Jones was born into a family of railroad workers in Edgecombe County, North Carolina on August 30, 1941. Jones worked at the railroad to pay for his college. In 1960, he entered East Carolina College, which is now East Carolina University, in 1961 and was accepted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina for his exceptional writing ability. Jones starred in “Moonrunners” in 1975, and in “The Dukes of Hazzard” from 1979-1985. He lived near a Dukes of Hazzard store in Luray, Virginia, and played in “Cooters Garage Band.”