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".[1] She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love" 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 committed romantic 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" became a rhythm and blues tune which was recorded later by Dusty Springfield, Spencer Davis and many other artists.[2]
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". So strong was Jones's following in Northern England that she was proclaimed "The Queen of Northern Soul".[1]
Jones also recorded an album for the Uptown label entitled Come Go with Me which was released in 1966. Jones studied piano, and acquired an advanced classical degree primarily in the works of Bach.[1]
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.[3]
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.
After Motown
Jones performing with T. Rex in March 1976 in Glasgow, Scotland
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, which featured several songs written by Bolan, and he also was the producer for the album.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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.[4] Jones was found 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. Jones was conscious after the crash. Bolan, who was a passenger in the car that slammed into the tree, was pronounced dead at the scene on the arrival of paramedics.[5] Jones survived the crash but was critically injured. She sustained a broken jaw in the crash and was sent directly to the hospital in London for treatment, fighting for her life while in critical condition.[5][4] When she recovered sufficiently to leave hospital, she was informed that Bolan's fans had looted most of their possessions from their house.[4] 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.[4]
After Bolan
Jones with her son Rolan in 2014
Having lost her possessions, Jones moved with her son back to Los Angeles, where they stayed with Jones's family.[citation needed]
In 1978, she released the album Windstorm, 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&Bchart.
Jones stayed in the music industry for several years after, releasing an album produced by Ed Cobb, titled Reunited 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 "Northern Queen of Soul".[6]
In 2010, together with her son Rolan, she established the Marc Bolan School of Music & Film in Makeni, Sierra Leone.
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