All 4 One Interview about the Upcoming Palace Show

Jamie Jones from the group All 4 One spoke with Eric Mosley about their musical journey and their upcoming show on November 3rd at the Palace.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
So if you're like me, Iwas a kid of the nineties. I
was somebody that was in my teenagein twenty years in the nineties and I
was dating. I was active onthe on the scene back then, and
I remember a lot of times,a lot of songs came up that really
meant something to me. And oneof those groups that had those songs that

(00:22):
seem to really connect with couples,connect with people my age was All for
One and All for One is comingto the Marion Palace Theater this Friday at
seven point thirty and they will beperforming all of their hits and right now
joining me is Jamie Jones, oneof the members of All for One.
Jamie, how are you doing today? I'm great? How are you?

(00:43):
I am doing wonderful. I amhaving a great day, and I believe
you were probably having a great dayas well, just because you get to
go out and do what you doevery day. Amen. You know,
definitely, every day is a greatday. You know, I literally have
been living my dreams in front ofthe world since nineteen ninety three, you

(01:04):
know, All for when we werecebarating thirty years being together this year,
and it's been amazing Yeah, it'shard to believe actually that it's been that
long, because it seems like justyesterday you guys had hit the scene and
were just really something that was notnecessarily on the radio at that time.
There was a lot of R andB groups, but you guys were very

(01:26):
much that group that had tight harmoniesand it was a great focus on love
songs. So talk about a littlebit with how that kind of developed over
time and just when you guys gotstarted, what was that plan going forward?
Well, you know, as Isaid, we got started in ninety
three, and our very first songwas an a cappella song called so Much

(01:49):
in Love, which was also alove song. And you know, all
of us kind of grew up singingin church and in school choir, so
we were all really familiar and lovedsinging harmony. So the fact that our
very first song that came out wasa cappella for us was kind of cool
because that was the kind of stuffwe were already doing. And you know,

(02:14):
it was just one of those thingsthat came out and then I swear
came out afterwards and we had likewe were these young guys with all these
like beautiful love songs that people whowere getting married to and things of that
nature. But it just, youknow, it just worked out that way.
Yeah, you talk about I swearI was one of those that had

(02:35):
that played at my wedding, SoI was definitely a part of that.
But it's interesting that when you guysstarted out, I mean, you guys
started back in California. Was itsomething that you guys all knew each other
you grew up together, or wasit one of those things that you kind
of just got to know each otherthrough other people and you figured out,
man, we're we're actually really good. Well, actually so Tony and Alfred

(03:01):
alfreds are Basinger. Tony sings allthe high parks. They actually did grow
up together, and then I metthem not too long after, No,
maybe I was in high school still. Actually I met them at a college
talent show, and so we exchangednumbers and became friends. And one day

(03:22):
Tony and I entered a karaoke showat the local fairgrounds because the local radio
station was going to pay the winnernine hundred and seventy seven dollars and we
were all super broke, so wedecided to go get in this karaoke show
and that's where we met the fourthmember, Dealis, who was also pretty
broke trying to win that money.None of us won. We all actually

(03:46):
came back for the finals because thatnight we tied with Delius. But you
know, we won in life becauseit was our introduction and we got an
audition for the record label who gaveus our very first song, so Much
in Love, on a cassette andtold us to learn it, and we
came back and sing it for them, and they gave us contracts on the

(04:06):
spot. So even you know,even though we hadn't been together as a
group really really long, you know, it was something that we put together
and me and Tony and Alfred ofcourse had a relationship, and you know,
it wasn't like some of the boybands that came after us that people

(04:27):
would call manufactured. Even though Idon't think it matters how you got together.
The only thing even matters is areyou good together? And did you
have hit songs? You know,but it was it was definitely something that
we put together. I imagine backthen you could have never imagined that you
would have been together this long.What do you think is that key to
be able to stay together as agroup and keep a bond that long.

(04:54):
You know, It's so funny whenwe used to do interviews, we would
say our goal was to be like, you know, the tenth Patient or
the four Tops, who you knowhave been singing together for forty fifty sixty
years. Honestly, I think theglue that has kind of kept us together
is we were all raised with militaryfamilies. You know, Dealers was a
military brat who moved every three years, and Tony and I our dads were

(05:17):
retired by the time we were youknow, coming of age, so we
didn't move every three years, butour dads were still in the military,
and same with Alfred his brother andfamily members. So we all grew up
with a lot of the same values, whether it's our Christian values of being
raised in church or you know,just how we were taught to treat others

(05:39):
and have respect for people. AndI think that that really carried over into
just, you know, our adultlife and how we treated each other.
And we truly are friends and brothers. We have a great time on the
road. Like we were never heavypartiers. To us, a party was
like rolling into a city and challengingour band to basketball. So we would

