Would Brian Jones Be The Center Of Attention In The Stones Universe 2017?

Hey, "Dirty Work" definitely is up there!!!!

 

Hell, that is a pretty meagre curriculum vitae for a musician who is held in such high estime by some. OK, the first slide on a British pop single (wow) - a pretty rudimentary and rather clumsy slide solo in fact and a joke compared to what his idol Elmore James had been doing for years.
"Paint It Black" is a fabulous song (by Mick and Keith) and the fact that Brian is going "doing doing doing..." along to Mick and Keith's melody is no great shakes. Look what George Harrison had already done creatively with a sitar. The marimba part of "Under My Thumb" (dum dum di dum dum...), oh yeah, very clever. It's hardly Milt Jackson is it! Let's not get carried away here about what great musicianship really is. I can understand parents being proud of their child doing such stuff for a school prom but come on! If Brian came up with the basis of "Ruby Tuesday" then good for him (just like Bill came up with the basic riff of "Jumpin' Jack Flash") but again, that is a meagre offering when one tries to claim that Brian Jones was the driving force, the creative hub of the Rolling Stones fer crissakes.

 

He was never the center of the Stone's universe, even out of the gate when he carried far more clout within the band. He rivaled Jagger initially as the center of attention but that was an uphill battle even in the early days, since most front men with lips as prominent as Mick's (no homo) are hard to top. Then came the songwriting differential, Oldham's plotting and prodding, and Brian's slow but steady self destruction. It was an implosion worthy of any other in the annuls of rock.

So to answer your question, no. Brian had his day in the sun, but that sun set long ago. Even back when his star was in full descent he had but a snowflake's chance in hell of ever returning to his former glories.

 

Incredible that people just can't let the man rest in peace.
He had his time and he was influential on the group he was a part of.
Sure there has been some mediocre albums after he left, but there were just as many hit-and-miss records when he was in the band. After he faded away, they became different and somewhat more matured, which was both good and bad.

There are people on this board who thinks The Stones should honor Jones night and day. The fact is that those people just can't get it into their heads that he he died 45 years ago and was only PART of their history. Not the whole part, mind you. A lot of water has run under the bridge since then.

If you have been to the Exhibitionism in London (which I have), you will find out that they DO appreciate his efforts when he was in the band. There are a lot of Jones artifacts, including his dulcimer, guitars, notebooks, contracts and clothes. He is NOT forgotten by them. But again, he was only a PART of the group's history.

 

But probably true!

 

IMO those who say Brian wasn't a virtuoso totally miss the point. He contributed greatly with his arrangement ideas, which he implemented by playing a large number of instruments, usually coming up with something really good that added to the song. Most of these instruments he had rudimentary skills on, but it doesn't matter.

The simple marimba part on Under My Thumb is a perfect example; it is the melody that carries the song, and it's what "makes" the song (listen to post-Jones Stones versions - the part is still there, played by the guitars). The song isn't lacking because he doesn't play 16th notes in syncopation or anything technical; he plays just what is needed.

It's also understandable if Jones felt cheated when he received no financial compensation for his contributions (but as noted, he is but one musician in a big pool that got shafted by the Glimmer Twins).

 

That list is sadly a complete hackwork. Flute on Citadel? No, mellotron. Harpsichord on Lady Lane? No, that's Jones on dulcimer; Jack Nitzche on harpsichord.

 

Whew! Thanks for clarifying!

 

Brian Jones didn't really have what it takes to be the centre of attention in the big leagues. Chances are that, if he didn't seriously get his act together, he'd have ended up like Syd Barrett might've if he'd stayed in the biz, drifting to the margins of the pop music world and playing with increasingly younger musicians who could put up with his BS in order to trade on his name and try to shake out a bit of the old inspiration.

 

It's a tragedy that Brian never had the time to get his own thing together. In 1967 he was hounded by the law so much that it crushed him.

 

Charlie Watts guiltily admitted: “We took his one thing away, which was being in a band.”

I know people will say "but Brian didn't help himself much either."

10 Things You Never Knew About... Brian Jones »

 

Well thought out response

 

To me it sounds a lot like "Party Line" from Face To Face. Especially the verses.

 

Nothing wrong with that solo. While it is way too short, the sound is as nasty as slide guitar gets and there's many Elmore James solos that are just as basic. It's brilliant. If you want to hear Jones displaying a bit more of his slide chops, listen to the Stones cover of Muddy Water's "I Can't Be Satisfied". His playing on that is note perfect.

 

According to some reports, he wasn't too bothered about the lack of co-writing credits in some songs.

 

Was his influence not lost a year or so before he was booted out??!!

 

Regardless of his importance to the Stones history, the question of him being the centre of the Stones orbit in 2016 - if he hadn't been dead for 47 years - is a bit of a stretch. And I'm one who really appreciates the contributions that Brian Jones made to the Stones. Had he not died...well, he was out of the band anyway and he would have had to get past some seriously destructive emotional and physical problems just to get back to any sort of serious musical touch. If...and it’s a pretty big if...if he managed to do that...well, maybe he may have guested with them occasionally, if he remained on good terms with Keith and/or Mick. He almost certainly would have been part of the 50th anniversary shows, of course...but the centre of the Stones orbit?

No. Obviously.

 

I appreciate Jones contributions to the stones that's why I started this thread.

Agree on all you say, If he had not died and cleaned up his act maybe we would have seen some good solo albums and producing work of young bands. Than maybe after Taylor left the stones Brian would of come back to the herd and make some Jones 70's stones type music.

Jones might have been a fill in till Ronnie Wood showed up?

Respect Jonseys input with the stones it's just most every time on most any internet forum you post an interview or article of jones contributions to the stones there is always someone who will tell you it's a lie a hack job article etc. Anything to distant Jones from the stones legacy.

The guy Jones had many faults as did the other stones the only difference was some were able to control themselves better and also hide more of their shortcomings in the eye of the public and current media outlets of the time.

 

I doubt it. The musical landscape has drastically changed by 1968/69 with the rise of Cream, Hendrix, Peter Green, Johnny Winter, Greg Allman,... Mick and Keith realised that they needed a seriously hot guitarist if they were to remain credible. Enter Mick Taylor.

Dismissing Jones from the Stones' history would be stupid but when people try and make it seem that he was the man in the band, it gets just as silly and it needs to be pointed out that that wasn't the case at all. He was the early driving force in making a name for them but he soon became simply a memeber of the band playing Mick and Keith's great songs, adding brilliant finishing touches. However they should have included his name in the songwriting credits if he had made key contributions to the song structure or even texts.

 

AGREED

His name should be included in writing credits.

Jones was not the man I agree there,
Driving force big time. The Stones jones era were like a picture frame they needed each other to keep that picture frame together. Same was said of the Fabs. I believe John Lennon made that statement of his mates.

 

Very deserving.

 

I wasn't inferring that you didn't appreciate him. If I did, it wasn't my intention.

Yeah, I feel the same way. It's either people saying the was the most important person in the Stones...or others tossing his contributions aside as mere unimportant embellishments. Both are wrong.

Yep.