Alan Lomax, who first encountered Jones on a field recording trip in 1959, said, "She was on fire to teach America.

"[2] Jones grew up in an impoverished but musical family in the small black farming community of Dawson, Georgia.

In 1924, Jones left her 10-year-old daughter with relatives and traveled to Florida, where she worked odd jobs, played cards and sold moonshine.

[4] Jones felt a need to preserve African-American history through song and dance, and in 1961 she traveled to New York City so Lomax could record her biography and body of music.

[2] Jones' 1960 song "Sometimes" was sampled in American electronica musician Moby's 1998 single "Honey",[6][7] and a cover version by Larkin Poe is the opening track on their 2018 album Venom & Faith.