Mickey Jones
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Today is a day I’ve been dreading for a long time. Sitting here watching the Cincinnati Bengals and the Houston Oilers playoff game out of the corner of my eye, I realize that I cannot procrastinate the starting of this book any longer. My goal has been to write this book for at least the last fifteen years, but I wanted someone else to do the dirty work. That is just not going to happen. I’m stuck with this mess and it’s up to me and me alone. I lived in the rock-and-roll world for more than twenty years as the drummer for some of the most famous people in the business. I’ve also had the pleasure of sitting in, backing up, and knowing some of the all-time greats. However, I’ve seen these people from a little different angle than anyone else ... from center stage, looking at you, the audience. I used to joke and say, “I’ve seen the back of some of the most famous heads in the world.” That’s a fact. My musical career started as the drummer with a young singer from Dallas, Texas by the name of Trini Lopez. We were together for almost eight years. That collaboration took me to Los Angeles, California. My recordings with Trini include eight albums, starting with
Trini Lopez “LIVE” at PJ’S. It was in L.A. that I hooked up with an Italian kid from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His name was John Ramistella, better known as Johnny Rivers. During my time with Johnny, I had the incredible opportunity of spending time in Viet Nam in 1966 with Ann-Margret. We are still friends today. Eat your heart out! After the stint with Johnny came perhaps the ultimate musical challenge. I became the drummer with the legendary kid from Hibbing, Minnesota, the spokesman for the world of folk music, Bob Dylan and the group that started out as The Hawks and later became known as The Band. At a recent speaking engagement for a Bob Dylan convention in Manchester, England, I was introduced as the drummer on the greatest rock-and-roll tour in history. In 1966, after Bob suffered a broken neck in a motorcycle accident, change was in the air. I had always dreamed of being an actor, so I went for it. Naturally, I entered the motion picture industry at the lowest rung on the ladder, an extra. As I was settling into my new career, it happened. Ken Fritz and Ken Kragen, the Smothers Brothers’ managers, called. To quote Michael Corleone, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” They wanted me to play drums for a new group they had just signed to a management deal, called The First Edition. This was the beginning of a ten-year relationship with Kenny Rogers. It took me until age thirty-five to realize that in the world of show business, there are two words and two worlds. There is the “show” and there is the “business.” I was so enamored with wanting to do the “show,” I had no concept, knowledge, or interest in the “business.” The truth be known, I did not want to know anything about the business. “Don’t tell me about accounting, just send me my share.” That cost me a lot of money over the years. That fact really sank in when, at the breakup of The First Edition, I walked away with nothing ... not even the drums that were given to me by the Rogers Drum Company. By the way, that problem has been remedied. I now have a music publishing company, and “business” comes first. Looking back over these years, there is no question—I would not change a thing. I’ve been around the world. My family has never been across the ocean. I’ve met presidents, movie stars, and all the great rockers from Hendrix to the Beatles, and dined with royalty. Oh, by the way, Princess Grace was beautiful! I used to spend between 250 and 300 days a year on an airplane. Today, as an actor, the only time I get on an airplane is to go to a location for a film, a personal appearance, or to go to one of the many celebrity golf tournaments for charity that I participate in each year. As we start our journey through the decades of rock-and-roll that make up my life, you must understand, I will tell you everything I can remember, good or bad. I will try not to discolor the integrity of anyone, but I will not pull any punches, either. You are going to hear the truth. There will be some things in this book that I am not particularly proud of, and I know will cause some pain to my family, but I am compelled to tell you the entire story. I was, and am, very fortunate to have never been under the power of drugs or alcohol; therefore, my memory is in pretty good shape. I’m sure I’m one of the few rock-and-rollers who can still remember the ‘60s. Having seen big stars as well as close friends “crash and burn,” I genuinely feel like a “ROCK-AND-ROLL SURVIVOR.”
Mickey Jones
“That Would Be Me”
(Rock & Roll Survivor to Hollywood Actor
Life is not remembered in straight lines. As we recollect a time or event in our past, something will remind us of another time and event, which reminds us of another, then another, then we may want to embellish the past with a footnote from the present. So it is, when we are talking with an old friend, that we learn about them and they about us, in a series of reminiscences that we then put together in our minds to form the more complete version of that person. The more we spend time with them, the ore we learn and the deeper the friendship grows until our combines experiences start to merge as we share some portion of our lives together.
“That Would Be Me” (Rock & Roll Survivor to Hollywood Actor) by Mickey Jones reads just like that. I sat down to read this book on a Sunday morning, thinking I might read a chapter of two, then watch my favorite football team on the tube. Instead, I couldn’t put this book down and I finished it later in the day with a few interruptions. Much like shooting the breeze with an old buddy, I was completely drawn into Mickey’s story and found myself looking forward to the next episode in his incredible journey through life.
Not many people could drop as many names from the music and entertainment industry as Mickey does but we quickly learn that he is not name dropping. These were the real deal people who populated his life experience. He was good enough as a rock & roll drummer to be welcomed into the highest levels of performing where he rubbed shoulders with the greats of the day. Names like Trini Lopez, Johnny Rivers, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, The Smothers Brothers, Frank Sinatra, Ann-Margret and others, all of them weave in and out of his book to form a historical tapestry of people and places that is remarkable for the reader to imagine. In the process, we begin to feel that we, too, are a friend of Mickey Jones and by extension, perhaps, to the rest of him.
