The Story of the Hit Song Mr Jones: The Way Counting Crows Developed Their Defining Song

The Lead Singer Shares the Formative Period

Our first albums were mostly recorded in homes situated in the foothills above Los Angeles. August and Everything After marked a significant step for the band, as it was their first release on a large record company. We each got an advance of $3,000; with it, I to purchase a classic red convertible and drove it to LA.

Every morning, I would start by listening to Pickin’ Up the Pieces by Poco, which sounds like the Beatles venturing into American folk. Additionally, I was into a jazz record that my father had picked up as a free giveaway at a gas station when I was young.

The song Mr Jones was included on a demo that we sent to labels, but it proved a very difficult song to complete. It lacked a clear direction at first. It’s not a slow ballad or a fast-paced number; rather, it gallops along, demanding a deep understanding to play. The style is soulful – more akin to the Stax Records style than folk.

The band’s drummer struggled to grasp the song like the rest of us did – thus the producer brought in one of his heroes to play it.

We looked at several production candidates, but when I spoke with the producer, he seemed to get where the group was headed. There was great potential, but I wasn’t satisfied with our overall tone – we hadn’t learned how to work together. We removed all the synths and guitar effects. Our drummer Steve Bowman had trouble with the tempo, so the producer called in a renowned drummer, one of Steve’s heroes, to lay down the drums. It’s a funny story, but it was tough on Steve at the time.

Marty Jones and I had played in groups together prior to Counting Crows. Marty’s dad, David Serva, had succeeded in Spain and was back in the San Francisco area performing a series of shows. We went one of his shows and spent the night with the flamenco troupe visiting bars. The next morning, I went home and wrote Mr Jones. The lyrics reflect me and Marty that evening, wishing we were cool musicians so we could talk to the girls more easily.

In my view, it’s one of the best songs I’ve ever written. We performed Round Here on SNL in 1994, the record climbed 40 spots weekly for over a month. Afterwards, Mr Jones became a huge hit.

David Immerglück Shares His Memories

Back in the 80s, Adam, David Bryson, and I were sharing a space in a industrial building in Berkeley. Previously, I performed with another band and was in an side project called Monks of Doom.

Returning home one night, Adam had a new demo he’d just done with the guitarist. I heard this track called the now-famous tune. Recorded with a basic drum machine that resembled a video game or popcorn popping, but his singing were on another level.

Once T Bone took over, it felt like a total reinvention of Counting Crows. They shifted toward roots influenced by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and the Band.

I got a call from Adam asking, “Listen, can you come down and play on this album?” When I got there, T Bone had moved us to a studio in Encino, Los Angeles – formerly used by a Jackson 5 member. Inside, we found guitars that Dylan had recently used.

He told me to play my guitar slightly behind the drums. He said, “Playing too fast before the drums comes off like an adolescent hurrying.” He has a southern accent, and his guidance was to visualize relaxing on the mixing board and staying casual while playing.

The band was, in some ways, a response to grunge. The tragic end of Cobain felt like the culmination. Back then, everyone used heroin. The goal was self-destruction, not mind expansion. The nihilism had reached an extreme, and the trend shifted toward something emotional and sincere. Their music combined acoustic and electric with a strong influence of Van Morrison soul.

Mr Jones never gets old. On stage, when I am rocking out with the singer, I remember that time when he first shared the demo. It’s insane.