Jill Jones: A Promise Fulfilled
by J.J. Vickars
When Jill Jones emerged into the public eye as backup singer for the Revolution she was heralded as one of the best of the 'Prince girls'. His penchant for scantily-clad women had mixed results; some were genuinely talented, others mere decoration. Jones was as talented as she was gorgeous, appearing on so many songs that she quickly became a mainstay. Her cameo in PURPLE RAIN was one of the movie's hi-lights and many wondered why she wasn't featured more prominently. There were rumors of a solo album but it never seemed to appear. What happened? Why did she drop off the radar? How could one of the most promising artists to come out of the Prince stable be allowed to drift into obscurity?
As Paisley Park began to fall apart she split from the camp and went her own way. The ensuing years would be a trial-by-fire that saw her re-emerge triumphantly as an independent solo artist who had at last achieved the promise that she had showed early on.
Jill Jones was born an only child near Dayton, Ohio. Her mother was a model and a singer. Says Jones, "I used to sing along to a lot of her stuff. She was a standards singer, Blues and Jazz. She loved Nancy Wilson. And because part of my life I grew up with my grandmother I had exposure to people like Charles Brown and Muddy Waters, B.B. King... if you have a black grandma she's definitely into B.B. King! It was really different then, especially being African-American. Everybody really supported each other a lot, supported talent. We'd go to the clubs and check people out."
Barely into her teens, her mom had a relationship with Fuller Gordy (Barry's brother) and Jill moved to California where she got bit by the music bug. "Everyone was at Motown. That's what started it because I got to see how it all worked, how sessions would take place... producers, engineers. My very first recollection of being in a major studio was with Tata Vega. She's a big Gospel singer now but Tata was doing R&B stuff in the 70's and her engineer was Humberto Gatica, who is now an award-winning engineer working with people like Celine Dion. Those are my first recollections, when I moved to L.A. and was around all those people."
"My mom started managing Teena Marie and Teena moved into our house. She had her own bedroom and was always writing songs. I was on the other side of the house but she invited me to start writing with her. She really inspired me. I would go play the piano downstairs and try to make up my own songs. Then she started asking me to sing backing vocals for her because being that young your voice is open to be shaped a little tonally and being a background singer you start to shape your voice around the lead singer. I may not have all the intonation or melisma, we weren't big church-goers, but I got the vibe and once being her background singer I started working professionally, leaving school to go sing on gigs."
"I had finished high school and was on my way to college when I ran into Prince. I called and said I needed a job because school just wasn't my thing. After having got out of high school and having all those different breaks in it you start to get a little distracted and don't have the focus you need." WIth her hair dyed blonde she was soon a staple on MTV standing next to keyboardist Lisa Coleman in the 1999 video. The two women standing together behind the keyboard gave a provocative girl/girl image as the camera panned up and down the blonde bombshell in lingerie, heels and captain's hat, her sultry red lips and heavy-lidded eyes enticing viewers. Another, racier video was shot for AUTOMATIC but had to be shelved. Jill and Lisa wheeling out a bed like air traffic control, throwing Prince down, stripping him, and whipping him was too much even for cable. These were the Reagan years. On the LP she put in a steamy performance as The Lady Cab Driver on the song of the same name. What might seem passe by today's standards was seriously pushing the envelope at the time- two years later Tipper Gore, wife of Al Gore, would start PMRC and sticker albums with Explicit Lyric labels in retaliation to one of Prince's raunchiest songs, DARLING NIKKI. When 1999 hit the road Jill pulled double duty singing with both Vanity 6 and the Revolution. Unfortunately she was kept behind a curtain for all but two songs. Her voice was a needed instrument but the blonde bombshell from the video was kept in the background until she came out for the encore on 1999 to mimic her performance in the video. Prince had deemed her "plain Jane" and audiences to this day have never understood why.
