''Jill Jones'' is the self-titled debut solo album from the artist of the same name;

Jill Jones Jill Jones (born July 11, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress, who performed as a backing vocalist for Teena Marie and Prince in the 1980s. Overview Jones was born in Lebanon, Ohio on July 11, 1962. Her mother, a fashion model, ...

. The album was released in 1987 on Paisley Park /

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. It was produced by Jones and

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

. Her debut was warmly received in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, but failed to chart in the U.S. on the Billboard Top 100 Pop, Black, or Dance charts. None of the three released singles managed to enter any of the Top 100 charts.

never pushed the album.

Background

In 1983, Jones moved to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

to begin work on her solo album.

spent three years working with his ''"protégé"''. Prince wrote and performed much of the music on the album while Jones sang all of the vocals. David Z. did a large portion of the audio engineering and music production (without Prince) at

Electric Lady Studios Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In the book ''Prince and the Parade & Sign O' The Times Era Sessions'', Jones was quoted as saying she and David Z had a lot of latitude when it came to their sound. "I think Prince also trusted me to go my way, because once

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

actually gave it the stamp of approval. We played it for him, and it was kind of finished once Miles heard it technically. Prince told me, 'Miles loves you, he just loves you.'" Lead single "Mia Bocca" became a top 10 hit in Italy in July 1987, peaking at #6. Further single releases "G-Spot" and "For Love" failed to chart. Two other songs written by Prince, "77 Bleeker St." and "Baby Cries (Ay Yah)", were issued as B-sides.

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

guitarist

Steve Stevens Steve Stevens (born Steven Bruce Schneider; May 5, 1959) is an American guitarist. He is best known as Billy Idol's guitarist and songwriting collaborator, and for his lead guitar work on the theme to ''Top Gun'' – "Top Gun Anthem" – for w ...

, who was a close friend of Jones, contributed to the album. The album is out of print.

Track listing

All songs composed by Prince.

Side 1

*The music for "Mia Bocca" was heard in Prince's 1986 movie ''

Under the Cherry Moon ''Under the Cherry Moon'' is a 1986 romantic musical comedy-drama film starring Prince and marking his directorial debut. The film also stars former The Time member Jerome Benton, Steven Berkoff, Kristin Scott Thomas (in her feature film debut) ...

'' *"G-Spot" was originally recorded by Prince & the Revolution in 1983, and was intended for a scene in '' Purple Rain'' along with "Electric Intercourse," but was replaced by "

The Beautiful Ones "The Beautiful Ones" is the third track on Prince and the Revolution's soundtrack album '' Purple Rain''. It was one of three songs produced, arranged, composed, and performed by Prince, the other two being "When Doves Cry" and " Darling Nikki". ...

" *"With You" was recorded by Prince on his 1979 album ''

Side 2

* the Family: a Prince protégé band that record 1 album in 1985. St Paul Peterson (bass guitar), Jellybean Johnson (drums-also drummer for the Time band), and Eric Leeds (saxophone) feature on the track * the Revolution: Prince (guitar), Bobby Z (drums), Dr Fink (keyboards), Lisa Coleman (keyboards), Brown Mark (bass guitar), Wendy Melvoin (guitar). The song was originally recorded live at First Avenue in June 1984 with Prince on lead vocals.

Album 12" Singles

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals *

– backing vocals (7), electric and acoustic guitars,

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lic ...

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980 ...

Oberheim OB-8 The Oberheim OB-8 is a subtractive analog synthesizer launched by Oberheim in early 1983 and discontinued in 1985. As the fourth product in the OB-series of polyphonic compact synthesizers, the OB-8 was the successor to the OB-Xa. The number of ...

, synthesizers, piano, bass guitar,

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...

, drums, percussion *

Jellybean Johnson Garry George "Jellybean" Johnson (born November 19, 1956) is an American drummer, guitarist, songwriter, producer and musician based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. A member and drummer of The Time who worked along with famed producers Jimmy Ja ...

– drums (7) * St. Paul Peterson – bass guitar (7) *

Eric Leeds Eric Leeds is an American saxophone player, mostly known for his work with Prince. He has recorded mostly music in the pop and funk genres, but is a studied jazz musician.Cole, George.Eric Leeds: Interviews: The Last Miles: The Music of Miles D ...

– saxophone (4, 7) *

Atlanta Bliss Matthew "Atlanta Bliss" Blistan (born c. 1952) is an American jazz trumpeter. He is best known for his work with Prince from 1985–1991. He won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the 1986 single "Kiss" by P ...

– trumpet (4) *

Wendy Melvoin Wendy Ann Melvoin (born January 26, 1964) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Prince as part of his backing band The Revolution, and for her collaboration with Lisa Coleman as one half of the duo Wendy ...

– electric guitar (6) * Lisa Coleman – synthesizers (6) *

Dr. Fink Matt Fink (born February 8, 1958), better known as Dr. Fink, is a keyboardist, producer, and songwriter best-known for playing keyboards in Prince's band, The Revolution. At Prince concerts, he was distinguished onstage for performing dressed i ...

– synthesizers (6) *

Brownmark Mark Brown (born March 8, 1962), better known by the stage name Brown Mark, also styled Brownmark and BrownMark, is an American musician, bassist and record producer. Life and career Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Brown's early ...

– bass guitar (6) *

Bobby Z. Robert B. Rivkin (born January 9, 1956), better known by the stage name Bobby Z., is an American musician and record producer, most known as being the original drummer for Prince's backing band The Revolution from 1978 to 1986. Life and ca ...

–

Simmons SDS-V The Simmons SDS 5, SDSV, or Simmons Drum Synthesizer (notated as ''SDS-V'' on the following) was the first viable electronic replacement for acoustic drums. It was developed by Richard James Burgess and Dave Simmons, manufactured initially by M ...

, Linn LM-1 and Pearl SY-1 Syncussion (6) *

– electric guitar (5) *

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally ...

– electric guitar (5) *

Rob Mounsey Rob Mounsey (born December 2, 1952) is an American musician, composer, and arranger. Music career Mounsey was born in Berea, Ohio, and grew up in Seattle, Washington, spending a few years each in Findlay and Granville, Ohio. At the age of 17, ...

– piano (5) *Mike Chase – keyboards (5) *

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the ''Modern D ...

– drums (5) *Bob Minzer – saxophone (3) *Chris Hunter – saxophone (3) *Roger Rosenberg – saxophone (3) *Jim Pugh – trombone (3) *Jon Faddis – trumpet (3) *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on Nov ...

– trumpet (3) *

Clare Fischer Douglas Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University (from which, five decades later, he would receive an honorary doctorate ...

– orchestral arrangements (1, 2, 4, 9)

Notes

References

External links

Billboard.com - Jill Jones Music News & Info. ''Clifford, Paul''
* Billboard.com - Album; Jill Jonesbr>Vicars, J. J. "Jill Jones: A Promise Fulfilled." Welcome to Facebook. Web. 17 July 2010
*Tudahl, Duane. ''Prince and the Parade & Sign O' The Times Era Studio Sessions 1986 and 1986''. Rowman & Littlefield June (2021). {{Authority control 1987 debut albums Jill Jones albums Albums produced by Prince (musician) Paisley Park Records albums Warner Records albums Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders