Floyd Jones (July 21, 1917 – December 19, 1989) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer, guitarist and songwriter. He was one of the first of the new generation of

electric blues Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

artists to record in Chicago after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and a number of his

recordings 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, re ...

are regarded as classics of the

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...

idiom.

Early life

Jones was born in

Marianna, Arkansas Marianna is a town in and the county seat of Lee County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had a population of 4,115, but by 2018 the population had dropped to an estimated 3,477. Located along the L'An ...

. He started playing the guitar seriously after being given one by

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

, and worked as an itinerant musician in Arkansas and

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

in the 1930s and early 1940s. He settled in Chicago in 1945.

Playing in Chicago

In Chicago, Jones took up the electric guitar and was one of a number of musicians, playing on

Maxwell Street Maxwell Street is an east–west street in Chicago, Illinois, that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. It runs at 1330 South in the numbering system running from 500 West to 1126 West.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee (1988). ...

and in nonunion venues in the late 1940s, who played an important role in the development of the postwar Chicago blues. This group included

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

and

Jimmy Rogers Jay or James Arthur "Jimmy" Rogers (June 3, 1924December 19, 1997) was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters's band in the early 1950s. He also had a solo career and ...

, both of whom went on to become mainstays of the

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

band;

Snooky Pryor James Edward "Snooky" Pryor (September 15, 1919 or 1921 – October 18, 2006) was an American Chicago blues harmonica player. He claimed to have pioneered the now-common method of playing amplified harmonica by cupping a small microphone in hi ...

; Jones's cousin Moody Jones and the

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

player

Johnny Young Johnny Young (born Johnny Benjamin de Jong, 12 March 1947, Rotterdam, Netherlands) is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. He had a number-one hit with the double-A-sided single, "Step Bac ...

Recordings

Jones's first recording session in 1947, with Pryor on harmonica and Moody on guitar, produced the sides "Stockyard Blues" and "Keep What You Got", which formed one of the two records released by the Marvel label. They are one of the earliest examples of the new style on record. A second session, in 1949, resulted in a release on the similarly short-lived Tempo-Tone label. During the 1950s Jones's records were released by

JOB Work, labor (labour in Commonwealth English), occupation or job is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics, work can be seen as the huma ...

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

and

Vee-Jay Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

. In 1966, he recorded for the

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

label's Masters of Modern Blues series, on a session shared with singer and guitarist Eddie Taylor.Leadbitter, M.; Slaven, N. (1987). ''Blues Records 1943 to 1970, Vol. 1: A–K''. 2nd ed. London: Record Information Services. pp. 736–737. Unusually for a blues artist of his era, several of his songs have economic or social themes, such as "Stockyard Blues" (which refers to a strike at the

Union Stock Yards The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was formed by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a vast cen ...

), "Hard Times" and "Schooldays".Rowe, M. (1981). ''Chicago Blues: The City and the Music''. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 97. His song " On the Road Again" was a top 10 hit for

Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American blues rock band that was formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The group has been noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and ...

in 1968.

Later career and death

Jones continued performing in Chicago for the rest of his life, but he had few further recording opportunities. The album ''Old Friends Together for the First Time'', featuring Jones and

David "Honeyboy" Edwards David "Honeyboy" Edwards (June 28, 1915 – August 29, 2011) was an American delta blues guitarist and singer from Mississippi. Biography Edwards was born in Shaw, Mississippi.

, Sunnyland Slim,

Big Walter Horton Walter Horton (April 6, 1921 – December 8, 1981), known as Big Walter (Horton) or Walter "Shakey" Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming, shy man, he is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the hi ...

, and Kansas City Red, was released by

Earwig Earwigs make up the insect order (biology), order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cercus, cerci, a pair of forceps-like pincer (biology), pincers on ...

in 1981. Jones sang and played lead guitar on "Mr. Freddy Blues" and sang on "Banty Rooster". In the latter part of his career the electric bass became his main instrument. He died in Chicago on December 19, 1989, and was buried at Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens, in

Willow Springs, Illinois Willow Springs is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion extending into DuPage County. The village was founded in 1892 and was named for the springs along the Des Plaines River. In 2020, the population was 5,857. ...

References

External links

Illustrated Floyd Jones discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Floyd 1917 births 1989 deaths 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers Blues musicians from Arkansas American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers People from Marianna, Arkansas American street performers Chess Records artists 20th-century American guitarists Singers from Arkansas Guitarists from Arkansas 20th-century American male musicians