November 9, 2024 | 12:00am
I came across this story about Quincy Jones a few times. It was how he lived his life by an old adage that he learned from his father, Quincy Delight Jones Sr. a grandson of slaves. He told the young Q this. “Once a task is just begun, never leave until it’s done. Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all.”
It is no wonder then that Quincy Delight Jones Jr., who was born in Chicago on March 14, 1933, grew up to accomplish so much during the 70 years or more that he spent in the entertainment industry.
Quincy learned how to play the piano as a seven-year-old by listening through the thin walls of their apartment to a neighbor pounding the keys next door.
Quincy learned well and by the age of 14 was already touring with a jazz orchestra where he met Ray Charles who was 15 years old. He also played the trumpet.
Quincy’s first music was jazz and his early experience included gigs with the likes of Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie and Harold Arlen. His first hit album was It Might As Well Be Spring, featuring Count Basie and Frank Sinatra.
Quincy though easily learned how to adapt to the demands of the music business. So, he learned how to do pop and he produced million sellers for the teen-aged Lesley Gore with songs like It’s My Party, You Don’t Own Me and others.
Quincy produced records for Frank Sinatra, Fly Me to the Moon; Ray Charles, One Mint Julep; Miles Davis, Live at Montreux; George Benson, Give Me the Night; James Ingram, Just Once; Celine Dion, I Knew I Loved You; Ingram and Patti Austin, Come to Me; and also for Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington and many others.
Quincy became one of the greatest if not the greatest music producer who ever lived. He produced the biggest selling album of all time, Thriller by Michael Jackson. Seventy million copies as of recent count.
Quincy was music director for motion pictures like The Color Purple, In the Heat of the Night, In Cold Blood, The Pawnbroker and others including The Wiz where he met Michael and the idea that he would produce MJ’s first solo album was born.
The first one was Off the Wall with Rock with You, Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough and She’s Out of My Life. This was followed by Thriller with Billie Jean, Beat It, The Girl is Mine with Paul McCartney. The third was Bad, which had The Way You Make Me Feel, Man in the Mirror, I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.
Quincy’s partnership with Michael extended to We Are the World, the all-star single that raised funds to help alleviate the effects of the famine in Ethiopia. He brought together music’s biggest stars to record the song in one night. The dedicated worker Quincy had a sign outside the studio that told his singers to “Check your ego at the door.” They did.
Quincy got one of his 28 Grammy Awards for We are the World. Among the others he received either as producer, performer or arranger were for Thriller, Beat It, The Dude, Birdland, Back on the Block, Ai No Corrida, the album for children E.T., the spoken word album Quincy, the Autobiography and the Grammy Legend Award.
Quincy was also a TV producer. His most successful series was Fresh Prince of Bel Air for which he discovered the young Will Smith.
Quincy’s last recording was a spoken appearance in the album Dawn FM by The Weeknd two years ago.
Quincy passed away last Nov. 3 in his home in Los Angeles surrounded by his family at the age of 91.
Music and TV producer Quincy Delight Jones Jr., born in Chicago on March 14, 1933, grew up to accomplish so much during the 70 years or more that he spent in the entertainment industry. He lived his life by an old adage that he learned from his father: ‘Once a task is just begun, never leave until it’s done. Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all.’ Quincy passed away last Nov. 3 in his home in Los Angeles surrounded by his family at the age of 91.
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