑ Nilsen (1999), page 279
  7. ↑ Nielsen (1999), p. 284
  8. ↑ Mischke (1989), page 175
  9. ↑ Marcus Scott: The Question of U: Jill Jones Talks 2 Beautiful Nights. In: beautifulnightschitown.blogspot.de. February 17, 2017, accessed February 25, 2018 .
  10. ^ Hahn (2006), page 118
personal data
SURNAME Jones, Jill
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer, accompanist and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Lebanon , Ohio