Davy Jones (musician)

For the jazz musician, see David Jones (jazz musician). For other uses, see Davy Jones (disambiguation).

Davy Jones
Jones in Sydney, Australia, 1968
Background information
Birth name	David Thomas Jones
Born	(1945-12-30)30 December 1945 Openshaw, Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK
Died	29 February 2012(2012-02-29) (aged 66) Stuart, Florida, United States
Genres	Pop rock, pop, bubblegum, psychedelic pop, music hall
Occupations	Actor, musician
Instruments	vocals, tambourine, maracas, guitar, drums
Years active	1961–2012
Labels	Colpix Records Bell Records
Associated acts	The Monkees
Website	www.davyjones.net

David Thomas "Davy" Jones (30 December 1945 – 29 February 2012) was an English recording artist, actor and businessman, best known as a member of the rock band the Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name. His acting credits include a Tony-nominated role as the Artful Dodger in Oliver! as well as roles in The Brady Bunch film and television show; Love, American Style; and My Two Dads. Jones is considered to be one of the greatest teen idols of all time.

Early life

Davy Jones was born at 20 Leamington Street, Openshaw, Manchester, England, on 30 December 1945. His television acting debut was on the British television soap opera Coronation Street. He portrayed Colin Lomax, Ena Sharples' grandson, for one episode on 6 March 1961. He also appeared in the BBC police series Z-Cars. After the death of his mother from emphysema when he was 14 years old, Jones rejected acting in favour of a career as a jockey, apprenticing with Newmarket trainer Basil Foster. He dropped out of secondary school to begin his career in that field. This career was short-lived however. Even though Foster believed Jones would be successful as a jockey, he encouraged his young protégé to take a role as the Artful Dodger a production of Oliver! in London's West End, a move which changed Jones' life forever. In turn, Jones cared for Foster in his later years, bringing him to the United States and providing him financial support.

Early acting and recording career

Jones in a 1965 ad for his Colpix single "What Are We Going to Do?"

Foster was approached by a friend who worked in a theatre in the West End of London during casting for the musical Oliver!. Foster replied, "I've got the kid." Jones was cast and appeared to great acclaim as the Artful Dodger. He played the role in London and then on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award. On 9 February 1964, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show with Georgia Brown who was playing Nancy in the Broadway production of Oliver!. This was the same episode of the show in which the Beatles made their first appearance. Jones said of that night, "I watched the Beatles from the side of the stage, I saw the girls going crazy, and I said to myself, this is it, I want a piece of that."

Following his Ed Sullivan appearance, Jones signed a contract with Ward Sylvester of Screen Gems (then the television division of Columbia Pictures). A pair of American television appearances followed, as Jones received screen time in episodes of Ben Casey and The Farmer's Daughter.

Jones debuted on the Hot 100 in the week of 14 August 1965, with the single "What Are We Going To Do?" The 19 year old singer was signed to Colpix Records, a label owned by Columbia. His debut album David Jones, on the same label, followed soon after (CP493). In 1967 the album was issued in the UK, in mono only, on the Pye Records label (NPL 18178).

The Monkees

Main article: The Monkees

From 1966 to 1971, Jones was a member of the Monkees, a pop-rock group formed expressly for a television show of the same name. With Screen Gems producing the series, Jones was shortlisted for auditions, as he was the only Monkee who was signed to a deal with the studio, but still had to meet producers Bob Rafelson's and Bert Schneider's standards. Jones sang lead vocals on many of the Monkees' recordings, including "I Wanna Be Free" and "Daydream Believer".

Early photo of The Monkees

The NBC television series the Monkees was popular, and remained so in syndication. After the group disbanded in 1971, Jones reunited with Micky Dolenz as well as Monkees songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart in 1974 as a short-lived group called Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart.

