Tom Jans
| Tom Jans | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 9, 1948 Yakima, Washington |
| Died | March 25, 1984 (aged 36) Los Angeles, California |
| Genres | Folk, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1971–1982 |
| Associated acts | Mimi Fariña |
| Website | tomjans |
Tom Jans (February 9, 1948 – March 25, 1984) was an American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from San Jose, California. He is perhaps best known for his song "Loving Arms" (also known as "Lovin' Arms"), which has been performed and recorded by dozens of artists and bands, initially by Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge, and later by Dobie Gray, Elvis Presley, Dixie Chicks, Natalie Cole, Olivia Newton-John, Petula Clark, Jon English, Livingston Taylor, Etta James, Millie Jackson, Jody Miller, The Beautiful South and The Cats, among many others.
The son of a farmer, Tom Jans was raised near San Jose. Jans's paternal grandmother had been involved in music, playing in the Rocky Mountain Five jazz group. His influences ranged from Hank Williams to flamenco (his mother was from Spain) to The Beatles. He studied English literature at the University of California at Davis, but rejected a graduate scholarship to Columbia University to seek a career in music.
Playing coffeehouses in San Francisco, Jans met Joan Baez, who introduced him to her sister Mimi Fariña in 1970. Fariña had achieved cult status as part of a duo with her late husband Richard Fariña. Fariña had begun writing new songs and was looking for a partner to perform them with; Jans seemed to be a similar collaborator and the two formed a new duo. The duo played San Francisco Bay Area clubs and received notice from their performance at the Big Sur Folk Festival. The group then toured extensively as a supporting act for Cat Stevens and then James Taylor. They received a recording contract from A&M Records, releasing the album Take Heart in 1971. However, the album received little notice and the duo split up in 1972.
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