Evan Jones (musician)

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Evan Jones
Born
James Evan Jones [1]

(1948-04-16) 16 April 1948 (age 77)
Origin Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Musician, writer, photographer
Instrument(s)Vocals, Guitar
Labels Raven, Nationwide, Astor, Countryside, EMI Custom

James Evan Jones is an Australian musician and photographer. Together with his brother Idris Jones he wrote "The Pushbike Song" (1970) for pop group, the Mixtures, which became a number-one hit in Australia. [2]

Contents

Background

James Evan Jones, [3] was born in 1948 in Adelaide. [4] He was a singer-guitarist for the Gingerbread Men, a local pop music band from the mid-1960s, before his career was interrupted by military service in Vietnam. [2] Other members were his brother, Idris Lloyd Jones on lead vocals and guitar, [3] as well as Tony McNicoll on drums and Dean Birbeck on bass guitar. They released a single, "Looking at You" / "Goodnight" (1965, W&G).

His brother Idris was lead vocalist of the Mixtures from late 1967, in Melbourne. [5] Both Jones brothers wrote the Mixture's track, "The Pushbike Song", [3] which was released as a single by the band in late 1970. [5] As well as reaching No. 1 in Austraia, it charted in the United Kingdom and United States. [5] [6]

Career

In 1977 two songs Jones had written were released by Graham Cornes as a single, "I Gotta Girl" backed with "Untying the Laces" (J & B Records). [7]

In 1981, backed by the band Y Knot, he issued a single, "Mm! Mm! Don't Cha Love Summertime!" which reached No. 85 on the Australian Single Charts. [8] Jones worked as a children's television host, appearing on Here's Humphrey , C'mon Kids and Cartoon Connection. [9]

Discography

Albums

TitleAlbum details
Trudy
  • Released: 1972
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Raven (RNLP-102)

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions
YearTitlePeak chart
positions
AUS
[8]
1972"Little Black Spider"/"Shoo Fly Shoo"-
"Jesus Song"/"All Men Are Equal"-
1976"Damn' Ya Darlin"
(with Idris)
-
1981"Mm! Mm! Don't Cha Love Summertime"
(As Evan Jones and Y Knot)
85
""And I Wish You Were Staying Forever"-

References

  1. "Photos a new stage in James' life", Guardian Messenger, 5 October 2003
  2. 1 2 Teague, Ric (2015). Born on Anzac Day. Rosenberg Publishing. ISBN   9781925078619.
  3. 1 2 3 "Song Catalogue Search Results for 'Pushbike Song'". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  4. "Item details for: A1197, JONES I-JOVAN". National Archives of Australia . 28 March 2014. p. 1705. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'The Mixtures'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN   1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 30 September 2004.
  6. "Hits of the World". Billboard . 1 May 1971.
  7. "1977, English, Sound, Recorded music edition: I gotta girl / Evan Jones ; [performed by] Graham Cornes. Untying the laces / Evan Jones ; [performed by] Graham Cornes [sound recording].", Trove Listing, National Library of Australia
  8. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 160. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  9. "Hear, hear", Sunday Mail, 5 October 2003