Paul Jones (born Paul Adrian Pond, 24 February 1942) is an English singer, actor, harmonicist, radio personality and television presenter. He first came to prominence as the original lead singer and harmonicist of the rock band

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. They were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The group had two l ...

(1962–66) with whom he had several

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s including " Do Wah Diddy Diddy" ( UK #1, US #1) and " Pretty Flamingo" (UK #1). After leaving the band, Jones established a solo career and starred as a deified pop star in the 1967 film '' Privilege''. In 1979, he formed The Blues Band, and toured with them until their breakup in 2022. He presented ''The Blues Show'' on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

for thirty-two years, from 1986 to 2018, and continues to perform alongside former Manfred Mann bandmates in the Manfreds.

Early life

Paul Jones was born Paul Adrian Pond in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, son of Norman Henry Pond and Amelia Josephine, née Hadfield, later of Worthing, West Sussex. Jones attended The Portsmouth Grammar School, moving to the Edinburgh Academy for his last two years of school before winning an Open Exhibition in English to

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

, although he did not graduate.

Career

1960s

Jones began singing in the early 1960s as "P.P. Jones", where he performed duets with Elmo Lewis who was later better known as future founder member of

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

at the Ealing Club, home of Alexis Korner's

Blues Incorporated Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, or simply Blues Incorporated, were an English British blues, blues band formed in London in 1961, led by Alexis Korner and including at various times Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Terry Cox, Ginger Baker, Art W ...

, whose singers included Long John Baldry and

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

. He was asked by

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

and Brian Jones to be the lead singer of a group they were forming, but he turned them down.

Manfred Mann: 1964–1966

Jones went on to become the vocalist and harmonica player of the successful 1960s group

, when he was hired by

and Mike Hugg to join their blues band "The Mann–Hugg blues band". Paul Jones had several Top Ten hits with Manfred Mann, and sang on two of their three UK number one charting songs: " Do Wah Diddy Diddy" (1964) and " Pretty Flamingo" (1966), before going solo in July 1966. Jones remained on his recording contract with EMI. As a soloist, he was less successful without the band than they were with his replacement,

Mike d'Abo Michael David d'Abo (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of Manfred Mann from 1966 to their dissolution in 1969, and as the composer of the songs " Handbags and Gladrags" and " Build Me Up Bu ...

Solo: 1966–1969

In the mid-1960s, Jones released a few hit 45s, notably with "High Time" (1966) (UK no. 4), "I've Been a Bad, Bad Boy" (1967) (UK no. 5) and "Thinkin' Ain't for Me" (1967) (UK no. 32), before branching out into acting. While his solo career in the UK was mildly successful, he sold few records in the United States. He had enough hits in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

to have a greatest hits album released there on EMI. His subsequent single releases in Britain in the late 1960s were on Columbia. In 1967, Jones starred opposite model Jean Shrimpton in the 1967 film '' Privilege'' directed by

Peter Watkins Peter Watkins (born 29 October 1935) is an English filmmaker, documentarian, writer, and Film theory, film theorist. He is known as a pioneer of the docudrama and the mockumentary genres, typically with heavy political content. His films presen ...

. He was cast as a pop singer in the film, and sang the songs "I've Been a Bad, Bad Boy" and "Free Me", which

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

in the 1970s. The following year, he was the central figure in another cult classic, the 1968 experimental British satire, '' The Committee'', directed by Peter Sykes, but this time the musical duties were handled by

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

and Arthur Brown. In January 1968, Jones was part of the "Big Show" package tour of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

with

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

and

Small Faces Small Faces were an English Rock music, rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966 ...

. Jones was backed by a different local band in each country. The tour is notorious for the conflicts with conservative mainstream Australian media reporters. In addition, an in-flight incident on their last day in Australia resulted in the tour members being detained by airport security and police before being ushered onto a flight to

. By the late 1960s, Jones had released four solo albums: ''My Way'' (1966), ''Sings Songs From The Film Privilege'' (1967), ''Love Me, Love My Friends'' (1968), and ''Come into My Music Box'' (1969).

1970s

In 1971 Jones participated in

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she gained acclaim for her jazz opera ''Escalator ...

's album ''

Escalator Over the Hill ''Escalator over the Hill'' (or ''EOTH'') is mostly referred to as a jazz opera, but it was released as a "chronotransduction", with "words by Paul Haines (poet), Paul Haines, adaptation and music by Carla Bley, production and coordination by Mic ...

