Johnny Jones And The King Casuals
Encyclopedia
Johnny Jones and the King Casuals were a Nashville
, Tennessee
, rhythm and blues
group active in the 1960s. They were regular performers at the North Nashville club district, Printer's Alley
clubs, as well as often serving as the house band
for the local television program
, Night Train.
The band, which was originally named 'The King Kasuals', was founded in 1962 by Jimi Hendrix
and bassist Billy Cox
in Clarksville, Tennessee
, United States, after the two were discharged from the adjacent Fort Campbell
Army post, and eventually relocated to Nashville.
Johnny Jones (born John Albert Jones, August 17, 1936, Eads, Tennessee
) moved to Chicago
where he practised the blues
with Junior Wells
and others. He moved back to Nashville in the early 1960s to become a session musician
, and eventually assumed leadership of the King Casuals, circa 1964, replacing Hendrix. The band recorded a portfolio of singles
in later years. The final recording featuring Jones was his 2001 solo release, Blues Is In the House.
"Purple Haze" by Johnny Jones and the King Casuals was a popular R&B single, played in the Northern soul
clubs of the Midlands and the North of England during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Johnny Jones died on October 14, 2009, at age 73.
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
group active in the 1960s. They were regular performers at the North Nashville club district, Printer's Alley
Printer's Alley
Printer's Alley is a famous alley in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, between Third and Fourth Avenues, running from Union Street to Commerce Street. The portion of the alley between Union and Church Street is the home of a nightclub district that dates back to the 1940s.At the beginning of the 20th...
clubs, as well as often serving as the house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
for the local television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
, Night Train.
The band, which was originally named 'The King Kasuals', was founded in 1962 by Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and bassist Billy Cox
Billy Cox
William "Billy" Cox is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix.-Early years:Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, Cox was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended Schenley High School. He first met Jimi Hendrix in the early 1960s, when they were both in the United States...
in Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States, and the fifth largest city in the state. The population was 132,929 in 2010 United States Census...
, United States, after the two were discharged from the adjacent Fort Campbell
Fort Campbell
Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astraddle the Kentucky-Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee...
Army post, and eventually relocated to Nashville.
Johnny Jones (born John Albert Jones, August 17, 1936, Eads, Tennessee
Eads, Tennessee
Eads is an unincorporated community in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. Some of Eads have been annexed by the city of Memphis. Some of its area is currently still unincorporated. Eads is located northeast of Germantown, west of Somerville, east of Memphis and east of Bartlett...
) moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
where he practised the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
with Junior Wells
Junior Wells
Junior Wells , born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., was an American Chicago blues vocalist, harmonica player, and recording artist...
and others. He moved back to Nashville in the early 1960s to become a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
, and eventually assumed leadership of the King Casuals, circa 1964, replacing Hendrix. The band recorded a portfolio of singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in later years. The final recording featuring Jones was his 2001 solo release, Blues Is In the House.
"Purple Haze" by Johnny Jones and the King Casuals was a popular R&B single, played in the Northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
clubs of the Midlands and the North of England during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Johnny Jones died on October 14, 2009, at age 73.