Brian Jones
Encyclopedia
Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969), known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones
.
His main instruments were the guitar and the harmonica, but he played a wide variety of other instruments. His innovative use of traditional or folk instruments
, such as the sitar
and marimba
, was integral to the changing sound of the band.
He was originally the leader of the group, but Mick Jagger
and Keith Richards
soon overshadowed him, especially after they became a successful songwriting team. Jones developed a serious drug abuse problem over the years and his role in the band steadily diminished.
He left the Rolling Stones in June 1969 to be replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor
. Jones died less than a month later in his own swimming pool.
, Gloucestershire
, on 28 February 1942. An attack of croup
at the age of four left him with asthma
, which lasted for the rest of his life. His middle-class parents, Lewis Blount Jones and Louisa Beatrice Jones (née Simmonds) were of Welsh descent. Brian had two sisters: Pamela, who was born on 3 October 1943 and who died on 14 October 1945 of leukaemia; and Barbara, born on 22 August 1946.
Both Jones's parents were interested in music: his mother Louisa was a piano teacher, and in addition to his job as an aeronautical engineer, Lewis Jones played piano and organ
and led the choir at the local church.
In 1957 Jones first heard Cannonball Adderley's music, which inspired his interest in jazz. Jones persuaded his parents to buy him a saxophone
, and two years later his parents gave him his first acoustic guitar as a 17th birthday present.
Jones attended local schools, including Dean Close School
, from September 1949 to July 1953 and Cheltenham Grammar School for Boys
, which he entered in September 1953 after passing the Eleven-plus exam. He enjoyed badminton and diving at school and became first clarinet
in the school orchestra. In 1957 he reportedly obtained seven O-level passes, then he continued into the sixth form
and obtained a further two O-levels. He also took three A-levels in Physics, Chemistry and Biology and passed in Physics and Chemistry, but failed in Biology. Jones had an IQ of 135 and was able to perform well on exams despite a lack of academic effort. Despite academic ability, however, he found school regimented and disliked conforming. He disliked the school uniforms and angered teachers with his behaviour, though he was generally popular among students. Jones himself said: "When I made the sixth form I found myself accepted by the older boys; suddenly I was in."
His hostility to authority figures resulted in his suspension from school on two occasions. According to Dick Hattrell, a childhood friend: "He was a rebel without a cause, but when examinations came he was brilliant."
In the spring of 1959, Jones's 14-year-old girlfriend, a Cheltenham schoolgirl named Valerie Corbett, became pregnant. Although Jones is said to have encouraged her to have an abortion, she placed the baby boy up for adoption by an infertile couple.
Jones quit school in disgrace and left home, travelling through Northern Europe
and Scandinavia
for a summer. During this period, he lived a bohemian
lifestyle, busking
with his guitar on the streets for money, and living off the charity of others. Eventually, Jones ran short of money and returned to England.
Jones grew up listening to classical music, but he preferred blues
, particularly Elmore James
and Robert Johnson. He began playing at local blues and jazz clubs in addition to busking and working odd jobs. He was also known to steal small amounts of money from work to pay for cigarettes, which tended to get him fired.
In November 1959, Jones went to the Wooden Bridge Hotel in Guildford
to see a group. He met a young married woman named Angeline, and the two had a one-night stand that resulted in her pregnancy. Angeline and her husband decided to bring up the baby together, a girl, born on 4 August the following year. Jones never knew about her birth.
In 1961, Jones applied for a scholarship to Cheltenham Art College. He was initially accepted into the programme, however the offer was withdrawn two days later. Someone had written to the college saying Jones was an irresponsible drifter, and the college reconsidered the offer.
On 23 October 1961, Jones's girlfriend Pat Andrews gave birth to his third child, Julian Mark Andrews. Jones sold his record collection to buy flowers for Pat and clothes for the newborn and lived with them for a while. On 23 July 1964, another woman, Linda Lawrence, gave birth to Jones's fourth child, also named Julian Mark.
Brian's fifth child was born in Wimbledon
on 24 March 1965, to teenager Dawn Molloy. He was originally named Paul Andrew Molloy. Dawn was forced to give the baby up for adoption and Paul's adoptive parents re-named him John. Finally, on 23 February 1969, Brian's sixth and youngest child was born to a married but separated American model named Elizabeth. Brian met Elizabeth on 12 May in Wembley and saw her a few times between 12 and 20 May. She and her husband were reunited in November 1968 and flew back to the United States. The baby, Brian's second daughter, was born in Chicago, IL, and named after Brian's surviving sister, Barbara. Barbara was brought up by Elizabeth and her husband.
, future Manfred Mann
singer Paul Jones
, future Cream
bassist Jack Bruce
and others who made up the small London rhythm and blues
and jazz
scene there. He became a blues musician, for a brief time calling himself "Elmo Lewis", and playing slide guitar
. Jones also started a group with Paul Jones called the Roosters and in January 1963, after both Brian and Paul left the group, Eric Clapton
took over Brian's position as guitarist.
Jones placed an advertisement in Jazz News (a Soho club information sheet) of 2 May 1962 inviting musicians to audition for a new R&B group at the Bricklayer's Arms pub; pianist Ian "Stu" Stewart
was the first to respond. Later singer Mick Jagger
also joined this band; Jagger and his childhood friend Keith Richards
had met Jones when he and Paul Jones
were playing Elmore James
' "Dust My Broom
" with Korner's band at the Ealing Jazz Club
. Jagger brought guitarist Richards to rehearsals; Richards then joined the band. Jones's and Stewart's acceptance of Richards and the Chuck Berry
songs he wanted to play coincided with the departure of blues purists Geoff Bradford
and Brian Knight, who had no tolerance for Chuck Berry.
As Keith Richards tells it, Jones came up with the name the "Rollin' Stones" (later with the 'g') while on the phone with a venue owner. "The voice on the other end of the line obviously said, 'What are you called?' Panic. The Best of Muddy Waters album was lying on the floor—and track one was 'Rollin' Stone Blues'".
The Rollin' Stones played their first gig on 12 July 1962 in the Marquee Club
in London with Jagger, Richards, Jones, Stewart, bass player
Dick Taylor
(later of the Pretty Things
) and drummer Tony Chapman
.
From September 1962 to September 1963 Jones, Jagger and Richards shared a flat (referred to by Richards as "a beautiful dump") at 102 Edith Grove, Chelsea
, with James Phelge, a future photographer whose last name was used in some of the group's early "Nanker/Phelge" writing credits. Jones and Richards spent day after day playing guitar while listening to blues records (notably Jimmy Reed
, Muddy Waters
, Willie Dixon
and Howlin' Wolf
). During this time, Jones also taught Jagger how to play harmonica
.
The four Rollin' Stones went searching for a bassist and drummer, finally settling on Bill Wyman
on bass because he had a spare VOX AC30
guitar amplifier
and always had cigarettes, as well as a bass guitar that he had built himself. After playing with Mick Avory
, Tony Chapman
and Carlo Little
, in January 1963 they finally persuaded jazz-influenced Charlie Watts
to join them. At the time, Watts was considered by fellow musicians to be one of the better drummers in London; he had played with (among others) Alexis Korner's group Blues Incorporated
.
Watts described Jones's role in these early days: "Brian was very instrumental in pushing the band at the beginning. Keith and I would look at him and say he was barmy. It was a crusade to him to get us on the stage in a club and be paid half-a-crown and to be billed as an R&B band".
The group played at local blues and jazz clubs, garnering fans in spite of resistance from traditional jazz musicians who felt threatened by their popularity. While Jagger was lead singer, Jones, in the group's embryonic period, was the leader—promoting the band, landing gigs, and negotiating with venue owners. Jones played guitar and harmonica
, and during performances, especially at the Crawdaddy Club
in Richmond, he proved to be a more lively and engaging performer than even Jagger.
While acting as the band's business manager, Jones received £5 more than the other members, which did not sit well with the rest of the band and created resentment. Keith Richards has said that both he and Mick were surprised to learn that Brian considered himself the leader and was receiving the extra £5, especially as other people, like Giorgio Gomelsky
, appeared to be doing the booking.
Stratotone, which he replaced with a Gretsch
Double Anniversary in two-tone green. In 1964 and 1965 he often used a teardrop-shaped prototype Vox Mark VI
. From late 1965 until his death, Jones used Gibson
models (various Firebirds, ES-330, and a Les Paul model
), as well as two Rickenbacker
12-string
models. He can also be seen playing a Fender Telecaster in the 1968 "Jumpin' Jack Flash
" promo video.
Examples of Jones's contributions are his slide guitar on "I Wanna Be Your Man
" (1963), "I'm a King Bee
" (1964, on the Rolling Stones), "Little Red Rooster
" (1964), "I Can't Be Satisfied" (1965, on Rolling Stones No. 2), "I'm Movin' On
" (1965, on the EP Got Live If You Want It!), "Doncha Bother Me" (1966, on Aftermath) and "No Expectations
" (1968, on Beggars Banquet). Jones can also be heard playing Bo Diddley-style rhythm guitar on "I Need You Baby (Mona)", the guitar riff in "The Last Time"
; sitar on "Street Fighting Man
" and "Paint It, Black
"; organ on "Let's Spend the Night Together
", "Complicated", and "2000 Man"; marimba
on "Under My Thumb
", "Out Of Time" and "Yesterday's Papers
"; recorder
on "Ruby Tuesday" and "All Sold Out"; trumpet on "Child of the Moon"; Appalachian dulcimer
on "I Am Waiting" and "Lady Jane
" and harpsichord
on "Lady Jane"; accordion
on "Backstreet Girl"; saxophone and oboe
on "Dandelion
"; mellotron
on "She's a Rainbow
", "We Love You"; saxophone on Citadel, "Stray Cat Blues" and "2000 Light Years from Home
"; and (for his final recording as a Rolling Stone) the autoharp
on "You Got the Silver
".