"At the beginning of my relationship with the Prince entourage, it was to give a little more credibility to the sound that was being pitched to the labels, yet it would go against the marketing side that he wanted to project which would be the really young girls who were really really cute but perhaps lacked a little in the vocal department. Once I became on-salary as opposed to work-for-hire then everything really opened up. It's kind of like having a 9 to 5 except it's 24/7 and someone would call you to come to the studio. I would sing on so many different things and at the end a lot of stuff got mish-mashed. A lot of stuff has been news to me. What's great about all this social networking (MySpace, Facebook) is engineers come back and tell you. Prince locked stuff up in his vault and you could hardly get a cassette. That was something I wasn't really paying attention to even though my mother came from a publishing background. In hindsight I should have been more on top of that because sometimes I listen to songs and go 'that's me!' I would definitely advise people to stay on top of their game, it's not even a joke."
There's some confusion over whether or not she sang on LET'S GO CRAZY. "I think that's Lisa. The greatest thing about Lisa's voice is there's a real purity that I love. I think it's because she's a keyboard player. Her pitch is always on point. But who knows what he blended in. Like on 1999 he blended our voices together." Two of her most standout contributions are on HELLO, a B-side, and the extended version of KISS. He would go on to write SHE'S ALWAYS IN MY HAIR for "the White Fox", as he dubbed her. And she is a featured, though uncredited, vocalist on the Bangles hit MANIC MONDAY.
Her cameo in PURPLE RAIN stole the show. She played the waitress at the club (the now-legendary First Avenue in Minneapolis) exuding a charisma that led many viewers to wonder why she wasn't cast as the female lead. For a cast comprised of musicians rather than actors she comes across as a natural on screen. Her endearing charm and genuine warmth mesmerized audiences across the country.
During her time with the Revolution she studied kickboxing, horseback riding, sculpture, and gymnastics. "That was during my grooming phase and Prince's Louis B. Mayer phase, having the stars in the stable and grooming them, making them the best of the best. He had a real interest in getting everybody in a stable and controlling them. He was a great combination of Louis B. Mayer and Huggy Bear."
Her solo debut on Prince's newly established Paisley Park Records had been highly anticipated for many years. At last the 'protege' who most deserved the opportunity would step out on her own and shine. Word circulated that the Jill Jones album was finally on its way but nobody in the U.S. ever saw it. It was a simple matter of major label politics- they outright refused to promote it.
"During that time Prince had some successes and the politics of having the label started to encroach upon what he could do with it. Unfortunately when you become that successful in any business it's always amazing to watch the people who start to surround the person who actually had the dream, who brings the dream forward and makes it a reality. It's infuriating to watch how people thwart it and create the monster. They helped create it and facilitate it. Most record companies in the past have let artists have their labels in a condescending 'give them what they want' way and ultimately lock those artists into ridiculous business-like formations then squash anything they put out. That's what corporations do across the board. And I would say that's what happened because he fought very hard, he was not even on my project. Very rarely. He was not micro-managing like he did the other ones, being there 24/7. I did it with David Rivkin. He had full faith and trust in what we were creating. I think they were trying to teach him a lesson, like he was getting to big for his britches. And that's where the bad blood probably started for him with Warners. I believe that because they were like 'oh no, this isn't going to happen'. And if it hadn't been for the English Warner Brothers I wouldn't have had anything. It was the guys in England who brought me over and promoted the record. The American Warners did nothing because they would not let him have any more successes."
The album is one of the finest works to come out of the Prince camp. Funky grooves, catchy hooks, memorable songs, top-notch musicianship (including one of the Revolution's tightest jams ever on ALL DAY ALL NIGHT). It's the signature Paisley Park sound providing a perfect backdrop for Jones' vocal. Finally turned loose in the spotlight she shines gloriously. Producer David Rivkin recalls, "We recorded at Electric Lady Studios in NY. Prince and I had recorded some of the tracks in Minneapolis. We spent some time sending cassette mixes back and forth for final approval but I eventually came up with the method of using two separate phones and two separate lines to play stereo mixes, kinda like a long distance iPod. Saved a lot of time. Jill was a perfectionist in getting her vocals just right. I loved working on that record. When we added the strings with Claire Fisher it became a motion picture, bigger than life."
