Isham Jones led one of the finest dance bands of the 1920s and wrote many hits, notably "It Had To Be You," "I'll See You In My Dreams," "Swingin' Down the Lane," and "The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else."
He was born in Coalton, Ohio, but grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. The September 1923 issue of the sheet music publication Melody includes an article about his early years (the article itself is based on an interview Jones gave to the Boston Post). He had worked in coal mines leading blind mules. Jones's father, originally from Arkansas, played fiddle and was an important musical influence.
A Saginaw music publisher was first to print sheet music bearing the name Isham Jones, his earliest known published composition being "Midsummer Evenings," from 1906. He would not enjoy success as a composer for another dozen years.
Isham, pronounced "eye-sham," moved to Chicago in 1915 and continued composing, often working in the World War I period with lyricist Olaf ("Ole") Olsen, a member of Jones's early Chicago band (later, in 1926, Ole Olsen and His Orchestra recorded three titles for Pathé Actuelle).
One of their works from 1917 is among the first songs to refer to the new music called "jass." Actually, the spelling used is even more unorthodox: the song is "That's Jaz!" Possibly the songwriters had not seen the word "jazz" (or "jass") in print when they wrote the song.
The first Isham Jones tune to be recorded was probably the comic "Oh! Min!" It is sung by Edward Meeker on Blue Amberol 3514, issued in August 1918. Another 1918 composition by Isham Jones is "Indigo Blues," recorded by Ford Dabney's Band in early 1919 and issued on Aeolian-Vocalion 12097 in April, backed by the ODJB's "Oriental Jazz."
After serving in the military in 1918, Jones returned to Chicago and joined a dance hall orchestra that would eventually take his name. He learned to play C melody saxophone at this time but switched to tenor saxophone by 1920. Eventually conducting pressures forced him to give up playing in the band itself though his band always featured a strong saxophone section.
According to the Melody profile, Jones and his musicians were given the option in the early 1920s of royalties or steady salaries. Jones himself opted for royalties and by September 1923 had received $800,000. If this account is accurate, it means that Jones was wealthy before penning his most successful compositions.
The Isham Jones Orchestra was a Chicago institution from 1920 to 1925.
Some early Jones discs were issued in Brunswick's prestige series, which began at 5000 (purple labels were used). A few Jones performances were issued in both the prestige series and the regular popular series. For example, "Look For The Silver Lining" was issued on Brunswick 5045 and 2224.
Jones used fewer instruments on Brunswick records than Paul Whiteman used on Victor discs of this period.
