Rickie Lee Jones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is a two-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist, musician, and songwriter from the United States. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including jazz, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and standards.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Born in Chicago, Jones grew up in a family she has described as "lower-middle-class-hillbilly-hipster" in Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Arizona, and Olympia, Washington. Her grandfather, nicknamed "Peg Leg Jones," had come from a vaudeville background, and Jones has spoken of her Welsh ancestry and her gypsy[disambiguation needed] heritage.
Her father, Richard Loris Jones, worked as a waiter, furniture mover, and gardener, but also had musical leanings, writing a lullaby for his daughter entitled "Moon is Made of Gold." Her mother, Bettye Jones, was a waitress who later became a nurse. Jones' younger brother, Danny, was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him with one leg and partial paralysis; by fourteen, she was living in Arizona with her father and had a tendency to run away from home, often hitch-hiking.
She settled in Venice, California at the age of eighteen in 1973 having been expelled from various schools. She earned her living by waiting tables and playing at local clubs as she began to take her songwriting more seriously. During the mid-1970s, Jones met her long-time collaborator and one-time beau Sal Bernardi, as well as Tom Waits (who became her lover) and Chuck E. Weiss, who would inspire her most successful commercial hit single. After attending college, Jones settled in L.A.
[edit] Early success: 1978–82
By 1977, Jones was performing original material at the Ala Carte club in Hollywood with Alfred Johnson, with whom she had composed "Weasel and the White Boys Cool" and "Company." Jones' success on the club scene soon translated into songwriting kudos, when her friend Ivan Ulz introduced Lowell George of Little Feat to Jones' composition "Easy Money." Impressed, George included the song on his album Thanks, I'll Eat it Here in 1978, confirming Jones' status as a burgeoning singer-songwriter.
A four-song demo of material was circulated around the L.A. music scene in 1978, with Emmylou Harris later recalling that she had heard an early version of "The Last Chance Texaco" on the demo tape. The recordings came to the attention of Lenny Waronker, producer and executive at Warner Bros. Records. Jones was signed to the label, and work commenced on her debut album, co-produced by Waronker and Russ Titelman.
The sophisticated and diverse Rickie Lee Jones was released in March 1979 and became a smash hit, buoyed by the success of the jazz-flavoured single "Chuck E's in Love" (#4 Billboard Hot 100, 1979) and its accompanying video, immortalising Jones as a Jack Daniels-swigging, beret-wearing Beat hipster. The album, which included guest appearances by Dr. John, Randy Newman, and Michael McDonald, raced to US #3 on the Billboard 200 and produced another US Top 40 hit with "Young Blood" (#40) in late 1979.
Following a successful world tour, Jones, who featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine during the summer of 1979 as a measure of her huge critical and commercial success, secured five nominations at the Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female, Song of the Year ("Chuck E's In Love"), and Best New Artist, which she won at the January 1980 ceremony.
After moving to New York City, Jones spent the majority of 1980 working on a follow-up album, written and recorded partly in reaction to the break-up of her relationship with Tom Waits sometime between late 1979 and early 1980. The lengthy and intermittent recording sessions finally yielded the well-received Pirates in July 1981. The album was a departure from the jazz and R&B flavour of the debut, employing longer and more complex song structures and showcasing the influences of Leonard Bernstein, Bruce Springsteen, and Broadway with her vivid cast of characters, clever wordplay, and surprising shifts in rhythm and tempo.
Rolling Stone remained fervent supporters of Jones, with a second cover feature during the summer of 1981; the magazine also included a flowing five-star assessment of Pirates, which became a commercially successful follow-up by reaching US #5 on the Billboard 200. A single, "A Lucky Guy," inspired by the break-up with Waits, became the only Billboard Hot 100 hit from the album, peaking at #64, but "Pirates (So Long Lonely Avenue)" and "Woody and Dutch on the Slow Train to Peking" became minor Top 40 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
Another lengthy and successful tour into 1982 followed, before Jones moved back to California, settling in San Francisco. A partial tour memento, the EP Girl at Her Volcano, was issued originally as a 10" record in 1983, featuring a mix of live and studio cover versions of jazz and pop standards, as well as one Jones original, "Hey Bub," which had been recorded for Pirates. Jones then relocated to Paris.
[edit] Period of Transition: 1983–89
The remainder of the 1980s found Jones falling out of favour commercially and pursuing a more complex and experimental sound.
