Early life

Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones^[2][3] was born in the Park Nursing Home in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, on Saturday, 28 February 1942.^[4] An attack of croup at the age of four left Jones with asthma that lasted for the rest of his life. His middle-class parents, Lewis Blount Jones and Louisa Beatrice Jones (née Simmonds), were of Welsh descent. Brian had two sisters: Pamela, who was born on 3 October 1943^[5] and died on 14 October 1945 of leukaemia; and Barbara, who was born on 22 August 1946.^[6]

Jones attended local schools, including Dean Close School from September 1949 to July 1953; and Cheltenham Grammar School for Boys, (now Pate's Grammar School) which he entered in September 1953 after passing the eleven-plus exam. He enjoyed badminton and diving at school, and became first clarinet in the school orchestra. Jones reportedly obtained seven O-level passes in 1957, thence continuing into the sixth form and obtaining a further two O-levels. He passed A-levels in physics and chemistry, but he failed in biology.^[7]

Jones was able to perform well in exams despite a lack of academic effort. However, he found school regimented, and disliked school uniforms and conformism in general; Jones himself said: "When I made the sixth form I found myself accepted by the older boys; suddenly I was in." His hostility to authority figures resulted in his suspension from school on two occasions. According to Dick Hattrell, a childhood friend, "He was a rebel without a cause, but when examinations came he was brilliant."^[7]

Both Jones's parents were interested in music; his father was a piano teacher in addition to his job as an aeronautical engineer, and his mother played piano and organ and led the choir at the local church.^[6] Jones listened to classical music as a child but preferred blues, particularly Elmore James and Robert Johnson. In 1957 he first heard Cannonball Adderley's music and took an interest in jazz. Jones persuaded his parents to buy him a saxophone and two years later his parents gave him his first acoustic guitar as a 17th birthday present.^[8] Jones began performing at local blues and jazz clubs, while busking and working odd jobs. He reportedly stole small amounts of money from work to pay for cigarettes, for which he was sacked.^[9]

Relationships and fatherhood

Jones's first child was born in 1958 to a female friend. The baby, of unknown sex, was given up for adoption and in contrast to Jones's other children, has either not learned of their relation to Jones or has not publicly identified themself as his child.^[10]

In the summer of 1959, Jones's girlfriend – a Cheltenham schoolgirl named Valerie Corbett – became pregnant. Although Jones purportedly encouraged her to have an abortion, she carried the child to term, giving birth on 29 May 1960 and naming him Barry David.^[11] She soon placed the baby for adoption.^[7] The adoptive parents renamed the boy Simon.^[12] During this period, he lived a bohemian lifestyle abroad, busking with his guitar on the streets for money and living off the charity of others. Eventually, he ran short of money and returned to England.^[13]

In November 1959, Jones went to the Wooden Bridge Hotel in Guildford to see a band perform. He met a young married woman named Angeline and the two had a one-night stand that resulted in her pregnancy. Angeline and her husband decided to raise the baby, Belinda,^[14] born on 4 August 1960. Jones never knew about the pregnancy or her birth.^{[13][lower-alpha 1]}

In 1961, Jones applied for a scholarship to Cheltenham Art College. He was initially accepted, but the offer was withdrawn two days later after an unidentified acquaintance wrote to the college, calling Jones an irresponsible drifter. Later that year, on 22 October, Jones's girlfriend Pat Andrews gave birth to his fourth child, Julian Mark Andrews (known as Mark).^[16] Jones moved in with them and sold his record collection to buy flowers for Andrews and clothes for the newborn.^[17] In a television interview Andrews stated that in the early days of their relationship, although she and Jones were both working, his interest in the guitar meant he did not have much money for buying food or anything beyond paying the rent.^[18] According to Andrews, Jones was initially proud of Mark, but when the Rolling Stones acquired a manager, Jones was instructed not to be seen with either mother or child. Jones agreed, she said, telling her she would have to "put up with it for a few months" until the band had had some success. However, once the Stones did become successful, she noted Jones "just seemed to drift away", becoming more interested in famous people he met, and that she "never received a penny from Brian at all".^[19] In the same interview, Andrews also noted she felt sorry for Jones as "he just uses people".^[20]

In early 1963, Jones began a relationship with Linda Lawrence. On 23 July 1964, Lawrence gave birth to Jones's fifth child, Julian Brian Lawrence.^[21] Lawrence later married Scottish folk/pop singer Donovan. They raised Julian together, changing his name to Julian Leitch.

