Nic Jones - Biography
By Nick Castro
Nic Jones is one of the most important UK folk guitarists and singers in history. His percussive and string snapping style can be felt through many of the greatest UK albums, whose members came into contact with the genius of Jones. Jones was born, Nicolas Paul Jones, in 1947 in Kent, England. He was part of the modern folk movement in England, along with people like John Renbourn, Bert Jansch, Davy Graham and Martin Carthy. Jones went to school in Brentwood and became enamored with blues, like many of the British guitarists of his time, in his teens. His parents wanted a traditional life for Jones, and he made a go at it, for a time trying accounting and various jobs, but music proved to be his true calling. Soon Jones was attending underground folk clubs in the Romford area and saw singers like Shirley Collins, Bert Jansch and Alex Campbell. Jones had begun to play with a group of friends, and called themselves The Halliard. It was with this group, while rushed in to replace a member who quit, that Jones began to develop the style he became famous for. He also learned to play fiddle while in this group. His songwriting began to develop. The Halliard became one of the top groups in the area. They released a couple o albums before they broke up in the late 60's. Nic spent some time working as a solo artist before he released his first album. Meanwhile he was establishing connections with other London musicians and establishing himself as a strong singer and unique guitar player.
Jones' first two albums were Ballads and Songs (1970 - Trailer), where Jones established his style on renditions of "Don't You Be Foolish, Pray" and "The Butcher and the Tailor's Wife", and the album Nic Jones (1971 - Trailer), which shined with the songs "Dance to your Daddy" and "The Lass of London City". On "Dance to Your Daddy" Jones takes an otherwise whimsical children's song and adds an air of intense deliberation.
Jones was also known to make many key appearances on other people's albums. Some of the albums he appeared on were Barbara Dickson's From the Beggars Mantle (1972 - Decca) and Shirley Collins' No Roses (1971 - Mooncrest), which also features most of the London folk scene at the time, such as Ashley Hutchings, Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks and Dave Swarbrick.
Jones' album, The Noah's Ark Trap (1977 - Trailer), which features one of the most powerful ballads of the era, "Ten Thousand Miles", which features Jones' rich and deep voice, which helped to captivate the building audience behind him. other players on the album include Bill Leader on triangle, Helen Watson on harmonium, Dave Burfand on vocals and Chris Coe on bodhran. Jones' guitar often plays the center stage role for his style using the thumb pick and then pulling and snapping strings with the fore fingers. He creates an alternating bass and chordal style which not only lays down a harmonic structure as well as a rhythmic. Jones would help facilitate this style by using many open tunings as well, offering him the ability to reach wide ranging intervals in his chords.
In the mid 70's Jones worked on one of Richard and Linda Thompson's most important records, Pour Down Like Silver (1975 - Hannibal). Jones played fiddle and guitar alongside players like Hutchings on bass, Mattacks on drums and Dave Pegg on bass. The next couple of years proved very demanding ones for Jones as he began getting many requests to play on people's records. He played on the first solo June Tabor record, Airs and Graces (1976 - Shanachie), again on the fiddle and guitar, as well as the Maddy Prior & June Tabor record Silly Sisters (1976 - Chrysalis), where he was perfectly matched with Martin Carthy, Danny Thompson and Andy Irvine. The next year he appeared on Tabor's next record Ashes and Diamonds (1977 - Green Linnet), where helped Tabor shine on songs like "Reynard the Fox", which Jones does a version of in his own sets as well.
Before Trailer Records shut its doors in 1979, Jones recorded with Bill Leader's band Bandoggs, for the record Bandoggs (1978 - Trailer), where Jones sings solo vocals on "Rose of Allendale", and can be heard singing harmonies on other songs like "Hind Horn". The next year Jones signed with Topic records where he would issue, what is widely considered, his masterpiece album, Penguin Eggs (1980 - Topic), where Jones would be in top form on songs like "Canadee-I-O", "The Little Pot Stove" and "Farewell to the Gold". On this record Jones' highly stylized guitar playing is in the forefront as the record is usually Jones on guitar and voice only. Though Jones would relate in interviews that he considered himself more of a singer than a guitar player, his guitar playing can be heard in many folk guitarists playing today. The album does feature Bridget Danby on Recorder and vocals and Tony Hall on melodeon as well as Dave Burland singing vocals as well. Jones notes that the songs on the album were ones learned from his days studying and researching broadsides and other various forms of sheet music. This was a common task amongst many of the UK folk revivalists of the 60's. Many of Jones' contemporaries, such as the members of Pentangle and Fairport Convention, would often rub elbows in the libraries and homes of old time song collectors like A.L. Lloyd.
Jones can also be heard on the Richard Thompson boxed set Watching the Dark (1993 - Hannibal), which features many early rare Thompson recordings. The archival CDs, Unearthed (2001 - Mollie) and In Search Of (1999 - Mollie), were released by Julia Seymour, Nic's wife.
Jones had a tragic car accident in February of 1982, which left him with serious injuries causing brain damage which made it difficult for him to play guitar as well as he used to. Although he is said to still write songs, he no longer records them, though he does operate Mollie Music with his wife, Julia.