Just looking through records and played this one, great track, but I have nothing else on vinyl or MP3 of Willie Jones, anybody know who Willie Jones was, did he cut other records, or is this a made up name?

It came out on a Goldmine CD (Popcorn's Detroit Soul Party - GSCD59 - Track 13) as by Willie Harvey. They both sound the same to my cloth ears.

Cheers Dave, I have that CD, I'll play those to compare... so, and you can see this coming, who the hell was Willie Harvey? laughing

Hi Mal,

You're welcome. According to Keith Rylatts Groovesville USA book, Willie Jones had solo records on Big Top, Triple Star & Mr Peacock (Where's My Money) and was a member of the Royal Jokers.

No mention of a Willie Harvey.

He was singing on these too. A great artist.

I have the McArthur 45, never made the connection.

4 hours ago, daveh said:

Hi Mal,

You're welcome. According to Keith Rylatts Groovesville USA book, Willie Jones had solo records on Big Top, Triple Star & Mr Peacock (Where's My Money) and was a member of the Royal Jokers.

No mention of a Willie Harvey.

Willie Jones was a long-time R&B and later, Soul singer in Detroit, both singing lead for groups, and as a solo artist, who sang in falsetto and his regular voice was also very high. He started with The Royals/Royal Jokers, also was the lead singer with The Chimes, and the reconstructed Royal Jokers, and The 21st. To ME, the "Willie Jones" on The Kool Kat record, "My Baby Ain't No Plaything", sounds like a totally different, having a much deeper register voice. So, I could believe the latter was a completely different person, with the real name of Willie Harvey. I read in a few different places that the singer on that Wylie-Hester song was actually "Willie Harvey". On the other hand both singers worked out of Detroit, and that time when the song was recorded (1966) fits well into a period of little recording work in Jones' career. So, I can't decide whether he is or not the R&B/Soul singer. Jones was a much more popular singer in Detroit than his modest level of US national record sales would ordinarily indicate. He was fully booked with local club gigs during all of the '50s and '60s, and, at least into the early-to-mid '70s.