A Monkees television show marathon ("Pleasant Valley Sunday") broadcast on 23 February 1986 by MTV resulted in a wave of Monkeemania not seen since the group's heyday. Jones reunited with Dolenz and Peter Tork from 1986 to 1989 to celebrate the band's renewed success and promote the 20th anniversary of the group. A new top 20 hit, "That Was Then, This Is Now" was released (though Jones did not perform on the song) as well as an album, Pool It!.

Monkees activity ceased until 1996 when Jones reunited with Dolenz, Tork and Michael Nesmith to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band. The group released a new album entitled Justus, the first album since 1967's Headquarters that featured the band members performing all instrumental duties. It was the last time all four Monkees performed together.

In February 2011, Jones confirmed rumours of another Monkees reunion. "There's even talk of putting the Monkees back together again in the next year or so for a U.S. and UK tour," he told Disney's Backstage Pass newsletter. "You're always hearing all those great songs on the radio, in commercials, movies, almost everywhere." The tour (Jones's last) came to fruition entitled, An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour.

Post-Monkees career

Jones and Ilene of "Sunday's Child" in the 1972 ABC special Pop Goes Davy Jones

In 1967, Jones opened his first store, called Zilch, at 217 Thompson Street in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. The store sold "hip" clothing and accessories and also allowed customers to design their own clothes.^{[citation needed]}

After the Monkees officially disbanded in 1971, Jones kept himself busy by establishing a New York City-style street market in Los Angeles called "The Street," which cost him approximately $40,000. He also collaborated with musical director Doug Trevor on a one-hour ABC television special entitled ‘’Pop Goes Davy Jones’’, which featured new artists the Jackson Five and the Osmonds.

Bell Records, then having a string of hits with The Partridge Family, signed Jones to a somewhat inflexible solo record contract in 1971. Jones was not allowed to choose his songs or producer, resulting in several lackluster and aimless records. His second solo album, Davy Jones (1971) was notable for the song "Rainy Jane", which reached No.52 in the Billboard charts. To promote the album, Jones performed "Girl" on an episode of The Brady Bunch entitled "Getting Davy Jones". Although the single sold poorly, the popularity of Jones's appearance on the show resulted in "Girl" becoming his best remembered solo hit, even though it was not included in the album. The final single, "Road to Love," was poorly received.

Jones and Maureen McCormick in 1971 during The Brady Bunch episode in which he was a guest star

Jones also continued acting after the Monkees, either as himself or another character. He appeared in an episode of Here Come the Brides,^{[citation needed]} as well as two episodes each of Love, American Style and My Two Dads. Jones also appeared in animated form as himself in 1972 in an hour-long episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

Despite his initial high profile after the end of the Monkees, Jones struggled to establish himself as a solo artist. Glenn A. Baker, author of Monkeemania: The True Story of the Monkees, commented in 1986 that "for an artist as versatile and confident as (Davy) Jones, the relative failure of his post-Monkees activities is puzzling. For all his cocky predictions to the press about his future plans, Davy fell into a directionless heap when left to his own devices."

In 2009, Jones made a cameo appearance as himself in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "SpongeBob vs. The Big One" (his appearance was meant to be a pun on Davy Jones' Locker). Other appearances include Sledge Hammer!, Boy Meets World, Hey Arnold!, The Single Guy (where he is mistaken for Dudley Moore) and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch in which he sang "Daydream Believer" to Sabrina (Melissa Joan Hart). The continued popularity of his 1971 Brady Bunch appearance led to his being cast as himself in The Brady Bunch Movie. Jones sang his signature solo hit "Girl", with a grunge band providing backing, this time with middle-aged women swooning over him. Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork also appeared alongside Jones as judges.

Jones also returned to theatre several times after the Monkees. He appeared in several productions of Oliver! as Fagin, and also co-starred with Micky Dolenz in Harry Nilsson's play The Point at the Mermaid Theatre, London in 1978.