In early October 1964, Jones's occasional girlfriend, Dawn Molloy, announced to Jones and the Rolling Stones' management that she was pregnant by him. She received a cheque for £700 (equivalent to £15,091 in 2021)^[22] from group manager Andrew Loog Oldham. In return, she signed an agreement that the matter was now closed and that she would make no statement about Jones or the child to the public or the press. The undated statement was signed by Molloy and witnessed by Mick Jagger.^[23] Molloy eventually gave the boy, whom she named Paul Andrew, up for adoption and his new parents renamed him John Maynard.^[12]

Two years later, while on tour, Jones met Italian-German model and actress Anita Pallenberg backstage and began a significant relationship with her. Jones became extremely abusive, at one point breaking his hand on Pallenberg's face.^[24] In 1967, Pallenberg left Jones for his bandmate Keith Richards, which added to tensions between the bandmates.

Jones had subsequent relationships with English model Suki Potier and Swedish model Anna Wohlin, as well as a short relationship in 1968 with American model Donyale Luna, who appeared with him in the concert film The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus several months before his death. Wohlin was living with Jones in 1969 when he died and has written two books about her time with him.^[25][26]

Jones's youngest known child is a daughter named Barbara Anna Marion, born in 1969 to Elizabeth, a married American woman who raised the girl with her husband. Barbara has appeared in a 2019 documentary about her father's death.^[27]

Forming the Rolling Stones

Jones backstage in May 1965

Jones left Cheltenham and moved to London, where he became friends with fellow musicians Alexis Korner, future Manfred Mann singer Paul Jones,^[28] future Cream bassist Jack Bruce, and others who made up the small London rhythm and blues and jazz scene. He became a blues musician, for a brief time calling himself "Elmo Lewis" and playing slide guitar. He also started a group with Paul Jones called the Roosters. In January 1963, after both Joneses left the group, Eric Clapton took over Brian's position as guitarist.^[29]

Jones placed an advertisement in the 2 May 1962 edition of Jazz News, a Soho club information sheet, inviting musicians to audition for a new R&B group at the Bricklayer's Arms pub; pianist Ian Stewart was the first to respond. Later, singer Mick Jagger also joined this band; Jagger and his childhood friend Keith Richards had met Jones when he and Paul were playing Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom" with Korner's band at the Ealing Jazz Club.^[30] Jagger brought guitarist Richards to rehearsals; Richards then joined the band. Jones's and Stewart's acceptance of Richards and the Chuck Berry songs he wanted to play coincided with the departure of blues purists guitarist Geoff Bradford and singer Brian Knight, who had no tolerance for Chuck Berry.^[9]

As Richards tells it, Jones came up with the name the "Rollin' Stones" (later with the 'g') while on the phone with a venue owner. "The voice on the other end of the line obviously said, 'What are you called?' Panic! The Best of Muddy Waters album was lying on the floor—and track five, side one was 'Rollin' Stone Blues'".^[31] The Rollin' Stones played their first gig on 12 July 1962 at the Marquee Club in London, with a line-up of Jagger, Richards, Jones, Stewart, bass player Dick Taylor (later of the Pretty Things) and drummer Tony Chapman.^[32][33]

From September 1962 to September 1963, Jones, Jagger and Richards shared a flat (referred to by Richards as "a beautiful dump")^[34] at 102 Edith Grove, Chelsea, with James Phelge, a future photographer whose name was used in some of the group's early "Nanker/Phelge" writing credits. Jones and Richards spent day after day playing guitar while listening to blues records (notably Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf). During this time, Jones also taught Jagger how to play harmonica.

The four Stones went searching for a bassist and drummer, finally settling on Bill Wyman on bass because he had a spare VOX AC30 guitar amplifier^[35] and always had cigarettes, as well as a bass guitar that he had built himself.^[36] After playing with Mick Avory, Tony Chapman and Carlo Little, in January 1963 they finally persuaded jazz-influenced Charlie Watts to join them. At the time, Watts was considered by fellow musicians to be one of the better drummers in London; he had played with (among others) Alexis Korner's group Blues Incorporated.

