The Story of Mr Jones: The Way Counting Crows Crafted Their Defining Track

The Lead Singer Shares the Beginnings

Our first albums were primarily recorded in houses located in the hills above Los Angeles. August and Everything After marked a major milestone for the group, as it was their inaugural release on a large record company. We each got an advance of $3,000; I used mine to purchase a classic red convertible and drove it to LA.

Each day, I would start by listening to a Poco track, which resembles the Beatles exploring country music. Additionally, I was into a jazz record that my dad had acquired as a free giveaway at a gas station when I was young.

The song Mr Jones was included on a demo that we submitted to labels, but it proved a challenging track to complete. It lacked a solid grasp at first. Neither a slow ballad or a straight ahead number; rather, it moves with a rhythm, requiring a real feel to play. The style is soulful – closer to the Stax Records sound than folk.

The band’s drummer couldn’t hear the song like the others did – so the producer brought in one of his idols to play it.

We looked at a few producers, but when I discussed things with T Bone Burnett, he seemed to understand where the band was headed. There was great potential, but I wasn’t satisfied with our overall tone – we were still learning how to work together. We removed all the synths and guitar effects. Our drummer Steve Bowman couldn’t sync with the tempo, so T Bone called in Denny Fongheiser, one of Steve’s favorites, to lay down the drums. Looking back, it’s amusing, but it was hard on Steve at the time.

My best friend Marty and I performed in bands together prior to Counting Crows. His father, a flamenco musician, had succeeded in Spain and was returning in the Bay Area doing a series of shows. Attended one of his performances and spent the night with the flamenco troupe visiting bars. The next morning, I returned and wrote Mr Jones. It’s about me and Marty that night, dreaming we were accomplished artists so we could connect with the women more confidently.

In my view, it’s among the finest songs I’ve ever written. We performed another track on Saturday Night Live in 1994, the album climbed dozens of positions weekly for five or six weeks. Afterwards, the song turned into a huge hit.

David Immerglück Shares His Perspective

In the late 1980s, Adam, David Bryson, and I were living together in a warehouse complex in Berkeley. Previously, I performed with another band and had an side project named Monks of Doom.

One evening, I found Adam with a fresh recording he’d created with the guitarist. He played me this song called the now-famous tune. It was done with a basic drum machine that resembled a arcade sound or popcorn popping, but his singing were exceptional.

Once T Bone took over, it felt like a complete transformation of Counting Crows. The approach toward roots echoing Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and the Band.

I got a call from Adam saying, “Listen, can you join us and play on this album?” When I got there, the producer had relocated us to a studio in LA’s Encino – formerly used by Tito Jackson. Inside, we found instruments that Bob Dylan had recently used.

T Bone told me to play my guitar slightly behind the beat. His words were, “Playing too fast before the drums makes you sound like an teenager rushing.” He has a Texas drawl, and his guidance was to imagine relaxing on the mixing board and staying casual while playing.

Counting Crows was, in some ways, a response to the grunge movement. Kurt Cobain’s death seemed the final act. Back then, many were on heroin. The goal was self-destruction, not mind expansion. The nihilism had reached an extreme, and the trend shifted toward something emotional and heartfelt. Their music combined acoustic and electric with a heavy dose of soulful vibes.

The song remains timeless. Sometimes, when I am rocking out with Adam, I recall that time when he played me the demo. Absolutely incredible.