Jones at a 2006 concert in Geneva, Illinois

In 2001, Jones released Just Me, an album of his own songs, some written for the album and others originally on Monkees releases. In the early 2000s he was performing in the Flower Power Concert Series during Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival, a yearly gig he would continue until his death.

In April 2006, Jones recorded the single "Your Personal Penguin", written by children's author Sandra Boynton, as a companion piece to her new board book of the same title. On 1 November 2007, the Boynton book and CD titled Blue Moo was released and Jones is featured in both the book and CD, singing "Your Personal Penguin". As a result of the collaboration, Jones became a close friend of Boynton.

In December 2008, Yahoo! Music named Jones the "Number 1 teen idol of all time". In 2009, Jones was rated second in a list of 10 best teen idols compiled by Fox News.

In 2009, Jones released a collection of classics and standards from the 1940s through the 1970s entitled She.

Personal life

Family life

Jones was married three times. In January 1968 he secretly married Linda Haines. Their marriage was kept out of the public eye for nearly 18 months, and when made public, in June 1969, caused a considerable backlash for Jones from fans accusing him of deception. Jones later stated, in Tiger Beat magazine, "I kept my marriage a secret because I believe stars should be allowed a private life." Jones and Haines had two daughters: Talia Elizabeth (born 2 October 1968) and Sarah Lee (born 3 July 1971). The marriage ended in 1975.

Jones married his second wife, Anita Pollinger, on 24 January 1981, and also had two daughters with her: Jessica Lillian (born 4 September 1981) and Annabel Charlotte (born 26 June 1988). They divorced in 1996, during the Monkees’ 30th Anniversary reunion tour. Jones married for a third time, on 30 August 2009, to Jessica Pacheco, 32 years his junior. This was Jessica's third marriage as well. On 28 July 2011, Jessica filed to divorce Jones in Miami-Dade County Florida. She later withdrew the divorce petition in October 2011.

Horse racing

In addition to his career as an entertainer, Jones' other first love was horses. Training as a jockey in his teens, Jones later said "I made one huge mistake. When the Monkees finished in 1969–70, I should have got away from Hollywood and got back into the racing game. Instead I waited another 10 years. Everyone makes mistakes in life and for me that was the biggest." He held an amateur rider's licence and rode in his first race at Newbury for trainer Toby Balding.

On 1 February 1996, he won his first race, on Digpast, in the one-mile Ontario Amateur Riders Handicap at Lingfield. Jones also had horse ownership interests in both the U.S. and the U.K., and served as a commercial spokesman for Colonial Downs racetrack in Virginia. In tribute to Jones, Lingfield Park announced that the first two races on the card for 3 March 2012 would be renamed the "Hey Hey We're The Monkees Handicap" and the "In Memory of Davy Jones Selling Stakes" with successful horses in those races accompanied into the Winners' Enclosure by some of the Monkees' biggest hits. Plans were also announced to erect a plaque to commemorate Jones next to a Monkey Puzzle tree on the course.

Death

On the morning of 29 February 2012, Jones went to tend his 14 horses at a farm in Indiantown, Florida. After riding one of his favorite horses around the track, he complained of chest pains and difficulty breathing. He was rushed to Martin Memorial South Hospital in Stuart, Florida, where he was pronounced dead of a severe heart attack due to atherosclerosis.

On Wednesday, 7 March 2012, a private funeral service was held at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Indiantown, Florida. The three surviving Monkees did not attend in order not to draw more attention to the grieving family. Instead, the group attended memorial services in New York, as well as organizing their own private memorial in Los Angeles along with David's family and close friends. There was also a public memorial on 10 March in Beavertown, Pennsylvania near the church Jones had purchased and had intended to renovate.

