Steve Jones (musician) - Career

Career

Jones co-founded The Strand (named after a Roxy Music song) with Paul Cook and Wally Nightingale in the early 1970s. The Strand were a precursor to the Sex Pistols, and is where Jones first learned to play guitar. After dropping Wally Nightingale in the mid 1970s, the band was known as The Swankers.

In 1975, Jones went on to co-found the Sex Pistols with Paul Cook, Glen Matlock, and later, John Lydon. Jones is a self-taught guitar player, primarily playing Gibson Les Paul electric guitars in his early years. His usual guitar was a cream coloured Gibson Les Paul Custom which, according to Filth and the Fury, he had stolen from Mick Ronson at a David Bowie concert, when he and his fellow Sex Pistols members posed as road crew members, stealing amplifers and other equipment. Bill Price, the engineer on Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols called Jones one of the tightest guitar players he has ever worked with, this is due to his "chuggy" playing in the studio as Price had described it with very little sustain and echo, which required overdubs to hide.

As well as lead guitar, he played many of the bass guitar parts on the Never Mind The Bollocks album, due to the inability of Sid Vicious to play to a satisfactory standard in the studio. Glen Matlock's playing appeared on the tracks recorded when he was still in the band. Jones also uses Hamer Sunburst double-cut guitars, and prefers the White Les Paul Custom as his primary guitar, as stated in the Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock Sex Pistols video.

Jones became well known among fans for his "hanky on the head", and his perm. He also shared Johnny Rotten's extreme dislike of Sid Vicious' girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. In an interview for The Filth and the Fury, he referred to her as "that fucking horrible bird". When the Sex Pistols were interviewed by Bill Grundy on the Today show on 1 December 1976, Jones openly swore at Grundy after being goaded to do so, causing much controversy and elevating the band's profile.

After the Sex Pistols broke up in 1978, Jones and drummer Paul Cook co-founded The Professionals. They released one album, I Didn't See It Coming but disbanded after a serious car crash while on tour in the US in 1981. Jones was also a member of Chequered Past (led by Michael Des Barres) from 1982 to 1985. They released a self-titled album in 1984.

Jones performed alongside Sex Pistols bandmate Paul Cook on Johnny Thunders's solo album So Alone.

Siouxsie and the Banshees thought for a while to engage Jones after the departure of two of their original members. Rehearsals took place in early 1980, and Jones recorded the guitars parts on three songs of the album Kaleidoscope. The experience did not go further than a simple recording session.

Jones also played with Thin Lizzy, Joan Jett, Kraut, Adam Ant, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Andy Taylor, Megadeth, Neurotic Outsiders and had a solo career in the 1980s and early 1990s. His song "Mercy", from the album of the same name, was used in a Miami Vice episode called "Stone's War" and was featured on the Miami Vice II soundtrack album. "Pleasure and Pain" also from the album Mercy, was included in the 1986 film Sid and Nancy. In 1989, he released his second solo album, titled Fire and Gasoline, which featured Jones on guitar and vocals, Terry Nails on bass, and drummer Mickey Curry.

Jones was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Roseanne. He had previously played a private detective in The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, and had a role in the 1981 film, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains.

In 1992 a project called Fantasy 7 (known as F7) was recorded, and remains officially un-released. They toured locally in Los Angeles and a few shows in South America featuring the late singer Mark McCoy.

In 1995, Jones played guitar on the self-titled and only album released by P. The band featured Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers and actor Johnny Depp.

In 1996, Jones formed Neurotic Outsiders, that featured himself on guitar and vocals, former Guns N' Roses members Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum on rhythm guitar and drums, and John Taylor from Duran Duran, on bass. They released a self-titled album in 1996. Also in 1996, he took time out to record guitar tracks for The Great Milenko, an album by Insane Clown Posse.

Jones produced the self-titled debut albums of the Los Angeles based Buckcherry and American Pearl, released in 1999 and 2000.

He participated in the Sex Pistols reunion concerts and currently resides in Los Angeles. He has since done some studio work, playing guitar on Lisa Marie Presley's 2005 album, Now What. Jones played lead guitar on two tracks. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" which was originally recorded for The Ramones tribute album We're a Happy Family but only appeared as a hidden track on Now What.

The Sex Pistols, including Jones, played a gig for the 30th anniversary of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols at the Brixton Academy on 8 November 2007. Due to popular demand, two further gigs were announced on 9 November and 10 November. This demand led to two further gigs being announced, making five in total. A further gig in Brixton on 12 November was followed by one at the MEN Arena in Manchester on 17 November. The Glasgow S.E.C.C on 18 November completed the tour.

Jones has recently played with Hollywood United F.C., made up mainly of celebrities and former professional footballers.

In 2008, The Sex Pistols appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival as the headlining act on the Saturday night, the Peace & Love Festival in Sweden, and the Live at Loch Lomond Festival in Scotland.

In May 2012, Jones appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in a sketch playing himself as the roommate to Prince Charles (played by Craig Ferguson), as well as playing guitar on a cover of Ninian Hawick's Scottish Rite Temple Stomp in a cold open to a week of shows shot in Scotland.

He was ranked 97th in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"