Gloria Jones

Gloria Richetta Jones (born October 19, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love", later covered by the British synthpop duo Soft Cell. She was the girlfriend of glam rock artist Marc Bolan of the band T. Rex until his death in 1977, and was a member of the band, as a keyboardist and backing vocalist, from 1973 to 1976.

Biography

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.

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". Marc Almond of the duo Soft Cell, whose cover version of "Tainted Love" reached #1 worldwide, originally heard the song in a nightclub in Northern England. So strong was Jones's following there that she was proclaimed the "Northern Queen of Soul." 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. 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 earlier 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" (writer), Junior Walker's "I Ain't Goin' Nowhere" (writer/producer) and the Four Tops' "Just Seven Numbers" (writer). In 1970 she provided backing vocals on Ry Cooder's eponymous first album. The most remembered 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 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 Regere to sing backing vocals behind T. Rex at the Winterland in San Francisco.

Soon after joining T. Rex, Jones and Bolan became romantically involved. Together, they had a son, Rolan Bolan (b. Sep 26, 1975). She sang backing vocals and played clavinet with T. Rex from 1973 to 1977. Her rendition of "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, featuring several songs written by Bolan, and he also was the producer.

In 1977, Jones worked with the group Gonzales, producing several of their singles, and also penning the disco hit, "Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet" for the group. She toured the UK with Gonzales, first on the Bob Marley tour, and then with Osibisa.

She was the driver of the car, a Mini 1275 GT, that crashed and killed Bolan at 4:00 am on September 16, 1977 on the way home to Bolan's Richmond property. They had been out to a restaurant in Mayfair and had been drinking wine. Jones broke her jaw in the accident and was found draped over the car's bonnet with Bolan lying in the road. When she was well enough to leave the hospital, she soon was told that Bolan's fans had looted what was left of their possessions. She was later due to appear in court in London on charges of being unfit to drive and driving a car in a dangerous condition. She never returned to face the charges and the Coroner's Court recorded a verdict of accidental death.

After Bolan

Having lost her possessions, Jones and her son moved back to Los Angeles where they stayed with Jones' family.

In 1978, she released the album Windstorm, which was a dedication to the memory of Bolan. On the back cover, it is written "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 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.

Discography

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
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US solo singles

UK solo singles (selected)

• 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" (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" / "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 Judee Sill on Heart Food
• 1973 With Eddie Floyd on Soul Street
• 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