Discography

Main article: Davy Jones discography

See also: The Monkees discography

Albums

Jones' eponymous 1971 album

Date	Label/Catalogue #	Titles	Billboard Top Albums	Notes
1965	Colpix CP-493 (mono) / Colpix SCP-493 (stereo)	David Jones	185	(US) Credited as "David Jones"
1967	Pye NPL 18178 (mono)	David Jones	–	(UK) Credited as "David Jones"
June 1971	Bell 6067	Davy Jones	205
January 1978	MCA MCF2826	The Point	–	Jones sings most of the songs on this original cast recording of Harry Nilsson's stage performance of "The Point!". Album was initially released in Britain only, followed by a release in Japan.
June 1981	Japan JAL-1003	Davy Jones Live	–	Released in Japan only.
March 1982	Pioneer K-10025	Hello Davy (Davy Jones Live)	–	Released in Japan only. According to some sources, this is an unauthorised LP release, with the audio having been lifted from the Japanese-released LaserDisc of this concert.

Singles

Date	Label/Catalog #	Titles (A-side/B-side)	Billboard Top Singles	Cashbox	Notes
February 1965	Colpix CP-764	"Dream Girl" / "Take Me to Paradise"	–	–	Credited as "David Jones"
July 1965	Colpix CP-784	"What Are We Going to Do?" / "This Bouquet"	93	94	Credited as "Mr. David Jones"
1965	Colpix CP-793	"The Girl from Chelsea" / "Theme for a New Love"	–	–	Credited as "David Jones"
1967	Pye 7N.17302	"It Ain't Me Babe" / "Baby It's Me"	–	–	Credited as "Davy Jones"
May 1971	Bell 986	"Do It in the Name of Love" / "Lady Jane"	–	–	By Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones. Released as by "the Monkees" in some countries, this is technically the group's last single during their original run, although by then they had lost the rights to the name.
June 1971	Bell 45–111	"Rainy Jane" / "Welcome to My Love"	52	32
October 1971	Bell 45–136	"I Really Love You" / "Sittin' in the Apple Tree"	–	98
November 1971	Bell 45–159	"Girl" / "Take My Love"	–	–	A-side featured in The Brady Bunch episode "Getting Davy Jones"
January 1972	Bell 45–178	"I'll Believe in You" / "Road to Love"	–	–
1972	MGM K14458	"You're a Lady" / "Who Was It"	–	–
1973	MGM K14524	"Rubberene" / "Rubberene"	–	–	This single was released as a promotional copy only.
May 1978	Warner Brothers 17161	"(Hey Ra Ra Ra) Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse" / "You Don't Have to Be a Country Boy to Sing a Country Song"	–	–	Issued in Britain only to commemorate Mickey Mouse's 50th Birthday
May 1981	Japan JAS-2007	"It's Now" / "How Do You Know"	–	–	Released in Japan only.
June 1981	Japan JAS-2010	"Dance Gypsy" / "Can She Do It (Like She Dances)"	–	–	Released in Japan only (on 25 June 1981). "Dance Gypsy" (a.k.a. "Dance Gypsy Dance") written by Reiko Yukawa.
March 1982	Pioneer K-1517	"Sixteen (Baby, You'll Soon Be Sixteen)" / "Baby, Hold Out"	–	–	Released in Japan only.
December 1984	(no label) JJ2001	"I'll Love You Forever" / "When I Look Back on Christmas"	–	–	Released in Britain only.
1987	Powderworks 374	"After Your Heart" / "Hippy Hippy Shake"	–	–	Released in Australia only. Recorded in 1981.

Books

• They Made a Monkee Out of Me, autobiography (print book) by Davy Jones, Dome PR, 1987, ISBN 978-0961861407.
• They Made a Monkee Out of Me: Davy Jones Reads His Autobiography, (audiobook), Dove Entertainment Inc (November 1988).
• Daydream Believin, Hercules Promotions, First Edition, ISBN 0-961-86141-X (2000)

External links

• Official website  – Davy Jones
• Official website  – The Monkees
• Davy Jones discography at Discogs
• Davy Jones at the Internet Movie Database
• Davy Jones at the Internet Broadway Database
• Interview with Davy Jones