Linda Jones

Before my days as a Disc Jockey at WBMU 91.3 back in the late seventies, I fell in love with a female voice before I even knew it would be around my whole life as well as one of my all-time favorite songs! At the time I didn't give any consideration to her name! It was the delivery of the song and the words to the songs and how she had me imagining the possibility of such a feat! To have a girl hypnotized just from a look into my eyes! To have her to tell me she would do whatever I say, command her and she would obey because she loved me! Man, that gave this 11-year-old kid at the time chills! I can remember finally checking out the name of the singer. Her name was Linda Jones! I never forgot it! Even though I had no picture because I was playing a 45 and had no album she was as beautiful to me as any woman could be! She was my Queen of Soul before I really knew of Aretha!

The next time I heard that voice, I recognized it immediately! I was over at a friend's house and heard this live version of "For Your Precious Love"! I thought to myself, it has to her! Then, right after her dialog, there it was, that incredible voice singing with passion, strength, and truth! Then she rapped again (what we called it back in the day when a singer would talk on a song) https://youtu.be/ZY7fZ95XfMY

Now, jumping to 40 years later and back at the station that is now an internet radio station! I was looking to download some of my favorite artists from back in the day to play on my Sunday evening show! Naturally Linda Jones, "Hypnotized" would definitely be one of my songs! But then, I came across "That's When I'll Stop Loving You" https://youtu.be/Il9wMeQbbts Immediately while playing it, I got calls asking who was singing that song! It was the words in this song and how she delivered them, so convincingly, I believe had the old School listeners excited about hearing this song and wanting to know exactly who was singing it! Some had already guessed it right. So, all of the inquires forced me to research her history to share some facts with my listeners.

Like any smart, researcher I went to Wikipedia for written documentation and found the following: Linda Jones (December 14, 1944 – March 14, 1972)[1] was an American soul singer with a strong gospel-influenced style. Jones was born in Newark, New Jersey. She started singing in her family's gospel group, the Jones Singers at the age of six. Her first recording was "Lonely Teardrops" under the name of Linda Lane on Cub Records in 1963. She was found performing at a local club by songwriter Jerry Harris who introduced her to producer George Kerr. After unsuccessful singles on Atco Records in 1964 and Blue Cat Records the following year, Kerr took her to Warner Bros. Records' R&B subsidiary, Loma Records in 1967. The first Loma release proved to be her biggest success, the ballad, "Hypnotized" reached No. 4 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 21 on the Hot 100. This proved to be the label's best-selling record and it was followed by two further hits, including "What've I Done (To Make You Mad)" (#8 R&B, No. 61 pop), and an album.

After Loma closed in late 1968, Linda had a final single on the main Warner label before joining Neptune Records, run by Philadelphia producers, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Two singles, both produced by Kerr, saw some R&B success before she signed for All Platinum subsidiary, Turbo Records, in New Jersey in 1971. A powerful revamped version of the former Jerry Butler & The Impressions hit, "For Your Precious Love" reached both the R&B (#15) and pop (#74) charts in 1972 and saw her career take off again. Reviewing her 1972 album Your Precious Love in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "Jones isn't too long on artistry—she likes to dispense with formality and just start at the climax throwing her emotions and her high notes all over material like 'Dancing in the Street' and 'I Can't Make it Alone.' Pretty amazing, in its way, and definitely recommended to people who always get out of their cars to look at waterfalls and strange rock formations."[2]

Shortly after the end of her national tour supporting the album, Jones died at her mother's home at the age of 27 while resting between matinee and evening shows at New York City's Apollo Theater in Harlem. She had been a diabetic for most of her life and slipped into a coma (or more likely, insulin shock) while sleeping.[3]

All Platinum put out three albums of previously issued and unreleased material after Linda's death and in 2008, her daughter, Terry Jones, along with Helen Bruner, produced an album featuring her mother's vocals. One of the tracks, "Baby I Know" was nominated for a Grammy award at the end of 2008.