Biography
Born Robert L. Jones on 12 October 1924 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the future musician died on 2 April 1996. When he turned five, he relocated with his bluesman father to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and first picked up the guitar three years later. There he encountered prominent local blues figures such as Rev. Gary Davis and Blind Boy Fuller, each of whom shaped his developing style. At sixteen he departed home to roam across the United States, where an encounter with Lightnin’ Hopkins further informed his approach. Jones entered a Pittsburgh studio for Gemini in 1970; the album and single that emerged drew praise for their unvarnished blues intensity. Disappointed by meager earnings, he moved back to Winston-Salem during the mid-1970s and adopted the name Guitar Gabriel. In 1991 Tim Duffy oversaw a new recording session that brought Jones to wider attention once more.