After battling through cocaine and heroin addiction, Jones settled in France and recorded substantial new material, some of which was released on her third full-length solo album, The Magazine, in September 1984. The limited success of the EP/mini-album Girl at Her Volcano (#39 Billboard 200; #36 Jazz Albums, 1983) had pointed towards the fading of Jones' commercial star, and the mixed reviews that greeted the album contributed to its relative commercial failure, peaking at #44 on the Billboard 200 — but reaching the Top 20 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.
The Magazine found Jones combining the melodic, jazz-inspired sound of her debut with the complex structures of Pirates, with a more synth-driven sound, owed to working closely with composer James Newton Howard on the album. Alongside the more commercially appealing material, Jones included a three-song suite, subtitled 'Rorschachs', exploring multi-tracked vocals and synth patterns. Only the upbeat "The Real End" made it into the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984, peaking at #82.
After recording "Moon Is Made of Gold" and "Autumn Leaves" for Rob Wasserman's album Duets in 1985, Jones took a four-year break from her recording schedule, largely attributed to problems with alcoholism and business troubles. Jones also married French musician Pascal Nabet Meyer during her stay in France in the mid-1980s, having met him on holiday in Tahiti, and in 1988 the couple had a daughter, Charlotte (they subsequently divorced.)
A tour of Israel and Norway led to Jones and Nabet Meyer relocating back to the US, where work began on her fourth solo album following another Grammy nomination for her Wasserman collaboration "Autumn Leaves." With songs dating from — and copyrighted in — the mid-1980s, Jones teamed up with Steely Dan's Walter Becker to craft Flying Cowboys, which was released on the Geffen Records label in September 1989. Jones and Becker toned down the more experimental sound of The Magazine to create a more mellow and organic album with emphasis on pop, country, and reggae influences; Jones also included some writing collaborations with her husband Nabet Meyer. "The Horses," co-written with Becker, later became an Australian #1 hit single for Daryl Braithwaite in 1991.
The album's positive reviews buoyed it into the US Top 40, reaching #39 on the Billboard 200, with the college radio hit "Satellites" making it to #23 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Jones ended the decade on a high note with her duet with Dr. John, a cover of "Makin' Whoopee," winning her second Grammy Award for Best Jazz Duet.
[edit] Experimentation and Change: 1990–2001
By the turn of the decade, Jones had earned enough artistic respect and kudos to tackle an album of jazz standards.
Following a tour with Lyle Lovett, Jones enlisted Don Was to helm her idiosyncratic album of covers, Pop Pop, ranging from jazz and blues standards to Tin Pan Alley to Jimi Hendrix's "Up from the Skies." The album, released in September 1991, was a hit on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums (#8, 1991), but became her least commercially successful record yet, limping to #121 on the Billboard 200 as her music became too complex and unpredictable for a large pop audience.
Soon after, The Orb issued "Little Fluffy Clouds," featuring Jones' vocals, and in 1992 Jones toured extensively with Rob Wasserman, with whom she had collaborated in the mid-1980s.
Her swansong for Geffen Records was the largely more accessible Traffic From Paradise, released in September 1993. The album was only slightly more successful than its predecessor, reaching #111 on the Billboard 200, but was notable for its collaboration with Leo Kottke, its musical diversity, and an inspired cover of David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel."
Jones' first solo shows in 1994 paved the way for her "unplugged" acoustic album Naked Songs, released in September 1995 through a one-off deal with Reprise Records. The album, which reached US #121 on the Billboard 200, featured acoustic re-workings of Jones classics and album material, but featured no new songs.
Emphasising her experimentation and change, Jones embraced electronic music for the unusual Ghostyhead, released on Warner Bros. Records in June 1997. The album, a collaboration with Rick Boston (both are credited with production and with twenty-one instruments in common) found Jones employing beats, loops, and electronic rhythms, and also showcased Jones' connection with the trip-hop movement of the mid-to-late 1990s. Despite some positive reviews, and its artistic relevance, the experimental opus did not meet with commercial success, peaking at US #159 on the Billboard 200.
A move back to Washington precipitated Jones' work on her second album of cover versions, the acclaimed It's Like This, released on the independent record label Artemis Records in September 2000. The album included eclectic and idiosyncratic cover versions of material by artists including The Beatles, Steely Dan, Marvin Gaye, and the Gershwin brothers. The album made it onto three Billboard charts — #148 on the Billboard 200, #10 on Top Internet Albums, and #42 on Top Independent Albums. The album also secured Jones another Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
After starting up her official website, Artemis issued an archival Jones release, Live at Red Rocks, in November 2001, featuring material recorded during the Flying Cowboys era tour of 1989/1990, including a Lyle Lovett duet.
