Steve Jones

Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones (born 3 September 1955) is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of punk rock band the Sex Pistols. Childhood edit: Jones was born in Hammersmith, London, where he grew up with his young mother, who worked as a hairdresser, and his grandparents. He then moved to Benbow Road in Shepherd's Bush, with his fourteen criminal convictions and was the subject of a council care-order. He was an only child and his father, Don Jarvis, an amateur boxer, left when he was two years old. He spent a year in a remand centre, which he says was more enjoyable than being at home, and has said that the Sex Pistols saved him from a life of crime. His early influences were Iggy & The Stooges, and glam rock icons like Roxy Music and David Bowie. Career edit: 1970s edit: Jones co-founded The Strand (named after a Roxy Music song) with Paul Cook and Wally Nightingale in the early 1970s. The Strand were a precursor to the Sex Pistols, and is where Jones first learned to play guitar. After dropping Wally Nightingale in the mid 1970s, the band was known as The Swankers. In 1975, Jones went on to co-found the Sex Pistols with Paul Cook, Glen Matlock, and later, John Lydon. Jones is a self-taught guitar player, primarily playing Gibson Les Paul electric guitars in his early years. His usual guitar was a cream coloured Gibson Les Paul Custom which, according to Filth and the Fury, he had stolen from Mick Ronson at a David Bowie concert, when he and his fellow Sex Pistols members posed as road crew members, stealing amplifers and other equipment. Bill Price, the engineer on Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols called Jones one of the tightest guitar players he has ever worked with, this is due to his "chuggy" playing in the studio as Price had described it with very little sustain and echo, which required overdubs to hide. As well as lead guitar, he played many of the bass guitar parts on the Never Mind The Bollocks album, due to the inability of Sid Vicious to play to a satisfactory standard in the studio. Glen Matlock's playing appeared on the tracks recorded when he was still in the band. Jones also uses Hamer Sunburst double-cut guitars, and prefers the White Les Paul Custom as his primary guitar, as stated in the Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock Sex Pistols video. Jones became well known among fans for his "hanky on the head", and his perm. He also shared Johnny Rotten's extreme dislike of Sid Vicious' girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. In an interview for The Filth and the Fury, he referred to her as "that fucking horrible bird". When the Sex Pistols were interviewed by Bill Grundy on the Today show on 1 December 1976, Jones openly swore at Grundy after being goaded to do so, causing much controversy and elevating the band's profile. After the Sex Pistols broke up in 1978, Jones and drummer Paul Cook co-founded The Professionals. They released one album, I Didn't See It Coming but disbanded after a serious car crash while on tour in the US in 1981. 1980s edit: Jones was also a member of Chequered Past (led by Michael Des Barres) from 1982 to 1985. They released a self-titled album in 1984. Jones performed alongside Sex Pistols bandmate Paul Cook on Johnny Thunders's solo album So Alone. Siouxsie and the Banshees thought for a while to engage Jones after the departure of two of their original members. Rehearsals took place in early 1980, and Jones recorded the guitars parts on three songs of the album Kaleidoscope. The experience did not go further than a simple recording session. Jones also played with Thin Lizzy, Joan Jett, Kraut, Adam Ant, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Andy Taylor, Megadeth, Neurotic Outsiders and had a solo career in the 1980s and early 1990s. His song "Mercy", from the album of the same name, was used in a Miami Vice episode called "Stone's War" and was featured on the Miami Vice II soundtrack album. "Pleasure and Pain" also from the album Mercy, was included in the 1986 film Sid and Nancy. In 1989, he released his second solo album, titled Fire and Gasoline, which featured Jones on guitar and vocals, Terry Nails on bass, and drummer Mickey Curry. Jones was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Roseanne. He had previously played a private detective in The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, and had a role in the 1981 film, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains. 1990s edit: In 1992 a project called Fantasy 7 (known as F7) was recorded, and remains officially un-released. They toured locally in Los Angeles and a few shows in South America featuring singer Mark McCoy. In 1995, Jones played guitar on the self-titled and only album released by P. The band featured Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers and actor Johnny Depp. In 1996, Jones formed Neurotic Outsiders, that featured himself on guitar and vocals, former Guns N' Roses members Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum on rhythm guitar and drums, and John Taylor from Duran Duran, on bass. They released a self-titled album in 1996. Also in 1996, he took time out to record guitar tracks for The Great Milenko, an album by Insane Clown Posse. Jones produced the self-titled debut albums of the Los Angeles based Buckcherry and American Pearl, released in 1999 and 2000. 