4 Incredible Quincy Jones Songs All Fans Should Know

In the wake of Quincy’s Jones passing, quite a few fans are just now starting to learn about his contributions to the music world. Let’s take a look at four different Quincy Jones songs and albums that the late icon had a hand in producing!

1. ‘New Wave!’ by Dizzy Gillespie

Jones began performing with Dizzy Gillespie as a jazz trumpet player in the late 1950s, and he eventually became this famed jazz musician’s musical director. One of his biggest claims to fame was the 1963 Gillespie record New Wave! We can only imagine how it felt to get to this point for a young Jones, who was a loud and proud fan of Gillespie.

“I had loved [Dizzy Gillespie] ever since I was twelve years old,” Jones once said. “He had style, soul, technique, substance.” We’d have to agree with that.

2. “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore

This track is one of Lesley Gore’s biggest hits, and it also happens to be one of Quincy Jones’ most successful songs. Interestingly enough, Jones didn’t approach Gore with the tune. Rather, songwriters David White and John Madara played the song for Gore after a performance, and she agreed to jump on the project. A few days later, she was pitching the track to Jones with the songwriters behind “You Don’t Own Me”, and the rest is history.

3. “The Ray” by Ray Charles

Surprisingly, Jones and Ray Charles didn’t work together as much as you would think they did. They actually were very close friends, having met when they were just a couple of teenagers. However, they did work together on the 1967 record The Great Ray Charles, particularly for the song “The Ray”. You can hear Jones’ influence on this instrumental track, as well as the much-needed jazziness of contributing musicians David Newman and Oscar Pettiford.

4. ‘Bad’ by Michael Jackson

Ah, one of the most iconic pop-leaning Quincy Jones songs and albums ever. “Bad” by Michael Jackson, in addition to the album of the same name, was the last collaboration between Jones and Jackson. And boy, did they go out with a bang. 

“All the turmoil [in Jackson’s life] was starting to mount up, so I said I thought it was time for him to do a very honest album writing all the songs,” said Jones of the record. “I suggested that for ‘Bad’.”

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive

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