Gloria Jones

Biography

Gloria Richetta Jones (born October 19, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love×Tainted Love1965 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Tainted Love2:122My Bad Boy Is Coming Home2:41" and has worked in multiple genres as a Motown songwriter and recording artist, backing vocalist, and as a performer in musicals such as Hair. In the 1970s, she was a keyboardist and vocalist in Marc Bolan's glam rock band T. Rex. She and Bolan were also in a relationship and had a son together.

Early life and career

Jones was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and moved to Los Angeles, California, at the age of seven, where she first started singing. Jones' first taste of fame came at the age of 14, when, while still at school, she formed with Frankie Kahrl and Billy Preston the successful gospel group the COGIC Singers, with whom she recorded the album It's a Blessing. Although she remained with the group for some four years, she soon found herself drawn into the Los Angeles pop scene.
In 1964, Jones, in her late teens, was discovered by the songwriter Ed Cobb. Signing with Cobb's Greengrass Productions, she recorded her first hit record, "Heartbeat Pts 1 & 2," which Cobb wrote and produced.
She toured the United States, performing on several American television programs, footage of which still exists. One performance occurred at a Rock and Soul show in Disneyland in the summer of 1965. "Heartbeat×Heartbeat1966 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAHeartbeat - Part 1BHeartbeat - Part 2" became a rhythm and blues tune which was recorded later by Dusty Springfield, Spencer Davis and many other artists.
By then, Jones had recorded other songs for Uptown Records, a subsidiary of Capitol/EMI. Included among these was another Cobb-written song, "Tainted Love×Tainted Love1965 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Tainted Love2:122My Bad Boy Is Coming Home2:41". So strong was Jones's following in Northern England that she was proclaimed "The Queen of Northern Soul".
Jones also recorded an album for the Uptown label entitled Come Go with Me×Come Go With Me1966 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Come Go With Me1:532Finders Keepers1:523Heartbeat (Parts I + II)4:174Run One Flight of Stairs1:585Yes, I Really Love You2:286How Do You Tell an Angel1:557Only You2:208I Will Always Remember2:199True Love1:53 which was released in 1966. Jones studied piano, and acquired an advanced classical degree primarily in the works of Bach.
In 1968, she joined the cast of Catch My Soul, a rock and soul version of the play Othello, which included cast members Jerry Lee Lewis, The Blossoms, and Dr. John. During the summer of 1968, she performed in a play called Revolution, at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. That winter, she joined the Los Angeles cast of Hair, the musical. Eventually, she was to meet Pam Sawyer, who asked her to write for Motown Records. Jones and Sawyer were amongst the second string of writers at Motown, but still wrote for such artists as Gladys Knight & the Pips, Commodores, The Four Tops and The Jackson 5.
As Jones was also initially a singer for the label, protocol demanded a pseudonym, so for some of her co-writes she used the name LaVerne Ware.
Songs that Jones worked on during this period include The Supremes' "Have I Lost You" (writer), Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross's "My Mistake (Was to Love You)" (writer), Junior Walker's "I Ain't Goin' Nowhere" (writer/producer) and the Four Tops' "Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life)" (writer). In 1970 she provided backing vocals on Ry Cooder's eponymous first album. The best-known song that Jones penned was Gladys Knight and the Pips' "If I Were Your Woman", which was nominated for a Grammy in 1971. Jones left Motown at the end of 1973, following the release of her album Share My Love×Share My Love1973 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracksA1Share My Love6:45A2Why Can’t You Be Mine3:25A3Try Love5:00A4Tin Can People2:30B1Oh Baby3:30B2Old Love, New Love4:15B3So Tired (of the Way You’re Treating Our Love Baby)4:20B4Baby Don’tcha Know (I’m Bleeding for You)3:10B5What Did I Do to Lose You3:05.

After Motown

Jones first met Marc Bolan of T. Rex in 1969 while performing in Hair (Los Angeles cast). While touring in Europe, Bolan and Jones met for the second time at the Speakeasy in London. In 1972, she was recommended by Warner Brothers' Bob Regehr to sing backing vocals behind T. Rex at Winterland in San Francisco.
Soon after joining T. Rex, Jones and Bolan became romantically involved. They had a son, Rolan Bolan (b. September 26, 1975). She sang backing vocals and played clavinet with T. Rex from 1973 to 1977. Her rendition of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" appears as a bonus track on T. Rex's album Bolan's Zip Gun. Jones released an album in 1976, called Vixen×VixenDecember 1976 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1I Ain’t Going Nowhere3:45A2High2:04A3Tell Me Now2:56A4Tainted Love2:43A5Cry Baby3:12A6Get It On, Part 13:22B1Go Now3:47B2Would You Like to Know3:38B3Get It On, Part 23:53B4Drive Me Crazy (Disco Lady)3:15B5Sailors of the Highway2:14B6Stage Coach3:11, which featured several songs written by Bolan, and he also was the producer for the album.
In 1977, Jones worked with the group Gonzalez, producing several of their singles, and also penning the disco hit, "Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet" for the group. She toured the UK with Gonzalez, first on the Bob Marley tour, and then with Osibisa.

Automobile accident

She was the driver of the car, a Mini 1275 GT, that struck a tree near Barnes Common, killing Bolan at 4 a.m. on September 16, 1977, on the way back to Bolan's Richmond property. They had been returning from an evening at a restaurant in Mayfair where they had both been drinking wine. Jones was found, conscious but critically injured, by her brother Richard, with her foot trapped beneath the clutch by the engine. Bolan was found unconscious in the passenger seat, which had been dislodged and landed in the rear of the vehicle. Jones was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. Bolan was not wearing a seat belt. Bolan was pronounced dead at the scene on the arrival of paramedics. Jones sustained a broken jaw in the crash and was sent directly to the hospital in London. When she recovered sufficiently to leave hospital, she was informed that Bolan's fans had looted most of their possessions from their house. She was later scheduled to appear in court in London on charges of being unfit to drive and of driving a car in a dangerous condition. However, she left the UK with her son and returned to the US before the court date, so the Coroner's Court recorded a verdict of accidental death.

