The Brian Jones Q&A - And his Contributions as a Stone - Thread

I believe that is Jack Nietzsche

 

I doubt that's true - it doesn't match the what we know of the time. In August of 1966, they had just finished Aftermath and we're working on Between the Buttons and Jones was still a vital contributor. It wasn't until 68 that you see how his drug issues had clearly affected his performance (seen in the R&R Circus and Godard films), and his second drug arrest had occurred (which might have prevented the Stones from touring). I think they didn't want to get rid of him until 68.

 

It's possible that it wasn't SERIOUS talk, but perhaps idle chatter. Perhaps the beginning of small seeds being planted. Maybe Brian had done something irksome earlier that week and they were just talking - "This guy's a pain in the ass, wish he'd leave, wish there was some way to talk him out of the band." I think the idea of Brian departing the Stones was years in the making. I don't mean in a conspiratorial sense, but that little things slowly added up over time until you had a really intense, unfriendly and unhappy situation by 1969 that demanded some sad climax. Brian himself wanted out of the band as early as 1967. I know the band didn't really appreciate his desire to experiment with new sounds. They tolerated it, barely, and it worked in 1965-1967 because the musical industry moved in that direction for a time. But even as early as the founding of the band, Mick and Keith would have a laugh at how Brian came from a professionally trained musical background. The clash of personalities was probably something which couldn't be avoided, and Oldham acting as a further divisive force - building up Mick and Keith's egos, creating factions, and phasing out Brian (which led in turn to his nastier traits worsening and becoming more evident) - made his departure inevitable.

 

Nice to see some constructive Brian Jones post contributions here.

 

As a 40+ year fan of the Stones, I can tell you that all discussions involving band members have a tendency to go awry because people tend to take extreme positions that elicit equally extreme counter-positions.

- Mick is the leader and driving force behind the band, the best frontman in history who deserves all the credit for its success.

- Keith is the leader and driving force behind the band, the key songwriter and riffmeister who deserves all the credit for its success.

- Brian was a musical visionary and genius, and Mick and Keith were evil forces that conspired to force him out of the band.

- Brian was a limited musical talent whose vision was to be a blues cover band, and Mick and Keith tried their best to support him, but gave up only when his drug fueled petulance drove them to it.

- Brian was a slide genius. Mick Taylor is a studio hack.

- Mick Taylor is a slide genius. Ronnie Wood is a studio hack.

Setlists, ticket prices, etc., etc. Then they get really upset at each other. The Stones "fan" sites are worse than this Forum.

 

Of these tracks, Brian only plays on Mess of the Blues.

 

Sing This All Together - flute, trumpet, brass instruments, percussion

Brian does not play any of the brass instruments. Flute is a guess, he does play mellotron and percussion on it though.

Sitting on a Fence - Lead guitar

There's very little info to say whether or not he played on the track.

Mother's Little Helper - Sitar

That's 12 string guitar with slide, there's two guitars playing the motif, Keith claims to have played one of them. Brian played the part live.

Dandelion - Oboe

It's a soprano saxophone.

 

Mick played harmonica before he met Brian.

 

I read in some book that Mick took few lessons from Brian on harmonica playing.

 

Probably more a case of sharing licks as people in bands tend to do.

 

Sitting on A Fence, the lead section, sounds like his work, the repetition of notes, the fragility of the tone, the Elizabeth/jangly sort of feel and the way it plays under the vocal melody reminds me of his work on Lady Jane. I listened to a stereo edit and the two guitars are separated better and the two guitars sound two distinct styles.

My bad with the others. With Sing This All Together I think flute is a fair guess since he started off as a woodwind player and he plays flute on Citadel as well.

 

He was credited with All Along The Watchtower in Padgett's book on the creation of Watchtower:
"That’s him playing the thwack you hear at the end of each bar in the intro, on an instrument called a vibraslap."

 

Brian 100% plays on All Along The Watchtower, vibraslap and probably some other percusion.

 

Very effective, the "thwacky "
adds as amazing production embellishment.

 

As Trynka said in his best, he was a tone colorist. He was not a guitar virtuoso, or a true songwriter with the probable exception of Ruby Tuesday (and that's just the melody/structure), but he knew what to add to take a song, and beef it up with this or that to send it through the stratosphere.

 

Donovan mentions Brian in the Scots folkie's autobiography as attending one of his early recording session in Denmark street studio( regent sound). Jones seemed to be supporter of other musicians. Even though he didn't play at Monterey Pop Festival he walked around the event with Nico looking like a star.

 

Oops, I mean't the tracks listed...

Other contributions:
With Peter and Gordon
"You've Had Better Times" (1968) drums
"Mess of the Blues" (1964) harmonica

With McGough and McGear
"Basement Flat" (1968) saxophone
"Summer with Monica" (1968) saxophone

With Marianne Faithfull
"Is This What I Get For Loving You?" (1966) euphonium

 

The repetition certainly supports it being him, but it's technically quite unlike anything Brian played on guitar before or after.

The guitars being separated in the stereo mix suggests the lead is an overdub.

 

Well put...

 

On the DVD "Classic Albums - Electric Ladyland" (1997),
you can hear Brian Jones playing some piano
on the early take of All Along The Watchtower .

And the following comments are from that DVD.

Eddie Kramer:
We have a visitor, none other than Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones.
Stumbled by the session. Decided to help out and play some piano.
But he valiantly tried for a couple of tales
and then as we can hear, it was abandoned.
and they went back to cutting the basic track without him.

Mitch Mitchell:
I think Brian Jones was involved in some of that kind of deal
for percussion effects.
It was as if, anyone that was around,
"Hit this, let's try and see what works."

The "percussion effects" in Mitch's saying may be the vibraslap, I think.

 

I think"mastered" is a bit strong

 

IMHO, no less, no more.......

There is the Stones the magnificently sloppy ragged-but-right greatest rackinrowl band in the world.....

....and there is the innovative 60s band snapping at the Beatles' heels........

.....to the latter Brian was every bit as important as Mick and Keith, the keeper of the fairy dust, the magic, a vital contributor up until Majesties probably.......it didn't last, we know that.....

...I think it's true BOTH that he was badly treated and that he brought much of it on himself, I'm perfectly prepared to believe that he could be a monumental pain in the a**.......

.....but that doesn't take away from his talent or his contribution......

.....and without him they changed, not necessarily for the worse, but they became.......different.....

 

Does anyone know what, if any, guitar parts Brian played on Jumpin' Jack Flash? He's shown playing a guitar on it both in the promo and at the Rock N' Roll Circus.

 

I've not played it for sometime, but the version on South Saturn Delta is a different mix with conga's quite audible, I always assumed this to be Brian's contribution - in fact it may even say so in the liner notes.

 

Holy crap. This arrived last night. I only had a chance to flip through it but it looks incredibly detailed and complete with info on all ~350 songs. Bigger and heavier than the Bible. Looking forward to digging in, which is great because I needed something to hold me over until my Havana Moon deluxe set arrives next month.