Jo Jo Gunne was an American rock band, formed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States, in 1971 by Jay Ferguson and

Mark Andes Mark Andes (born February 19, 1948) is an American musician, known for his work as a bassist with Canned Heat, Spirit, Jo Jo Gunne, Firefall, Heart, and Mirabal. Early life Andes was born in Philadelphia, but grew up in Los Angeles, one ...

after they had left

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

. The band was named after a

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

song, "Jo Jo Gunne". They released their eponymous debut album in 1972 and had a top 10 hit song "Run Run Run" in the UK. They released three further albums before disbanding in 1974. They reunited in 2005 for a time to record an album.

Career

Jo Jo Gunne was formed by Jay Ferguson ( keyboards,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and

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 strin ...

) and brothers

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

( bass and vocals) and Matt Andes (born February 6, 1949; guitar, vocals), along with William "Curly" Smith (born January 31, 1952,

Wolf Point, Montana Wolf Point ( asb, šųktógeja oʾípa) is an incorporated ranchingtown in, and the county seat of, Roosevelt County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,517 at the 2020 census, down 4% from 2,621 in the 2010 Census. It is the larges ...

; drums, vocals, and harp) in 1971. Ferguson chose the group's name, "Jo Jo Gunne", from a 1958

song about a monkey of that name that caused a fight between a lion and an elephant. They performed their first major show in Los Angeles in May 1971 before they were signed to

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asylu ...

. The band's first album ''Jo Jo Gunne'' was released in 1972 and the album reached number 57 on ''Billboards Top 100 Albums. Jo Jo Gunne had a number 6

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in April 1972 with a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

, "Run Run Run", taken from the album. It also received airplay on U.S.

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orien ...

FM radio stations. The song reached number 30 in Canada. Their second album, ''Bite Down Hard,'' was a minor success peaking on the ''Billboard'' Top 200 chart at number 75. Due to the lack of a breakout single, this album's sales fared more poorly than their 1971 introductory effort. The album was produced by

Bill Szymczyk William Frank Szymczyk (; born February 13, 1943) is an American music producer and technical engineer best known for working with rock and blues musicians, most notably the Eagles in the 1970s. He produced many top albums and singles of th ...

who was best known at the time for his production work on

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr ...

's '' Barnstorm'' and

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

's '' Completely Well''. The band's third album ''Jumpin' the Gunne,'' featuring an obese naked woman on the cover, failed to rise any higher than number 169 on the ''Billboard'' Top 200 chart. The band's fourth album, ''So...Where's the Show?'', featured new guitarist Staehely (a former member of Spirit), whose harder edged sound complemented Ferguson's songs giving the band a much harder rock sound than on their previous efforts. The group did not maintain the commercial momentum of their first release. They broke up in 1974.

Personnel changes

Following the first album, Mark Andes left the band after a falling out with his brother Matt and Ferguson and was replaced by Jimmie Randall. Randall introduced a brighter bass sound and helped increase the band's overall volume. Matt Andes left after ''Jumpin' the Gunne'', and he was briefly replaced by Starr Donaldson (born September 23, 1950) in 1974. A replacement was soon found in John Staehely (born 25 January 1952,

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

), who had played on '' Feedback'', the Spirit album that followed Ferguson and Andes's departure. Staehely's overdriven guitar was a significant change from Matt Andes's Ry Cooder style slide guitar. After the band broke up, Ferguson recorded several

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

albums, which yielded the hit singles "Thunder Island" and " Shakedown Cruise". He then scored TV shows and several movies. Mark Andes joined

Firefall Firefall is an American country rock band that formed in Boulder, Colorado, in 1974. It was founded by Rick Roberts, former member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Jock Bartley, who had been Tommy Bolin's replacement in Zephyr. The band' ...

and then

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...

. Smith went on to have a career as a session drummer, and played with

in the 1980s, and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

from 1994 to 2000.

Reunion

The original line-up temporarily got back together around 1992. In a July 1995 interview in ''Vintage Guitar Magazine'', Mark Andes recalls: "Curly Smith called me up and noted that it was the twentieth anniversary of when that band had formed; Steve Lukather took us into the studio and we recorded a lot of new material, but it didn't go anywhere". They began

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

again in 2005 in Santa Barbara at Jay Ferguson's studio. The 2005 recordings were eventually put out as an album, ''Big Chain'', on Blue Hand Records. The music was co-produced by the band and engineered by Ferguson.

Discography

Albums

Singles

*"Run Run Run" - No. 27 (US), No. 30 (Canada) No. 42 (Germany), No. 6 (UK), *"Shake that Fat" *"Ready Freddy" *"Rock Around The Symbol" *"I Wanna Love You" *"Where Is The Show" *"Big, Busted Bombshell From Bermuda"

References

External links

Official homepage
* {{Authority control 1971 establishments in California Musical groups established in 1971 Musical groups from Los Angeles Rock music groups from California Asylum Records artists