Joe Jones

New Orleans-born and -bred Joe Jones studied music at New York's prestigious Juilliard School of Music, paid for by the GI Bill after his stint in the US Navy during World War II. Returning to New Orleans, he got his foot in the music scene as a personal assistant and "gofer" for blues legend B.B. King, and eventually became King's arranger and pianist. He later formed his own R&B band and spent several years making the rounds of the music scene in the French Quarter. He released a single, "Will Call", for Capitol Records in 1954, but it never went anywhere, and signing a contract with Herald Records didn't do a whole lot for his career, either. However, in 1957 he signed with New York's Roulette Records and cut "You Talk Too Much", a novelty song written by the brother-in-law of Fats Domino for Domino himself, who turned it down. Roulette for some reason didn't even release it, but Jones liked the song and re-recorded it three years later for Ric Records, a small New Orleans label. Oddly enough, the song first became a hit in New York City, which was Roulette Records' home, and the company took legal steps to stop its release by Ric and transfer it to Roulette, which is just what happened. The record was a major hit, shooting to #3 on the charts. Jones, however, because of various legal maneuvering--for which Roulette Records was notorious--earned virtually nothing for his troubles. Disgusted with the business, he moved to New York to get involved in the production end of the industry rather than the recording end of it. In that capacity he helped start the careers of several recording stars, among them The Dixie Cups ("Chapel of Love"). In the 1970s he moved to Los Angeles and started up his own music publishing company. In addition, he became involved in the effort to help black performers recoup the rights and royalties from their performances and/or songwriting efforts which they had either unwittingly signed away or were tricked into signing away by unscrupulous record companies and publishers in the beginning of the rock/R&B era in the early and mid-'50s. Joe Jones died on November 27, 2005, in Los Angeles of complications following quadruple bypass surgery.