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JILL JONES @ PAISLEY - A BRIEF HISTORY.
Jill Jones @ Paisley – A brief history Jill Jones was born in Ohio in July 1962. Her father was a jazz musician and her mother was a fashion model who worked all over the world. Jill was raised mostly by her grandparents, until she moved to Los Angeles when her mother remarried. She began her singing career at the age of 17 when she sang backing vocals for Teena Marie, whom her mother managed. It was while touring with Teena Marie that she met Prince for the first time.
4th December 1980. Prince begins a tour in support of his album Dirty Mind. The opening act on the tour is Teena Marie. One of the backing singers in Tenna Marie's band is a girl called Jill Jones. Prince really liked her voice and he encouraged her to pursue a solo career. After the tour ended Prince and Jill Jones stayed in touch.
In the years running up to the release of her debut album, Jill Jones worked on many Prince related projects, among which were backing vocals for Prince, Vanity6, Apollonia6, Sheila E and Mazarati. She also had a small part as a waitress in the Purple Rain movie. Prince actually wrote the song Wednesday for Jill to sing in the Purple Rain movie, but it was not included and remains unreleased.. [img:$uid]http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx218/MMikeyBee/ghj.jpg[/img:$uid] Jill in the Purple Rain movie.
1st May 1985. During the month of May Prince was recording various songs for different projects at Sunset Sound Studio in L.A. During this time Jill Jones joined Prince in the studio to record a song called My Man which was planned for her debut album which had been in the planning stages for quite some time. The song My Man was actually a long jam which was performed by various members of The Family and was then edited down to album length.
Late May 1985. Prince and Jill Jones continue with work on her debut album for Paisley Park Records at Sunset Sound Studio in L.A. Several songs were recorded for possible use including Come Electra Tuesday, Married Man, Killin' At The Soda Shop, Living Doll and For Love. The only song from these sessions that made the final album was For Love.
July/Summer 1985. Prince continues work on Jill Jones' album over the Summer months (among other projects and recordings). Songs recorded include My Sex, Mia Bocca, G-Spot and Baby, Your A Trip. My Sex did not make the final album.
February/March 1986. Work continues on the debut album for Jill Jones at Sunset Sound Studio in L.A. Prince was not present every day in the studio and David Rivkin produced the sessions that Prince did not involve Prince. A song called Euphoria Highway was recorded for the album. An early version of the album was compiled in late February, this version included Euphoria Highway, and another track called Too Rough. David Rivkin and Jill Jones continued work on the album at Electric Ladyland Studio in New York to where Jill had moved. After some additional work, the album was finally ready for release in early 1987. Prince's engineer Susan Rogers said “That poor album took such a long time to do, Jill was really patient with Prince through those years, she's infinitely patient. It is one of her greatest qualities.” [Edited 10/1/10 7:07am] | |
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[img:$uid]http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx218/MMikeyBee/JILLJO1.gif[/img:$uid] 26th May 1987. After nearly four years in the making, Jill Jones' self titled debut album is released on Paisley Park Records. Prince is listed as co-writer with Jill on four tracks, while Jill took credit for three tracks, the remaining track is a cover version on Prince's 1979 song With You. Like many other Prince side projects, his involvement in the album was far greater than the public was led to believe. Prince was in fact the sole writer of all of the album tracks. Jill and David Rivkin are listed as producer of five of the album tracks, while Jill and Prince are listed as producer of the remaining three. Prince performed all the music on the album except All Day, All Night and With You. The album was critically well received, particularly in Europe. Jill made many television appearances to promote the album. Two singles from the album became minor European hits, they were Mia Bocca and G-Spot. A video for Mia Bocca was filmed in Mexico by French photographer and film director Jean-Baptiste Mondino, who was the original choice for director of Under The Cherry Moon, Mondino did however go on to work with Prince on the Lovesexy album art and video work. Jill Jones' debut album failed to chart, and the three singles released in the USA also failed to chart, they were Mia Bocca, G-Spot and For Love. The album has become something of a cult item, with original copies being highly collectable.
