The myth of Brian Jones creating The Rolling Stones.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by MHP, Jun 12, 2022.

  1. MHP

    MHP Lover of Rock ‘n Roll Thread Starter

    Location:
    DK
    “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
     
  2. Kiss73

    Kiss73 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    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"
     
    Fred1, sjaca, john lennonist and 30 others like this.
  3. MHP

    MHP Lover of Rock ‘n Roll Thread Starter

    Location:
    DK
    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.
     
  4. vinyldreams

    vinyldreams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Main St.
    Never believed that he "created" the band on his own. He did however name them after a Muddy Waters tune "Rollin' Stone".
     
    Sean, a customer, Comaboy and 6 others like this.
  5. Wild Horse

    Wild Horse Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    It was Charlie's band.
     
    Fullbug, Sean, jdrueke and 40 others like this.
  6. Roland Stoves

    Roland Stoves 3.9% Neanderthal

    Location:
    Niagara
    Don't put any stock into it. There are other details the writer of the letter got wrong, like Charlie joining before Bill.
     
  7. Amnion

    Amnion Forum Occupant

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    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.
     
  8. MHP

    MHP Lover of Rock ‘n Roll Thread Starter

    Location:
    DK
    The writer is Brian Jones…
     
    jdrueke, Comaboy, uzn007 and 2 others like this.
  9. Amnion

    Amnion Forum Occupant

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    No, it was Stu's :angel:
     
    RVA_101, Fullbug, jdrueke and 19 others like this.
  10. idledreamer

    idledreamer Still idle

    Location:
    Boston, MA
  11. MHP

    MHP Lover of Rock ‘n Roll Thread Starter

    Location:
    DK
    Can’t we agree it’s a myth Jones was the sole founder? I mean, the guy writes it himself he wasn’t…
     
    The Beave, klockwerk, Comaboy and 2 others like this.
  12. Frank Discussion

    Frank Discussion Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Brian was being humble when he wrote that!


    Ha!
     
  13. SurrenderToTheRhythm

    SurrenderToTheRhythm Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    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?
     
  14. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    didn't care who was the leader back then...I just loved their 60' s output....still do.
     
  15. Crimson Witch

    Crimson Witch Roll across the floor thru the hole & out the door

    Location:
    Lower Michigan
    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
     
  16. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    Read Paul Trynka's biography Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones.
     
  17. UnderTheFloorboards'66

    UnderTheFloorboards'66 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    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.
     
    zephyr25, Gazz, Ewan7 and 12 others like this.
  18. swandown

    swandown Under Assistant West Coast Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    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.
     
  19. notesfrom

    notesfrom Forum Resident

    Location:
    NC USA
    Keith said it was Stu's band. Bill said it was Brian's band. The Brian and Stu aisle, FTW.
     
  20. Voodoo Chile

    Voodoo Chile Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wonderland
    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

    [​IMG]

    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.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2022
    Fullbug, sjaca, Revolver and 48 others like this.
  21. Amnion

    Amnion Forum Occupant

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Sure, but still a lot of "fog of history" going on.
     
    Comaboy likes this.
  22. speedracer

    speedracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cascadia
    No Jones no Stones.
     
    zephyr25, Fullbug, Revolver and 31 others like this.
  23. fishcane

    fishcane Dirt Farmer

    Location:
    Finger Lakes,NY
    I’m more interested in the myth that he wasn’t murdered
     
    zephyr25, Stencil, RVA_101 and 18 others like this.
  24. swandown

    swandown Under Assistant West Coast Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    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.
     
  25. speedracer

    speedracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cascadia
    Let's see. Who should I listen to on this? Bill Wyman or a pack of toothless bearded hags?
     
    Fullbug, Judge Judy, Ewan7 and 14 others like this.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine