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H. B., Sharon Jones

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Today is the birthday of singer Sharon Jones. She’s 57.

If I was a very good and thoroughly inventive writer, I might be able to create a character as complete as Sharon Jones. Her solo career was going nowhere, so she made money as an armored car guard and a corrections officer on Rikers Island, New York City’s main prison facility.

How can that be anything but stressful work? The only advantage I can imagine to such a job is the opportunity to learn a whole bunch about human nature. That would be an excellent education if what you wanted to become was a tough cookie.

Jones got her big break as a musician at age 40 because she was the only one of three scheduled backup singers to show up for a gig.

We all know remarkable things can happen if you are in the right place at the right time. Some of it is whimsy, but you do have to be willing to get out of bed.

Sharon Jones continues to tour globally with her band The Dap Kings, and she is giving us a day-by-day demonstration of what it means to have an exemplary “second act”. Here she is singing “This Land is Your Land.”

When have you been in the right place at the right time?

39 thoughts on “H. B., Sharon Jones”

  1. Great performer I’d never heard of. Once again you’ve been a musical educator for me.Thanks.

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  2. I love Sharon Jones. R&B as we know it is alive and well.
    Here is my response to Dale’s question. It is not an R&B song, however.

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  3. Good morning. This is a good way to start a Saturday morning – the singing of Sharon Jones and information about her. Thanks Dale.

    I was in the right place at the right time when I was hired to be the coordinator of the Midwest Farmer’s Network of the Rodale Institute. I saw this job listed some place and decided to apply for it without know if I would have a chance of getting it. I had been in contact with a few of the people who were involved in that network which had been in place for a few years, but no one recommended me for the job.

    The person who preceded me in the job had decided to move on to another job. There probably was only enough funding to keep the project going for an additional year or two, but I didn’t know that. I did manage to keep the network going for 5 years and had a great time working with some outstanding farmers. Some how I seemed to have said just the right thing to the person who hired me. I don’t know how I did that. I learned that another person, who was probably the top candidate, didn’t come off well in his interview.

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      1. You just never know when you are going to get lucky. I guess it wasn’t all luck. At least it was one of the times when I didn’t suffer from bad luck.

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  4. What comes to mind for me is a story much too complicated to be described here. In the award winning movie, “Slumdog Millionaire,” a poor Indian kid wins a contest because he has had the luck of having just the right combination of experiences to know the answers to quiz questions. I felt that way about my life experiences when I tried to help a younger friend recover from a life gone tragically astray. She supplied courage and intelligence. For six years, I tried to supply her with hope while offering her new ways of looking at problems that didn’t seem to have answers. I suppose we won’t know how well all this worked until her life is over, but this week she took charge of her life and left a marriage that trapped her in 25 years of misery. Will she live happily ever after? As of today, I like her chances.

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  5. I don’t know if I have ever been in the right place at the right time,. but I know I have never been in the wrong place at the wron time. My dad was once considered a suspect in a pipe bombing case because he was the only person in our area who subsrcribed to the Metro edtion of the Minneapolis Tribune. The bomb had been wrapped in the metro edition of the Strib. He thought being a suspect was pretty amusing

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  6. Husband reminds me that when we moved here when he got his job at the Human Service Center, the local hospital had just advertised for a Master’s level psychologist, which I was, and also was the only qualifed applicant in town. Right place, right time.

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  7. Getting my stuff out of my locker to head home one late afternoon after school. My friend Jeff happened by and told me to put my flute back in the locker, they needed help painting the set for the fall play. He knew I had auditioned and hadn’t made the cast (“Of Mice and Men” – seriously, who does that for a high school show when most of your auditioners will be girls and there is only one female role in the script?), but figured I might like hanging out backstage and helping out. Put a paintbrush in my hand and I never looked back. After painting a bunch of flats I was tasked with helping to build a stump out of lumber and chicken wire. That was it. I was hooked. I wonder now where I would be had it not been for Jeff stopping that day (oh, and he gave me a dime to call home on the pay phone by the school office so my mom wouldn’t worry about me being late to get home).

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  8. l always love it when the topic du jour follows up on a recent unrelated conversation. We attended the Spring Showcase of the St Paul Stars Synchronized Swim Team last night and one of the mom’s and I were having this very discussion:

    You almost have to have luck, but when the luck comes along, you also have to be prepared to capitalize on it as both Renee and Jim’s stories show.

