Brian Jones (musician)



Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969), known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of The Rolling Stones. His main instruments were the guitar and the harmonica, but he played a wide variety of other instruments. His innovative use of traditional or folk instruments, such as the sitar and marimba, was integral to the changing sound of the band. He was originally the leader of the group, but Mick Jagger and Keith Richards soon overshadowed him, especially after they became a successful songwriting team. Jones developed a serious substance abuse problem over the years and his role in the band steadily diminished. He left the Rolling Stones in June 1969 to be replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor; Jones died less than a month later in his own swimming pool.

Early life
Jones was born in the Park Nursing Home in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, on 28 February 1942. An attack of croup at the age of four left him with asthma, which 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 and who died on 14 October 1945 of leukaemia; and Barbara, born on 22 August 1946.

Both Jones's parents were interested in music: his mother Louisa was a piano teacher, and in addition to his job as an aeronautical engineer, Lewis Jones played piano and organ and led the choir at the local church.

In 1957 Jones first heard Cannonball Adderley's music, which inspired his 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.

Jones attended local schools, including Dean Close School, from September 1949 to July 1953 and Cheltenham Grammar School for Boys, 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. In 1957 he reportedly obtained seven O-level passes, then he continued into the sixth form and obtained a further two O-levels. He also took three A-levels in Physics, Chemistry and Biology and passed in Physics and Chemistry, but failed in Biology. Despite academic ability, however, he found school regimented and disliked conforming. He disliked the school uniforms and angered teachers with his behaviour, though he was generally popular among students. 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."

In the spring of 1959, Jones's 14-year-old girlfriend, a Cheltenham schoolgirl named Valerie Corbett, became pregnant. Although Jones is said to have encouraged her to have an abortion, she placed the baby boy up for adoption by an infertile couple. Corbett later married one of Jones's friends, author Graham Ride.

Jones quit school in disgrace and left home, travelling through northern Europe and Scandinavia for a summer. During this period, he lived a bohemian lifestyle, busking with his guitar on the streets for money, and living off the charity of others. While Jones was fond of telling others stories concerning his adventures in Europe, it remains uncertain as to how much was fact, and how much was fiction. Other friends claimed Jones merely stayed with friends and relatives outside the UK.

Jones grew up listening to classical music, but he preferred blues, particularly Elmore James and Robert Johnson. He began playing at local blues and jazz clubs in addition to busking and working odd jobs. He was also known to steal small amounts of money from work to pay for cigarettes, which tended to get him fired.

In November 1959, Jones went to the Wooden Bridge Hotel in Guildford to see a band. 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 together, a girl, born on 4 August the following year. Jones never knew about her birth.

On 23 October 1961, Jones's girlfriend Pat Andrews gave birth to his third child, Julian Mark Andrews. Jones sold his record collection to buy flowers for Pat and clothes for the newborn and lived with them for a while. However, on 23 July 1964, another woman, Linda Lawrence, gave birth to Jones's fourth child, Julian Brian Lawrence. Julian adopted the surname Leitch after Linda Lawrence married folk singer Donovan on 2 October 1970. Jones is said to have named both of his sons Julian in tribute to the jazz saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley.

Brian's fifth child was born in Wimbledon on 24 March 1965, to teenager Dawn Molloy. He was originally named Paul Andrew Molloy. Dawn was forced to give the baby up for adoption and Paul's adoptive parents re-named him John. Finally, on 23 February 1969, Brian's sixth and youngest child was born to a married but separated American model named Elizabeth. Brian met Elizabeth on 12 May in Wembley and saw her a few times between 12 May and 20 May. She and her husband were reunited in November of 68 and flew back to the United States. The baby, Brian's second daughter, was born in Chicago, IL, and named after Brian's surviving sister, Barbara. Barbara was raised by Elizabeth and her husband.

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

Jones placed an advertisement in Jazz News (a Soho club information sheet) of 2 May 1962 inviting musicians to audition for a new R&B group at the Bricklayers Arms pub; pianist Ian "Stu" 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 Jones were playing Elmore James' "Dust My Broom" with Korner's band at The Ealing Club. 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 Geoff Bradford and Brian Knight, who had no tolerance for Chuck Berry.

As Keith 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 one was 'Rollin' Stone Blues'".

The Rollin' Stones played their first gig on 12 July 1962 in the Marquee Club in London with Jagger, Richards, Jones, Stewart, bass player Dick Taylor (later of The Pretty Things) and drummer Tony Chapman.