(06:00):
go up to a court and it'dbe the singers versus the band, you
know. Or we would go findlaser tag or go find like some go
karts, or hit a movie,or if we did hit a bar,
it was just play pool and throwdarts, you know. So we've kind
of all grew up with the samevalues, and our love for music and

(06:20):
our love, you know, foreach other as friends is something that just
has never faded. Speaking with JamieJones, a member of All for One,
who will be at the Marion PalaceTheater Theater this Friday at seven point
thirty. So, Jamie, youguys did win a Grammy Award in nineteen
ninety five, and that seems tobe for most artists. I would imagine

(06:42):
the pinnacle or one of those thingsthat's always a goal. Just tell us
a little bit about what that experiencewas like and then finally hearing your name,
just what that moment felt like.Well, you're right, you know,
it's something I think every every artistdreams of doing, and when it
happens to you, it's just reallyreally amazing and surreal. And it was
one of those things for us.It was one of the first years that

(07:05):
they were announcing all of these Grammysoff the telecast, and so I remember
we were at a hotel room indowntown LA getting ready, and next thing
you know, there's a knock onthe door and it was that TV show
Entertainment Tonight, and they're like,oh, for one, you just want
to grant me. We're like,wait, what when I even marry it?

(07:28):
You know, and and so ofcourse, you know, we start
going completely crazy, and that carride over was pretty crazy, and the
entire telecast anytime they showed us,I'm pretty sure we were grinning and cheezing
because we were like, we alreadywon, you know. And do you
feel like it was you missed outon a chance to be able to do

(07:48):
a speech in front of everybody.I know, you got interviewed and all
that, but did you feel like, man, it would have been nice
to be able to thank everybody oncamera? Of course, you know,
I wanted to thank the world.I wanted to thank my mama and you
know, and everybody responsible for usbeing there. So yeah, that definitely
felt like a miss moment. ButI wouldn't trade it for the world,
because I would rather have a Grammyon my mantle, right now in a

(08:11):
missed moment, then they have noGrammy at all. And not only did
you guys get a Grammy, youwere in the Guinness Book of World Records
for the biggest selling single in nineteenninety four for I Swear. So that's
just another one of those things thatprobably when you started, you could have
never imagined something like that would happen. You're right, I mean, it

(08:33):
was definitely one of those things.That song was so crazy for us.
I mean, you know, wewere so blessed. It stayed number one
for eleven weeks and we tied withElvis, and I mean that song has
taken us around the world multiple multiple, multiple times, and you know,
it was hard to see the successand how big that song was gonna be,

(08:56):
you know beforehand. But it's beenthe most biggest blessing of all of
our lives and just one of thosethings all artists I think dream of.
You know, you dream of havingyour signature songs, and we've been very
blessed to have a few of them, and you know, but you also
dream of having one of those groundbreakingsongs that just seems to last forever.

(09:18):
And so we've been really blessed tohave it. Everybody talks about I Swear
but you like you mentioned you haveso Much in Love, which was the
first hit I can love you likethat. I turned to you these arms
beautiful as you and a lot ofthose songs have been crossover hits into country
music too. What was that liketo be able to hear those songs on

(09:39):
country music radio? That was atrip, you know. I remember.
The story goes. The way wegot I Swear was we were actually completely
finished with our album and Doug Morris, who was the president of Atlantic Records
at the time, called us tohim to his office here in LA and
was like, hey, I wantto play something for y'all's and he plays
us country song you know, ISwear here boy them Moon, you know.

(10:03):
And so we listened to this andhe's like, what do you think
of this? I'm like, it'scool, you know, it's got a
little twaining to it. You know. He's like, I want you guys
to sing it. We're like,wait what. He's like, yeah,
I want you guys to record thisimmediately, like our album is done.
He said, you let me worryabout that. So we said all right,
you know, and we recorded itand then yeah, it happened again

(10:24):
with I Can Love You Like That? Because after I Swear had the success
that it had, all these songwritersnow we're doing two demos of their songs.
So we would get a bag oftapes back in the day, I
mean hepty bags and we'd be listeningto them, not knowing that all these
songs we were listening to did acountry demo as well and sent it to
Nashville, and just by coincidence,it turned out that we picked I Can

(10:50):
Love You Like That, and sodid John Michael Montgomery, who was the
original singer of I Swear, andwe recorded it and I remember we were
at the Grammys because we were singingwith him that you're doing a duet and
so he was like, so,what are y'all up to? And we're
like, you know, we're soexcited. We're finishing our second record.

