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PAUL JONES - COME INTO MY MUSIC BOX, 1969 (COLUMBIA)
There are so many great singers from the British Invasion era, but my favorite voice from those times is Paul Jones. Brian Jones had the good taste to think of Paul being the vocalist before approaching Mick Jagger for the Rolling Stones. Instead, Paul Jones ended up being the lead singer in the band, Manfred Mann. His work with that band is exceptional. The Manns were unique because they were basically Jazz musicians who did pop but thought out their arrangements in the school of jazz or rhythm n' blues. They did the best cover versions of Bob Dylan's music as well. The band could be crass in their commercial taste, but always with the sophistication of a master musician. At the height of the swinging 60s, Jones left Manfred Mann to become an actor and solo artist. Although his solo career has its peaks and lows, the one thing that never failed him was his voice. He can sing the alphabet, and he would bring out the complexities of joy, despair, and love within the letters. If one has to choose his best solo work, it would be 1969's "Come Into My Music Box."
The album title is a very descriptive approach to the music on this record. We have everything from "Aquarius" (from the ultimate 60s musical "Hair") to The Band's "The Weight." It is like Jones wanted to express all his love on one LP. The album, in a manner, is a compilation, due that are five separate producers (John Burgess Norman Newell, Peter Asher, Mort Shuman, and Paul Jones), including Tony Visconti making the arrangement and conducting on the song "Pick Up In The Morning." Listening to this 52-year old album, it is clearly a record to define the end of the 1960s.
Paul Jones's solo either had a blues obsession, but he can also portray himself as a West End musical singer. "I'm Here To Nudge Your Mind" and "Aquarius" come off as a groovy version of the mainstream world of theater. There are traces of early Bowie, which suggests that David followed Paul Jones's presence in the pop world. By chance or design, Paul covers my two favorite songs from the 60s. Donovan's "Celeste" and Procol Harum's "Homburg." "Celeste" suits Jones's voice, and he does take a Donovan baroque Folkie song into a theatrical song piece. "Hamburg" in Paul's world becomes a baroque psychedelic pop masterpiece. Using filters on the vocals can be seen as overkill. Still, it is powerfully effective when it kicks into his voice with echo.
"Come Into My Music Box" is very much a variety show set on the LP format. It's a series of puzzles that fits perfectly together. In theory, this could have been a disaster. Still, the choice of songs and the genius of Paul Jones's approach to his material is a superb listening experience.
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