[img:$uid]http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx218/MMikeyBee/Prince%20and%20related%20album%20and%20singles/jjones-jilljo.jpg[/img:$uid] Album cover art. [img:$uid]http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx218/MMikeyBee/Prince%20and%20related%20album%20and%20singles/61m9Xz-1fyL.jpg[/img:$uid] Back cover.
[Edited 10/1/10 6:53am] | |
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[img:$uid]http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx218/MMikeyBee/Prince%20and%20related%20album%20and%20singles/R-84703-1211298420.jpg[/img:$uid] Single cover art. [img:$uid]http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx218/MMikeyBee/Prince%20and%20related%20album%20and%20singles/R-903005-1171248007.jpg[/img:$uid] Single cover art. [img:$uid]http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx218/MMikeyBee/Prince%20and%20related%20album%20and%20singles/R-251264-1268598962.jpg[/img:$uid] Single cover art.
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Autumn 1988. Jill Jones went to England in the UK in the autumn of 1988 to work on tracks for her second album for Paisley Park Records. She recorded a selection of songs at Aosis Studio in London with Chris Bruce who had worked with Seal and Wendy and Lisa. Songs recorded were Deep Kiss, Living Legend, Long Time, Unatainable Love, White Dogs, Some Of Us, Red, Tango, Ecstasy, Revolutionary and Sweet Liberty. Jill was back in Minneapolis in the summer of 1989 to continue work on the album. Prince had recorded two more tracks for the album, they were Flesh And Blood and Am I Without U? He also revamped two tracks which were left over from the sessions from the first album, they were My Baby Knows How To Love Me and Boom Boom, Can't U Feel The Beat Of My Heart. A video clip was shot for ….Beat Of My Heart. Jill Jones' second album for Paisley Park was never completed. It is said that Prince and Jill were no longer seeing eye to eye. Jill said “His view of me and how I viewed myself were leagues apart, I know that my mission and contribution was to be more than just another Prince girl.”
Despite their differences Prince and Jill stayed in touch and she took part in Prince's next film project Graffiti Bridge.
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One of favorite Purple Princesses
She's heard on Lady Cab Driver as the Lady Cab Driver Prince has sex with
Her vocals are on 1999, Free and a few others She appeared with Lisa Coleman in the Automatic video and toured with Prince & the noituloveR 1999 tour
1.) 1999: rel 12.18.1982 6.) Automatic: background vocals-Lisa Coleman & Jill Jones 9.) Lady Cab Driver being a sessions vocalist for Prince she's probably on a lot of outtakes as well.
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Automatic video
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i'm a big fan of your posts. keep up the good work! http://www.facebook.com/p...111?ref=ts
y'all gone keep messin' around wit me and turn me back to the old me...... | |
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^ Nice OldFriends. Jill is one of my favourite proteges/side projects too. Jill actually declined Prince's offer for his name to not appear on the album, but she felt that her talent was enough to make people interested in the album and not just because of Prince being mentioned in the credits. I think the album would have been a bigger success if it had been released sooner.
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Thank you.
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totally agree,
as your info said, Prince was working on her album since Controversy years
She should have at least had an Purple Rain & Under the Cherry Moon era albums | |
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A PR era album would have given her the success she deserved with her debut, much in the same way with with Sheila's The Glamorous Life.
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Prince and related artist recordings with guest appearances by Jill Jones.
Prince Backing vocals on 1999, Automatic, Free, Lady Cab Driver and Hello (b-side). Jill also sang on Sign O The Times' It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night.
Sheila E Backing vocals on The Belle Of St Mark.
Apollonia 6 Backing vocals on Oo She She Wa Wa.
The Bangles Backing vocals on Manic Monday.
Mazarati Backing vocals on Strawberry Lover and I Guess It's All Over.
The Time Backing vocals on unspecified tracks.
