Because of other commitments, we had a very small window to write a tribute to the great Quincy Jones yesterday …
Making up for some of that today with some of these other glowing memories …
A STATEMENT FROM QUINCY JONES’ FAMILY:
Multi-Grammy winning producer, arranger, composer and multi-media entrepreneur Quincy Jones, 91, passed away peacefully tonight at his home in Bel Air, CA. Sunday Night, November 3rd. Mr. Jones was surrounded by his children, his siblings, and close family at the time of his death.
Commented the Jones family, “Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him. He is truly one of a kind and we will miss him dearly; we take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with the world through all that he created. Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’ heart will beat for eternity.”
Mr. Jones’ family is grateful for the outpouring of condolences from his friends and fans from around the world, and respectfully request privacy in this time of great mourning. No further details will be released at this time. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to The Jazz Foundation of America - jazzfoundation.org.
From Timmy …
(yep ... he worked with 'em all!!!) kk
Quincy Jones By Harvey Kubernik
I had the honor of meeting and speaking with Quincy Jones a dozen times during the seventies and eighties.
I remember our first encounter in the mid-seventies at A&M Records in Hollywood. I’d just interviewed Lesley Gore for Melody Maker. Probably 1976. She was on the label. He had produced her earlier majestic sixties recordings for the Mercury label. He asked me my Astrological sign. “Pisces.” He replied, “You can hang. I’m a Pisces.” I told him I dug his work with Little Richard on the Vee-Jay label. He smiled and joked, “Man, a white dude with a memory!”
In 1977, Billboard Magazine had a Disco Convention at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. I was invited to cover the event. I didn’t hate disco. I had interviewed the Hues Corporation and Barry White for Melody Maker. Quincy read my story on Barry. They knew each other from the late sixties and early seventies in Los Angeles, mostly running into each other in the lobbies at record labels. He came over to where I was sitting. I asked him a quick question about the Beatles. A circle of people surrounded us. All of them seemed to be saying, “What did Quincy Jones have to do with the Beatles.”
I knew.
At Mercury Records, where he was a label executive, he heard about the Beatles in 1963, from friends and Little Richard, who touted the group. Quincy indicated he met the band, or at least Paul McCartney, at age 21. Mercury passed on the act. Quincy saw the Beatles and the Rolling Stones before they came to the United States. He mentioned some bet he made with Lennon and McCartney against Harrison and Ringo that the Beatles would not chart in America. He and many others thought at the time a UK act could not break the dominance of American music.
Years later, writer Gary Pig Gold told me, “The only time I’ve heard the Fabs and Quincy used in the same sentence was Lennon and McCartney asking George Martin in ’63 how to get ‘the Lesley Gore sound’ on their vocals - hence the double-tracking from With the Beatles sessions onwards. Quincy nicknamed her ‘Little Bits,’ marveling at such big sounds coming from such a small girl. But under his perfect guidance, those early records of hers somehow almost scaled Phil Spector’s sonic Wall!”
Around 1978, we sat together at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium for an hour at a Yamaha Music presentation and concert, featuring members of Steely Dan. The Japanese company was parading new tester equipment. When he worked the lobby, I baby sat his two daughters. He returned and regaled me with insights into the music business. He lamented a late fifties or very early sixties USO trip to Europe with his big band. He got stranded and there was a money problem. “Worst fuckin’ thing that ever happened to me.” Mercury Records eventually called him and he got a gig as an A&R man / producer and Vice-President. He had tears in his eyes citing the Mercury executive who hired him.
In 1978, I was West Coast Director of A&R at MCA Records. Quincy was producing the soundtrack to The Wiz musical for the label. He was really frustrated doing this job. Years later he would remark, “But I met Michael [Jackson] on that set!”
I was trying to sign The Knack to MCA and the company passed. I knew they were a hit act. After the group inked with Capitol Records, I was invited to the MCA / Whitney recording studio when they cut “My Sharona” with producer Mike Chapman. I was later given a gold record when the record became a huge international hit.
In 1980 or ’81, I sat with Quincy, his wife Peggy Lipton and their close friend, singer Patti Austin. It was at The Hollywood Palladium for the live taping of Richard Pryor’s show on Sunset Blvd. I was introduced to Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops. I first encountered Peggy when she went to Hollywood Professional School with my surfer pal Peter Piper.