Jones also played harmonica on many of the Rolling Stones' early songs. Examples of Jones's playing are on "Stoned
" (1963), "Not Fade Away
" (1964), "I Just Want to Make Love to You
", "Now I've Got A Witness" (1964)" (from The Rolling Stones), "Good Times, Bad Times" (1964), "2120 South Michigan Avenue
" (1964) (from E.P. Five By Five), "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man", "One More Try" (1965) (from Out Of Our Heads), "High and Dry" and "Goin' Home" (1966) (from Aftermath), "Who's Driving Your Plane?" (1966), "Cool Calm and Collected", "Who's Been Sleeping Here" (1967) (from Between The Buttons), and "Dear Doctor
" and "Prodigal Son" (1968) (from Beggars Banquet).
In the early years, Jones also sometimes served as a backing vocalist. Notable examples are "Come On
", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "I Just Wanna Make Love to You", "Walking the Dog
", "Money (That's What I Want)
", "I'm Alright", "You Better Move On
" and "It's All Over Now
". He contributed backing vocals as late as 1968 on "Sympathy For The Devil
". He is also responsible for the whistling on "Walking the Dog."
Richards maintains that what he calls "guitar weaving
" emerged from this period, from listening to Jimmy Reed
albums: "We listened to the teamwork, trying to work out what was going on in those records; how you could play together with two guitars and make it sound like four or five". Jones's and Richards's guitars became a signature of the sound of the Rolling Stones, with both guitarists playing rhythm and lead without clear boundaries between the two roles.
From 1966 onwards Jones's contributions in the recording studio were more as a multi-instrumentalist than as a guitarist. His aptitude for playing a wide variety of instruments is particularly evident on the albums Aftermath (1966), Between the Buttons
(1967) and Their Satanic Majesties Request
(1967).
's arrival marked the beginning of Jones's slow estrangement, his prominent role gradually diminishing as the Stones' centre shifted from Jones to Jagger and Richards. Oldham recognised the financial advantages of bandmembers writing their own songs, as exemplified by Lennon/McCartney
, and that playing covers would not sustain a band in the limelight for long. Further, Oldham wanted to make Jagger's charisma and flamboyance a focus of live performances. Jones saw his influence over the Stones' direction slide as their repertoire comprised fewer of the blues covers that he preferred; more Jagger/Richards
originals developed, and Oldham increased his own managerial control, displacing Jones from yet another role.
According to Andrew Loog Oldham in his book Stoned, Jones was an outsider from the beginning. When the first tours were arranged in 1963, Jones travelled separately from the band, stayed at different hotels, and demanded extra pay. According to Oldham, Jones was very emotional, and felt alienated because he was not a prolific song writer and his management role had been taken away. Jones "resisted the symbiosis demanded by the group lifestyle, and so life was becoming more desperate for him day by day. None of us were looking forward to Brian totally cracking up".
The toll from days on the road, the money and fame and the feeling of being alienated from the group resulted in Jones's overindulgence in alcohol and other drugs. He frequently used LSD
, pills, and cannabis
, and he drank heavily. These excesses had a debilitative effect on Jones's physical health, and according to Oldham, Jones became unfriendly and anti-social at times. His health problems caused him to be hospitalized on a number of occasions.
Jones was arrested for drug possession on 10 May 1967, shortly after the "Redlands" incident at Richards's Sussex home. Authorities found marijuana, cocaine
, and methamphetamine
in Jones's flat. He confessed to marijuana use but claimed he did not use hard drugs. Reacting in a manner similar to the arrests of his band mates, protesters appeared outside court demanding that Jones be freed, and he was not kept in jail. He was fined, given probation
, and ordered to see a counselor.
In June 1967, Jones attended the Monterey Pop Festival
, with singer Nico
, with whom he had a brief relationship. There he met Frank Zappa
and Dennis Hopper
, and went on stage to introduce the Jimi Hendrix Experience, not well known yet in the USA. One review referred to Jones as "the unofficial 'king' of the festival".
Hostility grew between Jones, Jagger and Richards, alienating Jones further from the group. Although many noted that Jones could be friendly and outgoing, Wyman and Richards have both commented that Jones could also be cruel and difficult. By most accounts, Jones's attitude changed frequently, one minute caring and generous, the next making an effort to anger everyone. As Wyman observed in Stone Alone: "There were two Brians... one was introverted, shy, sensitive, deep-thinking... the other was a preening peacock, gregarious, artistic, desperately needing assurance from his peers... he pushed every friendship to the limit and way beyond".
As tensions and Jones's substance use increased, his musical contributions became sporadic. He became bored with the guitar and sought exotic instruments to play, and he was increasingly absent from recording sessions. In the promotional film for "We Love You", made in July 1967, he appears groggy. However, Jones maintained close relationships with many performing artists outside of the Stones camp, including Bob Dylan
, George Harrison
, Paul McCartney
, John Lennon
, Jimi Hendrix
, Noel Redding
, Steve Winwood
, Eric Burdon
and Steve Marriott
.
In March 1967, Anita Pallenberg
, Jones's girlfriend of two years, left him for Richards when Jones was hospitalized during a trip the three made to Morocco
, further damaging the already strained relations between Jones and Richards.
Jones's last substantial sessions with the Stones occurred in spring and summer of 1968, when the Stones produced "Jumpin' Jack Flash
" and the Beggars Banquet
album. He can be seen in the Jean-Luc Godard
film One Plus One
playing acoustic guitar, chatting and sharing cigarettes with Richards, although Jones is neglected in the music-making. The film chronicles the making of "Sympathy for the Devil
". Jones's acoustic guitar can be heard occasionally in the film through the microphones of the film crew but was not included in the released version.
It was clear Jones was not long for the group. Where once he played multiple instruments on many tracks, now he played only minor roles on a few pieces. Jones's last formal appearance was in the December 1968 The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
, a part concert, part circus-act film organised by the band. It went unreleased for 25 years because Jagger was unhappy with the band's performance compared to others in the film, such as Jethro Tull
, the Who
, and Taj Mahal
. In the DVD release of the film Jones's playing is inaudible except during "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Sympathy For The Devil", and "No Expectations". Commentary included as bonus material indicated that almost everyone at the concert sensed that the end of Jones's time with the Rolling Stones was near, and Roger Daltrey
and Pete Townshend
of The Who
thought it would be Jones's last live musical performance.
Jones's legal troubles, estrangement from his bandmates, substance abuse
and mood swings
became too much of an obstacle to active participation in the band. The Rolling Stones wanted to tour the United States in 1969 for the first time in three years, but Jones was not in fit condition to tour and his second arrest exacerbated problems with acquiring a US work visa. In addition, Jones's attendance of rehearsals and recording sessions had become erratic; and when he did appear, he rarely contributed anything musically, or his bandmates would switch off his guitar, leaving Richards playing nearly all the guitars. According to Gary Herman, Jones was "literally incapable of making music; when he tried to play harmonica, his mouth started bleeding".
This behaviour was problematic during the Beggar's Banquet sessions, and had worsened by the time the band commenced recording Let It Bleed
. In March 1969, Jones borrowed the group's Jaguar and went shopping in Pimlico Road. After the parked car was towed by police, Jones hired a chauffeur car to get home. In May 1969, Jones crashed his motorcycle into a shop window and was secretly taken to a hospital under an assumed name. From this point, Jones was still attending recording sessions but was no longer a major contributor to the band's music. By May, he had made two contributions to the work in progress: autoharp
on "You Got the Silver
" and percussion on "Midnight Rambler
".
The Stones decided that following the release of the Let it Bleed album (scheduled for a July 1969 release in the US), they would start a North America
n tour in November 1969. However, the Stones management was informed that because of his drug convictions, Jones would not receive a work permit. At the suggestion of pianist and road manager Ian Stewart
, the Stones decided to add a new guitarist, and on 8 June 1969, Jones was visited by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts, and was told that the group he had formed would continue without him.
To the public, it appeared as if Jones had left voluntarily; the other band members told him that although he was being asked to leave, it was his choice how to break it to the public. Jones released a statement on 9 June 1969 announcing his departure. In this statement he said, among other things, that "I no longer see eye-to-eye with the others over the discs we are cutting". Jones was replaced by 20-year-old guitarist Mick Taylor
(formerly of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers).
During the period of his decreasing involvement in the band, Jones was living at Cotchford Farm in East Sussex
, the residence formerly owned by Winnie-the-Pooh
author A. A. Milne
, which Jones had purchased in November 1968. There is uncertainty as to the mental and physical state Jones was in. The last known photographs of Jones, taken by schoolgirl Helen Spittal on 23 June 1969, shortly after his departure from the Stones, are not flattering; he appears bloated, with deep-set eyes. However, Alexis Korner
, who visited in late June only shortly after the Spittal photos were taken, noted that Jones seemed "happier than he had ever been". He is known to have contacted Korner, Ian Stewart
, Mitch Mitchell
and Jimmy Miller
about intentions to put together another band.
girlfriend, Anna Wohlin, was convinced he was alive when they took him out, insisting he still had a pulse. However, by the time the doctors arrived, it was too late, and he was pronounced dead. The coroner's report stated "death by misadventure", and noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse. As Jones was 27 at the time of his death, he is one of the well known members of the 27 Club
.
Many items, such as instruments and expensive furniture, reportedly were stolen from the home after Jones's death. Rumours also exist that recordings by Jones for his future projects were stolen but nothing has surfaced to date. A watch given by Alexis Korner to Jones, with a personal inscription, surfaced in an auction at Christie's
in New York
.
Upon Jones's death, Pete Townshend
of the Who
wrote a poem titled "A Normal Day for Brian, A Man Who Died Every Day" (printed in The Times), Jimi Hendrix
dedicated a song to him on US television, and Jim Morrison
of The Doors
published a poem entitled "Ode to L.A. While Thinking of Brian Jones, Deceased". Hendrix and Morrison both died at the same age as Jones.
The Rolling Stones performed at a free concert in Hyde Park
on 5 July 1969, two days after Jones's death. The concert had been scheduled weeks earlier as an opportunity to present the new guitarist, and the band decided to dedicate the concert to Jones. Before the Rolling Stones' set, Jagger read excerpts from "Adonais
", a poem by Percy Shelley about the death of his friend John Keats
, and stagehands released hundreds of white butterflies as part of the tribute. The band opened with a Johnny Winter
song that was one of Jones's favourites, "I'm Yours and I'm Hers".