Watts described Jones's role in these early days: "Brian was very instrumental in pushing the band at the beginning. Keith and I would look at him and say he was barmy. It was a crusade to him to get us on the stage in a club and be paid half-a-crown and to be billed as an R&B band."^[37]

While acting as the band's business manager, Jones received £5 more than the other members (equivalent to £111 in 2021^[22]), which did not sit well with the rest of the band and created resentment.^[38] Richards has said that both he and Jagger were surprised to learn that Jones considered himself the leader and was receiving the extra £5, especially as other people, like Giorgio Gomelsky, appeared to be doing the booking.^[39][23]

Musical contributions

Jones (left) with the Rolling Stones in Stockholm, April 1966

Jones was a gifted multi-instrumentalist, proficient on a wide variety of musical instruments. His ability to play a wide variety of instruments is most evident on the albums Aftermath (1966), Between the Buttons (1967) and Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967). As a guitarist, in the early days he favored a white teardrop-shaped electric guitar produced by the Vox company, especially in live performances; he also played a wide variety of electric and acoustic guitars from companies such as Rickenbacker, Gibson, and Fender. As a slide guitarist, he favored the open E and open G tunings.^[40]

Examples of Jones's contributions are his slide guitar on "I Wanna Be Your Man" (1963), "I'm a King Bee", "Little Red Rooster" (1964), "I Can't Be Satisfied" (1964), "I'm Movin' On" (1965), "Doncha Bother Me" and "No Expectations". Jones can also be heard playing Bo Diddley-style rhythm guitar on "I Need You Baby", "Please Go Home", "19th Nervous Breakdown", and the guitar riff in "The Last Time";^[41] sitar on "Street Fighting Man" and "Paint It Black"; organ on "Let's Spend the Night Together"; marimba on "Under My Thumb", "Out of Time" and "Yesterday's Papers"; recorder on "Ruby Tuesday" and "All Sold Out"; saxophone on "Child of the Moon" and "Citadel"; kazoo on "Cool, Calm & Collected"; Appalachian dulcimer on "I Am Waiting" and "Lady Jane", Mellotron on "She's a Rainbow", "We Love You", "Stray Cat Blues", "2000 Light Years from Home", and "Citadel"; and the autoharp on "Ride On, Baby" and (for his final recording as a Rolling Stone) on "You Got the Silver". He also played the soprano sax solo in "Dandelion".

Jones also played harmonica on many of the Rolling Stones' early songs. Examples of Jones's playing appear on "Come On", "Stoned" (1963), "Not Fade Away" (1964), "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "Now I've Got a Witness" (1964), "Good Times, Bad Times" (1964), "2120 South Michigan Avenue" (1964) (from the EP Five By Five), "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man", "One More Try" (1965), "High and Dry" and "Goin' Home" (1966), "Who's Driving Your Plane?" (1966), "Cool, Calm & Collected", "Who's Been Sleeping Here" (1967), and "Dear Doctor" and "Prodigal Son" (1968).

In the early years, Jones often served as a backing vocalist. Notable examples are "Come On", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "Walking the Dog", "Bye Bye Johnny", "Money", "I'm Alright", "You Better Move On", "Poison Ivy", (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, and "It's All Over Now". He contributed backing vocals as late as 1968 on "Sympathy for the Devil". He is also responsible for the whistling on "Walking the Dog".

Richards maintains that what he calls "guitar weaving"^[42] emerged from this period, from listening to Jimmy Reed albums: "We listened to the teamwork, trying to work out what was going on in those records; how you could play together with two guitars and make it sound like four or five."^[43] Jones's and Richards' guitars became a signature of the sound of the Rolling Stones, with both guitarists playing rhythm and lead without clear boundaries between the two roles (although Keith Richards would play most of the standard guitar solos while Brian played the slide guitar solos).

Changes in band dynamics and estrangement from bandmates

Jones (far right) with Michael Cooper, Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Shepard Sherbell, and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (at front) in Amsterdam, September 1967

Oldham recognised the financial advantages of band members writing their own songs, as exemplified by Lennon–McCartney, and that playing covers would not sustain a band in the limelight for long. Further, he wanted to make Jagger's charisma and flamboyance a focus of live performances. Jones saw his influence over the Stones' direction wane as their repertoire comprised fewer blues covers than he preferred; more Jagger/Richards originals developed (although many still had a bluesy sound), and Oldham increased his own managerial control, displacing Jones from yet another role.^[44]

The toll from days on the road, the money and fame, and the feeling of being alienated from the group resulted in Jones's overindulgence in alcohol and other drugs. These excesses had a debilitative effect on his physical and mental health and, according to Oldham, Jones became unfriendly and antisocial at times.

