Andy Sullivan: Against the Grain

Thu, 11/07/2024 - 8:13am — Diane Dyer

Street Bender

On November 3, 2024, the world lost legendary music producer Quincy Jones. Jones produced the late Michael Jackson’s “Off The Wall”, “Thriller “and “Bad” albums as well as music for Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer and many others. Through a career that spanned over 75 years, he won 28 Grammy awards and was named one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20^th century by Tiem magazine. His cultural imprint extended far beyond music. For instance, he was the one of the producers of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (the original, not the peacock drama knockoff). And he played the cab driver in the show open.

Here are a few facts you may not know about the legendary musician. He narrowly escaped the Manson Family murders in 1969. He planned to attend a dinner party at Sharon Tate’s house on the night of the murders, only to forget at the last minute. “It’s just unbelievable, man”, Jones told GQ in 2018 of his near miss. “Life is a trip”. Even more remarkably, he almost bought the house on Cielo Drive where the most infamous murder scene of the decade happened. The owner was only willing to rent, eventually leasing to Tate and her husband, Roman Polanski.

Another wild Jones fact: Fly Me To The Moon” was actually played on the moon. Jones first worked with Frank Sinatra in 1958 when he was hired to conduct the legendary singer’s band by none other than Grace Kelly, actress-turned Princess of Monaco. Jones and Sinatra would collaborate on and off for three decades and it was his arrangement of “Fly Me To The Moon”-which he changed from a waltz to a swing rhythm, that was chosen by Buzz Aldrin to play during the first moon landing.

Jones began working on films in the 1960’s, eventually producing over 50 during his lifetime, including In The Heat Of The Night and The Color Purple. The latter of which introduced the public to two then-unknown Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg, said the BBC. It’s true. The Color Purple was in 1985. The Oprah Winfrey Show premiered one year later.

His security guard carried 19 mobile phones for Jones, Sky News reports. He voiced strong views of the people he worked with over the years. He called Elvis a racist and said The Beatles were “the worst musicians in the world” yet “celebrities wanted him to have their number”, said the broadcaster. “His musical approval mattered”.

Among tributes to Jones was from actor Michael Caine, who shared a birthday with Jones, March 14, 1933. “My celestial twin Quincy was a titan in the musical world”, Caine wrote. “He was a wonderful and unique human being and I was lucky to have known him. The two men shred more than just a birthday. Jones scored “The Italian Job”, one of the films that established Caine as an international movie star. (www.theweek.com) . I’ll leave you with one final Quincy Jones tidbit: “Soul Bossa Nova” is a popular instrumental composed and performed by Jones. It appeared on his 1962 Big Band Bossa Nova album on Mercury Records. Jones said it took him 20 minutes to compose the piece. You might know it best as the Austin Powers (1997) theme song.