From September 1962 to September 1963 Jones, Jagger and Richards shared an apartment (referred to by Richards as "a beautiful dump") in Chelsea, London at 102 Edith Grove, Chelsea, with James Phelge, a future photographer whose last name was used in some of the band'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 Rollin' Stones went searching for a bassist and drummer, finally settling on Bill Wyman on bass because he had a spare VOX AC30 guitar amplifier and always had cigarettes, as well as a bass guitar that he had built himself. 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 a half-crown and to be billed as an R&B band".

The group played at local blues and jazz clubs, garnering fans in spite of resistance from traditional jazz musicians who felt threatened by their popularity. While Jagger was lead singer, Jones, in the group's embryonic period, was the leader—promoting the band, landing gigs, and negotiating with venue owners. Jones played guitar and harmonica, and during performances, especially at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, he proved to be a more lively and engaging performer than even Jagger.

While acting as the band's business manager, Jones received £5 more than the other members, which did not sit well with the rest of the band and created resentment. Keith Richards has said that both he and Mick were surprised to learn that Brian considered himself the leader and was receiving the extra £5, especially as other people, like Giorgio Gomelsky appeared to be doing the gig arrangements.

Musical contributions
Jones's main guitar in the early years was a Harmony Stratotone, which he replaced with a Gretsch Double Anniversary in two-tone green. In 1964 and 1965 he often used a teardrop-shaped prototype Vox Mark VI. From late 1965 until his death, Jones used Gibson models (various Firebirds, ES-330, and a Les Paul model), as well as two Rickenbacker 12-string models. He can also be seen playing a Fender Telecaster in the 1968 "Jumpin' Jack Flash" promo video.

Examples of Jones's contributions are his slide guitar on "I Wanna Be Your Man" (1963), "I'm a King Bee" (1964, on The Rolling Stones), "Little Red Rooster" (1964), "I Can't Be Satisfied" (1965, on Rolling Stones No. 2), "I'm Movin' On" (1965, on the EP Got Live If You Want It!), "Doncha Bother Me" (1966, on Aftermath) and "No Expectations" (1968, on Beggars Banquet). Jones can also be heard playing Bo Diddley-style rhythm guitar on "I Need You Baby (Mona)", the guitar riff in "The Last Time"; sitar on "Street Fighting Man" and "Paint It, Black"; organ on "Let's Spend the Night Together", "Complicated," and "2000 Man"; marimba on "Under My Thumb", "Out Of Time" and "Yesterday's Papers"; recorder on "Ruby Tuesday" and "All Sold Out"; trumpet on "Child of the Moon"; Appalachian dulcimer on "I Am Waiting" and "Lady Jane" and harpsichord on "Lady Jane"; accordion on "Backstreet Girl"; saxophone and oboe on "Dandelion"; mellotron on "She's a Rainbow", "We Love You", "Stray Cat Blues" and "2000 Light Years from Home"; and (for his final recording as a Rolling Stone) the autoharp on "You Got the Silver".

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

In the early years, Jones also sometimes served as a backing vocalist. Notable examples are "Come On", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "I Just Wanna Make Love to You", "Walking the Dog", "Money (That's What I Want)", "I'm Alright," "You Better Move On" and "It's All Over Now". He is also responsible for the whistling on "Walking the Dog."

Richards maintains that what he calls "guitar weaving" 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". Jones's and Richards's 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.

From 1966 onwards Jones's contributions in the recording studio were more as a multi-instrumentalist than as a guitarist. His aptitude for playing a wide variety of instruments is particularly evident on the albums Aftermath (1966), Between the Buttons (1967) and Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967).

Estrangement from bandmates
Andrew Loog Oldham's arrival marked the beginning of Jones's slow estrangement, his prominent role gradually diminishing as the Stones' centre shifted from Jones to Jagger and Richards. Oldham recognised the financial advantages of bandmembers writing their own songs, as exemplified by Lennon/McCartney, and that playing covers would not sustain a band in the limelight for long. Further, Oldham wanted to make Jagger's charisma and flamboyance a focus of live performances. Jones saw his influence over the Stones' direction slide as their repertoire comprised fewer of the blues covers that he preferred; more Jagger/Richards originals developed, and Oldham increased his own managerial control, displacing Jones from yet another role.

