The Making of Mr Jones: How Counting Crows Developed Their Signature Track

The Lead Singer Shares the Beginnings

Our first albums were primarily produced in houses situated in the foothills above Los Angeles. August and Everything After signified a significant milestone for the group, as it was their first release on a major label. We each got an advance of $3,000; I used mine to buy a 1971 cherry red VW Karmann Ghia and traveled to LA.

Every morning, I would start by playing Pickin’ Up the Pieces by Poco, which resembles the Beatles exploring country music. Additionally, I was into a Benny Goodman album that my father had picked up as a complimentary item at a gas station during my childhood.

The song Mr Jones was part of a demo that we submitted to labels, but it was a challenging song to complete. It lacked a solid grasp at first. Neither a leisurely tune nor a fast-paced rock song; rather, it moves with a rhythm, requiring a deep understanding to perform. The style is soulful – closer to the Stax Records style than country.

The band’s drummer struggled to grasp the song like the rest of us did – thus T Bone brought in one of his heroes to play it.

We considered several producers, 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 hadn’t learned how to work together. We removed all the synthesizers and effects pedals. Our drummer Steve Bowman had trouble with the song’s rhythm, so the producer invited a renowned drummer, one of Steve’s heroes, to play on it. It’s a funny story, but it was hard on Steve at the time.

My best friend Marty and I had played in groups together before Counting Crows. Marty’s dad, David Serva, had made it in Spain and was returning in the Bay Area performing a tour. Attended one of his shows and spent the night with the flamenco troupe bar-hopping. Next day, I went home and composed Mr Jones. It’s about me and Marty that evening, dreaming we were accomplished artists so we could connect with the girls more confidently.

In my view, it’s among the finest songs I’ve composed. After playing another track on SNL in 1994, the album climbed 40 spots weekly for five or six weeks. Afterwards, Mr Jones became a huge hit.

David Immerglück Recalls His Memories

In the late 1980s, Adam, David Bryson, and I were sharing a space in a industrial building in Berkeley. Previously, I performed with Camper Van Beethoven and was in an side project called Monks of Doom.

One evening, Adam had a new demo he’d just done with Bryson. I heard this track titled the now-famous tune. It was done with a basic drum machine that sounded like a video game or random noise, but his vocals were exceptional.

After the producer got involved, it was a complete transformation of Counting Crows. The approach toward roots echoing Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and the Band.

Adam called me asking, “Listen, can you come down and play on this record?” By the time I arrived, T Bone had moved us to a recording space in Encino, Los Angeles – formerly used by a Jackson 5 member. Inside, we found guitars that Dylan had just recorded on.

He instructed me to play my guitar slightly behind the drums. His words were, “Playing too fast ahead of the drums comes off like an teenager rushing.” With his Texas drawl, and his advice was to imagine putting your feet up on the console and staying casual during the performance.

The band was, in some ways, a response to the grunge movement. Kurt Cobain’s death felt like the culmination. At the time, everyone were on heroin. The goal was self-destruction, not mind expansion. That negativity had reached an extreme, and the trend shifted toward something emotional and sincere. Their music blended folk and rock with a strong influence of soulful vibes.

The song never gets old. Sometimes, when I am rocking out with the singer, I remember that moment when he first shared the demo. Absolutely incredible.