DISCOVERED GEORGE

Jack discovered George Formby when he had a five- month long stay in hospital as a fourteen-year old.t This was the year 1934 when George Formby was rising very quickly to become Britain's most popular entertainer. A friendly nurse turned on the radio for him one day and the first voice he heard was that of George singing “With My Little Ukulele In My Hand”. Jack never forgot the sound of George and the banjo-uke.

EXPERT AT TWENTY

By the time he was twenty-years old Jack had mastered the uke and was so good that he was appearing professionally in working-men’s clubs in the North-West of England. Eventually he joined a twenty- five piece orchestra based in Jack’s home town of St. Helens and he spent six years playing with the band. Jack watched George Formby on stage on numerous occasions and obviously formed a great love for the man and his music. He was actually billed in the local clubs as “The St. Helens George Formby”.

JACK JOINS THE GFS

Jack joined the GFS in 1969 so obviously when he walked through the door for the first time, he must have been regarded as a top player. It is odd that there is no reference to him in The Vellum until June 1973 when he was listed as singing Dare Devil Dick at the convention that month. In 1977 Jack joined the committee and served for thirteen years until retiring in September 1990.

JACK RECORDS A VIDEO

By the Spring 1993 issue of The Vellum, Jack was advertising a video tape that he had made on “How To Play The Uke- Banjo” which featured him just sat on the settee in his home, explaining the intricacies of all the strokes and every aspect of playing George Formby songs. There has been quite a few attempts at putting lessons of the George Formby style of play on video/DVD but in my opinion Jack’s effort is up there with the very best. I got to know Jack’s video recording quite well when in 2011 after we had taken over the management of the GFS shop, I built Jack’s video into a DVD featuring chapter points to all the subjects that Jack had covered. The DVD proved to be a best seller for the GFS and is still in the Shop today.

HONORARY MEMBERSHIP

In September 1994 Jack was most deservedly awarded honorary membership by GFS President Dennis Taylor and in 1995 was featured in a short BBC TV production called From The Edge which highlighted disabled people and their lives. In February 2002 Jack sadly died, he was 81 years old. Jack Jones’s name lives on within our Society and he is still regarded as one of the best players throughout any of the sixty years that the GFS has existed. His DVD is certainly not HD quality but the content is priceless!