According to Time Is On Our Side (which is probably the most reliable source in terms of personnel on certain tracks), it is indeed Bill on bass and Brian on Mellotron. However, it appears that Bill plays synthesizer on here as well. Jigsaw Puzzle
There's session tapes of them working on the song that has Keith on slide (plus acoustic rhythm guitar dubbed later), with Bill on bass, Charlie, and Hopkins. Jones is generally listed as having played slide ('No Expectations'), Mellotron ('Stray Cat Blues', Jigsaw Puzzle'), percussion (shekere on 'Sympathy For The Devil'), sitar or tamboura and tanpura ('Street Fighting Man'), harmonica ('Dear Doctor', 'Prodigal Son', 'Parachute Woman' throughout). acoustic guitar ('Parachute Woman'), and backing vocals ('Sympathy For The Devil').
These are all '69. The top two are from May - Brian's last photo shoot with the band - Ethan Russell shot it. The cover of Through The Past, Darkly is from that day, as well. The bottom one at Redlands is from earlier that spring. Edit: I don't know how to use multi-quote. Brian smiling with the band behind him and thr pic of them lying on the pavement are the two I'm referring to.
I've read that though Bill is listed on Moog, they didn't get one until September of 1968, while the song was recorded mid-year.
This picture is interesting to me because it’s the Stones at or near the end of the Brian Jones era and he’s the Stone up front and almost featured in it. Nice. The thread OP must be getting her Brian Jones appreciation somewhere else, because she hasn’t been back to the forum, since October 2019, about a week or so after she started the thread , and never returned to it after starting it.
I almost thought Brian was put in this pic ala Photoshop, since the rest of the band looks like '71 Sticky Fingers pics.
Brian meant so much to the Stones 60’s sound! He gets written off by many but I remember reading this line by a journalist back in the 70’s: “the Stones could have never survived the 60’s without Brian. But they could never have survived the 70’s with him. “ I guess we will never know. But never...ever... underestimate what he meant to the band in the 60’s!!!!!!!!
Brian on guitar-sitar and then Moroccan-sounding percussion. This made the song. With respect to Mick, his vocals too made the song.
Unlike the early promo pics and album covers, by the time of these pics he seems to march to the beat of a different drum compared to the rest of the band. Especially on those last pics from that link he seems incredibly lost.
Bill, Charlie, Keith, and Mick to some extent, kept their same basic look from 1968-1971 or '72. Just the times changed around them. But they also didn't record or release any new music in 1970, so they were stuck in a time warp.
Even musically, you could tell they weren’t on the same page anymore, considering that while the four were making write very rootsy music, more Delta than Chicago, Brian was still coming in with Mellotrons and sitars and the like (not saying I don’t like the results, but still).
Cool to hear that "Jigsaw Puzzle" mix, but it doesn't prove who's playing what - I'm hearing leakage (especially in the beginning, on the left) from something that's no longer in the mix (possibly an original piano part that was later replaced), meaning some things have probably been added and others removed or replaced (I'm also hearing Mick's vocal - possibly a guide vocal - later in the song, on the right). The bass playing is much more Keith-like than Bill-like, so I wouldn't discount Keith (especially since the 1977 Guitar Player cover story on Keith mentions that he played most of the guitar and bass tracks on Beggars Banquet). I do, however, hear some low bass notes at various points in this mix that play concurrently with the high, melodic bass - so it's certainly possible that Bill is playing those, probably on the basic track, while the main, melodic bass part was added later by Keith. Brian definitely played the slide guitar on "No Expectations"...and tamboura on "Street Fighting Man" (but not sitar...there's no sitar on there, just tamboura)...and I've always suspected that he's playing the Mellotron we hear in the fadeout of "Stray Cat Blues"...and of course, he's singing backup on "Sympathy", with a cast of others, as we can see in the film (after playing acoustic guitar on the backing track, although it's inaudible in the mix used in the film). But the other credits seem dubious..."Parachute Woman" was allegedly assembled with just Keith and Charlie on the basic track, and Keith adding the extra guitar(s) (there's no bass on that one)...the harmonica on the three tracks mentioned is so great, to the point that they would (along with Brian's verified contributions that I mentioned) dispel the oft-repeated notion that he had little to do with the album, and was in full-on decline during the sessions. I've heard a session tape of "Dear Doctor" that includes multiple takes with both harmonica and vocal, leading one to assume (as I once did) that it had to be Jones on harmonica since Jagger was singing. But I seem to recall coming to the conclusion that these were alternate mixes in progress (like, "RM Stereo, Take 2"), rather than actual performance takes. However, if the proof is out there - I'd love to know!
Considering everything going on in Brian’s world, he’s still far more involved than conventional wisdom would imply.
Most of Sticky Fingers was recorded in mid 1970, being delayed by the whole Klein/RS Records shebang (I think). I also think stuff from Exile and Goat’s Head Soup originated back then. Then there’s CS Blues...
There's a quote in a Creem magazine where Jagger goes as far to say that Beggars was Brian's album - it was made to please him. Something like that. I'll try to dig it up. Reportedly Brian was into roots music and wanted to form a CCR-like band before his death. Of course, he was also known as into world and experimental music, so the guy was all over the place.
'Still A Fool' - Recorded at Olympic Studios in 1968. Brian Jones - slide guitar Mick Jagger - vocals & harmonica Keith Richards - guitar Bill Wyman - bass guitar Charlie Watts - drums Nicky Hopkins - piano
As far as ‘released’ there’s Ya Ya’s as a contract filler (don’t get me wrong, I think it’s stellar). They also did a European tour. It’s actually quite surprising anything got done since they went through a legal nightmare.
They had that look down since Majesties, give or take Mick’s hair length and ‘Ned Kelly’-beard. It’s the ‘outgrown innocence’ Stones look.
I thought a thread already existed? also again... i really hope someday his home demos see a release (either bootleg or official) i want to hear his song writing and vocals.
