Jones became infatuated with the bohemian image of Woody Guthrie and Jack Kerouac and grew his hair long. His mother had started calling him Wizzy after the Beanocomic strip character "Wizzy the Wuz" because at the age of nine Raymond was a budding magician. The nickname stuck throughout his school years and when he formed his first band, "The Wranglers", in 1957 the name became permanent. Bert Jansch later said, "I think he's the most underrated guitarist ever." In the early 1960s he went busking in Paris, France, and there mixed in an artistic circle that included Rod Stewart, Alex Campbell, Clive Palmer (Incredible String Band) and Ralph McTell. After a couple of years travelling throughout Europe and North Africa he returned to England,[1] and married his long-time girlfriend Sandy to raise a family.
In 1965, his only single was released: Bob Dylan's "Ballad of Hollis Brown". By this time the skiffle boom was over but one of the stars of that movement, Chas McDevitt, used Jones' guitar-playing on five albums in 1965 and 1966. Another musician on those sessions was the bluegrassbanjo-player, Pete Stanley.[1] In 1966, Jones and Stanley released an album, Sixteen Tons of Bluegrass,[2] but this partnership broke down in 1967, as Jones then turned solo.[1]
The folk period
Jones performing in Portugal, 2015
Jones started to become a singer-songwriter. His first solo album was Wizz Jones in 1969.[1] Eight of the songs were written by his long-time friend Alan Tunbridge. Up to 1988, ten solo albums followed and he played on Ralph McTell's single "Easy" in 1974. Steve Tilston was also guided by Jones, through the early stages of his career. Jones was once described as having 'a right hand worthy of Broonzy', referring to the blues guitarist Big Bill Broonzy. Most of his recordings from this period are long out of print.
He briefly joined acoustic folk-rock group Accolade (other band members Don Partridge, Brian Cresswell and Malcolm Poole) in 1971 as backing guitarist, and is featured on the group's second album, Accolade II. Another brief excursion, as a member of the traditional folk band Lazy Farmer in 1975,[1] produced an album that was reissued in 2006. Jones has always maintained a high level of popularity in Germany, since the mid–1970s, and he stills tours mainland Europe every year. The early 1990s were a quiet period, when he almost disappeared from public view.
On 30 May 2012, Bruce Springsteen opened the sold-out Wrecking Ball concert at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany, with Jones's song, "When I Leave Berlin".[3]
In 2015, Jones toured with John Renbourn, playing a mixture of solo and duo material, before Renbourn died in March that year. An album by the pair, titled Joint Control, was released in 2016.[4]
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