The Creation of Mr Jones: The Way Counting Crows Crafted Their Signature Song

Adam Duritz Shares the Beginnings

The initial albums were primarily recorded in houses located in the foothills above Los Angeles. Their debut major label album signified a significant step for the group, as it was their first release on a large record company. We each got an advance of $3,000; I used mine to buy a 1971 cherry red VW Karmann Ghia and drove it to LA.

Each day, I would start by playing Pickin’ Up the Pieces by Poco, which resembles the Beatles venturing into American folk. Additionally, I was into a Benny Goodman album that my dad had acquired as a free giveaway at a gas station when I was young.

The song Mr Jones was part of a demo that we sent to record companies, but it proved a very difficult song to finish. It lacked a solid grasp at first. Neither a leisurely tune or a straight ahead rock song; rather, it gallops along, requiring a deep understanding to play. The style is soulful – more akin to the Stax Records sound than country.

Our drummer struggled to grasp 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 really understand where the band was headed. There was a lot of promise, but I didn’t like with our sound – we were still learning how to be a band. We removed all the synthesizers and guitar effects. Our drummer Steve Bowman couldn’t sync with the tempo, so T Bone invited Denny Fongheiser, one of Steve’s favorites, to lay down the drums. It’s a funny story, 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 Bay Area doing a tour. Attended one of his shows and hung out with the flamenco troupe visiting bars. The next morning, I returned and wrote Mr Jones. It’s about our experience that evening, wishing we were cool musicians so we could connect with the women more easily.

In my view, it’s among the finest songs I’ve ever written. After playing another track on Saturday Night Live in 1994, the album climbed dozens of positions each week for five or six weeks. Afterwards, the song became a major success.

The Multi-Instrumentalist Recalls His Memories

Back in the 80s, the band members were living together in a industrial building in Berkeley. I had been playing with another band and was in an side project named Monks of Doom.

Returning home one night, Adam had a new demo he’d just done with the guitarist. He played me this song called Mr Jones. Recorded with a Dr Rhythm pocket drum machine that sounded like a arcade sound or random noise, but his singing were on another level.

After the producer got involved, it felt like a total reinvention of Counting Crows. They shifted back to basics echoing Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and the Band.

Adam called me saying, “Hey, man, can you join us and contribute to this album?” By the time I got there, T Bone had relocated us to a recording space in LA’s Encino – previously used by Tito Jackson. There were guitars that Dylan had recently used.

He told me to play my guitar slightly behind the beat. He said, “Playing too fast ahead of the drums comes off like an teenager rushing.” He has a Texas drawl, and his advice was to visualize relaxing on the console and chewing gum during the performance.

Counting Crows was, in some ways, a response to grunge. The tragic end of Cobain seemed the culmination. Back then, many used heroin. The goal was obliteration, not enlightenment. That negativity had reached an extreme, and the trend shifted toward something more human and sincere. Counting Crows blended acoustic and electric with a heavy dose of soulful vibes.

Mr Jones remains timeless. Sometimes, when I am rocking out with the singer, I remember that moment when he first shared the demo. Absolutely incredible.