Gloria Jones - Come Go With Me - LP (1966) Uptown CD (2017) Oldays Japan (Includes Bonus Tracks) - Rare Soul (FLAC)

Gloria Jones was born Gloria Richetta Jones in Cincinnati, in 1945, and when her family moved to Los Angeles seven years later, the young Jones began learning to play classical piano and sang gospel music at her local Church Of God In Christ. When she was 14, she helped form her first gospel singing group  no doubt pleasing her minister father  and what a line up it turned out to be! The group included organist Billy Preston, future gospel/soul superstar, Andraé Crouch and his twin sister Sandra Crouch; a pair of future Motown artists, Sondra “Blinky” Williams and Frankie Kahrl; and Edna Wright, who would become the lead singer of 70s soul trio Honey Cone. The group named themselves The Cogics (after The Church Of God In Christ) and recorded an LP, It’s A Blessing, released in 1964 on the Vee-Jay subsidiary Exodus Records, which included the future gospel standard “It Will Never Lose Its Power.”Even before that album, Gloria Jones was singing background vocals in recording studios around LA, including Motown’s West Coast branch, where she began writing, producing, and arranging songs. That led to a production deal with Ed Cobb, who wrote and produced Jones’ first singles for Vee-Jay’s Champion label, starting in late 1964 with ‘My Bad Boy’s Coming Home’, which featured ‘Tainted Love’ on the flip side. A 1966 single “Heartbeat Part 1,” got some chart action, reaching the Bubbling Under The Top 100 section of the Billboard chart and earning some television spots on Dick Clark’s Where The Action Is. Jones’ first solo LP, Come Go With Me, came out on Capitol’s Uptown label that same year. With no hits to her name, she began touring as a background singer for major acts like Joe Cocker. In the late 60s, she also joined the LA production of Hair, during which she met Marc Bolan of T.Rex, who were on the verge of stardom as early avatars of glam rock. The two had instant chemistry. All the while, she continued working at Motown, forming a writing and producing team with Pam Sawyer. Major Motown acts – Jackson 5, David and Jimmy Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and Commodores all recorded their compositions, and the duo wrote hits for Four Tops (‘Just Seven Numbers’), Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross (‘My Mistake’). But their biggest success would be “If I Were Your Woman” for Gladys Knight And The Pips, on which they collaborated with Clay McMurray and received a Grammy nomination in 1971. Jones and Sawyer then wrote and produced what journalist and Motown historian Adam White has called “one of the most stunning performances ever recorded by Marvin Gaye”, an unreleased triumph, “Piece Of Clay.” Recorded in 1972, it remained in the can until 1995 when it surfaced on a Marvin Gaye box set, The Master. It has recently re-emerged on the “lost album”, You’re The Man. Who knows how Jones’ writing and producing career might have flourished had this record been released? But she had already moved onto other projects that included recording her own album for Motown, the adventurous Share My Love, on which she wrote and co-wrote eight of its nine tracks. Integrating classical, rock, soul, reggae, flamenco, and more, Jones’ hard gospel voice delivered a tour de force. Just as the album was released in 1973, however, Gloria Jones decamped to England to join Bolan (who she’d call her soul mate) as a background singer and keyboardist with T.Rex. Without touring to support Share My Love, the record flopped commercially. Years later, critic Rashod Ollison called it “a lost masterstroke of the era, a dazzling showcase for a passionate artist who, with no regrets, chose love over fame.” Bolan encouraged Jones to restart her solo career, especially after “Tainted Love” began filling dancefloors. He produced her strong 1976 album, Vixen, which combined soul and rock elements in another eclectic outing, including two different versions of T.Rex’s “Get It On,” an achingly slow version of Bessie Banks’ “Go Now,” the Motown-ish “Would You Like To Know” and an updated version of “Tainted Love.” The following year, Bolan died in a car crash with Jones at the wheel, leaving her with their son. She returned to California to record the album Windstorm and dedicated it to him. After the boost she received from Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” cover, she recorded periodically, including a reunion album with The Cogics in 1984.She did spend some time in Africa but relocated back to her family in Los Angeles. She is a legend in the UK with the Northern Soul folk and pops back now and again to do gigs.

AMM

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