Jack Jones obit

Jack Jones, famed singer and desert resident, dies at 86 

He was not on the list.

Famed singer and Coachella Valley resident Jack Jones died Wednesday night, his family announced. He was 86 years old.

 

Jones is considered one of the most popular vocalists of the 1960s. He is best known for hits like Wives and Lovers, Lollypops and Roses, and famously sang the theme to The Love Boat, the popular ABC show that ran from 1977 to 1987.

Jones is a two-time Grammy-award winner. He was a regular fixture on the variety shows that aired across the 60s and 70s.

 

He acted in several films dating back to 1959. Jones made notable cameos in films like Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) and American Hustle (2013).

 

Jones spent the past several decades calling Coachella Valley home.

He has appeared at countless charity events including Christmas Tree Lane for Act 4 MS and has helped raise millions of dollars for valley ventures throughout the years. 

In 2003, Jones was honored with a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, located at 155 S. Palm Canyon Drive.

He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Jones was primarily a straight-pop singer (even when he recorded contemporary material) whose forays into jazz were mostly of the big-band/swing variety. He won two Grammy Awards and has received a total of five nominations.

Jones continued to perform concerts around the world and in Las Vegas. His recordings include "Lollipops and Roses", "Wives and Lovers", "The Race Is On", "The Impossible Dream" and "Call Me Irresponsible". He also sang the opening themes for television series The Love Boat and the 1968 film Anzio ("This World Is Yours"), as well as the title song for the 1963 film Love with the Proper Stranger, which played on a radio in the film, contributing to the storyline.

Jones was born in Hollywood on the night his father Allan Jones recorded his signature song "The Donkey Serenade", resulting in the younger Jones' assertion that he was "practically born in a trunk." He attended University High School in West Los Angeles and studied drama and singing. His mother was actress Irene Hervey.

His first professional break was with his father, who was performing at the Thunderbird Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. He recorded several demos for songwriter Don Raye, attracting attention from the music industry. In 1959, Jones was signed to Capitol Records and released the album This Love of Mine and a few singles.

While performing at a San Francisco nightclub, Jones was heard by Pete King, a producer and artist for Kapp Records, who quickly signed him to the label. In August 1961, he recorded the ballad "Lollipops and Roses", which became a hit the following year. Jones' biggest pop hit was "Wives and Lovers", written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

During the Kapp years, Jones recorded nearly twenty albums, including Shall We Dance, This Was My Love, She Loves Me, Call Me Irresponsible, Bewitched, Wives and Lovers, Dear Heart, Where Love Has Gone, The Jack Jones Christmas Album, My Kind of Town, The Impossible Dream, The In Crowd, Jack Jones Sings, Lady, Our Song, and I've Got a Lot of Living to Do!

Jones was an anomaly in the 1960s pop scene, eschewing rock-and-roll trends and opting for the big band sound, lush romantic ballads, and the Great American Songbook, although sometimes he recorded something more pop-, country-, or bossa nova-oriented.

For example, one of his biggest hits was "The Race Is On" by country musician George Jones (no relation). Besides the choice of material, he worked with such arrangers as Billy May, Nelson Riddle, Marty Paich, Shorty Rogers, Jack Elliott, Ralph Carmichael, Bob Florence, and Don Costa.

Jones moved from Kapp (London Records in the UK) to RCA Victor in 1967. His first album for the label was Without Her. The following releases If You Ever Leave Me, L.A. Break Down, and Where Is Love were in roughly the same style of the Kapp records, but with a somewhat more contemporary vocal styling.

A Time for Us (1970) was one of the albums which marked his transition toward a more middle-of-the-road sound. He began recording more contemporary material, including covers of such well-known songwriters as Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Carole King, Paul Williams, Richard Carpenter, Gordon Lightfoot, and Gilbert O'Sullivan.

The album Bread Winners (1972) was a tribute to the band Bread, with eight songs written by David Gates and two by Jimmy Griffin and Robb Royer. Two more albums from this period were dedicated to two French songwriters: Jack Jones Sings Michel Legrand (to Michel Legrand, 1971) and Write Me a Love Song, Charlie, featuring songs by Charles Aznavour (1974).

The Full Life (1977) was produced by Jones and Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys; on this album, Jones recorded the Beach Boys classics "God Only Knows" and "Disney Girls". His last LP for RCA was With One More Look at You (1977), which includes a rendition of the Little Feat hit "Dixie Chicken"; this performance later resurfaced on Golden Throats 2: More Celebrity Rock Oddities. In 1979 he moved to MGM Records, recording the album Nobody Does It Better, which featured a disco version of "The Love Boat", the opening theme from the TV series of the same name, and his Grammy winner "Wives and Lovers". His second (and, due to its subsequent closure, his last) MGM album, Don't Stop Now, featured duets with Maureen McGovern.