“He formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs.” -Bill Wyman Fair enough. Certainly Jones was seen as ‘the leader’ for some time. Absolutely, it’s documented he got the band the gigs. But that’s where it stops, as far as reality goes. Because a certain letter was put up for auction on Bonham’s in 2006. It reveals, in Brian’s very own words, that the band is not his creation alone, as Wyman has said, but an ‘amalgamation’ of two groups. As far as the music goes, it has been documented that Mick & Keith (and Dick Taylor) also played the blues before they met Brian. So much for Wyman’s theories about Jones’ choosing the music. Maybe it’s time for Wyman and other ‘No Jones, No Stones’-purists, to acknowledge the fact that Jones was NOT the sole founder and it was never ‘his’ band! Discuss! “The band is really an amalgamation of two bands. The one being an R & B band I formed about a year ago, and the other being a group run by Mick and Keith in S.E. London. I was introduced to Keith and we decided to pool our resources, so with Stu from my band, and Mick from Keith’s we became the nucleus of the “Stones.” “ Bonhams : An important handwritten letter by Brian Jones on the founding of the Rolling Stones
I'm not sure I care. I enjoy the music. Love it infact. The "poltics" of bands doesn't interest me at all. I love what Brian did, but they did as great work without him as well. I don't miss him. I can listen to him wherever I wish...which goes full circle and I simply don't care who "started the band"
A lot of people unfortunately has some kind of ‘Saint Brian’ complex. At the same time they have a ‘Jagger/Richard-are-devils’-issue. And those people are usually also full of ‘Brian was the only talent’ stuff. Pathetic, I think.
Never believed that he "created" the band on his own. He did however name them after a Muddy Waters tune "Rollin' Stone".
Don't put any stock into it. There are other details the writer of the letter got wrong, like Charlie joining before Bill.
This has been done in other threads endlessly, with vitriol, "fake news" etc. Brian was Brian, a founding member, an essential component of 60s Stones. God, I loved him, when my Mum told me "that blonde boy in the band you love is dead" I was a devastated 17-yr-old. Sorry OP, but including "Myth" in thread title is just inviting combat about something nobody knows for certain. Always glad to talk about Brian, but your starting point only invites conflict. No disrespect intended.
Jones to me is as important to 60’s Stones as Mick and Keef. I honestly always thought it was Stu’s band…didn’t Richards say that at the HOF induction? Wait…who cares?
I'm not sure it matters much , which one placed the advert in the daily; who brought in the first real amplifier; etc. AFAIC, the only thing the Stones were not once Brian departed is the same band they had been. Completely different chemistry, sound. It's really the recordings they made and nothing else about them that interest me
Meh, most people will always believe he founded the band and I have no problem with that. Brian Jones was cool and he made The Rolling Stones more interesting.
I think we've always known that the Stones were a merging of 2 groups, it's just that Mick and Keith were willing to sit back and let people mythologize Brian's involvement. There was nothing to gain by correcting the story. I also think that Wyman makes a fair point about Brian's early leadership. But that leadership started to fade fairly quickly, even before Andrew Oldham showed up.
Brian Jones formed the Rolling Stones without any doubt. He put and ad in Jazz News in 1961; it attracted Ian Stewart (Stu) and Jeff Bradford. Then Mick Jagger met them at the Ealing R&B Club and joined their rehearsals, bringing his mates Keith Richards and Dick Taylor. Without Brian, the Rolling Stones would surely have never existed, at least as "the Rolling Stones"! Brian also was a leader, a key member, and later he added magic to the music of Mick and Keith. The stones started by themselves, without Manager, Brian was the leader, and as a good leader, he selected the best team, and two members of the team took the leadership later. Stu was the second Rolling Stone, Stu was the first person Keith met when he auditioned for the job. No pictures of the Stones as a band in 1962, not playing or posing for professional pictures, the first are from 1963. However there are many candid pictures of them in 1962 like this one, from September 1962 From left to right, Ron Carmichael, Lonesome Dave Peverett (later a member of Savoy Brown and founder of Foghat), Brian Jones, Jeremy Pender (on the back, almost hidden), Mick Jagger, Graham Ackers, Keith Richards and Harry Simmonds, brother of Savoy Brown's founder and leader Kim Simmonds.
Your timeline is a bit off. Brian placed the ad in "Jazz News" in May 1962. Mick and Keith had been playing in their band for 6 months at that point, and they'd already jammed with Blues Incorporated, and Mick had secured a regular guest spot in the group's performances. I think I would be more inclined to buy into the "Brian formed the band!" myth if Brian's band had actually existed as a performing unit. But it was never a real band. It was just a loose collection of musicians who jammed together, and hadn't settled on a lineup yet. And they really only jammed together a few times before Mick and Keith (and Dick Taylor) showed up.