[3][4] At the time, manpower was often scarce on family farms and Jones' grandfather had already died when he was in fourth grade.
He dropped out of school at age 13 to support the family farm after his father had suffered from an illness, their cotton crop had been destroyed, and their two plowing mules and milking cow all had died.
These three sessions represent the majority of Jones's recorded output: ten songs of his own and nine with Texas Alexander.
Jones performed at parties, fish fries and juke joints, often in the company of Thomas Shaw, Texas Alexander, and J. T.
[2] Jones's style is marked by his tendency to start a song at one tempo and then slow down once he began to sing.