Jill adds, "We were a little all over the place on it. We even had Pop tunes on it, but those songs didn't work. They were really cute and they were really 'nice' and if I wanted to have a hit record I probably made a mistake in taking them off -you have to give the label what they want- but we took a chance. We wanted them to work a little and get up off their asses and market! And the only place that did was Warners UK." The album did well in Europe and she spent considerable time over there doing interviews and making appearances. A video for the lead-off single MIA BOCCA was filmed by Jean Baptiste Mondino. Shot in Mexico, the sepia tint combined with Jones' exuberant performance depicts a sultry exoticness. Since the rise of the Internet the album has become available to public ears despite being out of print for over a decade. It has finally gotten its due and is considered by fans and critics alike to be the best of all the protege albums (The Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E). Those who heard it recognized it's merits. "I met Miles Davis through Prince and he was really kind to me. Miles loved my album and he made Prince very happy when he told him that. And that should go on the record!"
There was a second Paisley Park album planned that was demoed but never materialized. A video was shot for BOOM BOOM, which would have been the lead-off single, wherein she takes her sex symbol persona to the hilt with a confident sophisticated. The combination of blazer and tie with stockings and heels work perfect with the choreography. Few music videos can leave men speechless like this one. Around that time was YOU DO ME I'LL DO YOU with Ryuichi Sakamoto. Both videos show the Lady Cab Driver of 1999 had bloomed into a woman of understated elegance. There was also C'EST SI BON for an Yves St. Lauren commercial. She recalls, "Trevor Horn did that. Jean Baptiste Mondino hooked it up. He had the visual sense and Trevor had the audio. Naomi Cambell did the commercial and I sang. Once again, behind the curtains!" There was never any need to keep her behind the curtains.
But as she grew into a more sophisticated persona the end of an era had already begun. She explains, "Around '89 I had a fire in my house. My two dogs died, I lost most everything I owned. The learning experience was sometimes you have to do things when you don't want to. My girlfriend came over that night and said 'let's go out' and I didn't want to, I wanted to stay home. She goes 'no let's go to this party' so I left. I had this custom made furniture that wasn't flame retardant and had toxic materials. It was an electrical fire. The firemen said toxic materials killed everything in my house in 6 or 7 minutes just because of the fumes alone."
The fire was the precursor to a long road ahead that would see her disappear from the limelight. She had a major falling out with Prince that ended her tenure at Paisley Park and left her without a record deal. Then shortly after giving birth to a baby girl her mother, to whom she had been very close and had helped nurture her career, died after a long battle with cancer. Soon her marriage fell apart. At one point she was hospitalized with a blood clot by her heart. From then on things would never be the same again.
"My life has been backwards. I had a life where I was working non-stop from the time I was 13 until I was in my 30's after I had my child. Getting divorced, my mother passing away, losing my record deal in England... the worst part of it was I had to survive and I had to figure it out fast." It was an about face that woke her up in a big way. "I think it's a big laugh. I had a problem with it at some point. I remember my life had changed so dramatically. I was managing a restaurant here in New York, it was a month after my mom died and I was getting a divorce, and my friend Alec Kashishian brings in Madonna and she knew what I had done (musically). I remember the conversation- you're an artist and these are the things that happen. They just do. Sometimes it's just for art's sake. So shit happens and you go on. I was feeling 'oh my god I'm so embarrassed' then I thought 'Jill toughen up, this is just how it ended, this is how it is and you'll be fine'. And I think I've written better songs because I had to go through some of those experiences."
By the end of the 90's she began to re-emerge into the public eye appearing with Jazz guitarist Ronny Jordan on a cover of Carly Simon's WHY and on tour with Sinead O'Conner. She also sang backup with Chic on their '96 Japan tour appearing on their LIVE AT THE BUDOKAN CD and DVD, but it was with the release of TWO with Chris Bruce in 2001 that she emerged once and for all as a fully realized artist in her own right.