(11:11):
We got a hit song and it'sgonna be coming out soon. He's like,
what's the name of your song?We're like, ric is called I
Can Love You Like That. He'slike, I got a song called I
Can Love You Like That. We'relike, you do, that's crazy?
How's yours go? And he waslike you know I can love you.
We're like, wait a minute,and then we looked at our manager and
he's looking at us saying, Ididn't know. I didn't know, but

(11:31):
it was all good. John's beena really cool brother. And at the
time, you know, the countrycharts were not really crossing over the way
that they do today to the popcharts, so it was like, Okay,
you're in your world, we're inour world. That's fine. So
in all these years, you've gottento tour the world, You've gotten to

(11:52):
be on many different stages, andyou've probably obviously gotten to meet a lot
of people. Are there any peoplethat were heroes of yours or people that
you had always really wanted to meetthat you finally got to meet over these
past twenty thirty years. Well,anybody who knows me will tell you that

(12:15):
I am the biggest Prince and StevieWonder fan on the earth. And I
did get a chance to I gota chance to go to a party at
Prince's house here in la and thatwas like the trippiest, coolest thing ever
because it was in Beverly Hills andthe house was one of the most beautiful

(12:37):
houses there and you had to walkto the back of the house, and
it felt like a mile long walkto go from the fronty back, and
then when you got to the back, you made a U turn and there
were these stairs that went down andyou go down and underneath there was a
pool, in an indoor pool,and he had like a crylic or a

(12:58):
plastic or something laid see through laidon top of the pool, and that
was the dance floor. And itwas just one of those things where I
probably looked like the stalker of allstalkers because I was studying at the very
frost and he played until like threein the morning, and my wife and
I went there with my buddy WayneBrady and his date and they're all like

(13:22):
laid out, falling asleep in chairs, while I'm still standing in the front
just like the weirdest guy, singingevery lyric of every song, dancing until
my feet hurt. So that waspretty amazing. And then I also got
a chance to work with Stevie Wonderbecause I do a lot of production outside
of all one, so I workedwith a lot of different artists and Stevie's

(13:45):
kids, his younger kids and mykids grew up together, so we were
having a family dinner together and hewas like, Gami, I need to
help with something. I need toproduce a song. I just don't have
time on a friend of mine.So I was like, let's do it.
So I got chance to go downto the Stevie studio for like two
weeks in a row and produce asong on an artist. Her name is

(14:07):
MESA song is called Sweet Dreams,and it was another one of those moments
of my life that I'll never forgetthat Stevie asked me and my partner to
produce a song alongside of him,and we did it at his studio and
would stay up literally till five sixin the morning talking, you know,

(14:28):
every time I would go there.So that was amazing as well. Wow,
that is an amazing story. AndI am officially jealous because those are
two people I would have loved tohave met. Obviously, can't meet Prince.
Maybe someday meet Stevie. I don'tknow if that'll ever happen. Let's
talk about the show coming up Fridayat the Palace Theater and Mary and what
can the fans expect. What Obviouslythey're going to hear a lot of the

(14:52):
hits, but what kind of showis it? What's the band like?
So one thing that I think peopleare always surprised and shock about awful one
is even though some of our hits, or a lot of our hits are
ballads, it's not just a ballid, heavy show. We have a great
time on stage, and I meanwe take We love to take our audience

(15:13):
through a musical journey, through ourinfluences, through of course our own songs,
and just all of these places thatwe've been musically. We love to
take our fans there and it isa place too, Like you know,
if you're a couple and you're lookingfor something really fun and cool to do,
you know, we love we loveto have folks come out to our

(15:33):
shows and have a great time,and we're actually coming with our band,
So it's not what we call atrack date where we're just you know,
coming with an iPad and whatnot.We're actually coming with our full band,
and you know, the energy isalways completely different for us when we have
a band and we're on stage sharingthe stage with them, So you know,

(15:54):
it's just gonna be a lot offun. We want to encourage anybody
who's looking for something cool to doand loves live music. To come out.
You'll hear so many songs that youprobably didn't even know we sang,
as well as songs that you probablyhaven't heard in a while. So you
know you're looking for something cool,dude, come on out and hang with
us. That sounds amazing. Ithink it's going to be a great night.

(16:17):
And being from Maryon, born andraised, I want to tell you
the Maryon Palace Theater is a beautifultheater. I think once you guys get
in there, you are going tofall in love with just the way that
theater looks, and I think you'lllike the people and Marying as well.
But we can't wait for you guysto come. Jamie Jones from All for
One, thank you so much forspeaking with us today and just letting us

(16:38):
see a little bit into your guys'world. Thank you for having me and
once again, we are looking soforward to coming out there and hanging with
all the great people of mary andand love to see y'all on Friday.
Awesome reminder Friday, November thirty seven, thirty All for One at the Maryon Palace Theater