LEAVING NO STONE UNTURNED

If you followed The Rolling Stones from the beginning, then you already know that Brian Jones was considered to be the driving force behind the band's early image and direction ... 

But over time, he seemed to lose his focus ... and his excessive drinking and drug use put him "missing in action" for any number of key events.

It reached the point where the rest of the band had no choice but to fire him.

Less than a month later, he was dead ... having drowned in his own swimming pool.

As the band grew in stature over the mid-to-late '60's, Mick and Keith (as the group's chief songwriters) quickly became the poster boys of the band ... and have been so ever since, leaving Jones' contribution as not much more than a footnote in The Rolling Stones' history.

Far too often, he has become the forgotten stone.

But not this month anyway!

Brian Jones ... "the tragic Stone" ... has been all over the media lately.

Rolling Stone:  The Life And Death Of Brian Jones is now available on DVD and, thanks to a number of deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes storytelling, you'll find that it will take you well beyond the commercially released film you'll see when it premiers tonight (Monday, May 15th) on BBC-TV Arena at 9 PM Eastern, as well as BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.  (You can also find it On Demand on Amazon Prime ... and it will soon be streaming on a few other platforms as well.)

https://ugly-things.com/rolling-stone-life-and-death-of-brian-jones/ 

Harvey Kubernik tells us ...

In 2004, I interviewed bass player Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, who was also their resident diarist and collector in his 1962-1989 tenure with the band. I asked about group founder Brian Jones, now the subject of an Arena Television documentary that will be broadcast May 15th on BBC Two and BBC1PLayer.  

"I do honestly believe, that if there wasn’t a Brian Jones there wouldn’t have been a Rolling Stones. There would have been another band from Dartford which I wouldn’t have been in and Charlie probably wouldn’t have been in. But there wouldn’t have been the Rolling Stones, because that was Brian Jones.  He named the band and he enlisted the members one by one. He decided what style of music we would play. He phoned and wrote to agents, bookers and 'NME,' 'Jazz News,' 'Disc,' letters about R&B and blues and all of that. I mean it was his band. So I have to acknowledge that or it wouldn’t be there without him. And he’s been kind of glossed over and pushed aside by most people."  

 

Arena: The Stones and Brian Jones is on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer at 9 pm on 15 May

 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/07/nick...

 

‘He epitomised the dazzling 60s and then was gone ... - The …

Web2 days ago · The Observer Brian Jones ‘He epitomised the dazzling 60s and then was gone’: the inside story of Rolling Stone Brian Jones Nick Broomfield’s new documentary …

Having already seen the film, I will warn you that it is narrated in SO heavy a British dialect that you'll wish more of it had subtitles!  But if you pay attention, Brian's complete story is spelled out from start to finish.

The film also explores a letter Jones received from his estranged father ...

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/brian-jones-father-letter/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ugh&utm_term=UCR

Meanwhile, this past week marks the 55th anniversary of the last time Brian Jones played with The Rolling Stones

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/brian-jones-last-rolling-stones-show/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ugh&utm_term=UCR

For more on the guy who helped to form The Rolling Stones ... (and even gave them their name!) ... this one just may sound like something you might find worth watching!  Check it out tonight on BBC Two or Amazon Prime Video.  (kk)