The Turtles/Zappa & The Mothers Legend Jim Pons Pens New Book “Hard Core Love: Sex, Football, and Rock and Roll in the Kingdom of God”

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For Immediate Release

The Turtles/Zappa & The Mothers Legend Jim Pons Pens New Book
“Hard Core Love: Sex, Football, and Rock and Roll in the Kingdom of God”

From the Sunset Strip to the White House and stadiums throughout the NFL, Jim Pons' journey through rock and roll to filming professional football becomes a one-of-a kind spiritual autobiography. “Hard Core Love” connects the dots behind the scenes of Jim's years with The Turtles, Frank Zappa and The New York Jets, all of which lead to his finest achievement, a long-sought peace with God.

Says Jim, “People I have worked with, played with and lived with always told me I should write a book someday and I always thought it would be entertaining to people. It was Neale Donald Walsch who convinced me. He told me it would be helpful to people.”

Jim Pons photo.jpg

Jim Pons is a former bass guitarist and singer for several legendary 1960's and 70's rock bands, including The Leaves, The Turtles, Frank Zappa & The Mothers and Flo & Eddie.

In 1973 Pons left the music industry to become the film and video director for the New York Jets football club. He held this position until his retirement in 2000. Pons and his family moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 2005, where he did game day video for the Jacksonville Jaguars for three more years before finally leaving the NFL. He now sings and plays upright bass in a bluegrass band called Lonesome Ride.

“If you’ve been taught to believe that fame and fortune are the keys to happiness—and most of us have—Jim Pons’ remarkable story is for you. If you’ve been taught that your questions about the meaning of life should be left in the hands of religious experts—and most of us have—Jim’s personal quest to know God offers the gift of spiritual freedom. His transparency shines throughout and cannot help but assist other seekers—covertly, even those who buy the book for the football and rock n’ roll. Having known his story for several years, it has been our sincere desire that Jim share it with the world. Thankfully that time has come. We invite you to open these pages, enjoy his story and come away the better for sharing his experience.” - Lee and Steven Hager, authors of The Gospel of Thomas: Where Science Meets Spirituality

In closing Jim has this to impart, “There is more to life than fame and fortune. We haven’t learned all there is to know about God.”

To purchase:
https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Core-Love-Football-Kingdom/dp/1945390484/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1490113285&sr=1-1&keywords=jim+pons

For more information:
www.jimpons.com
www.facebook.com/wjpons

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glasso...@gmail.com

[sg...@hotmail.com]

I ordered a copy of this for my local library. Hopefully he'll talk about Bob Harris(1), and his adorable ex-con, fellow junkie, bi-sexual, LSD taking, dark arts practicing witch, guitarist singer/songwriter, OD victim, ex-wife, Judee Sill.

[sg...@hotmail.com]

The Pons book finally came in, and he's got two short chapters about his time with the MOI, and one short chapter on Judee Sill.

I'll stay with the FZ chapters, because most of you coarse lads lack the sensibilities to appreciate the beauty of her Bach-inspired music.

He just mentions Bob Harris(1) very briefly, not even using his last name, identifying him as "Bob, a piano player, who used to sell John Beck (of The Leaves) pot, to help support his and JS' junk habit.

He mentions that he was living at Judee Sill's house in N. Hollywood when he got the call to join the MOI. Judee answered the phone and yelled out, "Jim, it's Mark Volkman, of the Turtles." Judee was hooking at the time to help support her habit.

Pons said it was too late to have an acting role in 200 Motels, but he appears on the soundtrack as Studebaker Hoch.
He was friends with FZ before this, but he never liked FZ's music.
There's a small picture of the Mothers in the studio, the one with BH(1) holding the trumpet.

The only songs he could relate to were 'Call Any Vegetable' and 'Concentration Moon' which he liked singing and playing.

FZ told him he sang "Hey Pons" on 'Flower Punk', the MOI's version of the hit "Hey Joe" by The Leaves.

he praises Dunbar, Underwood and Preston calling them the 'nicest guys you want to meet'.
He calls FZ a considerate guy, who dumbed down the bass parts, because he knew Pons couldn't read music.

He still had to have Ian play the parts for him, so he could know what FZ wanted.

He called FZ a perfectionist, who used to stand on his side of the stage making sure that they played and sang what he wrote perfectly.

If it wasn't perfect, FZ would pout for a few days.

He mentions the legendary less than generous salaries FZ would pay his band, and said he had more fun off stage than on stage with the MOI.

Although FZ was a tough guy to work for, he was a wild guy to party with, and there were always a multitude of groupies willing to do anything for FZ.

he and Mark would regularly get the phone call, "Orgy in Frank's Room- come on down."
Waiting there would be The Winnipeg Rangers, The Girl With the Shoe, The Mile High Stewardesses and Penny Lane and the Plaster casters, all with different talents that FZ would later write songs about.
One of them became part of their act for several months.

He described what John Lennon wore at the Fillmore as a beautiful cream colored suit made out of chamois, the kind of thing you wash cars with, and he had a Pat Boone button on his left lapel.

FZ hired a tutor to teach them German to sing 'Billy the Mountain', and Pons was chosen to play the part of God, because his father was born in Holland, so he knew the guttural sound of German better than anyone in the group.

Pons aid FZ didn't believe in anything even resembling God, but enjoyed spoofing the idea of religion

FZ wrote a part for Pons in the stage version of BTM which called for an impersonation of the great American faith healer and evangelist, Katherine Kuhlman, one of Pons' fave religious personalities, and he nailed the part.

He can still see FZ standing on the left side of the stage, smoking his cigarette and laughing joyously.

He talks about the show being busted in Virginia Beach for profanity, etc... and being escorted to jail by the police. The lewd behavior part of the charges came from the sexually charged acrobatic act portraying the Flying Sanzini Brothers, and their version of the creation story.

He talks about going to Scandinavia with the MOI, where FZ was a God. Pons went to all the porn shops there and smuggled out a mag called 'Hard Core Love'.
FZ said he couldn't afford to be seen in those places.

he talks about playing a theater in Montreux when they noticed a flame being passed around in the balcony, which all of a sudden fell down to the seats below.
FZ tried to calm down the audience, but they all ran to the stage. Their road manager told them to drop their guitars and follow him down to the kitchen, but there was no way out, so the bus driver smashed trough a glass wall with blood gushing everywhere, and they crawled through the hole to a door that led to a loading dock.

FZ, in a rare display of democracy, asked them if they wanted to continue the tour of Western Europe, which they agreed to, with a bunch of new, borrowed and rented instruments.

In London at the Rainbow Theater, during an encore, a delusional fan jumped on stage, and bumped Pons and Howard, and pushed
FZ off the stage.
FZ's manager got hold of the attacker and was beating him senseless before the cops stopped him from killing the guy.

When Pons visited FZ in the hospital whispered the last words he ever spoke to Pons, "Your hair's getting good in the back".