His transition from musician to actor then placed him into another community of names that we recognize right up to the present time. We can watch him in any number of films and television shows, including the very popular series, “Home Improvement”, where he had a recurring role for several years and made famous the line that became the title of this book.
For many years now, Mickey has shown his appreciation for the life he has seen by participating in, and lending his name to charitable benefit affairs all over the country and even in other parts of the world. A world that Mickey Jones was able to see from the high vantage point of his drum set. Oh, by the way, that drum set is now on display in the Hard Rock Café in New York City, part of a tribute to the legendary 1966 World Tour of Bob Dylan and The Band. Yes, Mickey Jones was the drummer on that tour. As great an honor as that was for Mickey, it was just one piece of his fantastic story.
Sometimes the story is fun, sometimes sad and sometimes the reverie takes on a touch of melancholy but it is always interesting and in the end, you may just find yourself a little envious, but Mickey Jones probably wouldn’t want you to envy him. He informs us that he feels blessed by his experiences. Indeed, his wife tells us that she thinks Mickey was born under a lucky star. Once you meet Mickey through his book, you may be feeling a bit lucky yourself.
-------------- Tom Folkes, Media Consultant, San Diego, California, November 26, 2007
He is best known today, as an actor. However, there are millions of fans out there who remember him as one of the extraordinary musicians who's ability and style altered the face of Rock & Roll.
As the dummer for some of the best known legends in the business, Mickey left his mark on the music of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. His much sought after, rock-steady beat can be found on the hit albums of such artists as Trini Lopez- "If I Had A Hammer", Johnny Rivers- "Secret Agent Man", Bob Dylan- "1966 Live", and ten years worth of recording with Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, just to name a few. These milestones netted him 17 gold and platinum albums.
After touring the world 30 plus times in top venues with the biggest names in music, making lifetime friends and experiencing adventures far beyond his original expectations, he decided to make an enormous lifestyle change. His childhood dream of being an actor never faded and growing weary of the breakneck pace essential to the whirlwind music business, he, after 23 years and at the age of 37, quit "the road"
The world of film, television, commercials and stage are but one more amazing accomplishment for this man with boundless talent. With 80 films to his credit, 500 television shows, more than 500 commercials, one of which holds the distinction of being "the most aired commercial in TV history," and numerous stage productions, it could be said he has conquered yet another aspect of the entertainment business.
This renaissance man and now author is Mickey Jones
THE 1966 BOB DYLAN ELECTRIC WORLD TOUR
After approximately two weeks of all-night rehearsals, we left on the biggest world tour I had ever been on. The entire trip lasted several months. We left Los Angeles and went to Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, and then six weeks in Australia, with concerts in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth. From there, we went to Singapore, Malaysia, then Thailand, India, Lebanon, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and then all of Great Britain, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. From there, back to New York then on to Los Angeles. This was truly a WORLD TOUR. We circumnavigated the globe. It was the trip of a lifetime. As I look back, I can remember it as if it were yesterday. Bob Dylan and The Band (at that time, we were called the Hawks) flew from Los Angeles to Honolulu, Hawaii. We stayed at the Princess Kaiulani Hotel, with this incredible view of Waikiki Beach and the famous volcano, Diamond Head. Garth Hudson and I took a boat cruise of Pearl Harbor and Waikiki. Our first concert on this world tour was at the International Convention Center in Honolulu. Yeah, the same site as Elvis’s concert, the first concert broadcast to the world by satellite. The place was packed, and the concert was a big success, except for one small detail: The first hour of the concert was Bob, all alone with just his acoustic guitar and his harmonica. You could have heard a pin drop. The audience was completely spellbound; however, the worst was yet to come. After a short intermission, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, and I took the stage in the dark. The spotlight hit the side of the stage, and into the light walked Bob Dylan, sporting his new black Fender Telecaster. The audience was restless. Robbie counted off the first song. It was “What’s Wrong with You This Time?” The audience did not know what to think. Some people BOOED, some turned their backs, and some left. This electric music was not what they had expected. We were more than a little shocked at the audience reaction. The next song was “I Don’t Believe You”; same reaction. The rest of the concert contained “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down”, “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”, “Yes I See You Have Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat”, “One Too Many Mornings”, “You Know Something Is Happening, But You Don’t Know What It Is, Do You, Mr. Jones? (Ballad of a Thin Man),” and we always closed the show with “Like a Rolling Stone.” Just before we would do “Mr. Jones,” Bob would hand his Telecaster to Robbie and move to the piano. As he started the intro, he would look up at me on the drum platform and say, “No offense, Mick!” We would then smile at one another and kick ass. At some point before the show was over, Bob would stop and introduce the band. He would say, “I’d like to introduce the band. On lead guitar, Robbie Robertson; on bass, Rick Danko; over on the piano, Richard Manuel; at the organ, Garth Hudson; and up on the drums, Mickey Jones. Ladies and gentleman, THE BAND.” We were so hated by the public that in the media reviews of the concert, the night before, we were never referred to as the Hawks. The reviews always said, “the band is too loud” or “Bob Dylan should send the band back to America” or “The band SUCKS!”
