R.I.P. Pere Ubu's Jim Jones

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Feb 21, 2008

Guitarist Jim Jones of post-punk stalwarts Pere Ubu died Monday of a heart attack, the band’s Ubu Projex website has reported.

Jones played with the influential Cleveland art rockers for some 15 years and is often seen as an integral part of the band’s more pop-orientated sound. He originally started his Pere Ubu career as a roadie before joining the group’s line-up full time in 1987. However, due to declining health, by 1995 he could no longer join the band on the road, yet continued to contribute in the studio on albums such as 1998’s Pennsylvania and 2002’s St Arkansas.

"Jimmy was the one guy who always got along with everybody,” John Thompson, who was also part of Ubu’s tour support, told the Cleveland Plain Reader. "Everybody in the music scene knew him and loved him.”

Along with Ubu, Jones played in various other Cleveland rock outfits such as Easter Monkeys, the Mirrors, the Styrenes and Home & Garden, making him a staple player in the local scene.

"There were six degrees of separation between Jim Jones and Cleveland music,” said longtime friend Char Rao. "He might not have known everyone, but everyone was somehow connected to him.”

Jones was 57.

Pere Ubu "Breath"

Latest Coverage