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Portland Observer
ENTERTAINMENT
Glenn Jones Emerges On Atlantic Records
By All Means
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Real singing. Real music. Real lyr
ics about real-life situations. It is no
su rp rise then that the scin tillatin g
Motown debut album from By all Means
is entitled I t’s Real. Since real, honest
music is indeed timeless, By All Means
deliver a bril liant package that recalls an
era when authentic, from-the-heart soul
was the name o f the game - while
remaining totally in tune, current and
contemporary.
From ultra-soulful tracks like “The
Feeling I Get" to a super update of the
Motown Classic “A in ’t Nothin' Like
The Real Thing" to the slow bum in’jam
"Tonight" through the jazzy, groove
laden "Say You’ UNever Leave Me," the
group’s latest album is a testament to
their innovative artistry and their sensi
tive musicality. Put another way, It’s
Real contains cutting-edge songs like
“Love Lies" that is emotionally raw, and
a warm sensual vocal on “I Wanna Be
Loved" delivered by the group’s only
female. “T here’s a natural maturing that
takes place over time and this album
reflects our experience in life,” says
Jim m y. “The subject matter is definitely
deeper that what we wrote about before:
I’d say our emotional vocabulary has
expanded.
Produced by lead singer Jimmy
Varner and production partner Stan
Sheppard (the team that also master
minded hits for Motown labelmates
Gerald Alston and The Temptations),
It's Real is the album that promises to
take this talented trio to a whole new
level o f recognition and response.
“This is the first album where I really got to do my music the way ! wanted to, and / know that is going to make a big
difference. From now on, people are going to know exactly who Glenn Jones is, and what to expect fro m him.
The trio originally got together
around 1987: New Jersey-native Jimmy
Varner met vocalist Lynn Roderick when
the two were both touring with Bill
Withers. Chicago-born producer Stan
Sheppard was impressed with their re
spective talents and asked if they would
be interested in being “part o f a group
that would give you basic, good old-
fashionedR&B,’’recalls Stan. Sheppard
introduced the two to his brother Billy,
who had been writing songs for CBS,
and with that, By All Means was bom.
The first album, recorded in 1988
yielded the hit singles, "I Surrender To
Your Love" and “I ’m The One Who
LovesYou." In the U.K. the LP was well-
received and critically acclaimed as one
o f the best r&b albums to come from a
new group in several years. In 1989,
Beyond a Dream, the second album,
brought them a vast audience and two
top ten r&b hits - an updated version of
Marvin G aye’s "Let’s Gel It On and a
second single, "Do YouRemember." By
All Means also toured domestically, as
well as in Europe and Japan during
1990.
Musician-ship that is in-sync, on
time and in-the-pocket. Carefully cre
ated, layered harmonies. So-so-so-soul-
ful lead vocals. This time around, By All
Means sings songs that deal with every
day ups and downs of love in the Nine
ties. Honesty, sincerity, music performed
with feeling. There ain’t nothin’ like the
real thing. By All Means. On Motown
Records. It’s Real. Accept no substi
tutes.
Chart topping vocalistG lennJones
has been thrilling audiences since child-
hood, when he was a soloist with his
church choir in Jacksonville, Florida.
W ith "Here I Go Again," his first a l
bum for Atlantic Records, Glenn has
created his most powerful album to date
— moving his music, and the state o f
R&B in general, in a refreshing new
direction.
“My family has always been deeply
rooted in the church,” Glenn notes,
“and at the age o f four, I started asking
my mother to convince the church pas
tor to let me sing. They heard me, and
from that moment on, I was always
singing.”
At eight, Jones joined Bivens Spe
cial, a gospel family from his hom e
town, and he began to tour extensively.
He started playing guitar, writing, and
arranging, and at 14, he put together
The M odulations, a gospel group with
whom he recorded two albums.
“ After being out on the road at such
a young age, I got a chance to appreci
ate the good tim es," says Glenn. “ 1 paid
a lot o f dues. I ’ve been on tour and not
eaten for a week, sleeping in the van,
and not knowing how ever we were
going to get the m oney to get back
home.”
G lenn w as b ro u g h t to Savoy
Records at the age o f 16 by gospel
legend the Reverend James Cleveland.
