Jack and the pack

7:00am Saturday 3rd May 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

JACK Jones embarks on a UK tour tonight to mark 50 years in showbusiness. We talk to the veteran crooner about the forthcoming shows, as well as his remarkable career and his friendship with the Rat Pack.

By Andy Welch

IMAGINE spending your teenage years idolising Frank Sinatra and then, just a few years later, hear the great man tell you how great he thinks you are. That's exactly what happened to Jack Jones one hazy evening in New York.

After performing at the Big Apple's Plaza Hotel, Jack, whose most famous hits include Wives And Lovers, Lollipops And Roses and The Impossible Dream, not to mention The Love Boat theme, went to the legendary Jilly's Saloon, one of the Rat Pack's favourite haunts during their heyday, to meet up with Ol' Blue Eyes and other singing stars for an old-fashioned knees up.

"We used to stay in there drinking after hours," explains Jack, looking much younger than his 70 years. "This one night, we were stood around the piano singing. Frank turned to me and said, 'Hey, you're the next hope, you're the future,' and gave me lots of advice.

"Of course, he'd been drinking," he adds, with a self-deprecating laugh. "That might explain it but he did say those things to me!"

Judy Garland was also in the bar that night, the lady who once described Jack as "the best jazz singer in the world" as was Peter Lawford, the British-born Rat Pack member.

"Having those people say such great things about me was heaven," admits Jack. "That's what I was trying to do. I was trying to get that sort of integrity into my interpretations of songs, so to have my favourite interpreters give me the nod was an incredible feeling."

Jack was born in 1938 and began singing in his teens. As sleepy, post-war America started waking up to the emerging sounds of rhythm and blues, the likes of The Coasters and The Clovers ruled the airwaves with fresh, exciting hits such as Yakety Yak and One Mint Julep.

"I was in a trio back in those days, I was the singer. We'd take a period off school every now and again so we could practice. We'd go down to the school's auditorium and play," says Jack.

Despite being excited by the new sounds of the day and the prospect of Bill Haley, Elvis Presley and rock 'n' roll on the horizon, Jack, born John Allan Jones in Hollywood, was still fascinated by the crooners and swing singers his parents listened to.

"I was a little strange, I guess!" he says, smiling. "I was a little more aesthetic in my musical choices than my friends. I listened to all the rhythm and blues and Bill Haley and stuff like that, the basic rock 'n roll that was coming in, but I was much more into classic-sounding singers and their look.

"Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis and Mel Torme were my musical heroes," he continues. In later life, Jack and Torme became great friends, so much so Jack was a pallbearer at the singer's funeral in 1999.

"I also loved Rosemary Clooney and I liked a lot of jazz-orientated bands too but it was around that time I heard an album by Frank Sinatra that really caught my ear. It's still my favourite album of all time - Frank Sinatra Sings Only For The Lonely.

"It's one of the most beautiful albums, full of wonderfully written songs, but they're all really depressing at the same time, all about someone who's pining over a broken relationship.

"I loved the way it was done and Frank's phrasing is incredible. It was a huge lesson for me as a singer."

The lesson obviously sank in. This month sees Jack embark on a UK tour which celebrates his 50 years in showbusiness.

"It's only been about a year-and-a-half since I was last in the UK. Once I get the flight over with and sleep that off, it's a great place to be. I've been travelling around England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland for a long time now, and my ex-wife is British, so I spent a lot of time here travelling around with her.

"A 50th anniversary tour is a special thing, though. I didn't know I was going to get this far but I certainly hoped I would. So far, so good. It's going great."

Despite being one of America's most popular singers during the 60s, Jack found himself, like many other crooners, in no-man's land during the late 70s.

As a result, the singer, who was once married to American actress, Jill St John, decided to record an album of disco songs, which included a couple of glam reworkings of his own material.

"That was unfortunate," he says, still with a hint of bitterness. "It was something my record label wanted to do and they felt it was necessary. I did it because I was trying to co-operate and do something that was worth something commercially.

"It wasn't done that well though, although I liked the rearrangement of The Love Boat theme. That worked, I suppose, but that album was nothing more than wasted time in the studio doing something meaningless.

"Singing meaningful love songs is where I really shine. I just love the classic songs. They come from an era of romance and innocence, which was a really nice time, and I love performing them to new audiences.

"In my show, we have a video in black and white of songs I'm associated with and so on, and then there's a clip of Ed Sullivan introducing me, then I walk out on to the stage. It's great looking back each night at my career.

"Then again, I see myself as a young man each night on the screen and then I walk out looking how I do now!

"I used to have a video of my dad and I'd duet with his image. I used to say 'the day I catch up to him is the day I quit.' He was 86 when he died and probably 83 in the video.

"I've got a few years to go yet, but I'm getting closer, and all the time, he stays the same."

Real name: John Allan Jones

Age: 70

Significant other: Is currently single but has two daughters - Crystal and Nicole.

Career high: Dueting with his hero Frank Sinatra.

Career low: The disco album he recorded in 1979. Jack considers it a waste of time.

Famous for: His 1964 Grammy Award-winning song Wives And Lovers.

Words of wisdom: On the hell-raising ways of his Rat Pack friends: "I got involved in it a bit but those guys actually drank on stage and went out half-crocked. I wouldn't do that, I couldn't. I couldn't perform and drink booze at the same time, I always needed my presence of mind, so I make do with a few glasses of wine at the end of an evening."