According to Andrew Loog Oldham in his book Stoned, Jones was an outsider from the beginning. When the first tours were arranged in 1963, Jones travelled separately from the band, stayed at different hotels, and demanded extra pay. According to Oldham, Jones was very emotional, and felt alienated because he was not a prolific song writer and his management role had been taken away. Jones "resisted the symbiosis demanded by the group lifestyle, and so life was becoming more desperate for him day by day. None of us were looking forward to Brian totally cracking up".

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. He frequently used LSD, pills, and cannabis, and he drank heavily. These excesses had a debilitative effect on Jones's physical health, and according to Oldham, Jones became unfriendly and anti-social at times. His health problems caused him to be hospitalised on a number of occasions.

Jones was arrested for drug possession on 10 May 1967, shortly after the "Redlands" incident at Richards's Sussex home. Authorities found marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine in Jones's flat. He confessed to marijuana use but claimed he did not use hard drugs. Reacting in a manner similar to the arrests of his band mates, protesters appeared outside court demanding that Jones be freed, and he was not kept in jail. He was fined, given probation, and ordered to see a counselor.

In June 1967, Jones attended the Monterey Pop Festival, with singer Nico, with whom he had a brief relationship. There he met Frank Zappa and Dennis Hopper, and went on stage to introduce the Jimi Hendrix Experience, not well known yet in the US. One review referred to Jones as "the unofficial 'king' of the festival".

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

As tensions and Jones's substance use 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 the promotional film for "We Love You", made in July 1967, he appears groggy. However, Jones maintained close relationships with many performing artists outside of the Stones camp, including Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding, Steve Winwood, Eric Burdon and Steve Marriott.

In March 1967, Anita Pallenberg, Jones's girlfriend of two years, left him for Richards when Jones was hospitalised during a trip the three made to Morocco, further damaging the already strained relations between Jones and Richards.

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, chatting and sharing cigarettes with Richards, although Jones is neglected in the music-making. The film chronicles the making of "Sympathy for the Devil". Jones's acoustic guitar can be heard occasionally in the film through the microphones of the film crew but was not included in the released version.

It was clear Jones was not long for the group. Where once he played multiple instruments on many tracks, now he 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 25 years because Jagger was unhappy with the band's performance compared to others in the film, such as Jethro Tull, The Who, and Taj Mahal. In the DVD release of the film Jones's playing is inaudible except during "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Sympathy For The Devil", and "No Expectations". Commentary included as bonus material indicated that almost everyone at the concert sensed that the end of Jones's time with the Rolling Stones was near, and Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who thought it would be Jones's last live musical performance.

Departure from the band
Jones was arrested a second time on 21 May 1968, for possession of cannabis, which Jones said had been left by previous tenants of the flat. He was facing a long jail sentence if found guilty, owing to his probation. Wyman commented, "The fact that the police had secured a warrant with no evidence showed the arrest was part of a carefully orchestrated plan. Brian and the Stones were being targeted in an effort to deter the public from taking drugs". The jury found him guilty, but the judge had sympathy for Jones; instead of jailing him, he fined him £50 plus £105 in costs and told him: "For goodness sake, don't get into trouble again or it really will be serious".

Jones's legal troubles, estrangement from his bandmates, substance abuse and mood swings became too much of an obstacle to 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 fit condition to tour and his second arrest exacerbated problems with acquiring a US work visa. In addition, Jones's attendance of rehearsals and recording sessions had become erratic; and when he did appear, he rarely contributed anything musically, or his bandmates would switch off his guitar, leaving Richards playing nearly all the guitars. According to Gary Herman, Jones was "literally incapable of making music; when he tried to play harmonica, his mouth started bleeding".

This behaviour was problematic during the Beggar's Banquet sessions, and had worsened by the time the band commenced recording Let It Bleed. While the band was recording "You Can't Always Get What You Want", Jones asked Jagger, "What can I play?"; Jagger's response was, "I don't know, Brian, what can you play?" From this point, he made himself scarce, rarely attending sessions. 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 dismissed from the band if Jones did not appear at a photo shoot on 21 May 1969 for the compilation album Through The Past Darkly. He showed.

The Stones decided that following the release of the Let it Bleed album (scheduled for a July 1969 release in the US), they would start a North American tour in November 1969. However, the Stones management was informed that because of his drug convictions, Jones would not receive a work permit. At the suggestion of pianist and road manager Ian Stewart, the Stones decided to add a new guitarist, and on 8 June 1969, Jones was visited by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Charlie Watts, and was told that the group he had formed would continue without him.