After Marc Bolan

Having lost her possessions, Jones moved with her son back to Los Angeles, where they stayed with Jones's family.
In 1978, she released the album Windstorm×Windstorm18 September 1978 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Bring on the Love (Why Can’t We Be Friends Again)7:02A2Windstorm3:56A3If the Roses Don’t Come3:37A4Blue Light Microphone4:58B1Hooked on You Baby4:13B2Vaya Con Dios3:50B3Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (Don’t Say Goodbye)4:34B4Woman Is a Woman4:20, which she dedicated to the memory of Bolan: the back cover reads, "Special dedication in memory of my son's father, Marc Bolan, whom we miss very much." Her single "Bring on the Love" was a success on the American R&B chart.
Jones stayed in the music industry for several years after, releasing an album produced by Ed Cobb, titled Reunited×Reunited1982 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Body Heat4:41A2Tell Me Some More of Your Lies3:30A3I'm Going to Run Away With Him Tonight3:47A4Tainted Love2:11B1The Touch of Venus4:35B2Sixty Minutes of Making Love4:25B31980 Baby4:50B4My Bad Boy's Coming Home2:41 in 1981. She also collaborated again with Billy Preston and other Cogic Singers for a 1984 reunion album The Cogic's. She has since worked as a musical supervisor for films.
On her 1982 album Reunited, she was proclaimed "Queen of Northern Soul."
In 2010, together with her son Rolan, she established the Marc Bolan School of Music & Film in Makeni, Sierra Leone.

Solo studio albums

1966 – Come Go with Me
1973 – Share My Love
1976 – Vixen (not released in the US)
1978 – Windstorm
1982 – Reunited
1996 – Vixen / Windstorm (CD release)
2009 – Share My Love (CD release)

With T. Rex

1974 – Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow
1974 – Light of Love
1975 – Bolan's Zip Gun
1976 – Futuristic Dragon
1977 – Dandy in the Underworld

With The COGIC'S

1966 – It's a Blessing
1984 – The COGIC'S

UK solo singles (selection)

1973 – "Tin Can People" / "So Tired"
1976 – "Get It On (Part 1)" / "Get It On (Part 2)"
1976 – "I Ain't Going Nowhere" / "Simplicity Blues"
1976 – "Tainted Love×Tainted Love1965 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Tainted Love2:122My Bad Boy Is Coming Home2:41" (New Version) / "Go Now" (Album Version) (12" – MAXI)
1977 – "To Know You Is to Love You" / "City Port" (with Marc Bolan)
1977 – "Go Now" (Single Version) / "Drive Me Crazy (Disco Lady)"
1977 – "Bring on the Love" (Single Version) / "Cry Baby"
1977 – "Bring on the Love" (Album Version) / "Bring on the Love" (Instrumental)
1978 – "When I Was a Little Girl" /"When I Was a Little Girl" (Instrumental)
1978 – "Windstorm×Windstorm18 September 1978 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Bring on the Love (Why Can’t We Be Friends Again)7:02A2Windstorm3:56A3If the Roses Don’t Come3:37A4Blue Light Microphone4:58B1Hooked on You Baby4:13B2Vaya Con Dios3:50B3Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (Don’t Say Goodbye)4:34B4Woman Is a Woman4:20" / "Blue Light Microphone"
1979 – "Listen to Me" / "Father I'm Coming Home" (From the v/a Double Album Alpha Omega)

Backing vocal work

1966 with Denny Brooks on Denny Brooks
1966 with Gary St. Clair on Gary St. Clair
1966 with Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band on Music For The Times We Live In
1968 with Neil Young on Neil Young
1968 with Jackie DeShannon on "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"
1969 with the Brothers and Sisters of Los Angeles on Dylan's Gospel
Gloria sings lead on "I Shall Be Released", "Chimes of Freedom", and "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"
1970 with Ry Cooder on Ry Cooder
1970 with Daniel Moore on Daniel Moore
1971 with Jesse Davis on Jesse Davis
1971 with Ry Cooder on Into the Purple Valley
1971 with REO Speedwagon on REO Speedwagon
1971 with Roy Ayers/Roy Ayers Ubiquity on He's Coming
1971 with Alan Gerber on Alan Gerber Album
1972 with Buffy Saint Marie on Moonshot
1972 with Elvin Bishop on Rock My Soul
1972 with Delaney Bramlett on Some Things Coming (Heartbeat)
1973 with Judee Sill on Heart Food
1973 with Little Feat on Dixie Chicken
1973 with John Kay on My Sportin' Life
1973 with Maria Muldaur on Maria Muldaur
1973 with Joe Cocker on Joe Cocker
1973 with Eddie Floyd on Soul Street
1973 with REO Speedwagon on Ridin' the Storm Out
1974 with Michael Edward Campbell on Michael Edward Campbell
1974 with The Commodores on Machine Gun
1975 with Michael Masser on The Original Soundtrack of Mahogany
1975 with Harry Nilsson on Duit on Mon Dei
1977 with Billy Preston on Whole New Thing
1977 with T. Rex on Dandy in the Underworld
1978 with Steve Harley on Hobo With a Grin
1979 with Billy Preston on Late at Night
1980 with Lonnie Liston Smith on Love is the Answer