Peter Jones (journalist)
Peter Langley Jones (6 January 1930 – 10 July 2015) was a British journalist, author, editor, promoter and presenter who wrote mainly on show business matters, especially pop music, for magazines including Record Mirror and Billboard. He was involved in the early careers of both The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, pseudonymously writing the first book-length biographies of both bands.
Biography
He was born in
As well as writing in a freelance capacity for Weekend, Record Mirror and other magazines, he appeared regularly on
In 1964, Jones was appointed as editor of Record Mirror, at the time one of the three main national music weeklies in the UK, and during the 1960s and early 1970s wrote hundreds of articles on pop music for the journal. He also wrote extensively in The Beatles Book monthly magazine, under the pseudonym Billy Shepherd, and in the Rolling Stones' magazine, as Peter Goodman. He wrote the first book-length biographies of both bands: The True Story of the Beatles (as Shepherd, 1964), and the Stones' Our Own Story (as Goodman, 1965). He supported and encouraged the early careers of such stars as Dusty Springfield, The Who, and, later, Jimi Hendrix.[3] He also wrote biographies of Elvis Presley and Tom Jones, and was the ghostwriter of newspaper columns for many British pop stars in the 1960s, including Sandie Shaw and Dave Dee, and for footballers including George Best and Denis Law.[1][2]
After Billboard purchased Record Mirror in 1969, Jones continued to write for both publications, and for Music Week. He launched another magazine, Easy Listening, in 1972. For Billboard, he was successively news editor for British, European and international coverage and, finally, special issues editor, based in its London office.[1] He also contributed to the publication, The Story of Rock, and regularly broadcast on music news for Südwestrundfunk in Baden-Baden, Germany, while continuing to work for Billboard until 1997.[2]
He died of heart failure in 2015, aged 85.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d Paul Sexton, "Peter Jones, Writer of Books on Beatles and Stones and Former Billboard and Record Mirror Editor, Dies at 85", Billboard, 23 July 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015
- ^ a b c d e Obituary, Record Collector, No.446, November 2015, p.145
- ^ a b Dave Laing, "Peter Jones obituary", The Guardian, 2 August 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015