Jones was reportedly buried 12 feet (3.7 m) deep in Cheltenham Cemetery (to prevent exhumation by trophy hunters) in a lavish casket sent by Bob Dylan
. Watts and Wyman were the only Rolling Stones who attended the funeral. Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull
were travelling to Australia
to begin the filming of Ned Kelly
; they stated that their contracts did not allow them to delay the trip to attend the funeral. Keith Richards reportedly remained in the recording studio.
When asked if he felt guilty about Jones's death, Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone in 1995: "No, I don't really. I do feel that I behaved in a very childish way, but we were very young, and in some ways we picked on him. But, unfortunately, he made himself a target for it; he was very, very jealous, very difficult, very manipulative
, and if you do that in this kind of a group of people, you get back as good as you give, to be honest. I wasn't understanding enough about his drug addiction. No one seemed to know much about drug addiction. Things like LSD were all new. No one knew the harm. People thought cocaine was good for you."
, "the murder theory would bubble back to the surface every five years or so". In 1993, it was reported that Jones was murdered by Frank Thorogood, a builder who was staying in the guest house on Cotchford Farm and was the last person to see Jones alive. Thorogood allegedly confessed to the murder on his deathbed to the Rolling Stones' driver, Tom Keylock, who later denied this. The Thorogood theory was dramatised in the 2005 movie Stoned
. In August 2009 Sussex Police decided to review Jones's death for the first time since 1969, after new evidence was handed to them by Scott Jones, an investigative journalist in the UK. Scott Jones had traced many of the people who were at Brian Jones's house the night he died, plus unseen police files held at the National Archives. In the Mail on Sunday in November 2008 Scott Jones said Frank Thorogood killed Brian Jones in a fight and the senior police officers covered up the true cause of death. Following the review the Sussex police stated that they would not be reopening the case. They asserted that "this has been thoroughly reviewed by Sussex Police's Crime Policy and Review Branch but there is no new evidence to suggest that the coroner’s original verdict of “death by misadventure” was incorrect. As such, the case will not be reopened."
, co-written with the J. W. Thompson advertising agency in 1963 and performed by the Rolling Stones incognito was credited to Jones; this did not sit well with the rest of the band, who felt it was a group effort and all should benefit equally. Jones was also included in the "Nanker/Phelge
" songwriting credit, a pseudonym used on fourteen tracks that were composed by the entire band and Andrew Oldham.
According to Andrew Oldham, the main reason for Jones not writing songs was that Jones, being a blues purist, did not love simple pop music enough. Oldham tried to establish a songwriting partnership between Jones and Gene Pitney
after "becoming bored senseless by Jones's bleating about the potential of half-finished melodies that by no means deserved completion" but after two days of sessions "the results remain best to be unheard, even by Stones' completists".
When asked in 1965 if he had written songs, Jones replied: "Always tried. I've written quite a few, but mostly in blues style". Many years later after his death, Keith Richards stated: "No, no, absolutely not. That was the one thing he would never do. Brian wouldn't show them to anybody within the Stones. Brian as far as I know never wrote a single finished song in his life; he wrote bits and pieces but he never presented them to us. No doubt he spent hours, weeks, working on things, but his paranoia was so great that he could never bring himself to present them to us". Bill Wyman has stated that Jones was "an incredibly gifted musician, but not a song writer"; and in 1995 Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone that Jones had been jealous of the Jagger/Richards songwriting team, and added: "To be honest, Brian had no talent for writing songs. None. I've never known a guy with less talent for songwriting."
He is credited (along with Keith Richards) for the instrumental piece; "Hear It", though it is generally considered Jones's work.
However, in 1966 Jones composed, produced and played on the soundtrack to Mord und Totschlag (English title: A Degree Of Murder), an avant-garde German film with Anita Pallenberg. Guitarist Jimmy Page
is one of the musicians Jones hired to play on the soundtrack.
In 1990, Carla Olson was given permission from Jones's estate to put one of his poems to music and thus created the Jones/Olson song "Thank You For Being There". It appeared on the album True Voices, performed by Krysia Kristianne and Robin Williamson.
-based ensemble, the Master Musicians of Joujouka; the recording was released in 1971 as Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka
. Jagger and Richards visited Jajouka
in 1989 after recording "Continental Drift" for the Rolling Stones album Steel Wheels
with The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar in Tangier. A homage to Jones entitled "Brian Jones Joujouka very Stoned", painted by Mohamed Hamri
, who had brought Jones to Jajouka in 1967, appeared on the cover of Joujouka Black Eyes
by the Master Musicians of Joujouka in 1995. Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Jajouka was rereleased in 1995. The executive producers were Philip Glass, Kurt Munkasci and Rory Johnston, with notes by Bachir Attar
, Paul Bowles
, William S. Burroughs
, Stephen Davis, Brian Jones, Brion Gysin
and David Silver. and included additional graphics, more extensive notes by David Silver and William S. Burroughs, and a second CD, produced by Cliff Mark, with two “full-length remixes.”
In mid-May 1967, Jones played oboe
on the Beatles' "Baby You're A Rich Man
"; and he played alto saxophone
on their "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)
", which was released in March 1970, eight months after his death.
Anita Pallenberg has stated in an interview that he wanted to look like Françoise Hardy
, he loved 'dressing up and posing about' and that he would ask her to do his hair and make-up.
He was 5'6" (1.68m) tall with blue-grey eyes and blond hair.
His death at 27 was the first of the '60s rock movement; Jimi Hendrix
, Janis Joplin
and Jim Morrison
found their own drug-related deaths at the same age within two years (Morrison dying two years to the day after Jones). The coincidence of ages has been described as the "27 Club
".
The Stones' Shine a Light
was written by Jagger after his death and depicts Jones's behaviour and remoteness from the band, and asks God to shine a light on his soul. Several other songs have been written about Jones: The Doors
' song "Tightrope Ride" was originally written for Jones by Morrison, but after Morrison's death Ray Manzarek
rewrote some of the lyrics so that they apply to both musicians. The Psychic TV
song "Godstar" is about Jones's death, as are Robyn Hitchcock
's "Trash", The Drovers
' "She's as Pretty as Brian Jones Was" and Ted Nugent
's "Death by Misadventure". Toy Love
's song "Swimming Pool" lists several dead rock icons including Jones (the others are Morrison, Hendrix, and Marc Bolan
); he is also mentioned in De Phazz
's song "Something Special". The Master Musicians of Joujouka
song "Brian Jones Joujouka Very Stoned" was released in 1974 and 1996. The Brian Jonestown Massacre
was named partially after him.
The 2005 film Stoned is a fictional account of Jones and his role in the Rolling Stones. The part of Brian was played by English actor Leo Gregory
.
A fictionalised version of Jones and the tribute concert to him appears in Alan Moore
and Kevin O'Neill
's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century
in its second issue, "Paint it Black".
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
.
His main instruments were the guitar and the harmonica, but he played a wide variety of other instruments. His innovative use of traditional or folk instruments
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, such as the sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
and marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, was integral to the changing sound of the band.
He was originally the leader of the group, but Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
and Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
soon overshadowed him, especially after they became a successful songwriting team. Jones developed a serious drug abuse problem over the years and his role in the band steadily diminished.
He left the Rolling Stones in June 1969 to be replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones...
. Jones died less than a month later in his own swimming pool.
Early life and fatherhood
Jones was born in the Park Nursing Home in CheltenhamCheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, on 28 February 1942. An attack of croup
Croup
Croup is a respiratory condition that is usually triggered by an acute viral infection of the upper airway. The infection leads to swelling inside the throat, which interferes with normal breathing and produces the classical symptoms of a "barking" cough, stridor, and hoarseness...
at the age of four left him with asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
, which lasted for the rest of his life. His middle-class parents, Lewis Blount Jones and Louisa Beatrice Jones (née Simmonds) were of Welsh descent. Brian had two sisters: Pamela, who was born on 3 October 1943 and who died on 14 October 1945 of leukaemia; and Barbara, born on 22 August 1946.
Both Jones's parents were interested in music: his mother Louisa was a piano teacher, and in addition to his job as an aeronautical engineer, Lewis Jones played piano and organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
and led the choir at the local church.
In 1957 Jones first heard Cannonball Adderley's music, which inspired his interest in jazz. Jones persuaded his parents to buy him a saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, and two years later his parents gave him his first acoustic guitar as a 17th birthday present.
Jones attended local schools, including Dean Close School
Dean Close School
Dean Close School is a co-educational independent school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school is divided into pre-prep, preparatory and senior schools located on separate but adjacent sites outside Cheltenham town centre, occupying the largest private land area in the town...
, from September 1949 to July 1953 and Cheltenham Grammar School for Boys
Pate's Grammar School
Pate's Grammar School is a voluntary aided, selective grammar school in the Hesters Way area of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England catering for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was granted Language College status in 2001, is a Beacon school, and in February 2006 was one of the first in the country to be...
, which he entered in September 1953 after passing the Eleven-plus exam. He enjoyed badminton and diving at school and became first clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
in the school orchestra. In 1957 he reportedly obtained seven O-level passes, then he continued into the sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
and obtained a further two O-levels. He also took three A-levels in Physics, Chemistry and Biology and passed in Physics and Chemistry, but failed in Biology. Jones had an IQ of 135 and was able to perform well on exams despite a lack of academic effort. Despite academic ability, however, he found school regimented and disliked conforming. He disliked the school uniforms and angered teachers with his behaviour, though he was generally popular among students. Jones himself said: "When I made the sixth form I found myself accepted by the older boys; suddenly I was in."
His hostility to authority figures resulted in his suspension from school on two occasions. According to Dick Hattrell, a childhood friend: "He was a rebel without a cause, but when examinations came he was brilliant."
In the spring of 1959, Jones's 14-year-old girlfriend, a Cheltenham schoolgirl named Valerie Corbett, became pregnant. Although Jones is said to have encouraged her to have an abortion, she placed the baby boy up for adoption by an infertile couple.
Jones quit school in disgrace and left home, travelling through Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
and Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
for a summer. During this period, he lived a bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
lifestyle, busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
with his guitar on the streets for money, and living off the charity of others. Eventually, Jones ran short of money and returned to England.
