There’s no hidden objective in this question: has any rocker gotten more mileage out of his or her hair than Brian Jones? Forty years after his death London police are reopening the case surrounding what had originally been ruled an accidental drug overdose. From the little I’ve gleaned in various reports on these new developments, this has something to do with a supposed confession by a gardener on his deathbed about 16 years ago! I guess news travels slow in the gardening community. I mean no disrespect to Jones’ legacy of cool and his 40-plus illegitimate adult children, but how many cases of non-singing or -songwriting rhythm guitar player deaths by accidental overdose would be reopened 40 years after the fact if not for those silken locks?
You know I love Brian Jones and the era of the Stones that featured his propulsive rhythm playing and, yes, his hair. However, is there anything to suggest that he was some great cat, some humanitarian whose life was cut short? Is there anything to suggest that his work with the Master Musicians of Joujouka was about to turn the rock world on its ear? I think not. I’m not saying that his death should not be judged fairly, even 40 years after the fact, but thank god for that head of hair! In a field crowded with follicularly blessed participants, I’m stumped to find another rocker whose legacy is so rooted, if you’ll excuse the pun, in his or her hair.
from what i understand, he was a profoundly musical person. it has been written that he could make good music on any instrument, the first time he picked it up. also, didn’t he start the stones?
like, wasn’t that HIS band? I thought he was the one who turned all the other nerds onto the blues…not sure.
BigSteve?
2000Man?
I’ve heard that line about Jones being able to make music with any instrument he came across. That’s part of the myth, but I’m not sure whether I consider that a highly valued trait.
As far as Jones being a great cat, isn’t there evidence that he was abusive to women?
I will say his Moroccan recordings are the best I’ve heard, but that may just be because he got there first.
I know that his legacy is not rooted in his hair, but the first time I saw Dylan, when he entered the stage in silohette, that famous fro was most noticable. I knew that was Bob.
TB
What BigSteve said, regarding the possible myth of Jones’ music-making ability. For anyone remotely musical, isn’t there a point when your confidence allows you to make music on any instrument, whether you can play it technically well or not? Again, I love Jones’ contributions to the Stones and his possible contributions to the dynamic of the early band, possibly working his founder and blues scholar status to keep Jagger and Richards from being too complacent and self-satisfied, but I don’t think it was his ability to plink out a riff on a sitar that reopened the case surrounding his death.
I heard Jimi really puked on the pool-boy’s vomit.
What makes Jones great is that he died. If it is true that hair and nails continue to grow after death (which I doubt), then the FACT that we heard nothing from his hair during the post-death years is evidence that his hair is neither hair-nor-thair…
I never really understood the rock-nerd “Jones’ Stones ruled” pov. I think they were much better in all respects post-Jones. If that makes me the Mayor of Simpleton, so be it.
Feel free to agree with me.
Jones Era – Better Singles
Post-Jones – Better Albums
If The Stones had called it quits in 1969, then Brian Jones would be considered “THE” Rolling Stone instead of Keith. Time has shown that Keith was the heart and soul (and brains and balls) of the band, not Brian.
Do we really want to give that much credit for Her Satanic Majesties LP (Which had the biggest Brian influence)
The Stones INABILITY to play “the Blues” ™ was what made them unique (they also stunk as a Motown cover band…Rod / Faces were much better, as were The Beatles in that department)… I would not say that Brian did more than (a) have a great rock star look and (b)try (unsuccessfully) to make The Stones a true blues band and then (later) a real psychedelic band…all without writing a song or singing a note.
He was soft and the drugs made him softer. Keith and Mick were bastards and gunslingers who would knife you in the back with a hand on your shoulder. The drugs made them more devilish, which served them well in that era.
(I have a feeling I am about to get schooled by two Rolling Stones fans that will remain nameless)
Geo: Great post, the most succinct, accurate, haiku-like summation of the Stones I’ll ever read.
Jones was a pretty insecure lad. Supposedly he was spooked that the Mr. Jones in Dylan’s “Ballad of a Thin Man” was really him.
Has any rocker gotten more out of other people’s hair than Phil Spector?
As to the poll question. Best-timed death to avoid career downturn? Obviously Jesse Garon Presley. Imagine living in that twin’s shadow. The Cadillacs would be nice, though.
While “Mr. Shampoo” did indeed take exceptionally nice care of his thick, luxurious hair he certainly didn’t become famous for it. I think Brian’s musical ability and ideas gave The Stones the spark that set them apart from the rest of the pack. When everyone else was reverently learning the sitar from fake maharajah’s, Brian got one, sat down with it and squeezed all the rock n roll out of it before anyone else even noticed that he broke the damned thing, too.
