John Joseph Jones (3 February 1930– August 2000) was a British and Australian poet, folk singer, musician, playwright, and theatre director.

Biography

Born in London in 1930, Jones first arrived in Australia in 1948. Between 1950 and 1952, he worked briefly in England, Canada, and Fiji, but settled permanently in Australia in 1952. He graduated from

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, majoring in Anthropology and English (1959). He lived in Parkerville and developed and sustained the Parkerville Amphitheatre during his lifetime. The amphitheatre became the site for a number of 1970s concerts, including

John Farnham John Peter Farnham Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a Teen idol, teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an Adu ...

Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at the ...

, and

Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons are an Australian blues and rock band that features the singer, songwriter and saxophonist Joe Camilleri (aka "Jo Jo Zep"). The band was active in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and had several Australian chart hits i ...

. A documentary on the Parkerville Amphitheatre, "Sets, Bugs & Rock n Roll", by Tempest Productions, was shown at the Revelation Film Festival in Perth in July 2015.

Music

*''Condamine Bells: Songs and Stories of the Australian Outback'', poems by Jack Sorensen, Joseph Jones and Patsy Durack. Perth, W.A.: Carroll's, 1961 *''Australian New Folk and Art Songs: with full piano accompaniments and guitar chord symbols by John Joseph Jones''. Kewdale, W.A.: John Joseph Jones, 1966 *''A Singer and his Songs of Early Australia'', Sydney: Southern Music, 1970 *''Pipedream: original libretto with revisions and additions by the librettist'', by John Joseph Jones; set to music by Kevin Fenner. Perth, W.A.: Hovea Music Press, 1995

Poetry

*''Love'', with paintings by Astrid Dahl. Perth, W.A.: Artlook Books, 1983 *''A Day at Hiroshima, Parkerville and other poems'', with drawings by Lawrence John Jones, Hovea, W.A.: Parkerville Amphitheatre, 1983 *''Three Poems of Celebration'', with artwork by Daniel Argyle. Claremont, W.A.: Hovea Press, 1994 *''Summertime Poems'', with artwork by Lawrence John Jones, Claremont, W.A.: Hovea Press, 1994 *''The love sonnets of John Joseph Jones: a guide to the archival resource manuscripts available with notes on their composition, publication and other aspects''. Parkerville Amphitheatre, 1999

Theatre

*''The Undivided: a verse play in three acts''. Foreword by E. J. Stormon. Perth: John Joseph Jones and Co. 1965

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, John Joseph 1930 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets 20th-century Australian male writers 20th-century Australian male singers