Jones grew up listening to classical music, but he preferred blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, particularly Elmore James
Elmore James
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
and Robert Johnson. He began playing at local blues and jazz clubs in addition to busking and working odd jobs. He was also known to steal small amounts of money from work to pay for cigarettes, which tended to get him fired.
In November 1959, Jones went to the Wooden Bridge Hotel in Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
to see a group. He met a young married woman named Angeline, and the two had a one-night stand that resulted in her pregnancy. Angeline and her husband decided to bring up the baby together, a girl, born on 4 August the following year. Jones never knew about her birth.
In 1961, Jones applied for a scholarship to Cheltenham Art College. He was initially accepted into the programme, however the offer was withdrawn two days later. Someone had written to the college saying Jones was an irresponsible drifter, and the college reconsidered the offer.
On 23 October 1961, Jones's girlfriend Pat Andrews gave birth to his third child, Julian Mark Andrews. Jones sold his record collection to buy flowers for Pat and clothes for the newborn and lived with them for a while. On 23 July 1964, another woman, Linda Lawrence, gave birth to Jones's fourth child, also named Julian Mark.
Brian's fifth child was born in Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
on 24 March 1965, to teenager Dawn Molloy. He was originally named Paul Andrew Molloy. Dawn was forced to give the baby up for adoption and Paul's adoptive parents re-named him John. Finally, on 23 February 1969, Brian's sixth and youngest child was born to a married but separated American model named Elizabeth. Brian met Elizabeth on 12 May in Wembley and saw her a few times between 12 and 20 May. She and her husband were reunited in November 1968 and flew back to the United States. The baby, Brian's second daughter, was born in Chicago, IL, and named after Brian's surviving sister, Barbara. Barbara was brought up by Elizabeth and her husband.
Forming the Rolling Stones
Jones left Cheltenham and moved to London where he became friends with fellow musicians Alexis KornerAlexis Korner
Alexis Korner was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues"...
, future Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann was a British beat, rhythm and blues and pop band of the 1960s, named after their South African keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band...
singer Paul Jones
Paul Jones (singer)
Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio personality and television presenter.-Career:As P. P...
, future Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
bassist Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
and others who made up the small London rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
scene there. He became a blues musician, for a brief time calling himself "Elmo Lewis", and playing slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
. Jones also started a group with Paul Jones called the Roosters and in January 1963, after both Brian and Paul left the group, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
took over Brian's position as guitarist.
Jones placed an advertisement in Jazz News (a Soho club information sheet) of 2 May 1962 inviting musicians to audition for a new R&B group at the Bricklayer's Arms pub; pianist Ian "Stu" Stewart
Ian Stewart (musician)
Ian Andrew Robert Stewart was a Scottish keyboardist, co-founder of The Rolling Stones and inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
was the first to respond. Later singer Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
also joined this band; Jagger and his childhood friend Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
had met Jones when he and Paul Jones
Paul Jones (singer)
Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio personality and television presenter.-Career:As P. P...
were playing Elmore James
Elmore James
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
' "Dust My Broom
Dust My Broom
"Dust My Broom" is a blues standard originally recorded as "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom"by Robert Johnson, the Mississippi Delta blues singer and guitarist, on November 23, 1936 in San Antonio, Texas. The song was originally released on 78 rpm format as Vocalion 03475, ARC 7-04-81 and Conqueror 8871...
" with Korner's band at the Ealing Jazz Club
Ealing Jazz Club
The Ealing Jazz Club at 42 A The Broadway, Ealing W5, opened in January 1959. Situated in a basement below an Aerated Bread Company tea shop, opposite Ealing Broadway station...
. Jagger brought guitarist Richards to rehearsals; Richards then joined the band. Jones's and Stewart's acceptance of Richards and the Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
songs he wanted to play coincided with the departure of blues purists Geoff Bradford
Geoff Bradford
Geoffrey Reginald William Bradford was an English professional footballer who spent his entire career at Bristol Rovers and won one international cap for England....
and Brian Knight, who had no tolerance for Chuck Berry.
As Keith Richards tells it, Jones came up with the name the "Rollin' Stones" (later with the 'g') while on the phone with a venue owner. "The voice on the other end of the line obviously said, 'What are you called?' Panic. The Best of Muddy Waters album was lying on the floor—and track one was 'Rollin' Stone Blues'".
The Rollin' Stones played their first gig on 12 July 1962 in the Marquee Club
Marquee Club
The Marquee was a music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts.It was also the location of the first ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962....
in London with Jagger, Richards, Jones, Stewart, bass player
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Dick Taylor
Dick Taylor
Richard Clifford 'Dick' Taylor is an English musician who was an early bass guitarist for The Rolling Stones. He left to become an art student at Sidcup Art College and while there formed The Pretty Things in September 1963...
(later of the Pretty Things
The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
) and drummer Tony Chapman
Tony Chapman
Anthony 'Tony' Chapman was a British drummer, especially active during the 1960s. He played with an early line-up of The Rolling Stones before they settled on their permanent band members...
.
From September 1962 to September 1963 Jones, Jagger and Richards shared a flat (referred to by Richards as "a beautiful dump") at 102 Edith Grove, Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, with James Phelge, a future photographer whose last name was used in some of the group's early "Nanker/Phelge" writing credits. Jones and Richards spent day after day playing guitar while listening to blues records (notably Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
, Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
and Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
). During this time, Jones also taught Jagger how to play harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
.
The four Rollin' Stones went searching for a bassist and drummer, finally settling on Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings...
on bass because he had a spare VOX AC30
Vox AC30
The Vox AC30 is a guitar amplifier manufactured by Vox and known for its "jangly" high-end sound. First introduced in 1958 due to the growing demand for higher-wattage amplifiers, it became an iconic amplifier for British musicians and soon for others....
guitar amplifier
Guitar amplifier
A guitar amplifier is an electronic amplifier designed to make the signal of an electric or acoustic guitar louder so that it will produce sound through a loudspeaker...
and always had cigarettes, as well as a bass guitar that he had built himself. After playing with Mick Avory
Mick Avory
Michael Charles "Mick" Avory is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the British rock band, The Kinks, joining them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remaining with them until 1984, when he left amid creative friction with guitarist Dave Davies...
, Tony Chapman
Tony Chapman
Anthony 'Tony' Chapman was a British drummer, especially active during the 1960s. He played with an early line-up of The Rolling Stones before they settled on their permanent band members...
and Carlo Little
Carlo Little
Carlo Little was a rock and roll drummer, based in the London nightclub scene in the 1960s. He played in an early version of The Rolling Stones...
, in January 1963 they finally persuaded jazz-influenced Charlie Watts
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder.-Early life:...
to join them. At the time, Watts was considered by fellow musicians to be one of the better drummers in London; he had played with (among others) Alexis Korner's group Blues Incorporated
Blues Incorporated
Blues Incorporated were a British R&B band in the early 1960s, led by Alexis Korner and featuring at various times Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Terry Cox, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Ronnie Jones, Danny Thompson, Graham Bond, Cyril Davies, Malcolm Cecil and Dick Heckstall-Smith.-History:Korner ...
.
Watts described Jones's role in these early days: "Brian was very instrumental in pushing the band at the beginning. Keith and I would look at him and say he was barmy. It was a crusade to him to get us on the stage in a club and be paid half-a-crown and to be billed as an R&B band".
The group played at local blues and jazz clubs, garnering fans in spite of resistance from traditional jazz musicians who felt threatened by their popularity. While Jagger was lead singer, Jones, in the group's embryonic period, was the leader—promoting the band, landing gigs, and negotiating with venue owners. Jones played guitar and harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, and during performances, especially at the Crawdaddy Club
Crawdaddy Club
The Crawdaddy Club was a 1960s music venue in Richmond, Surrey, England. Several other seminal British blues and rhythm and blues acts also played there....
in Richmond, he proved to be a more lively and engaging performer than even Jagger.
While acting as the band's business manager, Jones received £5 more than the other members, which did not sit well with the rest of the band and created resentment. Keith Richards has said that both he and Mick were surprised to learn that Brian considered himself the leader and was receiving the extra £5, especially as other people, like Giorgio Gomelsky
Giorgio Gomelsky
Giorgio Gomelsky is a filmmaker, impresario, music manager, songwriter and record producer. He owned the Crawdaddy Club where The Rolling Stones were house band, and he was involved with their early management. He hired The Yardbirds as a replacement and managed them. He was also their...
, appeared to be doing the booking.
Musical contributions
Jones's main guitar in the early years was a HarmonyHarmony Company
thumb|right|250px|A collection of Harmony guitars:SS Stewart gold acoustic, H73 [[Roy Smeck]], H37 Hollywood, Silvertone 1446, H44 StratotoneThe Harmony Company was an American company that, in its heyday, was the largest musical instrument manufacturer in the USA...
Stratotone, which he replaced with a Gretsch
Gretsch
The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...
Double Anniversary in two-tone green. In 1964 and 1965 he often used a teardrop-shaped prototype Vox Mark VI
Vox (musical equipment)
Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer which is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, the Vox Continental electric organ, and a series of innovative but commercially unsuccessful electric guitars and bass guitars...
. From late 1965 until his death, Jones used Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
models (various Firebirds, ES-330, and a Les Paul model
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
), as well as two Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
12-string
Twelve string guitar
The twelve-string guitar is an acoustic or electric guitar with 12 strings in 6 courses, which produces a richer, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar...
models. He can also be seen playing a Fender Telecaster in the 1968 "Jumpin' Jack Flash
Jumpin' Jack Flash
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released as a single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by Rolling Stone, the song was perceived by some as the band's return to their blues roots after the psychedelia of their preceding...
" promo video.
Examples of Jones's contributions are his slide guitar on "I Wanna Be Your Man
I Wanna Be Your Man
"I Wanna Be Your Man" is a Lennon–McCartney-penned song that was recorded separately by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones' version was released a few weeks earlier...
" (1963), "I'm a King Bee
I'm a King Bee
"I'm a King Bee" is a swamp blues song that has been performed and recorded by numerous blues and other artists. In 2008, Slim Harpo's "I'm a King Bee" received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which "honor[s] recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance".-Original song:Written and...