Peggy and I re-connected in 2013 when my brother Kenneth and I wrote and assembled a book on the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival. She attended the gathering. I interviewed her about the event. She spoke about the success of her two daughters, and revealed some anecdotes that would look awkward at this writing. I interviewed Peggy again for a book Kenneth and I did on the photographer Guy Webster.
In late October 2024, I had lunch with Dr. James Cushing, a poet, a deejay, and a frequent interview subject in my books. I told him I recently interviewed bass player Carol Kaye for a music documentary. Carol mentioned that Quincy heard her session work and she needed to be on soundtracks. Quincy hired her in 1967 for In the Heat of the Night.
Cushing then told me in the late sixties or early seventies that Quincy and his wife at the time were neighbors of his family in Coldwater Canyon. He then described Quincy extending an invitation to him to attend a recording session where Carol Kaye and Mike Melvoin were on the date.
Quincy Jones. A treasure.
HK
From Variety Magazine (also sent in by Harvey Kubernik) … fifteen “can’t miss” songs by Quincy Jones …
https://variety.com/2024/music/news/quincy-jones-best-songs-1236199844/
Here’s a cool story about Eddie Van Halen playing the guitar solo on Michael Jackson’s #1 Hit, “Beat It.” (Eddie’s brother has been giving him some post-mortem grief about playing at this session in recent weeks … but Eddie himself said that he nearly hung up on Quincy Jones when Quincy called him to invite him to the session!)
Good stuff … https://ultimateclassicrock.com/eddie-van-halen-quincy-jones-beat-it/
Dear Quincy Jones has passed and
left those of us who knew him feeling sad.
He was supremely talented, and I felt privileged to have known him for many
years. He was friends with George Martin, the Beatles’ producer and, between
the two of them, produced some very fine music.
Quincy or ‘Quince’ or ‘Q’, as he was known, always had a twinkle in his eye and
had a very positive, loving spirit which infected everyone who knew him. His
work with Michael Jackson is, of course, legendary and he had so many other
strings to his musical bow.
My main recollections of him were always the private moments that we shared,
and I will never stop thanking Nancy for always arranging to visit him when we
were in Los Angeles. These visits were fun and inspiring.
His long career stretches back to the early days when he was a trumpet player,
then a band leader, then a producer of many great records. But it is as a
friend I would like to remember him. We always had fun in his presence and his
legend will continue through the years, but it is those private moments we were
lucky enough to have with the great man that I will always remember fondly.
We send our love and sympathies to his family and all his many friends.
--Paul McCartney
From Timmy ...
Ringo and Quincy ...
Nobody had a career as
incredible as Quincy Jones. He played with the best and he produced the best.
What a guy. Loved him.
Here we are together at our @ejaf Oscar Viewing Party. Always a loyal
supporter of this important fundraiser.
Elton John
And, speaking of Elton's parties ...
The last time I saw Quincy, I was with Mary Wilson, at Elton John’s annual Academy Awards party in 2020. I got to chat with him about music, and Michael Jackson. I had first met Quincy in 1984 when my book Michael! (Jackson) was on The New York Times best-seller list. I had gone to The Funhouse disco to visit our DJ friend John “Jellybean” Benitez. Coincidentally, that very night Quincy was visiting Jellybean, and bringing him a new remix of a Jackson song. In the conversation, I was introduced to Quincy, and Jellybean mentioned that I was the author of the book in which Mr. Jones was a major part of the plot. Quincy immediately said, “I know who you are!” In my head I said to myself: “Quincy Jones knows who I am? I really must have made it!” Quincy Jones, you will be greatly missed.
Mark Bego’s latest book is Campaigning For President (Yorkshire Publishing) with Austin Wright, and Jordan M. Wright, which highlights campaign memorabilia from George Washington, right up to today’s historic 2024 election.
A STATEMENT FROM THE PEGGY LEE ESTATE:
“Peggy Lee often spoke of Quincy Jones as one of her most cherished musical collaborators and as a dear friend with whom she shared a deep spiritual connection. Together, they wrote seven compositions that became beloved parts of Peggy’s repertoire, included on her albums Blues Cross Country and If You Go, both of which Quincy arranged and conducted, and for the film Walk Don’t Run. Quincy’s artistry shone not only on the albums they crafted together but also in the countless live performances they shared, especially during the unforgettable days at Basin Street East in New York City. Over the years, Quincy gifted Peggy with numerous exquisite arrangements, including two from Disney's Lady and the Tramp, each one a testament to his boundless talent and generous spirit. May his memory and music continue to inspire and bring joy, as he always did so effortlessly.”
