“We must find the killer of those silken locks!”

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.