Busta Jones

Following his time with Albert King, Jones began to became increasingly involved with the Blues revival music scene in Memphis, playing with musicians such as Jim Dickinson and Lee Baker. With Dickinson, Jones would play bass on the Delta Experimental Project, which was a series of compilation albums made up of recordings of older bluesmen from the Mississippi delta, such as Sleepy John Estes and Johnny Woods.[4] However, Jones didn't feel as deep a connection to older traditional blues as Dickinson, feeling that "“I’d sit around with them and get the feel of it, but there wasn’t really a bass guitar involved, it was mostly acoustic."[5]

Rather Jones was much more into the idea of "crossover music," which is what drove him to work with white artists like Lee Baker in the band Moloch. Following lackluster sales of their self-titled debut, Moloch as a band more or less dissolved, leaving Baker as the sole original member. When reforming the band to create the follow-up 7-inch single, Baker recruited Jones to play bass for the songs Cocaine Katy and The Terrorizing Of Miss Nancy Jane, both released in 1972.[6][7]

Having a fascination with British bands who were at this time also creating a crossover sound, Jones would leave Memphis and join the British band Sharks in July 1972.[5][8]^: 223 Originally formed with former ex-Free bassist Andy Fraser, drummer Marty Simon, guitarist Chris Spedding, and lead singer Stephen "Snips" Parsons, Sharks toured England, supporting acts like Roxy Music. Fraser would leave the band following a car accident with Simon and Spedding, and Jones was recruited to replace him.[8]^: 219

Jones recorded bass for Shark's sophomore album Jab It In Yore Eye. Released in 1974, the album also features his Jones' first songwriting credit for the song Baby Shine A Light.[9] In addition to touring with Sharks, the new lineup of the band, which also included new keyboardist Nick Judd, were recruited to play tracks on Brian Eno's first solo record Here Come The Warm Jets, which was recorded September 1973 and released January 1974.[10][11]

Sharks would break up following their second album, and although the band would reunite in the 1990's and again in the late 2010's, Jones would not be a part of either lineup. [12][13] Instead, Jones would again work with Donald and Ralph Kinsey and form the band White Lightnin'. The group would go on to put out a self titled album on Island Records, featuring production by Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi and arrangements by future Talking Heads manager Gary Kurfirst.[14] The band would open for acts like Aerosmith, Peter Frampton and Black Oak Arkansas.[3]

Later, Jones worked as a "hired gun" for a number of established post-punk and new wave acts, becoming known for his funky bass playing. Jones issued a self-titled disco/funk solo album in 1980 via Spring Records.[15][16]

In 1979, Jones became involved with various projects surrounding Talking Heads. He contributed to the David Byrne-Brian Eno collaboration My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (recorded in 1979 but released in 1981) and earned a co-songwriting credit (along with Byrne and Eno) for the song "Regiment".[17][18] Jones was then hired to play additional bass and rhythm guitar (alternating with Byrne, Weymouth and Jerry Harrison) on Talking Heads’ Remain in Light tour.[19]

Later on, Jones was associated with other new wave and/or punk bands, including Gang of Four (he briefly replaced Dave Allen in the band) and The Ramones (Jones co-wrote the song “Chasing the Night” off the Too Tough to Die record, with Joey Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone).[17]

Busta worked with video director Robert Milton Wallace for 'My Hands are Shaking' featuring harrowing footage from the Tiananmen Square massacre where Chinese authorities cracked down on a civil rights protest by students in 1989. When asked how he dealt with his own experiences of inequality and racism he said his mother had told him to 'just laugh' and he did.

Other artists Jones worked with included Chris Spedding (1981’s Friday the 13th and 1991’s Just Plug Him In!) and Robert Fripp (1980’s God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners), among others.[17]

Jones died of heart failure on December 6, 1995 in Memphis, Tennessee.[1]