Jo Jo Gunne is a rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1971 by Jay Ferguson (keyboards, vocals and guitar) and Mark Andes (bass guitar and vocals) after they had left Spirit. The group's name is derived from "Jo Jo Gunne", a Chuck Berry song that peaked at #83 as a single in November 1958.
Jay Ferguson (born May 10, 1947) and Mark Andes (born 19 February 1948) started the band with the addition of Mark's brother Matt Andes (born Feb 6, 1949, California) (guitar, vocals) and William "Curly" Smith (born 31 January 1952, Wolf Point, Montana) (drums, vocals and harp), they were signed to Asylum Records.
Jo Jo Gunne had a Top 10 hit in the UK Singles Chart with the song, "Run Run Run", taken from their first album, Jo Jo Gunne (1972), which peaked at 27 in U.S. charts, and received airplay on U.S. album-oriented rock FM radio stations.
The group did not maintain the commercial momentum of their first release. With Jumpin' the Gunne's tasteless album cover being blamed for drastically falling sales, they broke up in 1975.
Following the first album, Mark Andes left the band after a falling out with his brother Matt and Ferguson and was replaced by Jimmie Randall. Randall introduced a brighter bass sound and helped increase the band's overall volume.