Music Diary – 28th February

Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 28th February!

Brian Jones (28th February 1942 – 3rd July 1969)

 

Happy birthday to Mr. Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones, who was born on the 28th February 1942 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (UK)!

At the age of 17, Brian received his first acoustic guitar from his parents as a birthday present. After quitting school, Jones moved to London, where he he crossed paths with people like Alexis Korner, Paul Jones and Jack Bruce. In 1962, Brian Jones was searching for musicians to found his own band. First, pianist Ian „Stu“ Stewart came along and shortly after that, singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards joined. And the group was called after the Muddy Waters song „Rollin‘ Stone“. On the 12th July 1962, the first live performance took place at the Marquee Club in London. Beside Jones, Jagger, Richards and Stewart, the line-up was completed by bassist Dick Taylor and drummer Tony Chapman. On the 7th December 1962, Bill Wyman replaced Taylor and in January 1963 Charlie Watts took over the place from Chapman behind the drums.

Bill Wyman about Brian Jones and The Rolling Stones: „He formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs. Very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it – highly intelligent – and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away.“

Brian Jones lost more and more the control of the band, because Jagger and Richards became the songwriting team of the Stones. Brian slipped into heavy drug problems over the years and in June 1969 he left the band and Mick Taylor became his substitute. Only one month later, Brian Jones was found dead in his swimming pool. On the 3rd July 1969 he passed away at the age of 27.

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Music Diary – 6th December

Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 6th December!

The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet (1968)

On the 6th December 1968 the legendary Rolling Stones album „Beggars Banquet“ was released by Decca Records (UK) and London Records (USA). The ten songs were recorded between March and July 1968 at the Olympic Studios in London and marked for The Rolling Stones the return to the Rock sounds after the psychedelic LP „Their Satanic Majesties Request“ (1967).

Jimmy Miller produced all tracks and he remembers about the difficulties of working with Brian Jones during the sessions:
„He shows up occasionally when he was in the mood to play, and he could never really be relied on: When he would show up at a session – let’s say he had just bought a sitar that day, he’d feel like playing it, so he’d look in his calendar to see if the Stones were in. Now he may have missed the previous four sessions. We’d be doing let’s say, a blues thing. He’d walk in with a sitar, which was totally irrelevant to what we were doing, and want to play it. I used to try to accommodate him. I would isolate him, put him in a booth and not record him onto any track that we really needed. And the others, particularly Mick and Keith, would often say to me, ‚Just tell him to piss off and get the hell out of here‘.“

Jeal-Luc Godard directed the documentary „Sympathy for the Devil„, which shows the recording process of the album. Here’s the official trailer:

The original cover for the album – a depicting a bathroom wall covered with graffiti – was rejected first by Decca records. So they had chosen this neutral design:

The digitally remastered version was released years later with the original artwork. „Beggars Banquet“ became a milestone in Rock history and is considered as one of the best Stones albums. It features classic songs like „Sympathy for the Devil„, „Street Fighting Man“ and „No Expectations„.

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Music Diary – 18th March

Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 18th March!

On the 18th March 1965, Bill Wyman and Brian Jones had an urgent necessity: The two Rolling Stones musicians tried to take a pee at a petrol station in Rumford, Essex (UK). As they were refused to access the toilet, Brian and BIll urinated against the wall of a garage. Shortly after that, a cop showed up and finally the two were fined £5 ($8.50) for urinating in a public place.

Keith Richards remembers:
„One night coming back from a gig in North London, Bill Wyman, who has this prodigious bladder, decided he wanted to have a pee. So we told the driver to stop. The car is full up with people and a few other people say: ‚Yeah, I could get into that. Let’s take a pee.‘ So we leap out and we had chosen a gas station that looked closed but it wasn’t. There we are, up against the wall, spraying away. And suddenly this guy steps out. And a cop flashes his torch on Bill’s cock and says: ‚All right. What you up to then?‘ And that was it. The next day it was all in the papers. Bill was accused and Brian was accused of insulting language. Because what they did them for was not peeing but for trespassing. The thing with Bill is – and this is one of the best kept secrets in the Rolling Stones – that he has probably got one of the biggest bladders in human existence. When that guy gets out of a car to take a pee you know you aren’t going to move for 15 minutes. I mean it’s not the first time it happened to him. To my knowledge, Bill has never done one in under 5 minutes.“ („Keith Richards on Keith Richards: Interviews and Encounters“ by Sean Egan)

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Music Diary – 31st August

Welcome back to my Music Diary – today for the 31st August!

Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts

Back in 1968 the Rolling Stones single „Street Fighting Man“ was released. The track is from the legendary studio album „Beggars Banquet“ which hit the shops on the 6th December 1968.

Here’s the official video:

 

Everywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy
‚Cause summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy
Well what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock ’n‘ roll band
‚Cause in sleepy London town
There’s just no place for a street fighting man
No

Hey! Think the time is right for a palace revolution
‚Cause where I live the game to play is compromise solution
Well, then what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock ’n‘ roll band
‚Cause in sleepy London town
There’s just no place for a street fighting man
No

Hey! Said my name is called disturbance
I’ll shout and scream, I’ll kill the king, I’ll rail at all his servants
Well, what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock ’n‘ roll band
‚Cause in sleepy London town
There’s just no place for a street fighting man
No

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