Michael "Busta" Jones (born Michael Jones, September 26, 1951 – December 6, 1995) was an American musician, songwriter and producer. He is known for his bass work both live and in the studio with Albert King, Talking Heads, Gang of Four, Chris Spedding as well as many others during a decade spanning career that lasted from the late 1960s until his death in 1995.
Early life
Jones was born in Memphis Tennessee on September 26, 1951. At an early age, he began to teach himself guitar. By the time he had reach his teens, Jones had earned himself a spot in Albert King's touring band on bass, playing alongside future collaborators and The Kinsey Report band members, Ralph Kinsey and Donald Kinsey.
Career
Early career in Memphis (1969-1972) Following his time with Albert King, Jones became increasingly involved with the blues revival music scene in Memphis, playing with musicians such as Jim Dickinson and Lee Baker. With Dickinson, Jones would play bass on the Delta Experimental Project, which was a series of compilation albums made up of recordings of older bluesmen from the Mississippi delta, such as Sleepy John Estes and Johnny Woods. However, Jones didn't feel as deep a connection to older traditional blues as Dickinson, feeling that "“I'd sit around with them and get the feel of it, but there wasn't really a bass guitar involved, it was mostly acoustic."
Rather Jones was much more into the idea of "crossover music," which is what drove him to work with white artists like Lee Baker in the band Moloch. Following lackluster sales of their self-titled debut, Moloch as a band more or less dissolved, leaving Baker as the sole original member. When reforming the band to create the follow-up 7-inch single, Baker recruited Jones to play bass for the songs "Cocaine Katy" and "The Terrorizing of Miss Nancy Jane", both released in 1972.
Moving to London, work with Sharks and Brian Eno (1972-1973) Having a fascination with British bands who were at this time also creating a crossover sound, Jones would leave Memphis and join the British band Sharks in July 1972. Originally formed with ex-Free bassist Andy Fraser, drummer Marty Simon, guitarist Chris Spedding, and lead singer Stephen "Snips" Parsons, Sharks toured England, supporting acts like Roxy Music. Fraser would leave the band following a car accident with Simon and Spedding, and Jones was recruited to replace him.
Jones recorded bass for Shark's sophomore album Jab It In Yore Eye. Released in 1974, the album also features Jones' first songwriting credit for the song Baby Shine A Light. The new lineup of the band, which also included keyboardist Nick Judd, were recruited to play tracks on Brian Eno's first solo record Here Come The Warm Jets, which was recorded September 1973 and released January 1974.
Return to North America, work in the US and Canada (1973-1980) Sharks would break up following their second album, and although the band would reunite in the 1990s and again in the late 2010s, Jones would not be a part of either lineup. Instead, Jones would again work with Donald and Ralph Kinsey and form the band White Lightnin'. The group would go on to put out a self titled album on Island Records, featuring production by Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi and arrangements by future Talking Heads manager Gary Kurfirst. The band would open for acts like Aerosmith, Peter Frampton and Black Oak Arkansas.
By 1977, White Lightnin' had broken up and Jones would begin to work in the Canadian rock scene, especially around Montreal. Through his former Sharks bandmate, Marty Simon, Jones would begin working with Walter Rossi, Dwayne Ford and Michel Pagliaro, eventually forming the short lived band The Rockers. Although never releasing any recorded material, The Rockers would eventually become the studio musicians for a later project Rossi would do with George Lagios called Bombers.
Bombers would go on to release their first self titled album, Bombers, in 1978, with Jones providing both bass and vocals to the album's songs. Bombers was made up of mostly reworked tracks that were originally by Kurt Haunenstein, as well as a reworking of the traditional Mexican song "Per Quaiche Dollero in Piu", that was called "The Mexican" on the album.
Although Bombers was not a runaway success, the first album did generate enough buzz to warrant the band's sophomore album, appropriately titled Bombers 2. This time, the songs would be mostly originals written by Jones and Simon. Bombers 2 would spawn the minor hit "(Everybody) Get Dancin'", which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Dance Club chart in March 1979.