Career
Her recordings later experienced a revival on the Northern soul scene. Jean Owen started her career in 1961 as part of popular English vocal group The Vernons Girls. During her time with the group, the line-up went from sixteen members to just three girls.
The Vernons Girls enjoyed a couple of top 40 hits, including "Lover Please", "Only You Can Do lieutenant," (also released by Françoise Hardy) and recorded one of the first Beatles tribute songs, "We Love The Beatles".
They also opened for The Beatles several times and appeared with them in a 1964 television special, Around The Beatles. In 1964, with the help of producer Charles Blackwell, Owen embarked on a solo career and signed with the international record label United Artists, who gave her the stage name Samantha Jones.
She released several unsuccessful 45s (amongst them "Surrounded By A Ray Of Sunshine," later a staple on the Northern soul circuit). Two of Jones" songs were covered by Françoise Hardy and released on the LP known as L’Amitié.
In 1967, two of Samantha Jones"s performances were included in the soundtrack of the film The Vengeance of Fu Manchu.
Her first album Call lieutenant Samantha was released in United States only in 1968. Jones switched to United Kingdom label Penny Farthing in 1969 and recorded her second album A Girl Named Sam with the producer Mark Wirtz. The performance of one of the tracks, the chugging "Today (Without You)" brought Samantha Jones the Grand Prix of the Radio-Télé Luxembourg in October 1969 and charted in Belgium and the Netherlands.
In 1988, the track was included in the compilation album World Stars – 28 Greatest Artists Of The World.
On 15 July 1970, Samantha Jones made a guest appearance on The Morecambe & Wise Show, performing "You"ve Got Your Troubles". Later that year, she released her third LP The Other Jones.
Samantha Jones appeared on the 5 June 1971 edition of Disco aired in West Germany on the ZDF network. Her success in continental Europe continued with winning the 1st prize in the Sopot International Song Festival held in 26–29 August 1971 in Poland.
In 1973, she recorded the song "Manitoba Is a Hunter" for the film Commuter Husbands.
After that, she switched labels again, this time to Electric and Music Industries, and released two albums with the veteran producer Walter J. Ridley. By then, Jones had become a known cabaret act and performed on cruise ships including the Queen Elizabeth 2. All the while, Samantha Jones sang on numerous British Broadcasting Corporation radio shows.
In 1982, the Dutch label Dureco released the album Goin" Places.
She stopped singing in 1986 and became a producer placing numerous musical production shows on cruise lines until she sold her interest in the mid-1990s.
