Allen Alvoid Jones Jr. (December 29, 1940 – May 5, 1987) was an American

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and songwriter. Jones produced several albums for

Albert King Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps ...

(including ''

I'll Play the Blues for You ''I'll Play the Blues for You'' is the seventh studio album by Albert King released in 1972. In 2017, the single version of the title track was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame. Track listing #"I'll Play the Blues for You, Pts. 1-2" (Jerr ...

'', ''

The Blues Don't Change ''The Blues Don't Change'' is an album by American blues musician Albert King. He recorded it at the Stax Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1973 and 1974. In 1977, Stax released the album with the same songs and running order as ''The Pinch ...

'' and ''

I Wanna Get Funky ''I Wanna Get Funky'' is the eighth studio album by Albert King, covering various blues tunes with heavy funk overtones, by Albert King, recorded in 1972 and released in 1974. With a rhythm section led by the Bar-Kays and horn arrangements by t ...

''), and became the producer and manager for the Bar-Kays. He produced all of their records including their last records for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

. He formed their production company, and produced other acts such as Kwick on EMI and executively produced Ebony Webb, also on EMI. Jones was also a successful

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, with his songs recorded by musicians including

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...

Clarence Carter Clarence George Carter (born January 14, 1936) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. His most successful songs include " Slip Away", " Back Door Santa" (both released 1968), " Patches" (1970) and "Strokin" (1986). Ea ...

, and Albert King. Songs he co-composed include "

I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" is a song written by Homer Banks and Allen Jones (record producer), Allen Jones. Originally recorded by soul duo Sam & Dave in 1967, the song was famously covered by New wave music, new wave musician Elvis Cos ...

", " Drownin' on Dry Land", " Heart Fixing Business", " If the Washing Don't Get You, The Rinsing Will", and " Hard to Handle". Jones started out as a

bass player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...

, and ended up owning his own recording studio, (Onyx) a.k.a. American Recording Studio, in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

. He gave many artists and musicians opportunities to work in the

recording industry A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

, long before there were college classes on the music business. Jones knew a hit record and blossomed at

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

as a writer, producer and

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...

. He lived to be in the studio and helped to make a name for

Ardent Studios Ardent Studios is an American recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. History Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry and were initially a studio in his family's garage, where he recorded his first 45s for the Arden ...

. He stayed in Studio A of Ardent for almost 10 years. He was the producer for

Chocolate Milk Chocolate milk is a type of flavoured milk made by mixing cocoa solids with milk (either dairy or plant-based). It is a food pairing in which the milk's mouthfeel masks the dietary fibres of the cocoa solids. Types The liquid carbohydrate ...

's 1982 album, ''Friction'' and "Blue Jeans". Jones kept the Bar-Kays with songs and production work for their albums and tour dates until the day he died of a heart attack in 1987, aged 46.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Allen 1940 births 1987 deaths Place of birth missing American record producers American male songwriters American music industry executives American audio engineers 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century male musicians