--- Holly Foster Wells, Granddaughter of Peggy Lee & Manager of the Peggy Lee Estate
NOTE: Photos courtesy of Peggy Lee Associates, LLC. Permission for use only in conjunction with the passing of Quincy Jones.
The candid shot was taken in 1961, and the shot of them with the sheet music was taken in 1966.
A STATEMENT FROM THE NANCY AND TINA SINATRA:
Quincy was an ever-present force in our lives — in good times and bad — constant and loving.
He was our "brother from another mother," he'd say. We were blessed to know him.
We love you, Q — from here to eternity. Hug Pop and save us a seat at the bar!
--- Nancy & Tina Sinatra
BERRY GORDY’S STATEMENT ON PASSING OF QUINCY JONES:
I am saddened to hear of the passing of one of the true greats of our time, my friend, Quincy Jones.
His body of work is incomparable. He had the ability to move seamlessly over seven decades - from music genre to genre, artists young to old – and was a master with them all.
Quincy was a true man of music who knew its unique and powerful ability to unite us all. He will be missed but will live on through his incredible body of work.
--- Berry Gordy, Founder of Motown
From Photographer Jim Roup …
Remembering Quincy ...
With his daughters at a Grammy party … at a film screening in Beverly Hills … and making an entrance at a trendy restaurant in West Hollywood.
No matter how you may feel about the outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election, you have to take at least SOME solace in knowing that America's dogs and cats are safe again ... if you're a "glass half full" kind of guy.
Meanwhile, Timmy sent these over if only to remind us of how much more fun elections were back in the '60's …
A belated Happy Birthday to Peter Noone …
From all of us here at Forgotten Hits …
And Harvey Kubernik!!!!
A Happy Birthday to Peter Noone.
I first met him in 1974 when I reviewed him for "Melody Maker."
Over the decades we've kept in touch.
During 2022, I interviewed him for a story on David Bowie. Noone as a solo artist covered David Bowie's "Oh You Pretty Things," that most of us really discovered and heard on Bowie's LP "Hunky Dory."
Peter Noone: (Herman’s Hermits): I’d seen Bowie with “Space Oddity.” What happens is our [record producer] Mickie Most used to sit in his office on Oxford Street. And on one side of the table was Mickie Most and the other side was Peter Grant, who was the beginnings of Led Zeppelin and all that stuff. [Grant managed the band. - HK] We used to go up there, laugh and tell stories and Peter would ask me stories about touring. We’d get down and have a laugh. There was no drinking. Just an office with people pretending to be doing business. And Mickie always had the pile of acetates. And he puts on this “Oh You Pretty Thing.” And Mickie calls me and says, 'Come up to the office.' I have nothing going on in my world except for show business. Right? 'Listen to this.' I’ve got your first solo single.’ And he plays 'Oh You Pretty Things' and says, “Let’s go and record it and see how it works out.
"So, Bowie comes over to the studio to show us how to play the song. And nobody can play it, so he had to play piano. Mickie said, “Just play it once all the way through.” And we’ll cut the tape and make it three times as long. So, Bowie sits down at the piano and plays it in F sharp. Nobody can play that song in F Sharp still. But he could. And Herbie Flowers was the bass player. And it all turned into magic like they do. I then went on to do [the television program] Tops of the Pops. And in those days, if you wanted to mime to the track, you had to have the musicians who were on the record. So, we all showed up and David Bowie showed up in a dress. Which was not very 'Herman’s Hermits' style."
It was released on the RAK label.
HK
Another shot from Jim Roup ...
More Peter ...
https://bestclassicbands.com/peter-noone-hermans-hermits-interview-12-22-199/
https://forgottenhits.com/forgotten_hits_interviews_peter_noone
We no sooner revealed the 2025 line-up for The Happy Together Tour and tickets are already going on sale thru a presale that kicks off TODAY!!! (11/6/24)
(Best that THEY hang on to your money for the next 7-8 months rather than YOU doing so!!!)
Headlining this year (again) are The Turtles (featuring Ron Dante), Jay and the Americans, Little Anthony, Mark Lindsay, The Vogues and The Cowsills. (The shocker here again is that Mark Lindsay is going back out on the road … this is a pretty grueling-paced tour … but what a killer line-up this is!)
Check Live Nation to find a show near you. (kk)
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
11/6/64 - During their first promotional visit to the UK,
The Beach Boys appeared live on the popular television program “Ready Steady
Go!” They performed “I Get Around” and
“When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) ... most definitely live!!!
