Jim and Jean, composed of

Jim Glover Jim R. Glover (born 1942) is an American peace activist and folk singer. He is from Cleveland, Ohio and lives in Brandon, Florida. Relationship with Phil Ochs Glover attended Ohio State University, where he met Phil Ochs in the fall of 1960 and i ...

(born 1942) and Jean Ray (1941–2007)Jean Ray Obituary

Durango Herald ''The Durango Herald'' is a newspaper in Durango, Colorado. The first edition of the ''Herald'' came out June 30, 1881. Two years later, the ''Herald'' merged with the ''Record'', which had started publishing in 1880, seven months before the ''H ...

(

Durango, Colorado Durango is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States Census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis Coll ...

). August 26, 2007. were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

duo, who performed and recorded music from the early to the late 1960s. They were married in 1963 and were listed as Jim and Jean Glover in the liner notes of their

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s, but went their separate ways after a 1969 divorce.

Career

Glover attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, where he met

Phil Ochs Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...

in late 1959, introduced Ochs to

and Leftist politics, and taught him how to play

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

. Jim Glover and Phil Ochs were in a short-lived folk duo called the "Singing Socialists", later renamed the "Sundowners". Though the group did not last long, Glover and Ochs remained friends. In 1961, Jim Glover left

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he met Jean Ray at the

Café Raffio A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

and later fell in love with her. Jim and Jean began performing music together and developed a following at the Café Raffio in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, and soon began making enough money to pay the rent on their Thompson Street apartment. In 1962, Ochs moved in with Jim and Jean when he was first starting his musical career in Greenwich Village. Ray introduced Ochs to her friend Alice Skinner, and Ochs soon moved in with Skinner, and eventually married her. As Glover improved his songwriting, Jim and Jean began to perform (and later recorded) a number of his songs. They were given a big career boost from

Art Linkletter Arthur Gordon Linkletter (born Gordon Arthur Kelly or Arthur Gordon Kelly; sources differ; July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010) was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of ''House Party'', which ran on CBS radio a ...

, whose longtime secretary was Jean's mother, Lee Ray, and who featured Jim and Jean on his popular TV programs. Jim and Jean's first appearance on record, ''Jack Linkletter Presents a Folk Festival'', was a live 1963 compilation album released on

GNP Crescendo The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign ...

that featured a number of folk acts. In 1965, Jim and Jean released their first full-length album, a self-titled release, on the

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

label. This album contains songs written by

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

("Ramblin' Boy" and "Hold On To Me, Babe"), Ochs (" There But For Fortune"),

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...

("Welcome, Welcome Emigrante"), and

Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...

("Alabama Bound" and "Relax Your Mind"), as well as traditional songs. Alice Skinner Ochs wrote the original liner notes printed on the back of the album. In 1966, Jim and Jean's second album, ''Changes'', was released on the

Verve Folkways Verve Forecast is a record label formed as a division of Verve Records to concentrate on pop, rock, and folk music. Founding Jerry Schoenbaum of Verve and Moe Asch of Folkways created Verve Folkways in 1964 to take advantage of the popularity ...

record label. The title track was written by Phil Ochs, and the album also contained two other Ochs songs ("Flower Lady" and "

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

"). Ochs also wrote the album's liner notes. This album also contained songs written by

Eric Andersen Eric Andersen (born February 14, 1943) is an American folk music singer-songwriter, who has written songs recorded by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead and many others. Early in his career, in the 1960s, he ...

, David Blue,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, and Jim and Jean. The sound on their first album is more folksy, whereas their second album contains more session musicians, instrumentation, and even some

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

experimentation. They recorded with some musicians who had worked on Bob Dylan's first electric sessions. Their song "One Sure Thing", written by Jean and Harvey Brooks, would later be recorded by

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

. Jim and Jean's third and final album, ''People World'', was released on Verve Forecast in 1968, and is their furthest departure from their original sound and style. At times, this album delves into some

flower power Flower power was a slogan used during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and nonviolence. It is rooted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War. The expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsber ...

themes and even slight

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

. The album also contained more of their own original material than their previous albums. The title track, "People World", reached number 94 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

in 1968. Also, two Ochs songs appeared on this album: "Cross My Heart" and "Rhythms Of Revolution". This was Jim and Jean's last album as a duo. During the years they recorded together, Jim and Jean played in folk music clubs such as the Ash Grove in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

and the Ice House in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. They sometimes opened for Canadian

band 3's a Crowd. In one performance at the Ash Grove, rather than playing as a duo, they were accompanied by a pianist and by the bassist Harvey Brooks, who had played with Dylan. Eventually, Jim and Jean split up and went their separate ways. Glover recorded some small-budget albums on his own (''No Need To Explain'' in 1980 and ''Outsider'' in 2003), and Ray went on to perform in some small-budget

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

. They reunited for the first time in 30 years to perform one last show together at The Workman's Circle's People's Voice Cafe in New York City on March 18, 2006. After a long illness, Jean Ray died on August 19, 2007, at age 66.

Legacy

Jim and Jean, as well as other husband-and-wife folk duos of the 1960s (such as

Ian and Sylvia Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. ...

and

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

and

Mimi Fariña Margarita Mimi Baez Fariña (April 30, 1945 – July 18, 2001) was an American singer-songwriter and activist, the youngest of three daughters to a Scottish mother and Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez. She was the younger sister of t ...

), were described as being inspirations for the fictional characters "Mitch and Mickey" of ''

A Mighty Wind ''A Mighty Wind'' is a 2003 American mockumentary comedy film about a folk music reunion concert in which three folk bands reunite for a television performance for the first time in decades. Co-written (with Eugene Levy), directed, and composed ...

'', the 2003 spoof movie about folk music. They are also the inspiration for the husband-and-wife folk-singing duo also called Jim and Jean in the

Coen Brothers Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...

film ''

Inside Llewyn Davis ''Inside Llewyn Davis'' () is a 2013 period black comedy musical drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1961, the film follows one week in the life of Llewyn Davis, played by Oscar Isaac in his breakthr ...

''. Jean Ray was the inspiration for Neil Young's song "

Cinnamon Girl "Cinnamon Girl" is a song by Neil Young. It debuted on the 1969 album ''Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere'', which was also Young's first album with backing band Crazy Horse. Songwriting Music Like two other songs from ''Everybody Knows This ...

", as verified by her brother

Brian Ray Brian Thomas Ray (born January 4, 1955) is an American session musician, guitarist, bassist, singer–songwriter, and musical director. He is best known for his work as a bass, rhythm, and lead guitarist with Paul McCartney's touring band, ...

,Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Cinnamon Girl (1969)
on A Bit Like You And Me. May 1, 2013. and perhaps other songs as well. Jean Ray said, "

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

's song '

Cowgirl in the Sand "Cowgirl in the Sand" is a song written by Neil Young and first released on his 1969 album ''Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere''. Young has included live versions of the song on several albums and on the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young album ''4 Way ...

' came from a visit he made to me and my family living on the beach."Liner notes from Jim and Jean's ''Changes/People World'' CD reissue by Richie Unterberger (2005

/ref>

References

External links

* allmusic entry
Liner notes from Jim and Jean's ''Changes/People World''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jim And Jean American folk musical groups American musical duos Folk music duos People from Greenwich Village Verve Forecast Records artists