TWO is a musical landscape of ethereal sounds and haunting melodies underscored by deep introspection. It's the musical diary of an artist coming to terms with "the private Armageddons a lifetime sees." It doesn't coddle or entice; opening with a minor chord it provokes the listener throughout the first few songs. The album's peak comes midway on GORGEOUS WONDER. Most female singers who attempt to sing about womanhood tend to come off as a feministic caricature. On GORGEOUS WONDER Jones personifies the experience of motherhood and giving birth in a way beyond gender that embodies the core of human experience. It's uplifting and lamenting at the same time, sobering and intoxicating, exhilarating and soothing. Jill Jones and Chris Bruce don't perform music on TWO, they invent it.
This was a radical departure from the R&B sounds of the Revolution. "It was a very moving experience for me. I'm very proud of that record. It's a little thought provoking about things in my life and coming to terms with who I am and trying to figure out what I had to be grateful for because you get a little broken as you go along. You know, rocky roads... you get a couple shards sticking out."
TWO was also a turning point for her writing process. "It took me years to be comfortable with initiating songs because I didn't feel comfortable enough with my abilities to express what I want. But as I got older I started to figure out I don't care if you can only play three chords on guitar or four chords ..boards, you're being more honest when you sit in front of anybody who can take that and really shape it. That's why it was such a life-changing album for me. There was something I had to get out- I have to take this step and nobody else can take it for me. Which is why those 'blood-transfusion' songs don't work for me. I don't feel them. I have to connect. I lost my frilliness for little Pop tunes a long time ago."
"There are songs that will be with you forever. Sometimes they're like your best friend, songs that make you laugh, make you cry. That to me is really important. I listen to all the songs that I like and I think 'this must be who I am'. The things that you identify with and you relate to these are things that resonate in your soul whether it be emptiness or loftiness or happiness or whatever."
Her next release was WASTED in 2004 as the vocal/guitar duo The Grand Royals with Ian Ginsberg. "It was a very different style, going into a grittier feel. There was some sort of reality check that came. The Grand Royals sessions are based upon 'this is fuckin' for real, this isn't a joke'. I was getting a little bit more involved politically, paying attention. That was the reality of the world had been spinning and I didn't realize where it spun to. That record was about the core necessities of life- you need love, you need food, you need air, water... and you need some money! I had turned into a bit of a little hustler about certain things, had some boundaries, and had a little bit of a spine at that point. I wasn't like a spoiled brat asking for something, I was just a regular citizen. How do I get along here?"
Ian adds, "There's a lot of depth underneath that beautiful exterior. Lyrically, she's got some great images, and as a singer she has this wonderful gift of being able to shape-shift a little. Sometimes her voice can be so emotive, and sometimes it can be very matter-of-fact and removed. Each song needs something a little different, and Jill can do it all. That's one of the reasons WASTED is stripped down and bare. We used to go to our friend's place and lay stuff down really simply so we could listen back. At a certain point, Jill and I were on a roll. We went one day and just played them. That was it. Completely live. We added some vocal harmonies, but the basic songs were all one-takes. They weren't even finished, but somehow, they were, and we knew that. A good portion of what's on WASTED was done in that one day."
Her MySpace Music Player features her newest songs including SOMEONE TO JUMP UP, a big hit with the Dance crowd who have strongly embraced her in recent years. HELPLESS MAN gives a taste of The Grand Royals as a full band while LIVE IN ME is an outtake from WASTED. "Chris and I wrote a song called SWEET LIBERTY back in the 80's and each time it's evolved into something else." FUCK YOU 'TIL YOU'RE GROOVY oozes sex. Anybody can recite the lyrics, it's Jill's whispered delivery that make men melt. Her ability to seduce with merely her voice is what makes her one of the hottest female singers of all time. Before you've had time to analyze the lyrics the sound has already drawn you in. "GROOVY, WEEKEND and all of those are going to be out on an EP. I'm going to do the releases through CD Baby."