To the public, it appeared as if Jones had left voluntarily; the other band members told him that although he was being asked to leave, 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". Jones was replaced by 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, which Jones had purchased in November 1968. There is uncertainty as to the mental and physical state Jones was in. The last known photographs of Jones, taken by schoolgirl Helen Spittal on 23 June 1969, shortly after his departure from the Stones, are not flattering; he appears bloated, with deep-set eyes. However, Alexis Korner, who visited in late June only shortly after the Spittal photos were taken, noted that Jones seemed "happier than he had ever been". He is known to have contacted Korner, Ian Stewart, Mitch Mitchell and Jimmy Miller about intentions to put together another band.

Death
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 they took him out, insisting he still had a pulse. However, by the time the doctors arrived, it was too late, and he was pronounced dead. The coroner's report stated "death by misadventure", and noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse.

Wohlin claimed in 1999 that Jones had been murdered by a builder who had been renovating the house the couple shared. The builder, Frank Thorogood, allegedly confessed to the murder on his deathbed to the Rolling Stones' driver, Tom Keylock, who later denied this. In the book The Murder of Brian Jones, Wohlin alleges that Thorogood behaved suspiciously and showed little sympathy when Jones was discovered in the pool (he was the last to see Jones alive), but she has stated that he was not present at Jones's death. Witnesses who claim to have seen the "murder" have been interviewed by journalists; however, these witnesses have almost always used pseudonyms, and none has been willing to go on record or report to the police. A critical witness, still alive, is a man called "Marty" in the Hotchner book Blown Away.

Many items, such as instruments and expensive furniture, reportedly were stolen from the home after Jones's death. Rumours also exist that recordings by Jones for his future projects were stolen but nothing has surfaced to date. A watch given by Alexis Korner to Jones, with a personal inscription, surfaced in an auction at Christie's in New York.

Upon Jones's death, Pete Townshend of The Who 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 entitled "Ode to L.A. While Thinking of Brian Jones, Deceased".

The Rolling Stones performed at a free concert in Hyde Park on 5 July 1969, two days after Jones's death. The concert had been scheduled weeks earlier as an opportunity to present the new guitarist, and the band decided to dedicate the concert to Jones. Before the Rolling Stones' set, Jagger read excerpts from "Adonais", a poem by Percy Shelley about the death of his friend John Keats, and stagehands released hundreds of white butterflies as part of the tribute. The band opened with a Johnny Winter song that was one of Jones's favourites, "I'm Yours and I'm Hers".

Jones was reportedly buried 12 ft deep in Cheltenham Cemetery (to prevent exhumation by trophy hunters) in a lavish casket sent by Bob Dylan. Watts and Wyman were the only Rolling Stones who attended the funeral. Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull were travelling to Australia to begin filming the movie Ned Kelly; they stated that their contracts did not allow them to delay the trip to attend the funeral. Keith Richards reportedly remained in the recording studio.

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."

In August 2009 it was reported around the world that Sussex Police had decided to review Brian Jones' death for the first time since 1969, after new evidence was handed to them by Scott Jones, an investigative journalist in the UK. Scott Jones has traced many of the people who were at Brian Jones' house the night he died, plus unseen police files held at the National Archives. In the Mail on Sunday in November 2008 Scott Jones said Frank Thorogood killed Brian Jones in a fight and the senior police officers covered up the true cause of death. Robert Greenfield wrote about the police review in the March 2010 edition of Playboy. Depending on the results of this review, the 1969 case that was originally ruled to be death by misadventure could be reopened as a murder investigation or the coroner may be asked to review the inquest verdict. According to Ben Harris (Editor of Brian Jones Fanzine), the main person of interest in Brian Jones's death was the builder Frank Thorogood, who died in 1994. Thorogood was interviewed by police but not charged; other witnesses were not interviewed. As Jones was 27 at the time of his death, he is one of the well known members of the 27 Club.

Songwriting credits
Unsure and insecure as a composer, Jones was not a prolific songwriter. The 30-second "Rice Krispies" jingle for Kellogg's, co-written with the J. W. Thompson advertising agency in 1963 and performed by the Rolling Stones incognito was credited to Jones; this did not sit well with the rest of the band, who felt it was a group effort and all should benefit equally. Jones was also included in the "Nanker/Phelge" songwriting credit, a pseudonym used on fourteen tracks that were composed by the entire band and Andrew Oldham.

According to Andrew Oldham the main reason for Jones not writing songs was that Jones, being a blues purist, did not love simple pop music enough. Oldham tried to establish a songwriting partnership between Jones and Gene Pitney after "becoming bored senseless by Jones' bleating about the potential of half-finished melodies that by no means deserved completion" but after two days of sessions "the results remain best to be unheard, even by Stones' completists".

