E. Rodney Jones

Born Aug. 8, 1928 in Texarkana, TX
Died Jan. 2, 2004 in Baton Rouge, LA aged 76.

The late E. Rodney Jones may have been the most prolifically-recorded of the great R&B DJs. “The Mad Lad,” as he was known, held forth daily in the afternoons for Chicago’s R&B powerhouse WVON, projecting an air of cool.

Jones’ syrupy voice was featured on quite a few funky 45s for labels including Tuff (where he cut the Northern Soul classic “R&B Time”), Twinight, Westbound and Brunswick. “The Whole Thing” was the flip side to Willie Henderson’s “Loose Booty” on Brunswick. Here Jones half-sings and raps his way through a description of a soul food party, making good use of the Alka-Seltzer jingle “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” and creating a fun funky 45 in the process.