In March 1967, Anita Pallenberg, Jones's girlfriend of two years, left him for Richards when Jones was hospitalised while the three were on a trip to Morocco,^[45] further damaging the already strained relations between Jones and Richards. As tensions and Jones's substance abuse increased, his musical contributions became sporadic. He became bored with the guitar and sought exotic instruments to play, and he was increasingly absent from recording sessions. In Peter Whitehead's promotional film for We Love You, made in July 1967, he appears extremely groggy and disoriented.^[46]

Jones was arrested for drug possession on 10 May 1967, shortly after the Redlands bust at Richards' Sussex home. Authorities found marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine in his flat. He confessed to marijuana use, but said he did not use hard drugs.^[47] In June 1967, he attended the Monterey Pop Festival. There he met Dennis Hopper, and went on stage to introduce the Jimi Hendrix Experience who were not yet well known in the United States.

Hostility grew between Jones, Jagger, and Richards, alienating Jones further from the group.^[48] Although many noted that Jones could be friendly and outgoing, Wyman, Richards, and Watts have commented that he could also be cruel and difficult.^[49] By most accounts, Jones's attitude changed frequently; he was one minute caring and generous, the next making an effort to anger everyone. As Wyman observed in Stone Alone: "There were at least two sides to Brian's personality. One Brian was introverted, shy, sensitive, deep-thinking. The other was a preening peacock, gregarious, artistic, desperately needing assurance from his peers."^[50] Wyman added: "He pushed every friendship to the limit and way beyond."^[51]

Jones's last substantial sessions with the Stones occurred in spring and summer of 1968, when the Stones produced "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and the Beggars Banquet album. He can be seen in the Jean-Luc Godard film One Plus One playing acoustic guitar and chatting and sharing cigarettes with Richards, although Jones is neglected in the music-making. The film chronicles the making of "Sympathy for the Devil".

Where once Jones played multiple instruments on many tracks, he now played only minor roles on a few pieces. Jones's last formal appearance was in the December 1968 The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, a part-concert, part circus-act film organised by the band. It went unreleased for more than 25 years because Jagger was unhappy with the band's performance compared to others in the film such as Jethro Tull, John Lennon, the Who, and Taj Mahal.^[52] Commentary included as bonus material indicated that almost everyone at the concert sensed that Jones's time with the Rolling Stones was nearing an end, and Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of the Who thought it would be Jones's last live musical performance.^[52]

Legal issues and departure from the Rolling Stones

Jones in 1969

Jones was arrested a second time on 21 May 1968, for possession of cannabis, which he said had been left by previous tenants of the flat. Because he was on probation at the time, he faced a long jail sentence if found guilty. The jury found him guilty, but the judge had sympathy for Jones; instead of jailing him, he fined him £50 (equivalent to £923 in 2021^[22]) plus £105 in costs (equivalent to £1,937 in 2021^[22]) and told him: "For goodness sake, don't get into trouble again or it really will be serious."^[53]

Jones's legal troubles, estrangement from his bandmates, substance abuse, and mood swings became too much of an obstacle to his active participation in the band. The Rolling Stones wanted to tour the United States in 1969, for the first time in three years, but Jones was not in a fit condition to tour, and his second arrest exacerbated problems with acquiring a US work visa. In addition, Jones's attendance at rehearsals and recording sessions had become erratic. When he did appear he either rarely contributed anything musically or, when he did, his bandmates would switch off his amplifier, leaving Richards to play nearly all the guitars. According to author Gary Herman, Jones was "literally incapable of making music; when he tried to play harmonica his mouth started bleeding".^[54]

This behaviour was problematic during the Their Satanic Majesties Request and Beggar's Banquet sessions and had worsened by the time the band commenced recording Let It Bleed. In March 1969, Jones borrowed the group's Jaguar and went shopping in Pimlico Road. After the parked car was towed away by police, Jones hired a chauffeur-driven car to get home. In May 1969, Jones crashed his motorcycle into a shop window and was secretly taken to hospital under an assumed name. From this point, he was still attending recording sessions but was no longer a major contributor to the band's music.^[55] By May, he had made two contributions to the work in progress: autoharp on "You Got the Silver" and percussion on "Midnight Rambler". Jagger informed Jones that he would be fired from the band if he did not turn up to a photo session. Looking frail, he nonetheless showed up and his last photo session as a Rolling Stone took place on 21 May 1969, first at St. Katherine Docks, Tower Bridge, London, and then at Ethan Russell's photographic studio in South Kensington. The photos would appear on the album Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) in September 1969.^[56]

The Stones decided that following the release of the Let it Bleed album (scheduled for July 1969 in the US) they would start a tour of North America in November 1969. However, the Stones' management was informed that Jones would not receive a work permit, owing to his drug convictions. At the suggestion of Stewart, the Stones decided to add a new guitarist. On 8 June 1969, Jones was visited by Jagger, Richards and Watts, and was told that the group he had formed would continue without him.^[57]

To the public it appeared as if Jones had left voluntarily; the other band members told him that although he was being dismissed, it was his choice how to break it to the public. Jones released a statement on 9 June 1969, announcing his departure. In this statement he said, among other things, that, "I no longer see eye-to-eye with the others over the discs we are cutting."^[58] He was replaced by the 20-year-old guitarist Mick Taylor, formerly of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.

