I thought that The Jones Girls came from nowhere when I first heard "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else." Nothing could be further from the truth. The Jones Girls hailed from Detroit , and they came from a musical family. Sisters Brenda, Shirley and Valorie Jones worked as backing vocalists while recording their own songs before the trio had their breakthrough hit in 1979. The group actually had a decent run in the between 1979 and 1985-86 when Shirley Jones topped the R&B charts with the jazzy "Do You Get Enough Love." Listeners can still hear the group’s bigger hits like "Nights Over Egypt," their excellent remake of "Children of the Night," "I Just Love the Man," and "Who Can I Run To" on oldies and Quiet Storm stations.
The best Jones Girls (and Shirley Jones) songs can be best described as real and soulful. These songs took a clear-eyed look at affairs of the heart. The Jones Girls took positions. The ladies took a conversational style to their vocals, and the lyrics were solid in a genre that has often been criticized for being lyrically weak. The Jones Girls disbanded, and they experienced family tragedy as Valorie Jones passed away in 2001. However, Shirley Jones continues to make music, and she returns with a new disc, Feels Like Heaven. Jones occupies the same topical and lyrical space, but the 12 tracks on Feels Like Heaven don’t contain the same punch. Not bad, but none of the tracks on Feels Like Heaven have that "ladies lets talk straight" feel that made The Jones Girls or Shirley Jones the solo artist famous.
Notable Tracks: Finally, It’s Over, You Are Why
Vocals: 3.0
Lyrics: 2.0
Music: 3.0
Production: 2.5
Soultracks call: Moderately recommended
By Howard Dukes
