Fenton "Jonesy" Jones | |
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Born | Los Angeles, California | June 2, 1907
Origin | Glendale, California |
Died | June 30, 2003 Glendale, California | (aged 96)
Genres | Folk and square dance calling |
Labels | C. J. McGregor, others below |
Fenton G. "Jonesy" Jones (June 2, 1907 – June 30, 2003) was an American musician, best known as a square dance caller. He was widely described as a "nationally-known [dance] caller". [1] [2]
Jones was born in 1907 in Los Angeles, California. [3] His mother, who died when Jones was seven years old, was a pianist and guitarist. [4] Jones began calling dances in 1940, touring the United States and calling at various square dancing events. He also called dances regularly at his home state of California. [5] He was known for dressing up in a Western-style at his events he worked, once stating that "short sleeves have been eliminated" while describing what he saw as a "rigid" dress code for square dance callers in a 1952 article. [5] Jones also released records of his calls under the C. P. MacGregor Records label, including "My Little Girl", "Down Yonder" and "Oh Johnny". [5] He had previously recorded his calls, first in 1946 on the Black and White then on Imperial, Capitol, MGM and Mastertone labels. [6] Jones also appeared in many films television series in the 1970s and 1980s, most often uncredited, as a square dance caller. [6]
Jones was married to Florence. He is a member of the Square Dance Hall of Fame. [6] He died in 2003. He had resided in Glendale, California for majority of his life. [7]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1961 | Rawhide | Square Dance Caller | S3:E21, "Incident of His Brother's Keeper" |