When asked in 1965 if he had written songs, Jones replied: "Always tried. I've written quite a few, but mostly in blues style". Many years later after his death, Keith Richards stated: "No, no. Absolutely not. That was the one thing he would never do. Brian wouldn't show them to anybody within the Stones. Brian as far as I know never wrote a single finished song in his life; he wrote bits and pieces but he never presented them to us. No doubt he spent hours, weeks, working on things, but his paranoia was so great that he could never bring himself to present them to us". Bill Wyman has stated that Jones was "an incredibly gifted musician, but not a song writer"; and in 1995 Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone that Jones had been jealous of the Jagger/Richards songwriting team, and added: "To be honest, Brian had no talent for writing songs. None. I've never known a guy with less talent for songwriting."

He is credited (along with Keith Richards) for the instrumental piece; "Hear It", though it is generally considered Jones' work.

However, in 1966 Jones composed, produced and played on the soundtrack to Mord und Totschlag (English title: A Degree Of Murder), an avant-garde German film with Anita Pallenberg. Guitarist Jimmy Page is one of the musicians Jones hired to play on the soundtrack.

In 1990, Carla Olson was given permission from Jones's estate to put one of his poems to music and thus created the Jones/Olson song "Thank You For Being There". It appeared on the album True Voices, performed by Krysia Kristianne and Robin Williamson.

Other contributions
In summer 1968, Jones recorded the Morocco-based ensemble, the Master Musicians of Joujouka; the recording was released in 1971 as Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka. Jagger and Richards visited Jajouka in 1989 after recording "Continental Drift" for the Rolling Stones album Steel Wheels with The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar in Tangier. An homage to Jones entitled "Brian Jones Joujouka very Stoned", painted by Mohamed Hamri, who had brought Jones to Jajouka in 1967, appeared on the cover of Joujouka Black Eyes by the Master Musicians of Joujouka in 1995. Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Jajouka was released in 1995, produced by Brian Jones. The executive producers were Philip Glass, Kurt Munkasci, and Rory Johnston, with notes by Bachir Attar, Paul Bowles, William S. Burroughs, Stephen Davis, Brian Jones, Brion Gysin, and David Silver. Point Music (Philips Classics/PolyGram) 446 487–2. This deluxe recording album was a reissue of the original 1971 Brian Jones recording.(Point Music 446 825–2 and 446 826–2) and included additional graphics, more extensive notes by David Silver and William S. Burroughs, and a second CD, produced by Cliff Mark, with two “full-length remixes.” In mid-May 1967, Jones played oboe on the Beatles "Baby You're A Rich Man". Jones played alto saxophone on the Beatles' "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)", which was released in March 1970, eight months after his death.

Public image and legend
Brian Jones was regarded as a fashion icon due to his rebellious and flamboyant style. His style of dress and manner did much to influence the fashion scene of swinging 1960s London. Anita Pallenberg has stated in an interview that he wanted to look like Françoise Hardy, he loved 'dressing up and posing about' and that he would ask her to do his hair and make-up.

He was 1.68 metres tall (5'6") with blue-grey eyes and blond hair.

His death at 27 was the first of the Sixties rock movement; Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison found their own drug-related deaths at the same age within two years (Morrison dying two years to the day after Jones). The coincidence of ages has been described as the "27 Club".

Stones' Shine a Light was written by Jagger after his death and depicts his behavior and remoteness from the band, and ask God to shine a light on his soul. Several others songs have been written about Jones: The Doors' song "Tightrope Ride" was originally written for Jones by Morrison, but after Morrison's death Ray Manzarek rewrote some of the lyrics so that they apply to both musicians. The Psychic TV song "Godstar" is about Jones's death, as are Robyn Hitchcock's "Trash", The Drovers' "She's as Pretty as Brian Jones Was" and Ted Nugent's "Death by Misadventure". Toy Love's song "Swimming Pool" lists several dead rock icons including Jones (the others are Morrison, Hendrix, and Marc Bolan); he is also mentioned in De Phazz's song "Something Special". The Master Musicians of Joujouka song "Brian Jones Joujouka Very Stoned" was released in 1974 and 1996. The Brian Jonestown Massacre was named partially after him.

The 2005 film Stoned is a fictional account of Jones and his role in the Rolling Stones. The part of Brian was played by English actor Leo Gregory.