John Jones (record producer)
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John Jones | |
|---|---|
 John Jones, Los Angeles (2009) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Jones |
| Born | 12 December 1957 |
| Origin | London, England, UK |
| Genres | Rock, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, record producer, songwriter, composer, audio engineer |
| Instrument(s) | Guitars, vocals, keyboards |
| Years active | 1975–present |
John Jones, born on December 12, 1957, is a British-Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter, and engineer. Throughout his career, Jones has collaborated with various bands and musicians including Duran Duran, Celine Dion, Fleetwood Mac, George Martin, Dan Hill, Steve Ferrone, Alan Frew, and the Rolling Stones.[citation needed]
1970s: The Early Years
[edit]Jones began his musical career in the 1970s, with his first notable recording session taking place at Toronto Sound Studio, under the mentorship of producer Terry Brown. During this time, Jones honed his skills, not only in music production but also in the art of making a perfect cup of tea. His talent soon caught the attention of major music publishers, leading to signing contracts as a singer-songwriter with CBS Songs and ATV Music.
1978 marked a pivotal year for Jones as he joined CBS Canada's pop group, Bond. As a versatile musician handling keyboards, guitar, and vocals, he contributed to Bond's final recording, "I Can't Help It." Following this, he embarked on tours with several bands, including the rock cover band FUNN—featuring Dee Long and Terry Draper of Klaatu—the show band Canada, and Gary O's Kid Rainbow.
In 1979, Jones formed a notable partnership with Dee Long of Klaatu, beginning a 15-year musical and business collaboration. This partnership would shape much of his future endeavors in the music industry.
1980s
[edit]In 1980, Jones, Dee Long, and drummer Frank Watt, designed, built, and operated ESP Studios, which was a 16-track analogue MCI studio based around a Fairlight CMI in Buttonville, Ontario, where they worked on recordings for Klaatu, Alice Cooper, Gary O', Strange Advance, Dalbello, Rational Youth, Bob Ezrin, Red Rider, Images in Vogue, Dan Hill, The Partland Brothers, and Glass Tiger. [citation needed]
While at ESP, Jones wrote songs for Priscilla Wright and the number one Rational Youth hit; Bang On, as well as composing film scores for Hot Money with Orson Welles, A Perfect Stranger, and the TV Series "Blue Murder" with Bob Segarini. [citation needed]
In 1985, Jones and Long relocated to London, England. While there he worked with George Martin and John Burgess of Associated Independent Recording to set up Studio 5, the Fairlight CMI computer/MIDI music studio of AIR Studios on Oxford Street.[citation needed]
Productions for Under Milk Wood, Yes, The Rolling Stones, Demis Roussos, Paul McCartney, Terence Trent D'Arby, Elton John, The Outfield, Mark Knopfler, Willy DeVille, Roy Wood and Duran Duran until AIR Studios relocated in 1992. [citation needed]
Jones performed on piano at the LSO Summer Pops '87 at Barbican Hall, with Martin and he wrote the MIDI chapter in Martin's book; Making Music, and appeared in a segment of BBC's Science In Action, filmed at AIR Studios, in Studio 5. [citation needed]
Jones and Long also worked on the development of the Akai S1000 sampler, producing one of the first Sample CD's, The AIR Sessions, which developed into the original sound library for the S1000 sampler.[citation needed]
Jones began working with Duran Duran at AIR Studios,[1] where he produced the B side single, "This Is How A Road Gets Made", and programmed sampled sounds for their Big Thing tour. Soon after, he was working full time on their Liberty album, with producer Chris Kimsey, at Olympic Studio in Barnes.[citation needed]
During the Liberty sessions, Jones co-produced the promotional single, "Burning the Ground", which was made up of samples of Duran Duran songs, from their Decade: Greatest Hits album release.[2]
1990s
[edit]In 1990, Jones created samples for John Cale for the album Songs for Drella. He worked again with Chris Kimsey on Paul Rodgers's Laying Down the Law, and on the Rolling Stones' Flashpoint (album), where he edited live tracks and created the intro piece, "Continental Drift." [citation needed]
Jones performed with Duran Duran at the Royal Albert Hall in 1991 for Vanessa Redgrave's Jerusalem for Reconciliation concert for UNICEF, and in April 1992, he played with Queen at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in London. [citation needed]
Between 1991 and 1993, Duran Duran and Jones co-produced the comeback record, The Wedding Album with the band.[3] During those years, Jones produced Ny Donsk in Iceland, and in November 1993, Jones performed with Duran Duran for their MTV Unplugged show in New York. [citation needed]
1994 started with Alan Frew's, Hold On, recorded in Los Angeles, for EMI Canada, where Jones co-wrote the album's hit song, So Blind, which won awards from the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada for the Most Performed Song of 1995 and for reaching Number 1.[citation needed]
Jones' next co-production with Duran Duran was their Thank You album of cover songs, released in 1995, which was voted #1 of the 50 Worst Albums Ever! by Q magazine in 2006.[4]
In 1996, Jones wrote and produced tracks for Dan Hill's I'm Doing Fine, spawning the top 10 song Wrapped and "These Strange Times" on Fleetwood Mac's Time, featuring Mick Fleetwood on lead vocal, as well as producing, engineering and performing on Dan Hill's song, Seduces Me, for Celine Dion.
