Jimmy Jones (singer)

Jimmy Jones ( born June 2, 1937 in Birmingham, Alabama; † August 2, 2012 in Aberdeen, Moore County, North Carolina) was an American rock and roll and pop singer. His most famous songs are the number -one hit Good Timin ' and the song Handy Man, that was for himself and for Del Shannon and later for James Taylor hit.

Life

From Alabama to the Apollo

Jones moved as a teenager from Alabama to New York, where in 1954 the doo-wop group "The Berliner " joined. The band renamed itself soon into " Sparks of Rhythm." 1955 Jones wrote the song Handy Man, in 1956 recorded the Sparks of Rhythm on record, after Jones had already left the band.

Jones founded with other singers, the " Savoy " that were renamed after the change to a different record company in " The Pretenders ". These occurred in 1956 several times with various other artists such as Clyde McPhatter, Sonny Knight, the Cleftones, and the teenagers in New York's Apollo Theatre which was later released several singles which have been honored with good reviews. 1957, from the Pretenders for about a year the The Jones Boys, who the song Whistlin 'Man recordings - Jones ' first spring own version of his later hits Handy Man. The Pretenders broke up in the spring of 1959.

Top hits on both sides of the Atlantic

Jimmy Jones met the songwriter and music producer Otis Blackwell, with whom he went into the studio in June 1959. Blackwell edited Jones ' song Handy Man, and produced a new demo recording with the author as a singer. Since the flutist was not present at the recording session, Blackwell whistled himself on the recording. The song with the typical Jones rock falsetto vocals in the style of Clyde McPhatter and Sam Cooke were both selling to MGM who released him in September on their Club Records label. Jimmy Jones had his first hit in the U.S., where Handy Man in the charts rose in 18 weeks at number two, and a little later in the UK. 1960 Jones also took with Blackwell Good Timin 'on, a song by Fred Tobias and Clint Ballard Jr., the single in the U.S. As Handy Man sold more than a million times; in the UK they conquered on 7 July 1960, the number-one position in the charts, which could keep them for three weeks.

After the great success

After the hits Jones could not keep his career at the high level, but the following year brought two more singles in the U.S. and three in Britain in the lower regions of the charts. Although he was able to record only two Top Ten hits, he remained a well-known songwriter and first as a singer in the music business. Between 1962 and 1967 he brought more records out on various labels, including 1966 Parkway a duet with Little Eva, Do not You Just Know It little of Jones could be heard in the 1970s and 1980s; In 1986 he was one of the artists of vintage Doo - Wop Rockers, recorded the Arthur Criers Do not Let Them Starve as Charity drive against hunger in Africa.

Influences on other artists

Del Shannon, the Handy Man reiterated in 1964 as a cover version in the charts, Jones named in one breath with the Ink Spots as his main influence; Shannon in turn had with his falsetto singing a great influence on the song of the disco hits of the Bee Gees. 1977 James Taylor was a U.S. number - four - Hit Man with mobile phone.

Even in the 1990s, Jones brought out the album Grandma's Rock & Roll Party with admissions also his two big hits. During this time, had its music in the British Northern soul movement a revival. In 2002, then his most popular songs on the double CD Good Timin ': The Anthology published again.

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