Born in 1936, Willie Cornelius Jones got started in music around the age of 13 or 14. “I was in a choir with Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John, and Della Reese,” Willie Jones explained in a May 2009 phone conversation from his home in Detroit. “There were a bunch of us actually that became professional later on. This was about 1950 or ’51. Soon after, I was singing with a group out of Black Bottom called ‘The Five Willows.’” (Black Bottom was an African-American enclave in Detroit’s Near East Side and approximately a half-mile squared in area. Gratiot Avenue, Brush Street, Vernor Highway, and the Grand Trunk Railroad tracks bordered the area. Hastings Street ran North to South, where vast black owned businesses and night clubs prevailed. Major blues singers, jazz artists, and big bands performed in the entertainment district. Black Bottom was demolished in the 1960’s when the City of Detroit redeveloped the area for urban renewal purposes.) Later, Willie went on to attend Miller High School.

Meanwhile, in another part of Detroit, a group of young lads attended Northeastern High School. They had formed a group called The Serenaders early on, beginning with gigs at the Forest Club Bowling Alley in the late 40’s. Henry Booth and Noah Howell were tenors, Norman Thrasher a baritone, and Isaac “Ike” Reese sung bass. Henry left the group after a Street Car gig caused him some embarrassment, and was replaced by another tenor named Thearon Hill, who went by the nickname “T-Man.” Thearon was a soloist at the time and also attended Miller High with Willie Jones.

By 1952, the Serenaders had managed to land some gigs at the Flame Show Bar, a famous Detroit nightspot, where they were discovered by Count Basie’s manager, Teddy Reig. He caught their act one night. He signed the young fellows to Coral Records, where he was an A & R man. The group managed to crank out a couple of singles for the label in the spring and summer of ’52, but having no hits, Coral cut them loose a year later when their contract ran out. The Serenaders had gone through some name changes in a brief period of time. T-Man explained, “We changed our names like we changed our socks. We were the Cavaliers for a while, then the Musketeers (named after the movie serials), The Serenaders of course, and then we became The Royals.”

As the Royals, the group cut one single for the local Venus label in ‘54, and played regular venues at the Flame Show Bar along side Maurice King and his house band the Wolverines, and Lavern Baker was his vocalist. Al Green was the floor manager at the Flame Show Bar and, in November 1954 after the Royals released their single on Venus, Willie Jones entered the picture.

In March of 1955, the Royal Jokers signed with the Gale Agency, and by May they signed ink with Atlantic Records, who placed them on their new subsidiary label Atco.

T-Man explained, “Atlantic was interested in us specifically because of Willie Jones. Because he had that unique sound like Clyde McPhatter, and that’s no joke.”

The Royal Jokers drove out to New York and recorded their first session for Atco on May 24, 1955. That three-hour session yielded four songs: “You Tickle Me Baby,” “Stay Here,” “Meet At Three,” and “Rosie May.” The first two songs, with Willie singing lead, were coupled together and released in late August, gaining instant reviews as early as the week of September 3, 1955. By November 26th “You Tickle Me Baby” had made the charts in Detroit, and by December it successfully crossed over into the Pop charts and gaining plays in Cleveland, Buffalo, Baltimore, and Saint Louis.

The Royal Jokers recorded their third and final recording session for Atco on July 9, 1956. The session produced just three sides: “She’s Mine All Mine,” “My Heart Is Broken,” and “Beans.” Normally a session would crank out four songs, but in this case the group focused on getting the next intended single slick and down pat.

“She’s Mine All Mine” became the group’s third single for Atco, backed with “Ride On Little Girl” that was recorded from the previous session. Willie Jones sang lead on both sides. Released in September, the 45 received reviews the week of October 6, 1956 before falling into obscurity. The Royal Jokers had managed to cut a total of 12 songs for the Atco label, enough for an album. However, no album was issued, as the Royal Jokers’ contract was up with Atlantic, and the label wasn’t in the mindset to release albums. In those days, the money was in the singles, and the singles drove the charts, much different than the music standards of today. Sadly, a fire in the Atlantic vaults during the 1970’s destroyed the master tapes, up in smoke went the unreleased tracks recorded by The Royal Jokers forever. A great album package would have most likely surfaced by now had those tapes survived.