During the period of his decreasing involvement in the band, Jones was living at Cotchford Farm in East Sussex, the residence formerly owned by Winnie-the-Pooh author A. A. Milne,^[59] which Jones had purchased in November 1968. Alexis Korner, who visited in late June, noted that Jones seemed "happier than he had ever been".^[60] Jones is known to have contacted Korner, Stewart, John Lennon, Mitch Mitchell, Alan Price, and Jimmy Miller about intentions to put together another band. Jones had apparently demoed a few of his own songs in the weeks before his death, including "Has Anybody Seen My Baby?" and "Chow Time".^[61]

Death

Jones's grave in Cheltenham Cemetery during the 50th anniversary of his death in 2019.

At around midnight on the night of 2–3 July 1969, Jones was discovered motionless at the bottom of his swimming pool at Cotchford Farm. His Swedish girlfriend, Anna Wohlin, was convinced he was alive when he was taken out of the pool, insisting he still had a pulse. However, by the time the doctors arrived, it was too late, and he was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital at the age of 27. The coroner's report stated it was a drowning, later clarified as "death by misadventure", and noted his liver and heart were greatly enlarged by past drug and alcohol abuse.^[60][62]

Upon Jones's death, the Who's Pete Townshend wrote a poem titled "A Normal Day for Brian, A Man Who Died Every Day" (printed in The Times), Jimi Hendrix dedicated a song to him on US television, and Jim Morrison of the Doors published a poem titled "Ode to L.A. While Thinking of Brian Jones, Deceased".^[63] Coincidentally, Hendrix and Morrison both died within the following two years, with Morrison's death falling on the same date as Jones's. All three died at the age of 27.^[64][65]

On 5 July 1969, which was only two days after Jones's death, the Rolling Stones had been scheduled to perform a free concert in Hyde Park. The concert had originally been promoted weeks earlier as the first public appearance of Mick Taylor, as the band's newest guitarist. For obvious reasons the band decided instead to dedicate their upcoming Hyde Park performance to the memory of Jones. At the beginning of the concert Jagger took the stage to read excerpts from "Adonais", a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley about the death of his friend John Keats. Stagehands then released hundreds of white butterflies from the stage area as a tribute to Jones. Afterwards the band played a Johnny Winter song that was one of Jones's favourites, "I'm Yours and I'm Hers", with the band's newest guitarist, Mick Taylor, on slide guitar.

Jones was reportedly buried 10 feet (3 m) deep in Cheltenham Cemetery, to prevent exhumation by trophy hunters. His body was embalmed, with hair bleached white, and was placed in an air-tight silver and bronze casket.^[66] Watts and Wyman were the only Rolling Stones who attended the funeral. Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull were travelling to Australia to begin the filming of Ned Kelly; they stated that their contracts did not allow them to delay the trip to attend the funeral.

When asked if he felt guilty about Jones's death, Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone in 1995: "No, I don't really. I do feel that I behaved in a very childish way, but we were very young, and in some ways we picked on him. But, unfortunately, he made himself a target for it; he was very, very jealous, very difficult, very manipulative, and if you do that in this kind of a group of people you get back as good as you give, to be honest. I wasn't understanding enough about his drug addiction. No one seemed to know much about drug addiction. Things like LSD were all new. No one knew the harm. People thought cocaine was good for you."^[67]

Wyman said in 2002, "As the years go by, I become even more convinced that he's entitled to a free pardon. Brian Jones is a legend and his legacy is there for all to hear. While the Rolling Stones damaged all of us in some way, Brian was the only one that died."^[68]

Equipment

Jones's main guitar in the early years was a Harmony Stratotone, which he replaced with a Gretsch Double Anniversary in two-tone green.^[86] In 1964 and 1965, he often used a teardrop-shaped prototype Vox Mark III. From late 1965 until his death, Jones used Gibson models (various Firebirds, Hummingbirds, an ES-330, a J-200 and a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop) as well as two Rickenbacker 12-string models. He can also be seen playing a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop with P-90 pickups in the 1968 "Jumpin' Jack Flash" promo video. Jones used various different Vox and Fender amplifiers for use in recording sessions in the studio and live performances throughout the 1960s.