''. On the same year he recorded ''Crucifix in a Horseshoe'' with White Cloud, a New York-based session group featuring Teddy Wender on keyboards and Kenny Kosek on

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

. He acted in the 1972 horror film '' Demons of the Mind''. In 1973 Jones guest appeared in ITC '' The Protectors'', in an episode called "Goodbye George", playing a character called Caspar Parton. He also appeared in ITC-RAI '' Space: 1999'', in the episode "Black Sun", playing a character called Michael Ryan. In 1975 he guest-starred in a TV episode of '' The Sweeney'' ("Chalk and Cheese") as Tommy Garret, a boxer-turned-

highwayman A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to foo ...

. In 1976 he performed the role of Juan Peron on the original concept album of

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ''Jesus C ...

and

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

's musical '' Evita'' alongside Julie Covington as Eva, Colm Wilkinson as Che and

Barbara Dickson Barbara Ruth Dickson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include " I Know Him So Well" (a chart-topping duet with Elaine Paige), " Answer Me" and " January February". Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK ...

as the Mistress. Jones had previously worked with Covington in the 1975 Christmas production ''Great Big Groovy Horse'', a rock opera based on the story of the

Trojan Horse In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse () was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer, Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending ...

shown on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

. It was later repeated on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

in 1977. He also presented the BBC1 children's quiz '' Beat the Teacher'' in the mid-1980s. His

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

albums include one for ''Evita''. In October 1977, he starred as

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

in the musical premiere of ''Drake's Dream'' at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing featuring music and lyrics by Lynne and Richard Riley and book by

Simon Brett Simon Anthony Lee Brett Order of the British Empire, OBE Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL (born 28 October 1945 in Worcester Park, Surrey, England) is a British author of detective fiction, a playwright, and a producer-writer for ...

. The production was directed by Nicolas Young and transferred to London's Shaftesbury Theatre for a limited season opening on 7 December 1977. The ''Drake's Dream'' Original London Cast Album was recorded by President Records in 1977 and released on CD in 2017 by Stage Door Records. In 1978 he released a single on the RSO label, consisting of orchestrated versions of the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

' "

Pretty Vacant "Pretty Vacant" is a song by the English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released on 1 July 1977 as the band's third single and was later featured on their only album, '' Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'', released during ...

" and the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

' " Sheena Is a Punk Rocker", both produced by Rice. In the same year Jones also guested on

Radio Stars Radio Stars are an English punk rock band formed in early 1977. They released two albums and had one UK Singles Chart, UK Top 40 single. Career Radio Stars were formed by Sparks (band), Sparks exile Martin Gordon (bass, songwriter) and also i ...

' second album ''Holiday Album'', playing harmonica. Four years later he appeared as one of the guest vocalists on the British Electric Foundation's ''Music of Quality and Distinction'', on a new version of " There's a Ghost in My House".

The Blues Band: 1979–2022

In 1979, he founded

the Blues Band The Blues Band was a British blues band formed in 1979 by Paul Jones, former lead vocalist and harmonica player with Manfred Mann, and guitarist Tom McGuinness also of Manfred Mann and The Roosters. The band's first line-up also included bas ...

with former Manfred Tom McGuinness.

1980s

In autumn 1982, Jones took over the lead part of Sky Masterson from

Ian Charleson Ian Charleson (11 August 1949 – 6 January 1990) was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Academy Award, Oscar-winning 1981 film ''Chariots ...

in Richard Eyre's company in his celebrated production for the National Theatre of ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

'' that had begun in February that year at the Olivier Theatre. He then led the same cast as Macheath in Eyre's production of ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sati ...

'' by

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peach ...

at the Cottesloe Theatre. In 1984/85, he appeared in the West End and touring musical '' Pump Boys and Dinettes''. After an initial run of three programmes in 1985, he started presenting a series for

on rhythm and blues on 10 April 1986, later to be known as ''The Blues Show'', which became a fixture in the schedules for 32 years. He played the harmonica on his programme's Radio 2 jingle. In 1987, he starred as Fred/Petruchio with Nichola McAuliffe as Lilli/Kate in the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

's successful production of '' Kiss Me Kate'' both at the

Royal Shakespeare Theatre The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a Grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespea ...

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

, and the Old Vic Theatre, London.