The Royal Jokers continued to play locally in their native Detroit, appearing at the Flame Show Bar, the Fox Theater, and other venues throughout ’56 and into ’57. On December 18, 1957, their manager Al Green died. The group had to do some soul searching and see about getting new management after grieving for Al. In the dawning days of 1958, Norman Thrasher decided to leave the Royal Jokers with the loss of their manager, the Atco contract, and a year of no recordings by the group. Things were looking grim. Norman became the road manager for Hank Ballard & The Midnighters which, at the time, included fellow Serenader Henry Booth. Norman soon replaced Sonny Woods after Sonny ditched the group to pursue a girl.

More personnel changes occurred in Thearon Hill. The T-Man also left the group to join the Four Tops, replacing Obie Benson who was drafted into the U.S. Army. The Royal Jokers struggled to keep the group together, but soon recruited Billy Lyons (formerly of the Five Jets) and hooked up with Fortune Records. While at Fortune, they managed to slick a few sides in ’58: “Sweet Little Angel” led by Ted Green was coupled with “I Don’t Like You That Much” led by Noah Howell and released as Fortune #840. The record made some local noise but nothing to the effect of a national hit. They followed up with another single on Fortune’s Hi-Q label subsidiary: “September In The Rain” b/w “Spring,” both led by Billy Lyons and issued on Hi-Q #5004 in late ’58. It became a Detroit local smash.

“Al Green had died, and the Atco deal was over with, and we had some personnel changes with the Royal Jokers,” Willie Jones explained in a recent phone call to the author. “I was looking for new management, and Al Green used to run with Harry Balk when they collaborated on some Jackie Wilson things, so I kind of knew Irv and Harry.”

Willie Jones signed up as a solo artist with Artists, Inc. and their Twirl Records label in 1959. The Royal Jokers also came on board shortly thereafter, but Willie wasn’t a part of the group at the time. Willie took a stab at going solo and The Royal Jokers recruited Raymond Dorsey who, like Billy Lyons, was formerly a member of the Five Jets.

Irving and Harry both loved Willie Jones’s voice, and when Jones walked into their offices one day with a tune called “Where’s My Money,” they just had to record it. “Willie comes walking in one day,” said Harry Balk in a 2009 phone interview, “and he’s got this song called ‘Where’s My Money.’ I always thought Willie had a great voice, not a good voice, but a great, great voice, and I thought we could still get Willie a hit record. Well, I had an idea, I wanted Willie backed by Bobbie Smith & The Dream Girls, so they joined him again on this next record.” For the flipside, Bobbie Smith joined Willie to sing “Don’t Leave Me” as a duet, which was a reworking of “Stay Here” which Willie originally recorded with The Royal Jokers as the B-side to “You Tickle Me Baby.”

“I had some high hopes for that record,” Willie admitted to the author in a May 2009 interview. “I remember when this record came out around ’62, I enjoyed hanging out with Del Shannon in some of the hotels in New York when we were either recording or gigging out there. Man that was a long time ago!”

“I remember Willie coming in to the offices at Alexandrine,” said Maron McKenzie, who was a staff writer for Irving and Harry. “Bobbie Smith sang that great duet with Willie on ‘Don’t Leave Me’ and, I’ll tell you, that was just an incredible collaboration man. Both Willie and Bobbie should have been major, major stars. They both had a unique and controlled voice that just gave you goose bumps. They were both so incredible!”

The Storm 45 was distributed strictly by Irving and Harry, so it didn’t see much action outside of Detroit, but it kept Willie’s name out on the scene as a Detroit contender. This 45, as with the Mr. Peacock 45, remains a highly sought for record by Northern Soul fans and also commands in excess of $200 by this ground swell of new collectors and fans.

In 1966, The Royal Jokers record one of their finest records to date on the Wingate label: “Love Game (From A to Z)” takes the listener through the alphabet and has every bit the Motown sound of the day. The bottom side is an instrumental version of the plug side. Truly remarkable and the lead sung by none other than Mr. Willie Jones.

-Author: Brian C. Young for Twirl Records, May 2009

The Royal Jokers Label Discography

Willie Jones Label Discography