It’s a shame that many casual rock fans only know the name Brian Jones as someone who died at such a young age. Jones made numerous essential contributions to The Rolling Stones. On the one hand, he was an unofficial founder of the group, as he had already established himself within the British blues scene before Mick Jagger and Keith Richards joined up with him.
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As the ‘60s progressed, the Stones started to move into areas like baroque pop and psychedelia, and when they did, they usually turned to Jones. He was a wizard at just about any instrument he touched, often ones that weren’t what you would usually expect to hear in a rock setting.
You could say that the Stones moved away from these styles because they realized that they were more at home as a blues rock band. Or you could argue that, once Jones died in 1969, they lost their secret weapon for that type of material. Here are five examples of Jones’ instrumental genius that enlivened both hits and album cuts that could have been hits from the Stones’ somewhat uncharacteristic and endlessly fascinating mid-‘60s period.
1. ”Under My Thumb” (1966)
The Stones were only just beginning to branch out with their sound in ’66, taking the baby steps of adding somewhat exotic instrumentation to otherwise straightforward rockers. Case in point: “Under My Thumb,” which courted controversy because many thought that the lyrics were misogynistic. The argument against that notion is that Mick Jagger was playing a character in the song and not espousing his personal beliefs about how to treat a woman. That’s a debate for another day, however, as we’re more focused on what Jones brought to the table. In this case, he does slinky, insinuating work on the marimba. We tend to think of the Stones as riff rockers, but who knew they could be so effective with Jones tapping out the riff in this manner?
2. “Paint It Black” (1966)
The Beatles utilized the sitar on “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” in 1965, with George Harrison simply finding the main notes of the melody to add a little something extra. But with “Paint It Black,” Jones made the instrument the central element of what’s a thrilling instrumental song on the whole. While the exotic nature of the sitar could easily have pulled the song in a different direction than what the lyrics were saying, Jones’ playing seems to be in perfect, morose harmony with Mick Jagger’s lines about the need for darkness. The sitar became an oft-utilized instrument in pop and rock for a few years there, but it’s hard to find a song where it’s more prominent or more affecting than what Jones manages here.
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3. “Ruby Tuesday” (1967)
This is one of the band’s most beloved ballads, composed by Keith Richards about a girlfriend who got away but still captivated him even in her flightiness. It’s a stunningly lovely melody, which made it just right for some sweet instrumental embellishment. Cue Jones, who takes center stage on the recorder, of all instruments. Yes, that’s right, that plastic flute that you were forced to learn in elementary school and, when you played it, sounded like a wounded bird. In Jones’ hands, it flits and swoops around the edges of the song, played in such extremely sensitive fashion that it accentuates the meaning of the lyrics. Credit Jones for making this song fit so seamlessly in the prime baroque pop peak of 1967.
4. “2,000 Light Years from Home” (1967)
Although it has its share of detractors, the general consensus about Their Satanic Majesties Request, the Stones’ wintery answer to The Beatles’ summery Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, is that it contains a lot of unfocused material amidst two absolute bangers in “2,000 Light Years from Home” and “She’s a Rainbow.” Jones plays the mellotron, the keyboard that mimicked the sounds of other instruments and was ubiquitous in pop music of that time, on both songs. You could choose either for this list, but we went with “2,000 Light Years from Home” because of the way Jones’ playing evokes both the wonder and dread of interplanetary exploration.
5. “I Am Waiting” (1966)
We had a difficult time choosing the fifth entrant on this list, if only because Jones gave us so many possibilities. Also under heavy consideration: his vibraphone work on “Back Street Girl” and his Spanish guitar part on “Sittin’ on a Fence.” Instead, we chose this track that was relatively unheralded until appearing in Wes Anderson’s landmark comedy Rushmore. On “I Am Waiting,” Jones takes on the Appalachian dulcimer with typical expertise and touch. Listen to the way his plucking, intermingled with Keith Richards’ acoustic guitar touches, conjures a meditative vibe in the verses, which makes the band’s charge into the chorus even that much more thrilling.
Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
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