Paul Singer

Paul Singer: Career Highlights

Jones began his singing career in the early 1960s as "P.P. Jones." He performed duets with Elmo Lewis (Brian Jones) at the Ealing Club. He declined an offer to be the lead singer of a group formed by Keith Richards and Brian Jones. Jones joined Manfred Mann as vocalist and harmonica player and had several Top Ten hits with the band, including "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" (1964). He went solo in July 1966 and had a few hits as a solo artist, including "High Time" (1966), "I've Been a Bad, Bad Boy" (1967), and "Thinkin' Ain't for Me" (1967).

Jones also starred in the films "Privilege" (1967) and "The Committee" (1968). In the 1970s, he participated in Carla Bley's album "Escalator Over the Hill" (1971), recorded "Crucifix in a Horseshoe" with White Cloud (1971), and acted in the horror film "Demons of the Mind" (1972). He guest-starred in TV episodes of "The Protectors" (1973), "Space: 1999" (1973), and "The Sweeney" (1975). Jones performed the role of Juan Peron in the original concept album of "Evita" (1976) and starred as Sir Francis Drake in the musical premiere of "Drake's Dream" (1977). He released a single featuring orchestrated versions of Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant" and Ramones' "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" (1978) and founded The Blues Band with former Manfred Tom McGuinness (1979).

In the 1980s, Jones took over the lead part of Sky Masterson in Richard Eyre's production of "Guys and Dolls" (1982) and led the same cast as Macheath in Eyre's production of "The Beggar's Opera" (1982).

He appeared in the West End and touring musical "Pump Boys and Dinettes" (1984/85) and started presenting a series for BBC Radio 2 on rhythm and blues, later known as "The Blues Show" (1986). Jones starred as Fred/Petruchio in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of "Kiss Me Kate" (1987).

In the 1990s, Jones starred as the title character in the children's program "Uncle Jack" (1990-1993) and formed The Manfreds with most of the original members of Manfred Mann (1991). In the 2000s onwards, he released the album "Starting All Over Again" (2009), featured on Joe Bonamassa's concert at the Royal Albert Hall (2009), and featured on Nick Vernier Band's releases "I'm Your Kingpin" (2009) and "Sessions" (2010). Jones toured with The Manfreds to promote a new Manfred Mann compilation album (2013, 2014, 2016) and released the album "Suddenly I Like It" (2015). He was awarded "harmonica player of the year" in the British Blues Awards (2010, 2011, 2012) but was replaced as presenter of BBC Radio 2's Blues Show by Cerys Matthews in 2018.