Taking to the national gospel circuit,
Jones refined his outstandi ng pipes while
sharing the stage with some of the
genre’s greats, including the Reverend
C leveland, Shirley Caesar, and the
Mighty Clouds o f Joy.
As his gospel reputation grew ,
Glenn began to receive offers to work in
the contemporary R&B field. After sing
ing with Norman Connors on the ses
sions for “M elancholy Fire," a top-ten
R&B hit, as well as with Jean Cam e,
Jones decided to try his hand at a secular
career.
At 19, he cut his first non-gospel
mini-LP, 1982’s “Everybody Loves A
Winner." The first single, “I Am Some-
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family’s strong ties to the church, and I
was concerned with how they would
feel,” Glenn recalls. “When 1 did make
the transition, I still tried to make my
music uplifting and inspiring. I was very
lyric conscious, and I still am .”
G lenn’s first full-length album,
1983’s “Finesse," stayed on the charts
for lOmonths, yielding several hitsinglcs
-including “Show M e," which reached
#3 on the national R&B charts. Between
"Finesse" and his next album, 1986’s
"Take It From M e," Jones starred with
Jennifer Holliday in the off-Broadway
show, Sing, Mahalia, Sing.
After touring with the show for
eight months, Jones recorded a duet with
Dionne W arwick, a song written and
produced by Burt Bacharach and Carole
Bayer Sager. Titled "F inder O f Lost
L oves,” from the television series o f
the sam e name, it w as an AC radio
smash, providing further evidence of
G lenn’s m ulti-form at potential.
Jones’s string o f hits continued
with "Giving M yselfT o Y o u " from the
"Take It From M e” album . A year
later, he enjoyed his biggest record to
date with "W e've O nly Just Begun."
Culled from the 1987 "Glenn Jones"
"Ail For You," which yielded the top-
ten R&B hit, "Stay."
Before he began work on his next
album , Jo n e s fe lt it w as tim e fo r a
lab el c h a n g e , and he se t his sig h ts
on A tlan tic. “ I ’m very ex cited ab o u t
c o m in g to A tla n tic ,” Jo n e s e x
c la im s. “ A tla n tic ’s S y lv ia R hone
(now C h a irm a n /C E O o f A tla n tic ’s
A tc o /E a stW e st d iv isio n ) and I have
been talk in g for a lo n g tim e. I h av e
a lot o f faith in h e r, and sh e be-
lie v e s in m e."
In d e e d , "H ere I G o A g a in ,”
G le n n ’s A tla n tic d e b u t, m ore than
fu lfills the e x p e c ta tio n s o f his fa n s,
both in and o u t o f the m u sic in d u s
try. G lenn w ro te o r co -w ro te 10 of
the album ’s 11 killer tunes, working in
conjunction with the talented songwriter/
producers he chose for the project.
The album kicks off with the funky
ballad, "I've Been Searchin (Nobody
Like You)," co-written by Glenn and
produccr/composer Bernard Belle. Ber
nard, brother of R&B star Regina Belle,
numbers among his credits such artists
as G uy, the W inans, Boy G eorge, and
M ichael Jackson, who grabbed two of
Bernard’s tunes for his latest album ,
"D angerous.”
One o f the most pow erful and
m oving tracks on the album is the
ballad “In You,” which has m ulti-for
mat appeal w ritten all over it. “On this
one, I am saying that I had given up ori
L ove,” Glenn relates. “Suddenly you
cam e, and everything that I dream ed
about and everything that I had wanted,
I found in you.”
“ I w ant people to walk away from
listening to ‘Here I Go A gain' feeling
positive and uplifted,” states Jones. “I
just hope they find it to be something
refreshing, something that’s on time,
and something new that they need.”
Public No
T h e F u ll S p e c tru m o f Ja zz...
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body," featured excerpts from speeches
by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, with
Glenn donating a pcrcentagcof the song’s
royalties to Jackson’s Operation Push.
“ Mainly, the thing that made me a
little hesitant to sing R&B was my
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album , it clim bed to the #2 spot on the
R & B singlescharts.confirm ingG lenn’s
reputation as a proven hit-maker. His
winning streak continued with 1990’s
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