While he's hardly a well-known figure (though he did play on some hit records), Jim Pons' career is a reflection of the changes undergone by Los Angeles rock itself in the 1960s and early '70s, taking in stints with the Turtles and Frank Zappa. His most significant individual work, though, preceded that, when he founded and played bass in the Leaves, one of the best early folk-rock bands. Pons was a college student when he formed the Leaves at his fraternity house at Cal State Northridge in the San Fernando Valley. They were just an average young frat band before they saw the Byrds in early 1965 at the Los Angeles club Ciro's, which expanded their ambitions and pushed their sound toward folk-rock. When the Byrds got big, the Leaves replaced them at Ciro's, and soon started recording respectable, if garage-ish and derivative, folk-rock of their own. Pons was the leader of the band if anyone was, co-writing some of their original material, such as their first single, the local L.A. hit Too Many People. The Leaves remain most known, though, for their Top 40 hit Hey Joe in 1966.

The Leaves broke up after a couple of albums, when Pons was offered the bass position in the Turtles. Pons' creative role in the Turtles wouldn't be nearly as large as it had been in the Leaves, but on the other hand he was now in a much more successful group, playing with them until their breakup at the beginning of the 1970s. Pons again received a timely offer when Frank Zappa asked him to replace bassist Jeff Simmons, who had quit in a colorful fashion during the filming of the Zappa movie #200 Motels. (In fact, Pons was the voice of "bad conscience" in that movie, doing his part in post-production.) Pons' bass, and sometimes vocals (he did a lot of the dialogue in Billy the Mountain), are heard on the Zappa albums Fillmore East: June 1971, 200 Motels, and Just Another Band From L.A.

Pons left the Zappa band when the leader was incapacitated for a while after suffering severe injuries when he fell into the orchestra pit at a show in London. The plan had been to reunite with a couple of other guys in the band, Flo Eddie (aka Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan), who had also been in the Turtles, and to use the name the Turtles. They couldn't use that name for legal reasons, however, and so went out as Flo Eddie, with Pons on bass. In the early '70s, Pons also did production for cult singer/songwriter Judee Sill's Judee Sill album. Pons subsequently became the video director for the New York Jets football team, staying in that position for 27 years. After leaving, he devoted himself to work at the David Center, the organization he and his wife established to aid families with autistic children. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi