Allen Jones was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

.

Jones produced several albums for Albert King

Albert King

Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...

, and became the producer and manager for The Bar-Kays. He produced all of their records including their last records for Mercury Records

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

. He formed their production company, and produced other acts such as Quick on EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 and executively produced Ebony Webb, also on EMI. Jones was a very successful songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 covered by the likes of Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...

 and Albert King. Jones started out as a bass player

Bass Player

Bass player can refer to:*Bass Player , an album by Rhombus*Bass Player , a magazine for bassists*Bassist, or bass player, a musician who plays the bass guitar...

, and ended up owning his own studio in Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

. He gave many artists and musicians opportunities to work in the recording industry, long before there were college classes on the music business. Jones knew a hit record and blossomed at Stax Records

Stax Records

Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...

 as a writer, producer and recording engineer. Jones won a Grammy for his input on Shaft

Shaft (album)

Shaft is a double album by Isaac Hayes, recorded for Stax Records' Enterprise label as the soundtrack LP for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1971 Soul Cinema Classic film Shaft. The album mostly consists of instrumentals composed by Hayes as score for the film. Three vocal selections are included:...

. He lived to be in the studio and helped to make a name for Ardent Studios

Ardent Studios

Ardent Studios is a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee. Ardent Records/Ardent Music is the in-house label.- History :Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry and was initially a studio in his family's garage, where he recorded his first Ardent Records 45's. In 1966 the operation moved...

. He stayed in Studio A of Ardent for almost 10 years. Jones kept The Bar-Kays with albums and tour dates until the day he died.