Jill Jones Jill Jones album

Warner Bros. Records

album

‘L’ is for the lust we share.

The winter of 1986 and through to the spring of 1987 bookend perhaps Prince’s most prolific writing period. Not only was he working on a double album with The Revolution – their fully completed but abandoned Dream Factory record, which Prince then expanded into a triple LP named Crystal Ball as well as laid down a solo album named Camille, post the dissolution of the group. Those projects which evolved into his opus magnum the iconic Sign O’ The Times. In this time Prince also produced self-titled albums for Sheila E and the debut album for Jill Jones. The year 1986/87 was not only proof quantity did not come at the sacrifice of quality, the period marks the peak of Prince’s creative output.

Jill Jones was introduced to Prince in 1980 at the age of 18, via her mother who was at the time manager of Teena Marie, the opening act for Dirty Mind Tour. Hailing from Ohio but moved to California to pursue a singing career, Jill Jones subsequently joined Dirty Mind Tour as Marie’s backing singer. In 1982, Prince had her add supporting vocals on a number of tracks for his 1999 album, including his breakout titletrack single. On following tours, Jones provided vocal support in the live shows of his girl bands Vanity 6 and Apollonia 6, she and Prince performing offstage hidden from sight. Jill Jones also became Prince’s casual girlfriend and received speaking roles in his movies Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge and appears in nearly all of Prince’s projects during this period.

Work on Jones’ debut album started as long ago as 1983 in recording sessions at Prince’s home studio at Kiowa Trail, Minnesota. The first first track recorded for the album was track G-Spot, which was originally intended for the abandoned second album for Vanity 6, the song passed to Jill Jones in July 1983 to overdub with her lead vocals for her own album. This was followed by Mia Bocca – an early consideration for including in the Purple Rain movie – and on 6 April 1987 was issued as the album’s lead single – it charted at number 4 in Italy. All Day, All Night was recorded live at Prince’s birthday concert at First Avenue on 7 June 1984, Jill Jones dubbing her vocals to the track at Sunset Sound Studio in November 1986.

Despite being credited as co-writer on five tracks for her self-titled debut album, Prince is disguised under the name Joey Coco and actually wrote all eight songs. Jones’s main vocal contributions with Prince, in addition to 1999, include the B-side single Hello, Kiss [Extended Version], Manic Monday and It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night. She is famously the romantic interest inspiring Prince’s song She’s Always In My Hair.

The Jill Jones LP is critically acclaimed and broadly considered the best non-Prince record issued under Paisley Park Records. The album also features Jones’ cover of Prince’s With You whose his original version appeared on his second album, self-titled Prince in 1979. Jill Jones features orchestral arrangements by Clare Fischer on Violet Blue, My Man and Baby, You’re A Trip. In 2019, Prince’s version of Baby, You’re A Trip with his vocals as was intended for the album Purple Rain was released on Warner Brothers’ compilation Originals, which also features his original version of Manic Monday.

Performers

Vocals

Jill Jones

All instruments

Prince

Saxophone

Bob Minzer ^G-Spot

Chris Hunter ^G-Spot

Roger Rosenberg ^G-Spot

Eric Leeds ^{Violet Blue and For Love}

Trombone

Jim Pugh ^G-Spot

Jon Faddis ^G-Spot

Trumpet

Randy Brecker ^G-Spot

Atlanta Bliss

Atlanta Bliss ^{Voilet Blue}

Drums

Steve Gadd ^{With You}

Bobby Z. ^{All Day, All Night}

Jellybean Johnson ^{For Love}

Guitar

Hugh McCracken ^{With You}

Steve Stevens ^{With You}

Wendy Melvoin ^{All Day, All Night}

Keyboards

Mike Chase ^{With You}

Lisa Coleman ^{All Day, All Night}

"Dr." Matt Fink ^{All Day, All Night}

Piano

Rob Mounsey ^{With You}

Bass

Brown Mark ^{All Day, All Night}

"St." Paul Peterson ^{For Love}

Orchestration

Clare Fischer ^{Mia Bocca, Violet Blue and Baby, You're A Trip}

Data

Producers

Jill Jones, Prince and David Z.

Label

Paisley Park Records

Distribution

Warner Bros. Records

Cover/Design

Kim Champagne

Released

39 years ago on 26 March 1987

Running Time

39:01

US Chart Peak

163

UK Chart Peak

Did not chart

Orig. Formats

Tracklist

1. Intro (Baby, You're A Trip) / Mia Bocca (7:21)
2. G-Spot (4:30) ¹
3. Violet Blue (4:24)
4. With You

   Prince (1979)
   (4:00)
5. All Day, All Night (5:41)
6. For Love (4:27)
7. My Man (3:15)
8. Baby, You're A Trip (5:23)

Released as a single

¹ Co-written with Jill Jones.

Jill Jones album review

The debut album for Jill Jones is widely regarded as the best non-Prince album to come out of Prince’s Paisley Park Studios – an assumption that is entirely correct. Prince was on a roll in 1987, having been working on no less an album than Sign O’ The Times, he still found time to put together this release, and the quality of the output is mesmerising.

Jill Jones was Prince’s former girlfriend, and was one of the very first acts signed to his brand-new personal label Paisley Park Records. Prince wrote all the eight songs for Jones’ self-titled debut album, which starts with the sweeping Mia Bocca – one of the album’s three singles. The playfully saucy G-Spot leads into the big budget Violet Blue and showcases Prince as a master lyricist. It leads then into With You, Jones’ cover of the song Prince released in his own eponymous album in 1979.

The best work on Jill Jones are the back to back powerhouses All Day, All Night and For Love. After which the pace is maintained by My Man, before this brilliant album is closes with one of Prince’s best songs Baby, You’re A Trip – a deserved hit if there ever was one, and one that encapsulates a sadly much overlooked great from the 1980s, but a release nonetheless still cherished by Prince fans even decades later.

Jill Jones is rated 5 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.