Counting Crows - Mr. Jones


Mr. Jones 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Mr. Jones"
Mister Jones.jpg
Single by Counting Crows
from the album August and Everything After
ReleasedDecember 1, 1993
FormatCD single
Recorded1993
Genre
Length4:32
LabelGeffen
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)T-Bone Burnett
Counting Crows singles chronology
"Mr. Jones"
(1993)
"Round Here"
(1994)
Audio sample
MENU
0:00
Counting Crows – "Mr. Jones"
"Mr. Jones" is a song by American alternative rock band Counting Crows. It was released in December 1993 as the lead single and third track from their debut album, August and Everything After (1993). It was the band's first radio hit and one of their most popular singles.

Contents

  [show

History[edit]

"Mr. Jones" entered the American Top 40 on February 19, 1994, and entered the Top 10 five weeks later. On April 23, "Mr. Jones" passed R. Kelly's "Bump n' Grind", taking the number-one position (which it surrendered, the following week, to Prince's "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World").[1]
The band's surprise success happened to coincide with Kurt Cobain's death. These events took a significant toll on Adam Duritz, the lead vocalist and principal songwriter. Duritz said in an interview, "We heard that, that [Kurt] had shot himself. And it really scared the hell out of me because I thought, these things in my life are getting so out of control...".[2] These events and feelings were the basis for "Catapult", the first track of Recovering the Satellites.
According to Duritz (who was born in 1964), the song title had a hand in the naming by Jonathan Pontell of "Generation Jones", the group of people born between 1954 and 1965. "I feel honored that my song Mr. Jones was part of the inspiration for the name 'Generation Jones'."[3]

Lyrics and performances[edit]

The primary topic of the song itself is perhaps how two struggling musicians (Duritz and bassist Marty Jones of The Himalayans) "want to be big stars," believing that "when everybody loves me, I will never be lonely." Duritz would later recant these values, and in later concert appearances, "Mr. Jones" was played in a subdued acoustic style, if at all.[2] On the live CD Across a Wire Duritz changes the lyrics "We all wanna be big, big stars, but we got different reasons for that" to "We all wanna be big, big stars, but then we get second thoughts about that," and "when everybody loves you, sometimes that's just about as funky as you can be" to "when everybody loves you, sometimes that's just about as fucked up as you can be."[4]
Some believe the song is a veiled reference to the protagonist of Bob Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man",[5] based on the lyric "I wanna be Bob Dylan, Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky." According to Adam Duritz on VH1 Story Tellers "It's really a song about my friend Marty and I. We went out one night to watch his dad play, his dad was a Flamenco guitar player who lived in Spain (David Serva), and he was in San Francisco in the mission playing with his old Flamenco troupe. And after the gig we all went to this bar called the New Amsterdam in San Francisco on Columbus."[6]
In a 2013 interview, Duritz explained that the song is named for his friend Marty Jones, but that it is about Duritz himself. "I wrote a song about me, I just happened to be out with him that night," Duritz said. The inspiration for the song came as Duritz and Jones were drunk at a bar after watching Jones' father perform, when they saw Kenney Dale Johnson, longtime drummer for the musician Chris Isaak, sitting with three women. "It just seemed like, you know, we couldn't even manage to talk to girls, ... we were just thinking if we were rock stars, it'd be easier. I went home and wrote the song," Duritz said.[7]

Cover versions[edit]

The band Hidden in Plain View did a cover of "Mr. Jones" which was released in 2004 on the album Dead and Dreaming: An Indie Tribute to the Counting Crows.

Accolades[edit]

YearAssociationCategoryResult
1994MTV Video Music AwardsBest New ArtistWon

Track listings[edit]

  1. "Mr. Jones" (LP version) – 4:32
  2. "Raining in Baltimore" (LP version) – 4:42
  3. "Mr. Jones" (acoustic version) – 4:44
  4. "Rain King" (acoustic version) – 5:10

Credits and personnel[edit]

  • Composers – David Bryson, Adam Duritz
  • Performed by – Counting Crows
  • Producers – T-Bone Burnett, Bruce Ranes
  • Executive producer – Gary Gersh
  • Mixing – Scott Litt, Patrick McCarthy
  • Engineers – Patrick McCarthy, Bruce Ranes
  • Photography – Michael Tighe[8]

Charts[edit]


Chart (1993–1994)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[9]13
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[10]27
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[11]45
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[12]1
France (SNEP)[13]7
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[14]42
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[15]49
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[16]28
US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[17]25
US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[17]2
US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[17]2
US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay5

No comments:

Post a Comment

1950

Related image
Al Morgan - Jealous Heart

Anton Karas - Theme De Harry Lime

Artie Shaw - Autumn Leaves

Bill Snyder - Bewitched

Billy Cotton - I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts

Bing Crosby - Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy - Single Version

Bing Crosby - Christmas In Killarney

Bing Crosby - Dear Hearts And Gentle People - Single Version

Bing Crosby - Mule Train

Bing Crosby;Gary Crosby - Sam's Song (The Happy Tune)

Danny Kaye - C'est Si Bon

Dinah Shore - Dear Hearts & Gentle People

Dinah Shore - Once in a While

Donald Peers - I Remember The Cornfields

Doris Day - Bewitched

Dorothy Squires - Snowy White Snow And Jingle Bells

Edmundo Ros - The Wedding Samba

Eileen Barton;The New Yorkers - If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake

Frank Sinatra - Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy

Frank Sinatra - If I Loved You

Gene Autry - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Geraldo & His Orchestra;Eve Boswell - Confidentially

Gordon Jenkins - My Foolish Heart

Guy Lombardo - Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)

Guy Lombardo & His Orchestra - Hop Scotch Polka

Jo Stafford And Gordon MacRae - Dearie (From "The Copacabana Show of 1950")

Jo Stafford And Gordon MacRae - I'll String Along With You

Karen Chandler;Eve Young - Silver Dollar

Mel Blanc - I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat

Nat King Cole - Mona Lisa

Nat King Cole - Orange Colored Sky

Patti Page - Tennessee Waltz

Phil Harris - Is It True What They Say About Dixie

Phil Harris and His Orchestra - The Thing

Red Foley - Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy - 1949 Single Version

Robert Wilson - Down The Glen

Russ Morgan - Forever And Ever

Sammy Kaye - Harbor Lights

Steve Conway - Ashes of Roses

Steve Conway - My Foolish Heart

Teddy Johnson - Beloved Be Faithful

Tennessee Ernie Ford - Mule Train

Teresa Brewer - Music Music Music

The Ames Brothers - Rag Mop

The Ames Brothers - Sentimental Me

The Andrews Sisters - I Can Dream, Can't I?

The Ink Spots - You're Breaking My Heart

The Mills Brothers - Daddy's Little Girl

The Weavers - Goodnight Irene

The Weavers - Tzena, Tzena, Tzena

The Good Music Guide