    Probably the best right time/right place situations in my life has nothing to do with my preparation, just pure dumb luck on my part. I’m sure some of you have heard this tale before.

    Well over a month before the s&h was due to make his debut, I had a routine check-up. Because I wanted to hang on to every scrap of sick leave I had coming for after he got here, I got an appointment at the Maplewood clinic instead of the downtown St Paul clinic. Check-up went fine and I was on my way out the door, just waiting for my prescription. The nurse who had been part of my exam asked if I was in a hurry to go, as they had just gotten a new ultrasound at the clinic and she wanted to see what it was like. Turns out, she was actually a retired nurse, and was just filling in “on call”, so it wasn’t like she was there everyday and would see it any time soon.

    I wasn’t in a hurry and you didn’t have to ask twice if I wanted to take a look at the baby on board, so back we went.

    Turns out, that boy was just not moving like he should have been. She brought this to the doctor’s attention and next thing I knew, I was in for “observation”. Next morning, I was calling in to let them know I would be late to work, and the doctor came in to say that baby needed to be born NOW.

    Every chance in the world that I could have just gone home that night and been none the wiser until it was too late and serious damage had occurred.

    I am grateful for that inquistive nurse every day.

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    1. That’s the kind of story that really makes you think, mig. All the “what if’s” that come to mind had this stroke of dumb luck occurred. Great story.

      OT – Lisa and I (and her friend, Nancy) went to the opening night performance of ‘Out of the Pan Into the Fire” last night. A fabulous production by a small band of extremely creative artists. Make time in your schedules to go see it if at all possible. It’s funny, absurd, and poignant, and the talent of the actors is extraordinary; I can’t recommend it highly enough.

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    4. that is a great case of being in the right place at the right time mig. thank goodness for that combination of events. so glad you and s&h are her to tell the story.

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  9. I’m fond of saying, luck favors those in motion, and I firmly believe it’s true. I have seen it a work in my own life too many times to count.

    What were the chances when I lost my job as an au pair for a Danish diplomat family on my 21st birthday, that a similar, but better, job would open up four days later for an American family? What were the chances that a very small kindness to a total stranger in Basel would be rewarded seven years later with a cash loan that would enable me to go to college? These are just two examples; I have a great many things to be grateful for, and several of them happened simply because I was in the right place as the right time.

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  10. the right place is where you are and the time is always ticking isnt it. i hate waiting for the right time and the right place so i kick around at what ever is in my brain at the moment and always find a deserving direction to head. there is not a lot of spare time on this planet and so i suspicion i have passed on many opportunities i could have been involved in if i hadnt been distracted with the carrot on the string i was following but i have had a good time along the way and the i hope to get to a few more before im done.
    a few that come to mind are the time i answered the phone in high school when the guys who had a band but needed a front man and singer to fill it out the group. the four of us ended up being good friends and the difference between listening to music an being involved in it personally have made a huge difference even if it was only a two year page of my life. i know i can always do that again and love it. another is the day i decided to quit my aimless wantering on the raod and to come back to minneapolis and study art and music and go to work woith my dad selling. turns iout i was right on all three counts and there is no other combuination that cvould have serviced me as well.
    40 years later i am ready to write a new chapter and its a kick figuring it out. my 20 year old is trying to get started in the business world and is studying entrepreneurship at school and i shake my head wishing i could share not the words but the vision behind the words as to why and how you pick what to follow and what to pass. i guess you have to live through the consequences of decisions gone well or poorly in order to appreciate the cards you have dealt yourself. being open to options and aware of the things that make you tick help. being a straight shooter who tells it like it is helps too. who knows what you are thinking if you dont pipe up while youre sitting there. sometimes piping up and letting someone know what you are thinking keeps you form getting what you want to but that is part of the deal. watch out what you wish for. you may just get it and have to live with that for a life time.

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    1. Being in the right place at the right time is somewhat a product of being ready to take advance of an opportunity when it comes along. Some people think that careful goal setting and long range planning is needed to improve your changes of being successful. I have a hard time with goal setting and making plans. However, I do think that when things have gone well they have been a product of having somewhat prepared myself to be ready to do something that came my way. However, planning ahead and setting goals has not necessarily lead me in good directions.

