Not every private press record in the folk/rock vein was made by some struggling singer-songwriter from the south in the late ’60s or early ’70s. Scott Jones hailed from Minnesota and released his first record, Roads in 1978. He then followed that up with a self-titled sophomore effort in 1981 on the same label. This puts him in the rarefied air of “vanity” artists who managed to release not just one but TWO albums. Let’s see James McCarthy accomplish that feat! Or Eddie Callahan! You know who DID manage to record followup albums after their first privately-pressed efforts? Guys like Will Beeley, and Robert Valente, and the subject of today’s An Album A Day post, Scott Jones.
Jones actually recorded THREE full-length albums for Flight Records. 1978’s Roads, that self-titled second album from 1981, and a third one called Side By Side that was released…uh…sometime after 1981. With an output like that, Jones was pretty much a careerist compared to his countless one-and-done peers. Are you not impressed enough yet? Check out the liner notes and you’ll learn that Jones not only played guitar and sang on his album, he also contributed keyboard/synths AND percussion.
I picked this album up based solely on the artwork. Barren snowy forest on the front cover, lots of photos of Jones walking alone through said snowy lands, song titles like “Sometimes You’ve Got To Get Away” and “Let Me Love You.” I thought it’d be a loner gem but I was somewhat rudely greeted by some rootsy (that means “country” in most collectors’ circles) soft-rock tunes. There are weird moments sprinkled throughout, like “We Are The Little Fork,” but overall it’s an inoffensive and professional-sounding album. There’s even a classical-inspired song thrown in to conclude the first side that sounds like an outtake from Steve Tibbetts’ (a fellow Minnesotan!) first record. Jones is well-trained musically, he’s got a strong voice, and it is no wonder Roads resulted in at least two successive albums. The fact that his Discogs profile links to a MySpace page (now defunct) makes me wonder if Jones continued writing songs well into the modern era.
It’s not going to open your eyes, it’s not going to blow your mind, but much like yesterday’s post about Bill Haymes, this is a solid musician with a strong voice playing generally good tunes. Not everything can be OUTSIDE and strange or druggy and insane.
Scott Jones
Roads
(Flight – FR1705, 1978)
A1. Gettin’ Back Into The Land
A2. Sometimes You’ve Got To Get Away
A3. Roads
A4. We Are The Little Fork [MP3]
A5. Chattanooga To Lynchburg Trail
A6. Gate To The Valleys (Sha’ar Ha’amaqim)
B1. A Minstrel Comes To Town
B2. Dressed In Candlelight
B3. The Virgin: Virgo (The Zodiac Suite)
B4. Let Me Love You
B5. Thank You
