Meet JERRY JONES | Musician/Vocalist

We had the good fortune of connecting with JERRY JONES and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi JERRY, what role has risk played in your life or career?
There’s several risk I have taken in regards to my music career…. Dropping out of college to pursue my dream took a lot of thought… But the biggest risk I took was taking my band ”Home Grown Funk” and moving to Los Angeles… I left with very little money and had to live with my sister and take odd jobs to survive… I wondered if I should have stayed in Memphis and college… That all changed when I met Ike Turner and he took us under his wings and taught us everything we needed to know.. At this point in my lif, I wouldn’t change a thing… I love my musical journey::. It made me a stronger and more humble person..

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started singing professionally at 18 years of age… I’m now 74, so I’ve been in singing and in the music business for 56 years… My first group Brothers Unlimited was signed by Capitol Records and released an album, Who’s For The Young in 1972… Securing record deals is very hard and really difficult cause most of the time it’s not all about talent… Knowing someone in the business trumps everything… After my group Home Grown Funk was turned down several times we were fortunate enough to meet Ike Turner, who we recorded an album with and Perry Kibble of the group, A Taste Of Honey, was very instrumental in securing our deal with Arista Records in 1982… I met Ronald Khalis Bell in 1985 and he secured my deal with Mercury Records without me having met anyone in the company…All who you know… The song Mysterious and Sexy was pick hit of the week on American Bandstand… I’ve been touring Europe since 2014 mostly in Italy performing at the Porretta Soul Festival and in Spain at the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Zfestival… At this moment in time I’m at a good place in my life.. I have a very strong voice and have my own style of singing.. Marvin Junior of The Dells is what my style derived from… He was my idol… I’m so thankful that my voice is still good and strong even at my age…With all the up’s and down’s I have no regrets…

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Beale Street, BB Kings, The Rocking Chair of Memphis… and of course Italy and Spain, where I’ve received the best accolades in my musical career..

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Ike Turner, Isaac Hayes, Ronald Bell (Kool and The Gang) Graziano Uliani (Porretta Soul Festival, Italy), family and friends

Instagram: @therealbigjerry

Twitter: muzicman24

Facebook: Jerry Jones

Youtube: muzicman24

Image Credits
Fiorennzo Giovannelli Dave Thomas Giandi Grandi Giovanni Modesti