He is a very talented musician, one of the founders of "The Rolling Stones" and its secret weapon. We want to tell you some facts about one of the tragedies of the Rock world - Brian Jones:
(Photo: NME.com)
1. He was born on 28 February 1942 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, under the name Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones.
2. In his youth, Jones grew up on music at home, from classical, through blues to jazz.
3. His father was an aeronautical engineer, but also a piano teacher.
4. His mother played organ and piano and conducted the local church choir.
5. At the age of 15, he asked his parents to buy him a saxophone, after hearing Cannonball Adderley - an American jazz artist playing an instrument.
6. At the age of 17 his parents bought him his first guitar.
7. Saxophone and guitar were not enough for him. He was also a clarinet player in the school band.
8. At the age of 17 he got his girlfriend, then a 14-year-old, pregnant, she gave birth to the baby and the two gave him up for adoption.
9. Following this Jones left school and went on a trip to Northern Europe with his guitar, playing on street corners for pennies.
10. Later he started playing blues and jazz music in pubs and clubs.
11. At that time he became a professional blues musician, calling himself by the Christian name Elmo Lewis.
12. In 1959 Jones put a married woman pregnant. She gave birth to his daughter on August 4, 1960, and raised her along with her husband. Jones never knew he had another girl.
13. But that was not enough, on October 22, 1961, Jones' girlfriend at the time - Pat Andrews gave birth to his third child.
14. In 1962 it was Jones who was responsible for the founding of "the Rolling Stones" and according to Keith Richards, he was also the one who gave it the name.
15. "The Rolling Stones" made their debut on 12 July 1962 at the Marquee Club in London. It was with Jagger, Jones, Richards, and Dick Taylor on bass, and Tony Chapman on drums.
16. By September 1963, Jones, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards shared an apartment in Chelsea. At the time Jones was playing and listening to a lot of music, especially blues by Muddy Waters, Willy Dixon, Jimmy Reed, and Howlin' Wolf.
17. At the same time, Jones taught Mick Jagger to play the harmonica.
(Photo: David Farrell)
18. On January 18 1963 The Rolling Stones' classic line-up was completed with Bill Wyman on bass and Charlie Watts on drums.
19. The band started out playing blues and jazz clubs around London, slowly building a devoted fan base.
20. Despite Mick Jagger's charisma, Jones was the one who led the band, getting them performances and negotiating the payment.
21. Jones then played rhythm guitar, harmonica, and slide guitar. Bill Wyman later claimed he was one of the first slide players in England.
22. Jones was the one who enriched the sound of the Stones as he slowly added more musical instruments. The fundamental change began with the 1966 album "Aftermath" and intensified on subsequent albums "Between the Buttons" from 1967, culminating that year with the album "Their Satanic Majesties Request".
23. Jones was a multi-instrumentalist who played in the Rollin stones albums on instruments like guitar, slide, piano, sitar, tambourine, organ, dulcimer, mellotron, xylophone, marimba, flute, clarinet, harp, and more.
24. Between 1962-1968 Jones also provided background vocals to the band.
25. In 1964, his girlfriend Linda Lawrence gave birth to his fourth child. Lawrence later married singer and songwriter Donovan.
26. That same year another girlfriend of his Dawn Molloy gave birth to his fifth child, at that time Jones was already with the Rolling Stones and she got a nice check to keep the matter a secret.
27. As the band became more famous, band director Bill Oldham shifted the weight of the band's leadership from Jones' shoulders to those of Jagger and Richards. This kept Jones away from the rest of the band.
28. The many performances and trips on the road, as well as fame and fortune, did not do well for Jones, whose sense of alienation from the rest of the band deepened.
29. Jones became addicted to drugs and alcohol, frequently using LSD, cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol.
30. The increasing use of alcohol and drugs did not go well with his physical condition which was not good in the first place, partly due to chronic asthma he had from childhood.
31. He was hospitalized more than once and began experiencing paranoia attacks.
32. In June 1967, Jones traveled to the Monterey Pop Festival with Nico, who was his partner at the time. There he met Frank Zappa, and took the stage to introduce Jimi Hendrix. Jones was nicknamed "the unofficial king of the festival."
33. Following this, the rift between Jones and the other members of the band deepened.
(Photo: Mark and Colleen Hayward)
34. One of the crises was in the summer of 1967, when Jones 'girlfriend Anita Pallenberg fled to Richards while Jones was in the hospital, thus severely damaging Jones and Richards' friendship.
35. Jones' last significant recordings with the stones were made in the summer of 1968 with the single "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and the album "Beggars Banquet".
36. Jones' last official appearance with the Stones was at "The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus", a film organized by The band and had half a concert and half a circus, with many guests such as Jethro Tull, the Who, Eric Clapton and more.
37. In the film, Jones is seen under the influence of drugs, lost and confused.
38. In 1968 Jones produced, composed, and played the soundtrack for the film "Mord und Totschlag". One "person" who played the soundtrack was Jimmy Page.
39. During the filming, Jones and his girlfriend were photographed while Jones was seen in a Nazi uniform over a naked doll. Jones was by no means a Nazi, but many were hurt by the picture.
40. In early 1968, Jones played the percussion in an unreleased version of Jimi Hendrix's Bob Dylan's song "All Along the Watchtower."
41. He also played an alto saxophone in the Beatles' song "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)".
42. Jones' condition worsened, he didn't get to recordings, and even when he did he was late and didn't do much.
43. In the hearts of the other members of the band grew the decision to fire him. They knew he was slowing them down and that if they wanted to succeed, they would have no choice but to release him.
44. Jagger and Richards allowed him to do so respectfully and announce that he was the one leaving the band, and so it was. On June 9, 1969, Jones announced in the media that he was leaving the Rolling Stones.
45. Less than a month later on the night of July 2-3, Jones was found dead at the bottom of the pool of his estate. The doctors who arrived at the scene determined his death when the cause of the mysterious death was determined as drowning. In doing so, Jones became one of the first to join "the 27 club".
46. Many greats paid tribute to Jones in songs they wrote in his memory, including Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix, and even Jim Morrison who died exactly two years later, also 27 at the time of his death.