Joe Jones born 12 August 1926

Joseph Charles Jones (August 12, 1926 – November 27, 2005) was an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger who was generally credited with discovering the Dixie Cups. He also worked with B.B. King. As a singer, Jones had his biggest hit in the form of the Top Five 1960 R&B hit "You Talk Too Much", which also reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. 

Jones was born in New Orleans and took to music when he was very young. Jones served in the U.S. Navy, where he played piano in a band, before studying music at the Juilliard Conservatory of Music. He formed a band, Joe Jones and his Atomic Rebops, in the late 1940s; band members played on Roy Brown's 1947 hit "Good Rocking Tonight". He was expelled from the New Orleans local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians for attempting to set up a rival organization but was later reinstated. 

Eventually he broke into the music scene as a bandleader for the likes of B. B. King, playing the piano and arranging music. He formed the band Joe Jones and his Atomic Rebops, the first of many that he would lead, employing a pool of New Orleans musicians including Melvin Lastie, Lee Allens and Harold Battiste, all of whom would go on to carve out substantial careers. 

In 1954 Jones cut his first record for Capitol Records, "Adam Bit The Apple". He also discovered Shirley and Lee, with whom he worked as their pianist, and whose recording of "Let the Good Times Roll" became a hit in 1956. In 1958 he recorded "Every Night About Eight" for Roulette but a potential follow-up, "You Talk Too Much", in 1959 stayed in the can for the year until it featured in a low-budget horror movie, The Dead One in 1961. 

                                    

Thinking that Roulette had forgotten about him, Jones recorded a slower version for Ric Records in 1960. "You Talk Too Much" had to beat off a cover version from another New Orleans musician, Frankie Ford. As it climbed the charts and became a national success, Roulette was furious, securing a leasing agreement with Ric and taking over Jones's contract. Ric Records responded with "I Don't Talk Too Much" by Martha Nelson: Valerie Carr recorded "I Talked Too Much": and Jones's follow-up was the equally similar "One Big Mouth (Two Big Ears)" but his subsequent releases were less successful. His "California Sun" (1961) was revived very successfully by the Rivieras in 1964. 

Like most Roulette artists, Jones failed to see any real money from the sale of his records and became transfixed with learning about the business side of the recording industry. He then turned to management and production. He spotted the Dixie Cups at a talent show and got them a deal with Red Bird Records. Their first record, "Chapel Of Love", became a No 1 in 1964. He also managed the group's guitarist, Alvin Robinson. 

Jones claimed to have composed many songs, including the song "Iko Iko." Although his assertions were originally successful, a federal jury and then Court of Appeals ruled that Jones did not write "Iko Iko," that his claims were fraudulent, and that the true writers were the band he managed, the Dixie Cups (the true original recording of this song had been released as Checker 787 by New Orleans singer and pianist Sugar Boy Crawford and his Cane Cutters in late 1953). The band hired music attorney Oren Warshavsky, who had previously won a case demonstrating that Jones falsely professed ownership of another Mardi Gras classic song, "It Ain't My Fault." Jones also failed in his bid to declare title (though not as an author) to yet another Mardi Gras classic song, "Carnival Time." 

He later moved into music publishing, and worked tirelessly for the rights of fellow R&B acts. In 1973, Jones set up a company in Los Angeles, California, making advertising jingles. He also became an advocate for the rights of fellow R&B acts, helping African-American performers regain the rights and royalties they'd signed away during the infancy of the modern recording industry. Jones also wrote a campaign song for Jimmy Carter. 

Having battled cancer in his later years, Joe Jones died in Los Angeles on November 27, 2005 (aged 79) following complications after quadruple bypass surgery. 

(Edited from Spectropop, The Independent & Wikipedia)