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      1. poor planning equals poor results. i had great plans while i was rolling in the dough. then as the walls came crashing in and all the saved wisdom went by the wayside i found my planning for catastrophe had not been placed high enough on the priority list. i am having a great time finding new and exciting ways to skin a cat but its a whole different deal. now i am laying out a condensed version of planning. trying to get it all done in the 10 years i have in mind before i back it down a hair.

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        1. I agree that good planning is needed in many cases.. It’s those “life” plans designed to to set you on a path to success in life that don’t go over well with me. I do think that plans for things that need to be done or have some practical value are important..

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  11. Husband was helping a co-worker move from S. Mpls.apartment to a house in Robbinsdale in 1988. When he saw her huge back yard, and the even bigger one next door, he told her to let him know if that next door house ever became available. Who knew? The next year it was up or Sale by Owner, and though it was a smaller house, I couldn’t resist that yard, either. Had/has huge box elder tree, plenty of garden space, and is one door from a nature park with biking path that followed the train tracks into Golden Valley… Also two blocks from where Husband grew up. If he hadn’t help his friend move in, we never would have found it.

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  12. I didn’t know Sharon Jones either – she’s wonderful to watch, Dale! She and the Dap Kings were heard on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me this weekend.

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  13. I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of some instances when I was in the right place at the right time. I can’t think of any life-changing moments like that, but I can remember a few “in the right place at the right time” incidents to see something I wouldn’t have seen otherwise, or, in one case, to escape something I was sort of glad to not see.

    Stepping outside on a clear, winter night to get some wood for the stove…and seeing northern lights dance across the sky. Choosing to not go see the fireworks on July 4th and seeing northern lights more brilliant and wonderful than any fireworks. Driving around a curve in the road and coming across a huge moose, almost big enough to drive the car under. Coming back from a berry-picking expedition and catching a glimpse of a wolf out the car window. Out for a walk at night and seeing the full moon making a path on a remarkably calm Lake that looked almost solid enough to walk on. Going down to the lake on a blustery November day and seeing huge waves crashing into shore. Coming back from Duluth last summer the day before the Flood.

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    1. good ones edith. small life changing stuff adds up to life in reality. small decisions are waht we make every day, it is like our eating habits add up to an extra pound of weight a year. a small addition but for better or worse one we live with, same is true of small decisions to follow your soul or watch more tv and follow nothing or go for the northern lights. you have to have your head up and your senses on in order to notice the good stuff. northern lights and raspberries… im not sure there is a better combination on this earth.

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      1. That’s exactly right, tim, our everyday choices make all the difference in the world. Reminds me of the story about twin boys with opposite dispositions: One a doom and gloom pessimist and the other an eternal optimist. For their birthday their father give the pessimist a room full of new toys, and the optimist a room full of horse manure. Predictably the pessimist agonized over all could go wrong with his toys, having to read all those instructions, and so on, while the little optimist happily started shoveling the manure saying, “with this much horse shit there’s got to be a pony in there somewhere.”

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      2. Lest you think my past life has just been one of tripping along the north shore and through the woods happening upon great sunsets, northern lights, and moose, let me assure you that I’ve made some small decisions that have big ramifications in a very negative way. And that’s my life in the present. I hope to get back to the kind of person who follows my soul. I’m lucky to have you all on the Trail to help me with that.

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        1. I don’t know what small decisions could be threatening your happiness, but I wish you good luck addressing them.

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        2. What a disappointment, Edith, I thought for sure you were the one baboon I could count on to be out there encountering big moose. I loved the idea of moose big enough for you to drive your car under.

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  14. That was a WICKED version of ‘My Land’! I first heard Sharon Jones on the first ‘Founding Members’ CD that The Current put out. It had that song with a little more arrangement – more brass. But this version- this version has a different soul. Pretty cool.

    I got asked at the last minute to fill in for a roll onstage. Kelly was working backstage on that show and that’s how we met. So I thank the guy who dropped out and the director for asking me to fill in.
    I have a good time imagining all the times when going left rather than right made a difference. Stop and look at this means that happen instead of the other thing.
    Kind of mind boggling.
    And can make you crazy if you’re not careful.

    We drove to Chicago yesterday and took son and his girlfriend out for supper. Headed back to MN today. The snow is gone, right??

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  15. Some day I would love to be in the right place at the right time to develop a voice like Sharon Jones. Have loved her (and the Dap Kings) since I was introduced to them a few years back. Just fabulous. I used to dream of sounding like Aretha Franklin (which would also still be fabulous), but I have changed and now wanting to sound like Sharon…

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