Monroe Jones

The following interview took place on February 27, 2008, at Monroe Jones’ home.

Hear audio clips from the interviews below.

Click here to download the entire transcript of the interview.

Student: Where did you grow up?
Jones: Well, I went to school out in Shaw for a while, moved out of Shaw, Mississippi in 1956. I almost grew up in Chicago.

Student: What was it like?
Jones: Oh, Chicago was wonderful.

Student: What was your childhood like?
Jones: Well, you know you had to chop cotton and pick cotton to make it, you know, a rough upbringing.

Student: What was school like for you?
Jones: Well, I didn’t get to go to school. It was all right, you know, I got to 7th grade.

Student: When did you first play the Blues?
Jones: I was 17 when I played.

Student: In your opinion, what is the Blues?
Jones: Blues is a true feeling. True meaning. It make you cry if you listen to it too good.

Student: Who taught you to play the Blues?
Jones: Watching guys, you know, Earl Hooker, B.B. King.

Student: When did you move to Chicago?
Jones: In ’56.

Student: Why did you move to Chicago?
Jones: I wanted to play Blues. Boy told me he had a band, which he told me a lie, you know, and I went up there and he had no band. But I wound up working at a restaurant, and I worked there, made some pretty good money there, you know. I was by myself, you know, I lived with a friend of mine. They all passed now.

Student: How was Chicago different than Mississippi?
Jones: Well, Chicago was fast, so many people, you know. You walked down the street, people there were—Chicago was a big place, a beautiful place, a good place. If I—I had hip replacement in each one of my hips in ’87, if I hadn’t did that, if that didn’t happen to me, I’d be up there now, but I have to walk with a stick, you know.

Student: Who are some of your influences?
Jones: Well, my main man, he died, Little Milton. I like his voice. I like it when B.B. King plays guitar. So I’ll say B.B King and Little Milton. And uh, Tyrone Davies, and … Otis Redding, a lot of guys.

Student: Why do you play the Blues?
Jones: I love to sing the Blues.

Student: What are you are trying to express when you play the Blues?
Jones: Oh, that’s a feeling, words, you know.

Student: In your opinion, do Blues players from the Delta have a different sound than from Blues players from other parts of Mississippi or other states?
Jones: Yeah. You understand the Blues a little better here in the Delta then you can anywhere else. They can’t get, they ain’t got it. They got it here in the Delta. That’s why more Blues players come from the Delta.