Brian Jones (1942

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Biography

Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was an English musician and one of the founders of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones recordings and in concerts.

Timeline

The story of Brian Jones, told in moments.

1942 Birth

Born Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones in Cheltenham, England. Middle-class parents of Welsh descent. Childhood asthma keeps him home. He learns clarinet, saxophone, and guitar by his teens.

Childhood asthma keeping you home with instruments. Was illness a gift? Clarinet, saxophone, guitar by your teens. Was anything hard to learn?

1962 Event

Founds the Rolling Stones. He names the band, books the gigs, and leads rehearsals. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are his recruits. Brian plays slide guitar and handles press.

You founded the Stones, named them, booked the gigs. Did it feel like yours? Recruiting Jagger and Richards. Did you see what they'd become?

1965 Life

Adds sitar, marimba, dulcimer, recorder, and mellotron to Stones recordings. "Paint It Black" features his sitar. "Under My Thumb" features his marimba. He can pick up almost any instrument and play it within hours.

Picking up any instrument within hours. Was that instinct or obsession? Sitar on 'Paint It Black.' Were you chasing sounds nobody else heard?

1967 Event

Drug arrests and a deteriorating relationship with Jagger and Richards push him to the margins of the band he created. He misses sessions. Shows up unable to play. The others start recording without him.

Missing sessions, unable to play. Were drugs the cause or the symptom? Watching Jagger and Richards record without you. Did that crush you?

1969 Event

Fired from the Rolling Stones. The official statement says he left "because of disagreements over musical direction." Mick Taylor replaces him. Brian retreats to Cotchford Farm, the former home of A.A. Milne.

Fired from the band you created. What was that moment like? Did retreating to A.A. Milne's house feel like irony or refuge?

1969 Death

Found motionless at the bottom of his swimming pool. He is 27. The coroner rules "death by misadventure." His blood alcohol level is high. Drugs are in his system. Conspiracy theories persist for decades.

Found at the bottom of the pool at twenty-seven. Do conspiracy theories bother you? Did you sense the danger in those final weeks?