Like many independent musicians in the 21st Century she's embraced home recording. "I'm writing new material working on ideas and seeing wherever it's going to lead me. I love making music but I want to evolve it into something a little more to help solidify certain things in the industry. Maybe setting up a company to execute certain kinds of media and that way I can deal with artists who are having their moments."
Reflecting back on her beginnings with Motown she states firmly, "The Gordy family did instill inside of me one thing which is the entrepreneurial stuff; you should try, you should just try to create. And Prince was like that too. But I had to get in there to see how these people are working it."
Some things get better with age. While she may have missed out on being the star that many people felt she should have been, more importantly she has retained her integrity. "The spotlight is a very strange thing. I don't think I do too well with that, even with the little bits that I've had. Some people have it in them where they love the warmth of the light. I like it but I don't want to sunbathe in it. I'm the type that likes to bring other people in it with me. My feeling is we'll all get in the spotlight together, because everybody plays such a big part in what the moment is. For an only child I definitely share my toys. I love sharing things."
For better or worse the public largely knows her as the backup singer who appeared as the blonde bombshell in the 1999 video and as the waitress in PURPLE RAIN, but it doesn't bother her. "I take the rumors as they come. I do recall years ago when I had an interview for my first album in Germany, there was a point where I said I could be in the Swiss Alps living on land hoeing and toiling and in the midst of hard physical labor someone will come across the hill with a microphone and say 'what was it like working with Prince?' I could be throwing down seeds planting something and a buzzard would fly in, take the seeds, and on his way out say 'Hey! What was it like working with Prince?' But in all seriousness there are not many people who can change the way people look at the world. It would be great if we could all do it but most people don't usually have the balls because we doubt ourselves so much. There are very few people who have done that and he is definitely one of them, so on that note I give him complete respect. I'm honored to have had the privilege of our paths cross. And everybody who crosses mine I feel we're all interconnected anyway."
During her time as a 'Prince girl' she was regarded by audiences and critics alike as one of the best who, like Wendy & Lisa, stood on her own as an equal. It's not surprising both continue to make enduring music long after the glory days of the Revolution have faded. In all three cases you can strip away the hairspray and the ruffles and what you have left are dedicated musicians who raised the bar. That can't be said about many others. On the subject of a Revolution reunion there are many who would specifically like to hear Jill Jones with Wendy & Lisa. It's a possibility since they keeps in touch. "I think it would be a great project. I think we would be quite the trio." Wendy & Lisa make no bones about it, "Jill Jones kicks ass!!!"
Into the 21st Century she has been both an influence and an inspiration to many up-and-coming artists. Musician and faux-celebrity Jeremy Gloff, long one of her most vocal supporters, sums it up while reflecting on one of the high points of his own career; "The first time I viewed Jill Jones was standing behind a keyboard with Lisa Coleman in Prince's 1999 video. Little did I imagine that 26 years later I'd see her standing next to me on stage singing along. During those 26 years she established herself as a restless uncatagorizable artist -- releasing music under the radar that was full of emotion, quirkiness, spirit and sincerity. Jill Jones is one of the few daring artists who can truly immerse herself in a full-on House track, a haunting Indie Rock masterpiece, or an angry folk song, and nearly everything in between. Jill is the best of the best."
Throughout the highs and lows she has maintained a strong connection to her roots, something that has kept her grounded. "Being from Ohio was the best thing for me. That set the tone. Ohio really put it in check and I always harken back to my Ohio days. Cuss you out one day and come in the next day like nothing happened. 'Hey, how you doing? Wanna go down to the Piggly Wiggly? We're going down to the Elks Club.' That is so Ohio. People don't get it here in New York. If you piss them off they don't know how you make up. Yeah, you make up! It's no big deal. I have no problem getting cussed out or cussing somebody out and then being like 'what do you want for dinner?' I read something in Chinese astrology that I would be content just laying around, talking to people, playing a couple bongos. I'm very boho. I have a thing about 'what's the rush?' but then I get impassioned about things."