John Jones was awarded the 1997 Grammy Awards for Album Of The Year (Producer)[citation needed], Album Of The Year (Engineer) and Pop Album Of The Year (Producer), 'Pop Album Of The Year (Engineer) for producing Celine Dion's Seduces Me, from the multi-platinum CD, Falling Into You.
During 1998, Jones composed scores for the award winning film [citation needed], Stuart Bliss, as well as Lucky Lawson and Ipola (composed with Steve Ferrone).
Jones released his first solo album of his own material called One Moment in Time in 1998. The album garnered three MP3.com Pop Chart number ones for the singles State Of Mind and Turning Me inside Out.[citation needed]
2000s
[edit]Jones' solo album: One Moment in Time, was re-released by Victor Entertainment in Japan in late 2001, to coincide with a Kirin Beer advertising campaign, for which Jones sang the lead vocal on the song, I'll Be There, recorded for Simon Le Bon's Japanese music company, Syn Entertainment. [citation needed]
In 2003, Jones and drummer, Steve Ferrone, founded Drumroll Musicians Workshop studio in Burbank, California. They were joined by guitarist and producer, Steve Postell, working on productions and sessions including Ferrone's Farm Fur, Keb' Mo', Emily Richards, Edgar Winter, Jeff Golub, Sabian, Dean & Robert Deleo, Alex Ligertwood, and Brian Auger. During this time, Ferrone and Jones composed the score for the film, Puzzle. [citation needed]
2007 was the start of Jones' collaboration with Richard Martinez and Meninos do Morumbi, the Brazilian school and social program for favela children, founded by Flavio Pimenta, for the Music is Hope Foundation. [citation needed]
In November 2009, Jones released his second solo album, Black N White, with drums by Steve Ferrone. [citation needed]
2010s
[edit]Jones worked with composer Nick Wood and the musician, Julian Lennon, on the song "Children of the World", benefiting cancer victims, as well as "Hope" with Tetsuya Komuro and the Boys & Girls Club of Boston, to aid victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan. [citation needed]
Jones produced the 2015 album Meninos Do Morumbi & Friends. In 2018, Jones co-produced the Joey Niceforo orchestral pop album: Priceless, with Steve Sidwell and Sam Reid. This album was recorded in London at Abbey Road Studios by the engineer Steve Price and conducted by Sidwell. Jones also produced Terry McDermott's U.K. single "Lost Again" and album, Beautiful Destruction. [citation needed]
Incomplete Discography
[edit]An incomplete John Jones production discography:
- Heredity – Rational Youth, 1985
- 1-2-3 (Len Barry song) – Roy Wood, 1987
- Under Milk Wood – George Martin, 1988
- Burning the Ground – Duran Duran, 1989
- Liberty (album) – Duran Duran, 1990
- Flashpoint (album) – Rolling Stones, 1991
- Duran Duran (1993 album) – Duran Duran, 1993
- Hold On (Alan Frew album) – Alan Frew, 1995
- Thank You (Duran Duran album) – Duran Duran, 1995
- Time (Fleetwood Mac album) – Fleetwood Mac, 1995
- Falling into You – Celine Dion, 1996
- You Give – Emily Richards, 1999
- More Head – Farm Fur, 2005
- Lost Again – Terry McDermott, 2016
References
[edit]- ^ Buskin, Richard (April 1993). "John Jones & Duran Duran (RM Apr 1993)". Recording Musician (Apr 1993): 18–21.
- ^ Buskin, Richard (April 1993). "John Jones & Duran Duran (RM Apr 1993)". Recording Musician. No. Apr 1993. pp. 18–21. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ Duran Duran (booklet). Duran Duran. Parlophone. 1993. 0777 7 98876 2 0.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Rocklist.net...Q Magazine Lists".