[edit] Artistic Renaissance: 2002–
After the sting of Ghostyhead, where one of her most experimental and innovative albums failed to ignite the public interest, Jones largely retired from public view and admitted that she had battled writers' block. She spent much of her time at her home in Olympia, Washington, tending her garden and bringing up her now-teenage daughter Charlotte.
But the election of George W. Bush re-ignited Jones' artistic fire, and she set to work on her first album of new, original material for six years. Released on the independent V2 in October 2003, The Evening Of My Best Day found Jones returned to artistic and critical favour. A diverse, crafted affair, the album featured influences from the realms of jazz, Celtic folk, blues, R&B, rock, and gospel, and spawned a successful and lengthy spurt of touring. Despite Jones' artistic standing, and the positive response, the album peaked at US #189 on the Billboard 200.
Renewed interest in Jones led to the three-disc anthology Duchess of Coolsville: An Anthology, released through reissue specialists Rhino in June 2005. A lavish package, the alphabetically-arranged release featured album songs, live material, covers, and demos, and featured essays by Jones as well as various collaborators, as well as tributes from artists including Randy Newman, Walter Becker, Quincy Jones, and Tori Amos.
Also in 2005, Jones was invited to take part in her friend and collaborator Lee Cantelon's music version of his book The Words, a modern re-working of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Cantelon's idea was to have various artists recite the text over primal rock music, but Jones elected to improvise a vocal and lyric; summer sessions at Cantelon's home in 2005 and at Sunset Sound in the summer of 2006 yielded the ambitious The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard, released on the independent New West Records in February 2007. The album, met by mostly positive reviews, found Jones in a more improvised and raw setting and was accompanied by further tour dates. It also included "Circle in the Sand," recorded for the soundtrack to the film Friends With Money (2006), for which Jones also cut "Hillbilly Song." The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard debuted at #158 on the Billboard 200 and #12 on the Top Independent Albums tally.
[edit] Other Work
Jones is the organizer of the web community "Furniture for the People", which is involved in gardening, social activism, bootleg exchange and left wing politics. She hosts a weekly talk radio on KAOS (Evergreen State College radio) in Olympia, Washington. She has produced records (including Leo Kottke's Peculiaroso), and provided a voiceover for a 1980s cartoon version of Pinocchio, in which she played the Blue Fairy.
[edit] Discography
- Rickie Lee Jones - (1979) U.S. #3
- Pirates - (1981) U.S. #5
- Girl at Her Volcano (EP) - (1983) U.S. #39
- The Magazine - (1984) U.S. #44
- Flying Cowboys - (1989) U.S. #39
- Pop Pop - (1991) U.S. #121
- Traffic From Paradise - (1993) U.S. #111
- Naked Songs - Live And Acoustic - (1995) U.S. #121
- Ghostyhead - (1997) U.S. #159
- It's Like This - (2000) U.S. #148
- Live at Red Rocks - (2001)
- The Evening Of My Best Day - (2003) U.S. #189
- Rickie Lee Jones: Duchess of Coolsville - (2005)
- The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard - February 2007 U.S. #158
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
| US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK | |||
| 1979 | "Chuck E's in Love" | #4 | - | - | #18 | Rickie Lee Jones |
| 1979 | "Youngblood" | #40 | - | - | - | Rickie Lee Jones |
| 1984 | "The Real End" | #82 | - | - | - | The Magazine |
| 1989 | "Satellites" | - | #23 | - | - | Flying Cowboys |
[edit] Trivia
- Her song "Living It Up" was remixed for clubs by Junior Vasquez in 1997. The remix was a hit in New York City clubs, but was never released commercially.
- Her hit single "Chuck E's in Love" is about fellow musician Chuck E. Weiss, whom she lived alongside at the Tropicana Hotel in the early 1970s. She was in a romantic relationship with Weiss's friend Tom Waits around the same time.
- Her voice was sampled for The Orb's single Little Fluffy Clouds
after she appeared with Levar Burton on the US children's program Reading Rainbow. Because of this both Jones and Burton were involved in legal action, but Big Life (the music label which released "Little Fluffy Clouds") later settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.The original sample is featured on a promotional 2-CD edition (DIDX-005561) of Jones' album Flying Cowboys. - The song "On Saturday Afternoons in 1963" was used in popular TV drama House, as the lead character Dr. Gregory House, played by Hugh Laurie, watches a lacrosse game.
- She is the voice of the "Have You Had Enough?" song which is featured in customized political ads on the internet and local radio and television stations. The series of ads impel voters to vote for Democratic candidates in specific races of the United States congressional midterm elections in 2006. They are an example of the growing importance of netroots bloggers, who organized the effort. She performs the song alongside three former members of the Squirrel Nut Zippers.