1990s

From 1990 to 1993, Jones starred as the title character of '' Uncle Jack'', a children's programme on BBC 1, which also featured

Fenella Fielding Fenella Fielding (born Fenella Marion Feldman; 17 November 1927 – 11 September 2018) was an English stage, film and television actress who rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, and was often referred to as "England's first lady of t ...

as Jack's adversary; The Vixen. His character was Jack Green, an

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

and undercover agent for MI5, who with his family are on a mission to save the planet.

The Manfreds

In 1991, Jones formed the Manfreds with most of the original members of Manfred Mann, to both celebrate McGuinness' 50th birthday and a new Manfred Mann compilation album. This new band did not include

himself, meaning they couldn't tour under the name and "The Manfreds" was born. Jones still tours in the Manfreds with McGuinness and d'Abo.

2000s and onwards

In 2009, he issued ''Starting All Over Again'' on Continental Record Services (aka CRS) in Europe and Collectors' Choice in the US. It was produced by Carla Olson in Los Angeles and features

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

, Jake Andrews,

Ernie Watts Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is an American jazz and R&B saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's album '' ...

Percy Sledge Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 19 ...

, Alvino Bennett, Tony Marsico, Michael Thompson, Tom Morgan Jr., Oren Waters and Luther Waters. On 4 May 2009, Jones and his harmonica featured in a song during a concert by

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...

at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in London. That same month Jones featured, playing harmonica, on the release of "I'm Your Kingpin" by Nick Vernier Band. In 2010 he featured on two versions of "You’re Wrong" from Nick Vernier Band's '' Sessions'' album. In 2013, 2014, and 2016, the Manfreds toured to promote a new Manfred Mann compilation album. In 2015 he released an album ''Suddenly I Like It'', also produced by Carla Olson. Special guests on this album included Joe Bonamassa and

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Jayne County, To ...

. Jones is currently the president of the National Harmonica League and was awarded "harmonica player of the year" in the British Blues Awards of 2010, 2011 and 2012, as well as Blues Broadcaster of the year and a Lifetime Achievement award in 2011. In January 2018 it was announced that he would be replaced as presenter of BBC Radio 2's ''Blues Show'' by Cerys Matthews in mid-May. His last broadcast as presenter was on 23 April 2018; his live guest was Eric Bibb and his last song played was Sonny Boy Williamson's "Mighty Long Time" (1951) which he described as "one of my handful of most favourite blues records." He performed in the December 2023 edition of '' Jools' Annual Hootenanny''.

Personal life

Family

Jones was first married (1963–1976) to novelist and reviewer Sheila MacLeod. There were two sons from the marriage, Matthew and Jacob. He is now married to the former actress and latterly Christian speaker, Fiona Hendley-Jones. They met whilst both acting at the National Theatre. Jones was pictured with his son, Matthew, on the front cover of ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' in 1973, along with actor

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996), known professionally as Jon Pertwee, was an English actor. Born into a theatrical family, he became known as a comedy actor, playing Chief Petty Officer Pertwee (and three other roles) in ...

(then starring in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'') and broadcaster

Michael Parkinson Sir Michael Parkinson (28 March 1935 – 16 August 2023) was an English television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other ta ...

Religious beliefs

Jones converted to Christianity in the mid-1980s as a result of being invited by

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

to a Luis Palau evangelistic event. Jones had appeared opposite Richard in a 1960s television debate show where he had, at the time, opposed Richard's viewpoint. In December 2013, Jones was featured in BBC One's ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns, worship songs and inspirational performances in churches of varying denominations from around the UK alongside interviews and stories reflecting how Ch ...

'', performing and talking with Aled Jones about his faith.

Solo discography

Albums

*''My Way'' (1966) *''Sings Privilege & Others'' (1967) *''Love Me, Love My Friends'' (1968) *''Come into My Music Box'' (1969) *''Crucifix in a Horseshoe'' (1972) *''Starting All Over Again'' (2009) *''Suddenly I Like It'' (2015)

EPs

Singles

Notes

References

External links

Official website

* *
Paul Jones
on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Paul 1942 births Living people Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford BBC Radio 2 presenters Blues harmonica players English blues musicians English harmonica players English radio DJs British rhythm and blues boom musicians Converts to Protestantism from atheism or agnosticism English Christians English male film actors English male singers English male television actors English pop singers Manfred Mann members People educated at Edinburgh Academy People educated at The Portsmouth Grammar School Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse members The Manfreds members The Blues Band members RSO Records artists Vertigo Records artists Male actors from Portsmouth