^This is not a complete list.
[Edited 10/1/10 8:30am] | |
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[img:$uid]http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx218/MMikeyBee/d2354e0189.jpg[/img:$uid]
Jill Jones' role in the Graffiti Bridge movie was originally much larger than what she ended up playing. Kim Basinger was intended as the original lead in the movie, but when she and Prince parted company shortly before filming began, Prince simply combined Kim's and Jill's parts together and gave them to Ingred Chavez. Jill was then given a much smaller role as Prince's girlfriend. While flying to Minneapolis to film the movie, Jill read the revamped script and began to tear it up and started to throw pages all around the cabin. Jill retired to the bathroom while her PA had to walk around the plane asking fellow passengers for pages of the script back. Jill later said that if she had not been on the plane already she would have turned right round and returned home. Jill did turn up in Minneapolis but she refused to talk to Prince on the set of Graffiti Bridge. In fact she refused to communicate with anyone except in French. Prince got upset and told Jill "If you don't smile and act better round here, then this is your replacement," and then showed Jill a photograph. Jill replied "Oh, an old girlfriend?" She stayed to complete the film but her relationship with Prince was never the same.
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i thought come elektra tuesday was made after prince decided to not release the black album man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
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Maybe he recorded another version after the Black Album.
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Another great post, MikeyB71!
I think Jill's vocals are also on Oliver's House and the title track on The Glamorous Life.
I didn't realize she was also on Mazarati. I'll have to listen again for her.
One thing I'd really be curious to know about all those years Jill spent with Prince: Was she paid? I'm just curious if she got a stipend or a salary or something, or did she just get paid for each individual vocal session or what? Just wondering... | |
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^ Thanks Efan, some of the recordings that Jill has sang on (backing vocals) were not credited to her. The Time for example, she sings on various songs on the Pandemonium album, but she is not credited for specific tracks. So the same could be of Sheila's album, Mazarati and others. If she was credited with every song she sang on it would be easier to compile a more accurate list.
As for her financial dealings with Prince, i have no idea, it would make sense that she got paid for individual sessions, but i could not say for certain.
[Edited 10/1/10 10:10am] [Edited 10/1/10 10:10am] | |
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I think it is also possible that she sang on more Prince songs than we know about too.
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Thx, Mikey. Great stuff. “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist.” Brazilian bishop Dom Hélder Câmara | |
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me some Jill Jones!!! When go 2 a Prince concert or related event it's all up in the house but when log onto this site and the miasma of bitchiness is completely overwhelming! | |
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As usual Mikey, another fact filled and excellent Brief History.
Keep 'em coming, they're great. | |
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My favorite Prince associated aritst album. I also loved the B-side for G-Spot, Baby Cries (Ay Yah) and the For Love remix...take out the trash!
[img:$uid]http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt249/dboen/Jill%20Jones/jilljones4.jpg[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt249/dboen/Jill%20Jones/jilljones1.jpg[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt249/dboen/Jill%20Jones/jilljones2.jpg[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt249/dboen/Jill%20Jones/jilljones.jpg[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt249/dboen/Jill%20Jones/jilljones5.jpg[/img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt249/dboen/Jill%20Jones/jilljones3.jpg[/img:$uid] [Edited 10/2/10 14:40pm] TRUE BLUE | |
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^ I agree motherfunka, the single b-sides and remixes are superb. There is also a number of circulating unreleased tracks, Flesh And Blood and Can't U Feel The Beat Of My Heart are highlights.
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Thanks, comments like this make them worth doing.
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Prince & the Revolution Kiss the long version vocals and the talking part at the end: Saul Saul don't you touch that channel
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Nice, she also sang backing vocals with Vanity 6 on the Triple Threat 1999 tour, not that that is a recording of course but i thought i would mention it.
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Thanks for this history Mikey!
I've heard a lot of outtakes of course but I would be most excited about these unheard JJ songs coming out of the vault! | |
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