Alun Ashworth-Jones (31 October 1945 – 1 June 2008), known as Al Jones, was an influential English

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

and blues songwriter, guitarist and singer, noted for his distinctive and original folk-rock guitar style and his often darkly humorous lyrics.

Early career

He first came to prominence in the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

folk scene in the mid-1960s, where he formed a trio with harmonica player Elliot Jackson and singer/guitarist Ian A. Anderson. They were resident performers at the

Bristol Troubadour Club The Bristol Troubadour Club was a short lived but influentialclub in the thriving contemporary folk music scene in Bristol in the late 1960s and early 1970s, It was located in Clifton village, the student quarter above the city centre. The club ...

and frequently played at Les Cousins in London. Jones' recording debut was as part of that trio on an EP in 1966. He moved to London in 1968/1969 and featured on "Matchbox Days", an early Village Thing compilation of tracks by the white British "Blues Boom" artists of that period, alongside Jo-Ann Kelly, John James,

Mike Cooper Mike Cooper may refer to: * Mike Cooper (musician) (born 1942), English blues and jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter * Mike Cooper (politician) (born 1951), former politician in Ontario, Canada See also * Michael Cooper (disambiguation) * Mike Ho ...

and Dave Kelly. He made an album before moving to

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, where he became

reclusive A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion from the public and society. The word is from the Latin ''recludere'', which means "shut up" or "sequester". Historically, the word referred to a Christian hermit's total isolation from th ...

. Anderson persuaded him to make a further album in 1972, "Jonesville", which featured a very early Rodney Matthews cover. Jones' reputation gained cult status in Britain and abroad, his albums becoming highly sought-after, and he occasionally emerged from his self-imposed obscurity to play gigs in Europe, particularly Belgium and Germany, where he had a particularly dedicated following.

Instrument making

His main business became the manufacture of his Ashworth range of instrument pick-ups and he later joined with Nigel Thornbory, the guitar maker, to produce the silicone rubber-stringed

Ashbory bass The Ashbory bass is a solid body fretless bass guitar designed by Alun Ashworth-Jones and Nigel Thornbory. It is 18 inches long, almost half the size of a standard bass guitar. When amplified, the Ashbory reproduces the low, resonant bass tone of ...

, which is the only British instrument ever licensed to Fender; it is no longer in production.

Re-emergence from obscurity

Colin Irwin, in

fRoots ''fRoots'' (pronounced "eff-Roots", originally ''Folk Roots'') was a specialist music magazine published in the UK between 1979 and 2019. It specialised in folk and world music, and featured regular compilation downloadable albums, with occa ...

magazine in 1998 wrote about Jones: "In 1991 he had a call from a friend who wanted to put on a concert, and couldn't believe it when he found himself agreeing to appear. 'I couldn't play anything at first, it had been such a long time and my fingertips had gone soft.' But on a business trip to London he got his hands on a Strat and it felt so good he couldn't put it down. Gradually he eased back into gigging and sitting in with any damn band that passed by. 'People like

Wizz Jones Raymond Ronald Jones (born 25 April 1939), better-known as Wizz Jones, is an English acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England and has been performing since the late 1950s and recording from 19 ...

and

John Renbourn John Renbourn (8 August 1944 – 26 March 2015) was an English guitarist and songwriter. He was best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo care ...

would come down and I'd play guitar with them. I remember John playing something and it sounded familiar and I said 'John I know that one!' He said 'you should…you wrote it!' He started writing again. Prolifically. Got a new acoustic guitar. And ultimately he came to record a brand new CD, Swimming Pool' in 1998. His gigs at that time were mainly in Cornwall and he rarely travelled beyond the Duchy's boundary. In 2000, Jones recorded "A little bit of Heaven" under the band name Blues De-luxe, with fellow Cornish musician and long term friend Pete Flaskett. The album consisted of a selection of songs from the album Swimming pool as well as some new material written by Jones and Flaskett. Blues De-luxe took part in festivals and gigs around Cornwall for several years. In 2001,

Mooncrest Records Mooncrest Records is a British record label that was formed in 1973 as a subsidiary of Charisma Records. They issued albums by Shirley Collins (''No Roses'') (1971), Iain Matthews (''Journeys from Gospel Oak'') (1972), Nazareth (1973–75), Sha ...

reissued ''Alun Ashworth-Jones'' as a double CD with numerous, previously unissued, "bonus" tracks including live recordings from April 1969 with a full electric band, and five acoustic tracks recorded in 1971. His early works were reissued in 2007 on the

Castle Records A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

label as a double CD, ''All My Friends Are Back Again''. Jones died suddenly and unexpectedly on 1 June 2008 at the age of 62.

Discography

*''Anderson, Jones, Jackson'' ( Saydisc 33SD 125 – 5 track EP, 1966) *'' Alun Ashworth-Jones'' (

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

, 1969) *''Jonesville'' ( The Village Thing, 1972) *'' Swimming Pool'' ( Weekend Beatnik, 1998) *'' Alun Ashworth-Jones'' (reissue by

with many previously unissued "bonus" tracks, 2001) *''All My Friends Are Back Again'' (compilation of ''Alun Ashworth-Jones'', ''Jonesville'' and additional tracks (Mooncrest, 2007)

Tracks on compilations

*''Matchbox Days'' ( The Village Thing, 1972) – "Searchin' the Desert"(*) *''49 Greek Street'' (

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

SF8118, 1970) (**) ''(*) reissued on Ace Records (UK) Big Beat label, catalogue number CDWIKD 168, in 1997''
''(**) tracks also available as bonus tracks on 2001 CD reissue of "Alun Ashworth-Jones"''

References

External links

Al Jones on Answers.com (Richie Unterberger, Allmusic)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Al 1945 births 2008 deaths English folk guitarists English male guitarists English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters 20th-century English singers 20th-century British guitarists 20th-century British male singers 20th-century English male writers