During her time with the Revolution, when she was closest to the limelight, Jill Jones easily stood out from the pack despite limited exposure. Without being prominently featured she showed a promise and potential that was widely acknowledged. After a long road of highs and lows she has at last fulfilled that promise. Today she stands tall, as charming and lovely as ever, maybe more so. A woman and artist who has who has achieved what all of us aspire to, to improve with age. And so begins the next chapter for this diversely talented vocalist and songwriter...
Sources:
Interview conducted with Jill Jones 2/22/09
Further comments by Ian Ginsberg, Jeremy Gloff, David Rivkin, and Wendy & Lisa
http://come.to/jilljones The original comprehensive Jill Jones web site.
www.jeremygloff.com/jilljonesessay.html Jeremy Gloff's essay on Jill Jones and her music
www.jilljonesonline.com A work in progress
CLICK HERE TO BUY JILL JONES ON iTUNES!
1980 Lady T - Teena Marie(Gordy/Motown.)
Backing vocals Produced by Richard Rudolph
Co-produced by Teena Marie
1980 Irons in the Fire Teena Marie (Gordy/Motown.)
Backing vocals
Produced by Teena Marie
1981 It Must Be Magic - Teena Marie (Gordy/Motown)
Backing vocals
Co-wrote The Ballad of Cradle Rob and Me
Produced by Teena Marie
1982 1999 Prince (Warner Bros.)
Featured vocals on 1999 & Lady Cab Driver
Backing vocals
Produced by Prince
1984 Purple Rain Prince & The Revolution (Warner Bros.)
Backing Vocals
Produced by Prince & The Revolution
1984 Apollonia 6 Apollonia 6 (Warner Bros.)
backing vocals
Produced by Apollonia 6 & The Star Company
1984 The Glamorous Life Shella E (Warner Bros.)
Backing vocals on The Belle of St. Mark
1984 Starchild Teena Marie (Gordy/Motown)
Backing vocals
1985 Manic Monday The Bangles (Columbia)
Featured backing vocals (Uncredited)
Produced by David Kahne
1985 Hello (B- Side) Prince (Paisley Park / Warner Bros.,)
Backing vocals
1986 Mazarati Mazarati (Paisley Park/ Warner Bros.)
Backing vocals on Strawberry Lover & I Guess its All Over
1987 JILL JONES - Jill Jones (Paisley Park/Warner Bros.)
Produced by Jill Jones & David Z. (* Co-produced by Prince)(.. Video available)
Mia Bocca* .. b/w 77 Bleeker St
Extended & Dub version Mia Bocca Remixed by Arthur Baker G-Spot b/w Baby
Cries (Ay- Yah) For Love * b/w Baby Youre a Trip
1987 Its Gonna Be A Beautiful Night Prince (Paisley Park/ Warner Bros.)
Co- lead vocals
Produced by Prince
1988 Bright Lights, Big City (Warner Bros.)
Backing Vocals (Uncredited) for Good Love by Prince
Good Love Song included on independently released Crystal Ball by Prince
1988 Kristen Vigard: Kristen Vigard
Backing vocals
1989 The Ground You Walk On Jill Jones (Warner Bros.)
For the Earth Girls Are Easy Soundtrack
Produced by Nile Rodgers
1989 You Do Me Ryuichi Sakamoto (Virgin)
Lead Vocals [video clip available]
1990 Pandemonium The Time (Paisley Park/Warner Bros.)
Backing Vocals
1990 UNRELEASED DEMOS W/ ANGIE STONE (Paisley Park/; Warner Bros.)
1990 Cest Si Bon (From Yves St. Laurent television spot)
Produced by Trevor Horn
91-95 UNREALEASED DEMOS W/ TIM SIMENON & JOHN REYNOLDS
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