" (1964, on the Rolling Stones), "Little Red Rooster
Little Red Rooster
"Little Red Rooster" is a song that is a classic of the blues. Howlin' Wolf recorded "The Red Rooster" in 1961, a song credited to blues arranger and songwriter Willie Dixon, although earlier songs have been cited as inspiration...
" (1964), "I Can't Be Satisfied" (1965, on Rolling Stones No. 2), "I'm Movin' On
I'm Movin' On (Hank Snow song)
"I'm Moving On" is a 1950 country standard written by Hank Snow. The song, a 12-bar blues, reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart and stayed there for 21 weeks, tying the record...
" (1965, on the EP Got Live If You Want It!), "Doncha Bother Me" (1966, on Aftermath) and "No Expectations
No Expectations
"No Expectations" is a song by the British rock and roll band The Rolling Stones featured on their 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It was first released as the B-side of the "Street Fighting Man" single in August 1968...
" (1968, on Beggars Banquet). Jones can also be heard playing Bo Diddley-style rhythm guitar on "I Need You Baby (Mona)", the guitar riff in "The Last Time"
The Last Time (song)
In 1967, after the imprisonment of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, on drugs charges, The Who recorded covers of "The Last Time" and "Under My Thumb" as a single. The intention was to help Jagger and Richards make bail, but by the time the single was made available, they had been released. The...
; sitar on "Street Fighting Man
Street Fighting Man
"Street Fighting Man" is a song by English rock and roll band The Rolling Stones featured on their 1968 album Beggars Banquet. Called the band's "most political song", Rolling Stone ranked the song #295 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.-Inspiration:Originally titled and recorded...
" and "Paint It, Black
Paint It, Black
"Paint It, Black" is a song released by The Rolling Stones on 13 May 1966 as the first single from their fourth album Aftermath. It was originally titled "Paint It Black" without a comma. Keith Richards has stated that the comma was added by the record label, Decca.The song was written by Mick...
"; organ on "Let's Spend the Night Together
Let's Spend the Night Together
"Let's Spend the Night Together" is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and originally released as a single by The Rolling Stones in 1967...
", "Complicated", and "2000 Man"; marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
on "Under My Thumb
Under My Thumb
"Under My Thumb" is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for The Rolling Stones. Its first appearance was as an album track on 1966's Aftermath...
", "Out Of Time" and "Yesterday's Papers
Yesterday's Papers
Yesterday's Papers is a song by The Rolling Stones from their 1967 album, Between the Buttons. It was the opening track on the UK version of that album, and was included on the US version. It is an example of the Stones' interest in psychedelic rock at the time...
"; recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
on "Ruby Tuesday" and "All Sold Out"; trumpet on "Child of the Moon"; Appalachian dulcimer
Appalachian dulcimer
The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
on "I Am Waiting" and "Lady Jane
Lady Jane
"Lady Jane" is a Rolling Stones' song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards featured on their 1966 album Aftermath.In America Lady Jane was the B-side to "Mother's Little Helper", but "Lady Jane" reached #24 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart...
" and harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
on "Lady Jane"; accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
on "Backstreet Girl"; saxophone and oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
on "Dandelion
Dandelion (song)
"Dandelion" is a song by the British rock 'n roll band The Rolling Stones, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and first released as a B-side to "We Love You" in August, 1967. A lighthearted song, it reached # 14 in the United States, and effectively became the A-side there...
"; mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
on "She's a Rainbow
She's A Rainbow
"She's a Rainbow" is a song by the English rock 'n roll band The Rolling Stones and was featured on their 1967 album Their Satanic Majesties Request.Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "She's a Rainbow" was recorded on 18 May 1967...
", "We Love You"; saxophone on Citadel, "Stray Cat Blues" and "2000 Light Years from Home
2000 Light Years from Home
"2000 Light Years From Home" is a song from The Rolling Stones' 1967 psychedelic rock album Their Satanic Majesties Request. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it also appeared as the B-side to the U.S. single "She's a Rainbow". Jagger reportedly wrote the lyrics in Brixton prison following...
"; and (for his final recording as a Rolling Stone) the autoharp
Autoharp
The autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
on "You Got the Silver
You Got The Silver
"You Got the Silver" is a song by English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from their 1969 album Let It Bleed.Recorded on February 18, 1969, "You Got the Silver" is the first Rolling Stones song to feature guitarist Keith Richards on lead vocals by himself "You Got the Silver" is a song by...
".
Jones also played harmonica on many of the Rolling Stones' early songs. Examples of Jones's playing are on "Stoned
Stoned (The Rolling Stones song)
"Stoned" was released in the UK by The Rolling Stones on the Decca label on November 1, 1963, as the B-side to their version of "I Wanna Be Your Man". Recorded in early October 1963, it was the first song released to be credited to "Nanker Phelge", and the band's first original composition. ...
" (1963), "Not Fade Away
Not Fade Away (song)
"Not Fade Away" is a song credited to Buddy Holly and Norman Petty and first recorded by Holly's band The Crickets in Clovis, New Mexico, on May 27, 1957...
" (1964), "I Just Want to Make Love to You
I Just Want to Make Love to You
In 1961, Etta James recorded the song for her debut album At Last!. Her rendition also served as the b-side to her hit "At Last." In 1996, Etta James' version became popular in the UK after featuring in a Diet Coke ad campaign. As a result, the single was re-released there...
", "Now I've Got A Witness" (1964)" (from The Rolling Stones), "Good Times, Bad Times" (1964), "2120 South Michigan Avenue
2120 South Michigan Avenue
"2120 South Michigan Avenue" is an original instrumental by the Rolling Stones recorded for their second EP Five by Five. It was also released on their second US album 12 X 5 in 1964. Composer credit goes to Nanker Phelge, a title giving credit equally to all members of the band...
" (1964) (from E.P. Five By Five), "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man", "One More Try" (1965) (from Out Of Our Heads), "High and Dry" and "Goin' Home" (1966) (from Aftermath), "Who's Driving Your Plane?" (1966), "Cool Calm and Collected", "Who's Been Sleeping Here" (1967) (from Between The Buttons), and "Dear Doctor
Dear Doctor (song)
"Dear Doctor" is a song by English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones featured on their 1968 album Beggars Banquet.Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Dear Doctor" is country song with blues inflections. It is a good example of the acoustic guitar-based compositions that has earned...
" and "Prodigal Son" (1968) (from Beggars Banquet).
In the early years, Jones also sometimes served as a backing vocalist. Notable examples are "Come On
Come On (Chuck Berry song)
"Come On" is a song written and first released by Chuck Berry in 1961. The Rolling Stones released a version as their debut single in 1963.According to the liner notes from the Berry compilation album The Great Twenty-Eight, the performers on the record were as follows:* Chuck Berry: Guitars and...
", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "I Just Wanna Make Love to You", "Walking the Dog
Walking the Dog
"Walking the Dog" is a Rufus Thomas song. It was released on his 1963 album Walking the Dog. It was his signature hit and also his biggest, reaching number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1963 and remaining on the Hot 100 for 14 weeks...
", "Money (That's What I Want)
Money (That's What I Want)
"Money " is a 1959 hit single by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. The song was written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, and became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise....
", "I'm Alright", "You Better Move On
You Better Move On (song)
"You Better Move On" is a song by Arthur Alexander from 1961 that reached #24 on the US charts in March 1962. The song was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama...
" and "It's All Over Now
It's All Over Now
"It's All Over Now" was written by Bobby Womack and Shirley Womack. It was first released by The Valentinos featuring Bobby Womack. The Valentinos version entered the Billboard Hot 100 on June 27, 1964, where it stayed on the chart for two weeks, peaking at No. 94...
". He contributed backing vocals as late as 1968 on "Sympathy For The Devil
Sympathy for the Devil
"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger credited to Jagger/Richards...
". He is also responsible for the whistling on "Walking the Dog."
Richards maintains that what he calls "guitar weaving
Multiple guitar players
In rock and other related genres, bands often have multiple electric and/or acoustic guitar players to perform the different musical parts, such as instrumental melodies, "licks", riffs, guitar solos, and chords. The band can divide up the roles by assigning one or more performers the role of lead...
" emerged from this period, from listening to Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
albums: "We listened to the teamwork, trying to work out what was going on in those records; how you could play together with two guitars and make it sound like four or five". Jones's and Richards's guitars became a signature of the sound of the Rolling Stones, with both guitarists playing rhythm and lead without clear boundaries between the two roles.
From 1966 onwards Jones's contributions in the recording studio were more as a multi-instrumentalist than as a guitarist. His aptitude for playing a wide variety of instruments is particularly evident on the albums Aftermath (1966), Between the Buttons
Between the Buttons
- American release:In the US, the album was released by London Records on February 11, 1967 . "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday" were slotted onto the album while "Back Street Girl" and "Please Go Home" were removed ...
(1967) and Their Satanic Majesties Request
Their Satanic Majesties Request
Their Satanic Majesties Request is the sixth British and eighth American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released on 8 December 1967 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States by London Records...
(1967).
Estrangement from bandmates
Andrew Loog OldhamAndrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham is an English producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of The Rolling Stones from 1963, and was noted for his flamboyant style.-Biography:...
's arrival marked the beginning of Jones's slow estrangement, his prominent role gradually diminishing as the Stones' centre shifted from Jones to Jagger and Richards. Oldham recognised the financial advantages of bandmembers writing their own songs, as exemplified by Lennon/McCartney
Lennon/McCartney
The Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership is one of the best-known and most successful musical collaborations in history...
, and that playing covers would not sustain a band in the limelight for long. Further, Oldham wanted to make Jagger's charisma and flamboyance a focus of live performances. Jones saw his influence over the Stones' direction slide as their repertoire comprised fewer of the blues covers that he preferred; more Jagger/Richards
Jagger/Richards
The songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, known as Jagger/Richards , is a musical collaboration whose output has produced the majority of the catalogue of The Rolling Stones....
originals developed, and Oldham increased his own managerial control, displacing Jones from yet another role.
