rickie lee jones

Rickie Lee Jones expressed her jazzy self with streetwise sophistication on her eponymous debut.  When she was eighteen, she found her way to Venice Beach, California and became involved in the local scene, playing at clubs and meeting other local musicians.  In Hollywood, she met Dr. John and Dr. John and Lowell George (from Little Feat) who did a cover of her song 'Easy Money' on his solo debut.  She also met Chuck E. Weiss and Tom Waits.  She and Waits moved in together and became a couple for a while.  It was also during this time that producers Lenny Waronker and Tommy LiPuma signed her to a five record deal for Warner Brothers Records.

Rickie Lee Jones on vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion, horn arrangements, drums, bass, and percussion;   Dr. John, Ralph Grierson, Randy Kerber, and Neil Larsen on keyboards;  Randy Newman and Michael Boddicker on synthesizer;  Victor Feldman on percussion, drums, and keyboards;   Nick DeCaro on accordion and orchestral arrangements;  Buzz Feiten on guitar;  Johnny Mandel on orchestral arrangements;  Mark Stevens on drums and percussion;  Fred Tackett on guitar and mandolin;  Tom Scott, Chuck Findley, and Ernie Watts on horns;  Red Callender and Willie Weeks on bass;  Steve Gadd, Andy Newmark, and Jeff Porcaro on drums;  Michael McDonald on vocals; and Arno Lucas, Leslie Smith, Joe Torano, and Matthew Weiner on background vocals.  


'Rickie Lee Jones' went to number eighteen in the UK, three in the US, and number one in Australia.  Jones says:  "When my career started in 1979, the division between singer-songwriter-dom and singer-dom was a wide abyss, and singer-songwriters were not allowed to cover songs. Before I got signed, when I played live, I would do some of my own songs and also songs that I loved, like “Makin’ Whoopee” and “My Funny Valentine.” All those songs, the originals and the others, were part of me. And I got lots of flak. I’m not sure why, exactly, but there was a strong belief that singers should only sing their own songs...Singing other people’s material was perceived, I think, as a weakness of my persona. The effect, though, was to make me dig my heels in and try even harder to combine the two ... I wish I would have known that what I have couldn't be taken away. I've watched the concept of me change in people's eyes and that's been strange – you're totally in one year and totally out the next. So I wish that when I was a kid I'd known and understood that the stage is mine and it can't be taken away from me, that what I do is what I do and it's always there for me. Maybe then I wouldn't have been so afraid. The fear drove me to isolate myself and anaesthetise myself. I always felt like my future was at stake every time I stepped on stage and that was kind of hair-raising. At some point I just went, don't be frightened, you can't do anything wrong, it's your show."

http://www.rickieleejones.com/







"Chuck E.'s In Love" went to number four on the US pop chart.   Jones considers:   "It's not my special child, but I set it aside for many years. My audience, God bless them, probably would have liked to have heard it, but I didn't do it at all for seven or eight years--for all of the '90s, I would say. Then, I started playing it at home, and I found my way back into the song. It's a sweet melody and it's a sweet song because it was my only big hit, and I think I resented it for a while--poor song. Now, when I play it, I appreciate it. I like the sweet, r&b feeling of it. The bridge is very groovy, but it became the signature of the song, so the bridge is the place where I'm still trying to totally inhabit it. But I think I'm just about all the way back to her and I like her a lot."




How come he don't come and p.l.p. with me
Down at the meter no more?
How come he turn off the TV
And he hang that sign on the door?
We call and we call "How come?" we say
What could make a boy behave this way?

He learn all of the lines, and every time he
don't stutter when he talk
And it's true! It's true! He sure is acquired a
cool and inspired sorta jazz when he walk
Where's his jacket and his old blue jeans?
If this ain't healthy is it some kinda clean?

I think that Chuck E's in love
Chuck E's in love

I don't believe what you're saying to me
This is something I gotta see Is he here?
Look in the poolhall Is he here?
Look in the drugstore Is he here?
No, he don't come here no more

I'll tell you what I saw him
He was sittin' behind us down at the Pantages
And whatever it is that he's got up his sleeve
I hope it isn't contagious
What's her name? Is that her there?
Christ, I think he's even combed his hair!

Is that her? What's her name?
Oh, it's never going to be same.
But that's not her
I know what's wrong--
Chuck E's in love with the little girl who's singing this song
Chuck E's in love
Chuck E's in love with me.





'Rickie Lee Jones'
full album:



"Chuck E.'s In Love" 3:28
"On Saturday Afternoons in 1963" – 2:31
"Night Train" – 3:14
"Young Blood" – 4:04
"Easy Money" – 3:16
"The Last Chance Texaco" – 4:05
"Danny's All-Star Joint" – 4:01
"Coolsville" – 3:49
"Weasel and the White Boys Cool" (Rickie Lee Jones, Alfred Johnson) – 6:00
"Company" (Rickie Lee Jones, Alfred Johnson) – 4:40
"After Hours (Twelve Bars Past Midnight)" – 2:13