While a musician that can play almost anything may not be that rare, one that can play a new instrument quickly, and in an original fashion certainly doesn’t seem to come around in rock n roll very often. Brian’s snaky guitar in “The Last Time,” his marimba’s in “Under My Thumb” or his recorder in “Ruby Tuesday” made those stone cold classics what they are – original and possibly timeless rock songs. For the Brian never wrote anything crowd, “Ruby Tuesday” is a Jagger/Richards credit, but it was Keith and Brian that wrote it.
Brian is generally considered the Stones’ founder, because he placed the original ad and named the band. There is a tape of Keith and Mick’s first band, Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys that exists, though. I think this means that no single person can get credit for being the founder, but it is what it is, and Brian busted his ass to get them gigs and practice space. He certainly was the early leader, at the very least.
Their is a HUGE group of Brian fans on the Internets, and they are world wide, but particularly heavily concentrated in Great Britain, and they’ve been investigating Brian’s death since the day before it happened, I swear. The stuff I’ve seen seems to read like some lawyer has hired a former cop to investigate, but I don’t think anything concrete will come of it. I tend to think that everyone that’s come forward since the 80’s has really had an ulterior motive, like a book deal, so I just don’t believe them. I don’t really buy the cop’s stories either, but I don’t think anyone did anything criminal. I’m not popular among Brian fans.
Oh yeah – The Stones are a fine blues band, too. I’ll have to prove it some time.
“Oh yeah – The Stones are a fine blues band, too. I’ll have to prove it some time”
Ok, they were a fine blues band but not an authentic one (of course being English and White has something to do with it). They TRIED to be authentic and their failure is what gave them a unique sound
I like the way they play blues very much, I just like what they did wrong better (I can say the same for The Beatles and the early R&B stuff – English teenagers playing German guitars trying to play American black music..it was destined for failure, only something better came out of it instead)
I wouldn’t doubt that that’s why I like The Stones, too. But they could mimic the blues masters pretty well. Shake Your Hips sounds just like Slim Harpo’s version, if you ask me. They seemed to get Jimmy Reed’s vibe, too. I always liked how Little Red Rooster had a band that sounded like old blues guys, and a 20 year old Jagger singing a part that’s really an older man’s type of song.
Then there’s some of that slick blues like Robert Cray plays that I think sounds less authentic than early Stones. I’m thankful they didn’t like that style of blues!
When Hear Factor Vol. 2 finishes up, we should definitely solve a famous unsolved rock murder or crime as the next RTH project. Probably not the Brian Jones mystery, since those Brits have such a big lead on us.
Saw this today, too:
http://undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=9154_EXCLUSIVE:_Charlie_Watts_Quits
I guess ya gotta retire sometime.
Michael Clarke of The Byrds. As far as I know, the haircut was what got him into the band. I don’t think he became a “real” drummer until several years into his career.
Sinead O’Connor.
Crystal Gayle. Not really a rocker, but still…..
GREAT answers, B-boys BigSteve and bobbybittman!
Flock of Seagulls guy.
“Flock of Seagulls guy”
I bet it says this on his drivers license
I happened to see it, and it does.
Your fact checkin’ cuz.
TB
Michael Clarke is an interesting subject. The story, according to McGuinn, was that he was seen going into the Troubador and “he looked like two of the Stones.” So, I suppose, he owes his musical career to Brian Jones hair, too. The even stranger part of the story is this: Wasn’t Clarke the guy who got awarded the “Byrds” name by a judge. Now that he’s dead, there are no actual Byrds in The Byrds. Or are they second-rate Byrds leasing the name from Clarke’s family. Of course, one could argue that by the end of The Byrds, Mcguinn was the only Byrd.
TB
Patty Smith’s hair. In her armpits.
Frank Brown?
Chickenfrank, your “Frank Brown” answer reminds me of one of my favorite noms de rock, namely the name of the principal bass player for Prince’s Revolution. His real name was Mark Brown. But when his fellow bandmates started taking on cool stage names like Dr. Fink and so forth, Mark Brown took it upon himself to shuffle things around and call himself simply:
Brownmark.
High five, Chickenfrank!
HVB, I hope he’s the bass player formerly known as Brownmark now.
He shoulda just gone with Skidmark and be done with it.
Let’s not forget Rod.