The Making of the Hit Song Mr Jones: The Way Counting Crows Produced Their Signature Track

The Lead Singer Recalls the Formative Period

The initial albums were mostly recorded in homes situated in the foothills above Los Angeles. August and Everything After marked a major milestone for the group, as it was their first release on a major label. Each member received an upfront payment of $3,000; I used mine to purchase a classic red convertible and drove it to LA.

Each day, I would start by playing Pickin’ Up the Pieces by Poco, which sounds like the Beatles exploring country music. Additionally, I frequently played a jazz record that my father had acquired as a complimentary item at a Texaco station during my childhood.

Mr Jones was included on a demo that we submitted to record companies, but it was a challenging song to finish. It lacked a solid grasp at first. It’s not a slow ballad nor a fast-paced number; instead, it moves with a rhythm, requiring a real feel to perform. It’s soul music – closer to the Stax Records style than country.

Our drummer couldn’t hear the track as the rest of us did – thus T Bone brought in one of his idols to play it.

We considered a few production candidates, but when I spoke with T Bone Burnett, he seemed to get where the band was headed. There was great potential, but I didn’t like with our overall tone – we were still learning how to be a band. We removed all the synths and guitar effects. Our drummer Steve Bowman couldn’t sync with the song’s rhythm, so the producer invited Denny Fongheiser, one of Steve’s favorites, to play on it. Looking back, it’s amusing, but it was tough on Steve at the time.

Marty Jones and I performed in bands together before Counting Crows. Marty’s dad, a flamenco musician, had made it in Spain and was back in the San Francisco area doing a series of shows. We went one of his performances and hung out with the musicians visiting bars. The next morning, I returned and composed the song. It’s about me and Marty that evening, wishing we were cool musicians so we could connect with the girls more confidently.

I believe, it’s among the finest songs I’ve ever written. We performed Round Here on SNL in 1994, the record jumped 40 spots weekly for five or six weeks. Afterwards, the song turned into a huge hit.

David Immerglück Recalls His Memories

Back in the 80s, Adam, David Bryson, and I were sharing a space in a industrial building in Berkeley. I had been playing with another band and had an side project named Monks of Doom.

One evening, Adam had a fresh recording he’d created with Bryson. He played me this track titled Mr Jones. Recorded with a Dr Rhythm pocket drum machine that sounded like a video game or popcorn popping, but his vocals were on another level.

After the producer took over, it was a total reinvention of Counting Crows. They shifted back to basics echoing Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and the Band.

I got a call from Adam asking, “Hey, man, can you join us and contribute to this record?” When I arrived, the producer had moved us to a recording space in Encino, Los Angeles – formerly used by Tito Jackson. Inside, we found instruments that Bob Dylan had just recorded on.

He instructed me to perform behind the tempo the beat. His words were, “If you rush before the drums comes off like an teenager hurrying.” He has a Texas drawl, and his advice was to visualize putting your feet up on the console and staying casual during the performance.

The band was, to an extent, a reaction to grunge. Kurt Cobain’s death felt like the culmination. At the time, many used heroin. The aim was self-destruction, not mind expansion. The nihilism had reached an extreme, and the pendulum swung toward something more human and heartfelt. Counting Crows blended folk and rock with a heavy dose of soulful vibes.

Mr Jones never gets old. On stage, when I am rocking out with the singer, I recall that time when he played me the early version. Absolutely incredible.