According to Andrew Loog Oldham in his book Stoned, Jones was an outsider from the beginning. When the first tours were arranged in 1963, Jones travelled separately from the band, stayed at different hotels, and demanded extra pay. According to Oldham, Jones was very emotional, and felt alienated because he was not a prolific song writer and his management role had been taken away. Jones "resisted the symbiosis demanded by the group lifestyle, and so life was becoming more desperate for him day by day. None of us were looking forward to Brian totally cracking up".
The toll from days on the road, the money and fame and the feeling of being alienated from the group resulted in Jones's overindulgence in alcohol and other drugs. He frequently used LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
, pills, and cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
, and he drank heavily. These excesses had a debilitative effect on Jones's physical health, and according to Oldham, Jones became unfriendly and anti-social at times. His health problems caused him to be hospitalized on a number of occasions.
Jones was arrested for drug possession on 10 May 1967, shortly after the "Redlands" incident at Richards's Sussex home. Authorities found marijuana, cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, and methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
in Jones's flat. He confessed to marijuana use but claimed he did not use hard drugs. Reacting in a manner similar to the arrests of his band mates, protesters appeared outside court demanding that Jones be freed, and he was not kept in jail. He was fined, given probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
, and ordered to see a counselor.
In June 1967, Jones attended the Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
, with singer Nico
Nico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
, with whom he had a brief relationship. There he met Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
and Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
, and went on stage to introduce the Jimi Hendrix Experience, not well known yet in the USA. One review referred to Jones as "the unofficial 'king' of the festival".
Hostility grew between Jones, Jagger and Richards, alienating Jones further from the group. Although many noted that Jones could be friendly and outgoing, Wyman and Richards have both commented that Jones could also be cruel and difficult. By most accounts, Jones's attitude changed frequently, one minute caring and generous, the next making an effort to anger everyone. As Wyman observed in Stone Alone: "There were two Brians... one was introverted, shy, sensitive, deep-thinking... the other was a preening peacock, gregarious, artistic, desperately needing assurance from his peers... he pushed every friendship to the limit and way beyond".
As tensions and Jones's substance use increased, his musical contributions became sporadic. He became bored with the guitar and sought exotic instruments to play, and he was increasingly absent from recording sessions. In the promotional film for "We Love You", made in July 1967, he appears groggy. However, Jones maintained close relationships with many performing artists outside of the Stones camp, including Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Noel Redding
Noel Redding
Noel Redding was an English rock and roll guitarist best known as the bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Biography:...
, Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
, Eric Burdon
Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...
and Steve Marriott
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott , popularly known as Steve Marriott, was an English musician, songwriter, and frontman of several notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades...
.
In March 1967, Anita Pallenberg
Anita Pallenberg
Anita Pallenberg is an Italian-born actress, model, and fashion designer. She was the romantic partner of Rolling Stones multi-instrumentalist and guitarist Brian Jones and later the partner of the guitarist of the same band Keith Richards, from 1967 to 1979, by whom she has two surviving...
, Jones's girlfriend of two years, left him for Richards when Jones was hospitalized during a trip the three made to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, further damaging the already strained relations between Jones and Richards.
Jones's last substantial sessions with the Stones occurred in spring and summer of 1968, when the Stones produced "Jumpin' Jack Flash
Jumpin' Jack Flash
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released as a single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by Rolling Stone, the song was perceived by some as the band's return to their blues roots after the psychedelia of their preceding...
" and the Beggars Banquet
Beggars Banquet
- Personnel :The Rolling Stones* Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, harmonica on "Parachute Woman"* Keith Richards – acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar on "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man", backing vocals, lead vocals on opening of "Salt of the Earth"* Brian...
album. He can be seen in the Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
film One Plus One
Sympathy for the Devil (film)
Sympathy for the Devil is a 1968 film shot mostly in color by director Jean-Luc Godard.- Plot summary :...
playing acoustic guitar, chatting and sharing cigarettes with Richards, although Jones is neglected in the music-making. The film chronicles the making of "Sympathy for the Devil
Sympathy for the Devil
"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger credited to Jagger/Richards...
". Jones's acoustic guitar can be heard occasionally in the film through the microphones of the film crew but was not included in the released version.
It was clear Jones was not long for the group. Where once he played multiple instruments on many tracks, now he played only minor roles on a few pieces. Jones's last formal appearance was in the December 1968 The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus is a film released in 1996 of an 11 December 1968 event put together by The Rolling Stones. The event comprised two concerts on a circus stage and included such acts as The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and Jethro Tull...
, a part concert, part circus-act film organised by the band. It went unreleased for 25 years because Jagger was unhappy with the band's performance compared to others in the film, such as Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
, the Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, and Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal (musician)
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
. In the DVD release of the film Jones's playing is inaudible except during "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Sympathy For The Devil", and "No Expectations". Commentary included as bonus material indicated that almost everyone at the concert sensed that the end of Jones's time with the Rolling Stones was near, and Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
and Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
thought it would be Jones's last live musical performance.
Departure from the band
Jones was arrested a second time on 21 May 1968, for possession of cannabis, which Jones said had been left by previous tenants of the flat. He was facing a long jail sentence if found guilty, owing to his probation. Wyman commented, "The fact that the police had secured a warrant with no evidence showed the arrest was part of a carefully orchestrated plan. Brian and the Stones were being targeted in an effort to deter the public from taking drugs". The jury found him guilty, but the judge had sympathy for Jones; instead of jailing him, he fined him £50 plus £105 in costs and told him: "For goodness sake, don't get into trouble again or it really will be serious".Jones's legal troubles, estrangement from his bandmates, substance abuse
Substance abuse
A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...
and mood swings
Mood Swings
Mood Swings is an album by Koby Israelite released in 2005 on Tzadik.- Track listing :# "Dror Ikra" - 3:03# "Return of the Idiots" - 2:19# "It Is Not a War Here" - 7:05# "Ethnometalogy" - 5:08# "Europa?" - 2:49# "Hiriya On My Mind" - 4:53...
became too much of an obstacle to active participation in the band. The Rolling Stones wanted to tour the United States in 1969 for the first time in three years, but Jones was not in fit condition to tour and his second arrest exacerbated problems with acquiring a US work visa. In addition, Jones's attendance of rehearsals and recording sessions had become erratic; and when he did appear, he rarely contributed anything musically, or his bandmates would switch off his guitar, leaving Richards playing nearly all the guitars. According to Gary Herman, Jones was "literally incapable of making music; when he tried to play harmonica, his mouth started bleeding".
This behaviour was problematic during the Beggar's Banquet sessions, and had worsened by the time the band commenced recording Let It Bleed
Let It Bleed
Let It Bleed is the eighth British and tenth American album by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in December 1969 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States...
. In March 1969, Jones borrowed the group's Jaguar and went shopping in Pimlico Road. After the parked car was towed by police, Jones hired a chauffeur car to get home. In May 1969, Jones crashed his motorcycle into a shop window and was secretly taken to a hospital under an assumed name. From this point, Jones was still attending recording sessions but was no longer a major contributor to the band's music. By May, he had made two contributions to the work in progress: autoharp
Autoharp
The autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
on "You Got the Silver
You Got The Silver
"You Got the Silver" is a song by English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from their 1969 album Let It Bleed.Recorded on February 18, 1969, "You Got the Silver" is the first Rolling Stones song to feature guitarist Keith Richards on lead vocals by himself "You Got the Silver" is a song by...
" and percussion on "Midnight Rambler
Midnight Rambler
"Midnight Rambler" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released on their 1969 album Let It Bleed.The lyrics take the point of view of a roaming rapist/murderer; some of the words are reportedly quotes from Albert DeSalvo's confession to the Boston Strangler's crimes. Keith...
".
The Stones decided that following the release of the Let it Bleed album (scheduled for a July 1969 release in the US), they would start a North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n tour in November 1969. However, the Stones management was informed that because of his drug convictions, Jones would not receive a work permit. At the suggestion of pianist and road manager Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart (musician)
Ian Andrew Robert Stewart was a Scottish keyboardist, co-founder of The Rolling Stones and inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
, the Stones decided to add a new guitarist, and on 8 June 1969, Jones was visited by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts, and was told that the group he had formed would continue without him.
To the public, it appeared as if Jones had left voluntarily; the other band members told him that although he was being asked to leave, it was his choice how to break it to the public. Jones released a statement on 9 June 1969 announcing his departure. In this statement he said, among other things, that "I no longer see eye-to-eye with the others over the discs we are cutting". Jones was replaced by 20-year-old guitarist Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones...
(formerly of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers).
During the period of his decreasing involvement in the band, Jones was living at Cotchford Farm in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, the residence formerly owned by Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh , and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner...
author A. A. Milne
A. A. Milne
Alan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.-Biography:A. A...
, which Jones had purchased in November 1968. There is uncertainty as to the mental and physical state Jones was in. The last known photographs of Jones, taken by schoolgirl Helen Spittal on 23 June 1969, shortly after his departure from the Stones, are not flattering; he appears bloated, with deep-set eyes. However, Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues"...
, who visited in late June only shortly after the Spittal photos were taken, noted that Jones seemed "happier than he had ever been". He is known to have contacted Korner, Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart (musician)
Ian Andrew Robert Stewart was a Scottish keyboardist, co-founder of The Rolling Stones and inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
, Mitch Mitchell
Mitch Mitchell
John Ronald "Mitch" Mitchell was an English drummer, best known for his work in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Early life and the Jimi Hendrix Experience:...
and Jimmy Miller
Jimmy Miller (producer)
James "Jimmy" Miller was a Brooklyn, New York-born record producer and musician who produced dozens of albums between the mid-1960s and early 1990s, including landmark recordings for Blind Faith, Traffic, the Plasmatics, Motorhead, The World Bank and Primal Scream...
about intentions to put together another band.
Death
At around midnight on the night of 2–3 July 1969, Jones was discovered motionless at the bottom of his swimming pool at Cotchford Farm. His SwedishSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
girlfriend, Anna Wohlin, was convinced he was alive when they took him out, insisting he still had a pulse. However, by the time the doctors arrived, it was too late, and he was pronounced dead. The coroner's report stated "death by misadventure", and noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse. As Jones was 27 at the time of his death, he is one of the well known members of the 27 Club
27 Club
The 27 Club—also occasionally known as the Forever 27 Club, Club 27 or the Curse of 27—is the title for a group of popular musicians who all died at the age of 27...