2000s edit: He participated in the Sex Pistols reunion concerts and currently resides in Los Angeles. He has since done some studio work, playing guitar on Lisa Marie Presley's 2005 album, Now What. Jones played lead guitar on two tracks. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" which was originally recorded for The Ramones tribute album We're a Happy Family but only appeared as a hidden track on Now What. The Sex Pistols, including Jones, played a gig for the 30th anniversary of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols at the Brixton Academy on 8 November 2007. Due to popular demand, two further gigs were announced on 9 November and 10 November. This demand led to two further gigs being announced, making five in total. A further gig in Brixton on 12 November was followed by one at the MEN Arena in Manchester on 17 November. The Glasgow S.E.C.C on 18 November completed the tour. Jones has recently played with Hollywood United F.C., an American amateur soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, United States, made up mainly of celebrities and former professional footballers. In 2008, The Sex Pistols appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival as the headlining act on the Saturday night, the Peace & Love Festival in Sweden, and the Live at Loch Lomond Festival in Scotland. Jones made a cameo appearance on Portlandia's second season finale, "Brunch Village," which aired on March 9, 2012. In May 2012, Jones appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in a sketch playing himself as the roommate to Prince Charles (played by Craig Ferguson), as well as playing guitar on a cover of Ninian Hawick's Scottish Rite Temple Stomp in a cold open to a week of shows shot in Scotland. He was ranked 97th in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". After an appearance as the guest on Russell Brand's FX television program Brand X with Russell Brand in 2013, Jones has assumed the duties of the house band on that program. He performs solo on the electric guitar. In 2013 Jones appeared as recurring character "Krull" during the sixth season of Showtime television series Californication. Equipment edit: While with the Sex Pistols Jones mostly played two Gibson Les Paul Customs, a black one and a white one (with the pin-up girls on it) that formerly belonged to Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls. In the late 90's, Jones was offered free Burny Les Paul Customs, straps, picks and cables if he played their guitar. They made 2 models for him which he used on the 2002-2003 North American Piss Off Tour. At around 2005 he went back to using Gibsons, but has still been seen playing his Burny. Gibson finally put out a "Steve Jones Inspired Les Paul Model" to the exact specs of his original White Les Paul Custom. While Jones typically played through Marshall stacks, he used a silverface Fender Twin Reverb (reportedly stolen from Bob Marley at the Hammersmith Apollo) with Gauss speakers to record Never Mind The Bollocks. Jonesy's Jukebox edit: In February 2004, Jones began hosting a daily radio program in Los Angeles, called 'Jonesy's Jukebox', on Indie 103.1 FM, where he could do whatever he wanted (within FCC rules), with no direction from station management. Jones mixed an eclectic playlist with rambling and often humorous interviews of guests from the entertainment industry. He kept an acoustic guitar in the studio and frequently performed stream of consciousness songs about the current topic of discussion. Notable guests included Johnny Ramone, Brian Wilson, Pete Townshend, Iggy Pop, Robert Plant, Gary Oldman and Sex Pistol's vocalist Johnny Rotten. Indie 103.1 last broadcast Jonesy's Jukebox 14 January 2009; Indie 103.1 ceased to exist as a broadcast radio station on 15 January 2009. Jones was picked up by LA radio Station KROQ in October 2010 to continue his Jonesy's Jukebox segment. In November 2009 he guested on BBC Radio's 6Music with five Sunday shows titled 'A Month of Sundays with Steve Jones', playing a mix of tunes from his childhood through to the current day. In December 2009, the show was revived ran via internet radio on IAmRogue.com, a website run by producer Ryan Kavanaugh. This incarnation of the show ended in late March 2010. Partial discography edit: Mercy (MCA, 1987), Fire and Gasoline (MCA, 1989), Partial filmography edit: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980), Punk and Its Aftershocks (1980), D.O.A. (1980), Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1981), Roseanne (1994) One Episode, Mascara (1999), Four Dogs Playing Poker (2000), The Filth and the Fury (2000), 25 Years of Punk (2001), Classic Albums: Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (2002), Hooligans & Thugs: Soccer's Most Violent Fan Fights (2003), Punk: Attitude (2005), Played (2006), The Dog Problem (2006), Cutlass (2007), Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who (2007), Californication (2013), Saturday Night Live (2013)

Source: Wikipedia

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