Back to Blues: The songs Brian Jones was in love with before his death
Brian Jones may have been one of the few creative entities too big to be in just one band. Although he could play nearly anything that he got his hands on, there’s a good chance that he could get overshadowed whenever Keith Richards had a lick that he was working on or Mick Jagger decided to take charge of the studio. Jones wouldn’t let that stop him, and right after he got kicked out of the Stones, he was getting back in touch with his bluesy roots in the final months of his life.
After spending the last few years working on every genre under the sun, though, it has to take it out of any creative person. Since the Rolling Stones were spending half their time trying to keep their competitive streak with The Beatles, seeing them go from one genre to the next on every album is downright disorienting half the time.
One minute, the band would be doing their signature take on blues music, then try their hand at baroque pop on Between the Buttons and dive headfirst into psychedelic rock on Their Satanic Majesties Request. Most artists may have seen burnout coming from a mile away, but all Jones saw was an opportunity to make more music.
Besides working on his bluesy licks, Jones was willing to work with anything as long as it got featured on the album. He would be the first to lend his sitar parts to the song ‘Paint It Black’ and hearing him play everything from woodwind instruments to horns to beautiful slide guitar licks would leave most players exhausted.
In fact, it did leave Jones exhausted…just not in the way that most thought. After coming up for air during the Beggars Banquet period, Jones realised that he couldn’t contribute nearly as much as he wanted, with everything being taken over by Jagger and Richards. With the duo not letting up, it was time for Jones to step off.
While Jones was heartbroken to have to quit his musical baby, he was still listening all the time. As he started to put together the makings of a solo outfit, Jones dove headfirst into the sounds of Creedence Clearwater Revival, listening to songs like ‘Proud Mary’ incessantly alongside the debut album by guitar dynamo Johnny Winter.
Jones also had time to listen to his friends’ bands, keeping The Beatles’ ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ in heavy rotation on the turntable. Although he never got to make that long-awaited solo album, each of these songs points back to one thing: the blues.
As The Stones were starting to embrace their adventurous side with Mick Taylor, Jones could have taken the rootsy approach to blues that CCR was pioneering one step further. He had the musical power to make something work, so why not try to put his own spin on the kind of rock and roll that took it back to the seedy underbelly of America?
Sadly, we’ll never know whether that actually worked out for Jones, ultimately being discovered dead at the bottom of his pool months after leaving the band. Although The Stones paid tribute to Jones by playing one of Winter’s songs at their next gig, it would never replace the musical genius that could have paved the way for the next wave of blues rock artists.