.
Many items, such as instruments and expensive furniture, reportedly were stolen from the home after Jones's death. Rumours also exist that recordings by Jones for his future projects were stolen but nothing has surfaced to date. A watch given by Alexis Korner to Jones, with a personal inscription, surfaced in an auction at Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Upon Jones's death, Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
of the Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
wrote a poem titled "A Normal Day for Brian, A Man Who Died Every Day" (printed in The Times), Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
dedicated a song to him on US television, and Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
of The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
published a poem entitled "Ode to L.A. While Thinking of Brian Jones, Deceased". Hendrix and Morrison both died at the same age as Jones.
The Rolling Stones performed at a free concert in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
on 5 July 1969, two days after Jones's death. The concert had been scheduled weeks earlier as an opportunity to present the new guitarist, and the band decided to dedicate the concert to Jones. Before the Rolling Stones' set, Jagger read excerpts from "Adonais
Adonais
Adonaïs: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats, Author of Endymion, Hyperion, etc. , also spelled Adonaies, is a pastoral elegy written by Percy Bysshe Shelley for John Keats in 1821, and widely regarded as one of Shelley's best and most well-known works...
", a poem by Percy Shelley about the death of his friend John Keats
John Keats
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
, and stagehands released hundreds of white butterflies as part of the tribute. The band opened with a Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter
John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
song that was one of Jones's favourites, "I'm Yours and I'm Hers".
Jones was reportedly buried 12 feet (3.7 m) deep in Cheltenham Cemetery (to prevent exhumation by trophy hunters) in a lavish casket sent by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. Watts and Wyman were the only Rolling Stones who attended the funeral. Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
were travelling to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to begin the filming of Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly (1970 film)
Ned Kelly is a 1970 British adventure film. It was the second Australian feature film version of the story of 19th century Australian bushranger Ned Kelly....
; they stated that their contracts did not allow them to delay the trip to attend the funeral. Keith Richards reportedly remained in the recording studio.
When asked if he felt guilty about Jones's death, Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone in 1995: "No, I don't really. I do feel that I behaved in a very childish way, but we were very young, and in some ways we picked on him. But, unfortunately, he made himself a target for it; he was very, very jealous, very difficult, very manipulative
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
, and if you do that in this kind of a group of people, you get back as good as you give, to be honest. I wasn't understanding enough about his drug addiction. No one seemed to know much about drug addiction. Things like LSD were all new. No one knew the harm. People thought cocaine was good for you."
Murder claims
Conspiracy theories surrounding Jones' death developed soon afterwards, with associates of the Stones claiming to have information that he was murdered. According to rock biographer Philip NormanPhilip Norman (author)
Philip Norman is an English novelist, biographer, journalist and playwright.Norman grew up in Ryde, Isle of Wight. He attended Ryde School, and his father, Clive Norman, ran the Seagull Ballroom on Ryde Pier. He described his childhood in his book Babycham Night...
, "the murder theory would bubble back to the surface every five years or so". In 1993, it was reported that Jones was murdered by Frank Thorogood, a builder who was staying in the guest house on Cotchford Farm and was the last person to see Jones alive. Thorogood allegedly confessed to the murder on his deathbed to the Rolling Stones' driver, Tom Keylock, who later denied this. The Thorogood theory was dramatised in the 2005 movie Stoned
Stoned (film)
Stoned, also known as The Wild and Wycked World of Brian Jones in the UK, is a 2005 film about Brian Jones, one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones...
. In August 2009 Sussex Police decided to review Jones's death for the first time since 1969, after new evidence was handed to them by Scott Jones, an investigative journalist in the UK. Scott Jones had traced many of the people who were at Brian Jones's house the night he died, plus unseen police files held at the National Archives. In the Mail on Sunday in November 2008 Scott Jones said Frank Thorogood killed Brian Jones in a fight and the senior police officers covered up the true cause of death. Following the review the Sussex police stated that they would not be reopening the case. They asserted that "this has been thoroughly reviewed by Sussex Police's Crime Policy and Review Branch but there is no new evidence to suggest that the coroner’s original verdict of “death by misadventure” was incorrect. As such, the case will not be reopened."
Songwriting credits
Unsure and insecure as a composer, Jones was not a prolific songwriter. The 30-second "Rice Krispies" jingle for Kellogg'sKellogg Company
Kellogg Company , is a producer of cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles, and vegetarian foods...
, co-written with the J. W. Thompson advertising agency in 1963 and performed by the Rolling Stones incognito was credited to Jones; this did not sit well with the rest of the band, who felt it was a group effort and all should benefit equally. Jones was also included in the "Nanker/Phelge
Nanker Phelge
Nanker Phelge was a collective pseudonym used between 1963 and 1965 for several Rolling Stones group compositions. Stones bassist Bill Wyman explained the origins of the name in his 2002 book, Rolling with the Stones:...
" songwriting credit, a pseudonym used on fourteen tracks that were composed by the entire band and Andrew Oldham.
According to Andrew Oldham, the main reason for Jones not writing songs was that Jones, being a blues purist, did not love simple pop music enough. Oldham tried to establish a songwriting partnership between Jones and Gene Pitney
Gene Pitney
Eugene Francis Alan Pitney, known as Gene Pitney , was an American singer-songwriter, musician and sound engineer. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic and was among the group of early 1960s American acts who continued to enjoy hits after the...
after "becoming bored senseless by Jones's bleating about the potential of half-finished melodies that by no means deserved completion" but after two days of sessions "the results remain best to be unheard, even by Stones' completists".
When asked in 1965 if he had written songs, Jones replied: "Always tried. I've written quite a few, but mostly in blues style". Many years later after his death, Keith Richards stated: "No, no, absolutely not. That was the one thing he would never do. Brian wouldn't show them to anybody within the Stones. Brian as far as I know never wrote a single finished song in his life; he wrote bits and pieces but he never presented them to us. No doubt he spent hours, weeks, working on things, but his paranoia was so great that he could never bring himself to present them to us". Bill Wyman has stated that Jones was "an incredibly gifted musician, but not a song writer"; and in 1995 Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone that Jones had been jealous of the Jagger/Richards songwriting team, and added: "To be honest, Brian had no talent for writing songs. None. I've never known a guy with less talent for songwriting."
He is credited (along with Keith Richards) for the instrumental piece; "Hear It", though it is generally considered Jones's work.
However, in 1966 Jones composed, produced and played on the soundtrack to Mord und Totschlag (English title: A Degree Of Murder), an avant-garde German film with Anita Pallenberg. Guitarist Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
is one of the musicians Jones hired to play on the soundtrack.
In 1990, Carla Olson was given permission from Jones's estate to put one of his poems to music and thus created the Jones/Olson song "Thank You For Being There". It appeared on the album True Voices, performed by Krysia Kristianne and Robin Williamson.
Other contributions
In summer 1968, Jones recorded the MoroccoMorocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
-based ensemble, the Master Musicians of Joujouka; the recording was released in 1971 as Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka
Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka
Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka was an album produced by Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. The album was a recording of the Moroccan group the Master Musicians of Joujouka, in performance on 29 July 1968 in the village of Jajouka in Morocco and released on Rolling Stones Records,...
. Jagger and Richards visited Jajouka
Jajouka
Jajouka, Joujouka or Zahjoukah is a village in the Ahl-Srif mountains in the southern Rif, Morocco. The mountains are named after the Ahl-Srif tribe who populate the region.-The musical heritage:...
in 1989 after recording "Continental Drift" for the Rolling Stones album Steel Wheels
Steel Wheels
Steel Wheels is the 19th British and 21st American studio album by The Rolling Stones and was released in 1989. Heralded as a major comeback upon its release, the project is notable for the patching up of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' relationship, a reversion to a more classic style of music and...
with The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar in Tangier. A homage to Jones entitled "Brian Jones Joujouka very Stoned", painted by Mohamed Hamri
Mohamed Hamri
Mohamed Hamri , commonly known as Hamri, was a self-described Painter of Morocco. He was a Moroccan painter and author and one of the few Moroccans to participate in the Tangier Beat scene....
, who had brought Jones to Jajouka in 1967, appeared on the cover of Joujouka Black Eyes
Joujouka Black Eyes
Joujouka Black Eyes is a CD by Moroccan Sufi trance musicians Master Musicians of Joujouka. It was released in May 1995 on Sub Rosa Records. It was produced by Frank Rynne and includes the song "Brian Jones Joujouka very Stoned" written by Joujouka born painter Mohamed Hamri. This song commemorates...
by the Master Musicians of Joujouka in 1995. Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Jajouka was rereleased in 1995. The executive producers were Philip Glass, Kurt Munkasci and Rory Johnston, with notes by Bachir Attar
Bachir Attar
Bachir Attar is the leader of Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar. He is the son of Hadj Abdesalam Attar who led the group Master Musicians of Jajouka at the time of their groundbreaking album produced by Brian Jones.- Attar as the leader of The Master Musicians of Jajouka :Bachir...
, Paul Bowles
Paul Bowles
Paul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
, William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
, Stephen Davis, Brian Jones, Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique, used by his friend, the novelist William S. Burroughs...
and David Silver. and included additional graphics, more extensive notes by David Silver and William S. Burroughs, and a second CD, produced by Cliff Mark, with two “full-length remixes.”
In mid-May 1967, Jones played oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
on the Beatles' "Baby You're A Rich Man
Baby You're a Rich Man
"Baby, You're a Rich Man" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in 1967 by The Beatles for the 1968 film Yellow Submarine. It was also used as the B-side of their 1967 single "All You Need Is Love"...
"; and he played alto saxophone
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
on their "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)
You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)
"You Know My Name " is a song by The Beatles originally released as the B-side of the single "Let It Be" on 6 March 1970. Although first issued with their final single , it was recorded in four separate sessions beginning with three in May and June 1967, and one in 1969.-Composition:The song is a...
", which was released in March 1970, eight months after his death.
