American tenor (born March 15, 1889 in New York, NY died November 23, 1940 in New York, NY).
After working in mining, banking, and blacksmithing, Jones had his recording debut in 1918. In 1919, he met . In 1920, he and Hare recorded their first duet together for . By October 1920, they sang together on WJZ radio in Newark, NJ. In August 1923, they got their own show, sponsored by the Happiness Candy chain of stores, on New York City's WEAF radio, called "The Happiness Boys". On this show, Jones and Hare sang popular and often comic songs of the day, alternating with joking banter in between. Between 1926 to 1929, the show was carried on the NBC network. In 1928, Jones and Hare were the best-paid entertainers on radio, making $1,250 per week.
Jones made hundreds of recordings for companies including , , , , , and many smaller labels. He sang solo, as a duet with Hare (until Hare's death in 1939) and sometimes others, such as or . He also frequently performed as part of larger vocal ensembles, such as like the , the , and occasionally the and the . Moreover, he recorded not only as Billy Jones, but also under a wide variety of aliases (see below).
Name Vars
- B.Jones
- Billy Jones
- Jones
- Mr. Billy Jones
- Reese (Billy) Jones
Aliases
- Victor Roberts
- Billy West
- Harry Blake
- Bert Forbes
- Carlton Williams
- William Reese
- Joe White
- Leonard Jackson
- Dave Hogan