Public image and legend
Brian Jones was regarded as a fashion icon due to his rebellious and flamboyant style. His style of dress and manner did much to influence the fashion scene of swinging 1960s London.Anita Pallenberg has stated in an interview that he wanted to look like Françoise Hardy
Françoise Hardy
Françoise Madeleine Hardy is a French singer, actress and astrologer. Hardy is an iconic figure in fashion, music and style. She is married to the singer and movie actor Jacques Dutronc.-Biography:...
, he loved 'dressing up and posing about' and that he would ask her to do his hair and make-up.
He was 5'6" (1.68m) tall with blue-grey eyes and blond hair.
His death at 27 was the first of the '60s rock movement; Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
and Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
found their own drug-related deaths at the same age within two years (Morrison dying two years to the day after Jones). The coincidence of ages has been described as the "27 Club
27 Club
The 27 Club—also occasionally known as the Forever 27 Club, Club 27 or the Curse of 27—is the title for a group of popular musicians who all died at the age of 27...
".
The Stones' Shine a Light
Shine a Light (song)
"Shine a Light" is a song featured on British rock and roll band the Rolling Stones' 1972 album Exile on Main St.Although credited to usual Stones writers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Shine a Light" was largely a Jagger composition. He began writing the song in early 1968 when the Stones still...
was written by Jagger after his death and depicts Jones's behaviour and remoteness from the band, and asks God to shine a light on his soul. Several other songs have been written about Jones: The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
' song "Tightrope Ride" was originally written for Jones by Morrison, but after Morrison's death Ray Manzarek
Ray Manzarek
Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, Nite City from 1977–1978 and Manzarek-Krieger since 2001.Manzarek is listed #4 on Digital Dreamdoor's "100...
rewrote some of the lyrics so that they apply to both musicians. The Psychic TV
Psychic TV
Psychic TV or PTV, is a video art and music group that primarily performs psychedelic, punk, electronic and experimental music...
song "Godstar" is about Jones's death, as are Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
's "Trash", The Drovers
The Drovers
The Drovers are a Chicago rock band whose original songs were influenced by Irish traditional dance music.Founded by Irish traditional fiddler Seán Cleland in 1988, the group recorded four albums and soundtrack music for the motion pictures, Backdraft and Blink...
' "She's as Pretty as Brian Jones Was" and Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
's "Death by Misadventure". Toy Love
Toy Love
Toy Love was a New Zealand New Wave/punk rock band fronted by Chris Knox. Other members were guitarist Alec Bathgate, bass player Paul Kean, drummer Mike Dooley, and keyboard player Jane Walker...
's song "Swimming Pool" lists several dead rock icons including Jones (the others are Morrison, Hendrix, and Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
); he is also mentioned in De Phazz
De Phazz
De Phazz is a downtempo jazz ensemble integrating modern turntablism and elements of soul, Latin, trip hop and drum and bass into a lounge music sound. De Phazz is led by Pit Baumgartner, a German producer who has varied the lineup of artists for every new album. Some regular members are Barbara...
's song "Something Special". The Master Musicians of Joujouka
The Master Musicians of Joujouka
The Master Musicians of Joujouka are Berber Sufi trance musicians most famous for their connections with the Beat Generation and the Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones...
song "Brian Jones Joujouka Very Stoned" was released in 1974 and 1996. The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American eclectic musical group led by Anton Newcombe, whose music spans multiple genres including psychedelia, electronica, folk music, blues, experimental music, and many others....
was named partially after him.
The 2005 film Stoned is a fictional account of Jones and his role in the Rolling Stones. The part of Brian was played by English actor Leo Gregory
Leo Gregory
Leo Gregory is an English film and television actor. He has appeared in many films such as Green Street, Stoned, Act of Grace, Daylight Robbery, and Menace....
.
A fictionalised version of Jones and the tribute concert to him appears in Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
and Kevin O'Neill
Kevin O'Neill (comics)
Kevin O'Neill is an English comic book illustrator best known as the co-creator of Nemesis the Warlock, Marshal Law , and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen .-Early career:...
's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century is the third volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill. Co-published by Top Shelf Productions and Knockabout Comics in the US and UK respectively, Century will be published in...
in its second issue, "Paint it Black".
With the Rolling Stones
- The Rolling Stones (UK)The Rolling Stones (album)-Personnel:The Rolling Stones*Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, harmonica, percussion*Keith Richards – guitar, backing vocals*Brian Jones – guitar, harmonica, percussion, backing vocals*Charlie Watts – drums, percussion...
(1964) - The Rolling Stones (EP)The Rolling Stones (EP)The Rolling Stones is the debut EP released by The Rolling Stones in January 1964. It was released both to capitalise on their first Top 20 hit "I Wanna Be Your Man" and to test the commercial appeal of the band before their UK label Decca Records would commit to letting them record an album...
(1964) - England's Newest Hit MakersEngland's Newest Hit Makers-Personnel:The Rolling Stones*Mick Jagger – lead vocals, backing vocals, harmonica, percussion*Keith Richards – guitar, backing vocals*Brian Jones – guitar, harmonica, percussion, backing vocals*Charlie Watts – drums, percussion...
(1964) - 12 X 512 X 5-Personnel:The Rolling Stones*Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, and percussion*Keith Richards – acoustic and electric guitar, and backing vocals*Brian Jones – electric and acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambourine and backing vocals...
(1964) - The Rolling Stones No. 2The Rolling Stones No. 2-Personnel:*Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, tambourine, percussion*Keith Richards – guitars, backing vocals*Brian Jones – guitar, slide guitar, backing vocals*Charlie Watts – drums, percussion...
(1965) - The Rolling Stones, Now!The Rolling Stones, Now!-Personnel:The Rolling Stones*Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, tambourine, and percussion*Keith Richards – guitar and backing vocals*Brian Jones – guitar and slide guitar, harmonica and backing vocals...
(1965) - Out of Our HeadsOut of Our Heads- American release:Initially issued in July 1965 in America - American release:Initially issued in July 1965 in America - American release:Initially issued in July 1965 in America (featuring a shot from the same photo session that graced the cover of 12 X 5 and The Rolling Stones No...
(1965) - December's Children (And Everybody's)December's Children (And Everybody's)-Personnel:*Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica on "I'm Moving On," percussion*Keith Richards – guitars, backing vocals, and string arrangement*Brian Jones – guitars, backing vocals, harmonica on "Look What You've Done," piano, and organ...
(1965) - Aftermath (1966)
- Got Live If You Want It! (1966) (live album)
- Between the ButtonsBetween the Buttons- American release:In the US, the album was released by London Records on February 11, 1967 . "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday" were slotted onto the album while "Back Street Girl" and "Please Go Home" were removed ...
(1967) - Flowers (1967) (compilation)
- Their Satanic Majesties RequestTheir Satanic Majesties RequestTheir Satanic Majesties Request is the sixth British and eighth American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released on 8 December 1967 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States by London Records...
(1967) - Beggars BanquetBeggars Banquet- Personnel :The Rolling Stones* Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, harmonica on "Parachute Woman"* Keith Richards – acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar on "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man", backing vocals, lead vocals on opening of "Salt of the Earth"* Brian...
(1968) - Let It BleedLet It BleedLet It Bleed is the eighth British and tenth American album by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in December 1969 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States...
(1969)
- Jones plays on "Midnight Rambler" and "You Got The Silver"
- Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)Through the Past, Darkly is The Rolling Stones' second official compilation album, released in 1969 shortly following Brian Jones's departure from the group and subsequent death. The album was released by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records/ABKCO Records in the United States.In...
(1969) (compilation) - Hot Rocks, 1964-1971 (1972) (compilation)
- More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies)More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies)More Hot Rocks is the second compilation album of Rolling Stones music released by former manager Allen Klein's ABKCO Records after the band's departure from Decca and Klein...
(1972) (compilation) - Singles Collection: The London YearsSingles Collection: The London YearsSingles Collection: The London Years is a compilation album of Rolling Stones music released by former manager Allen Klein's ABKCO Records after the band's departure from Decca and Klein....
. (1989) (compilation of singles 1963-1971) - The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll CircusThe Rolling Stones Rock and Roll CircusThe Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus is a film released in 1996 of an 11 December 1968 event put together by The Rolling Stones. The event comprised two concerts on a circus stage and included such acts as The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and Jethro Tull...
(1996) (live performance from 1968) - Forty LicksForty LicksForty Licks is a double compilation album by The Rolling Stones. A 40-year career-spanning retrospective, Forty Licks is notable for being the first retrospective to combine the band's formative Decca/London era of the 1960s, now licensed by ABKCO Records , with their self-owned post-1970 material,...
(2002) (compilation 1964-2002)
- Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)
With the Beatles
- Yellow SubmarineYellow Submarine (song)"Yellow Submarine" is a 1966 song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney , with lead vocals by Ringo Starr. It was included on the Revolver album and issued as a single, coupled with "Eleanor Rigby". The single went to number 1 on every major British chart, remained at number 1 for four weeks...
(1966) (song) - Baby You're a Rich ManBaby You're a Rich Man"Baby, You're a Rich Man" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in 1967 by The Beatles for the 1968 film Yellow Submarine. It was also used as the B-side of their 1967 single "All You Need Is Love"...
(1967) (song) - You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)"You Know My Name " is a song by The Beatles originally released as the B-side of the single "Let It Be" on 6 March 1970. Although first issued with their final single , it was recorded in four separate sessions beginning with three in May and June 1967, and one in 1969.-Composition:The song is a...
(1970) (song recorded 1967)
Solo discography
- A Degree of MurderA Degree of MurderA Degree of Murder is a 1967 West German film, starring Anita Pallenberg and directed by Volker Schlöndorff. The film is widely recognised because of the soundtrack composed, produced, arranged, and played by Brian Jones , Pallenberg's boyfriend at the time...
(1967) (soundtrack) - Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at JoujoukaBrian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at JoujoukaBrian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka was an album produced by Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. The album was a recording of the Moroccan group the Master Musicians of Joujouka, in performance on 29 July 1968 in the village of Jajouka in Morocco and released on Rolling Stones Records,...
(1971) (recorded 1968)
External links
- Brian Jones, Founder of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones profile with comprehensive discography and bibliography at YoursDaily.com.
- Brian Jones: Death of a Rolling Stone
- Brian Jones memorial fan club