Monday, July 03, 2006

...thinking of Brian Jones, deceased.

I remember hearing that he died. I was at the Atlanta Pop Festival in 1969 and it was July 4th. Let it Bleed had just been released and they were playing it over the loudspeakers in the non-stage areas, it was incredibly good. Then they announced that Brian had died on the 3rd. He was 27 years old.

He was probably my biggest teenage crush, although John Lennon was first. Man, can I pick 'em? John was murdered, and Brian Jones was more than likely murdered as well. His "Death by Misadventure" will never be truly solved, and he certainly wasted and ruined enough by substances to have been his own victim. When you are too stoned and messed up for Keith Richards to put up with... well... although Keith's real beef probably had more to do with a woman (Anita Pallenberg, who later married Keith).

Brian created the Rolling Stones, it was his band that the others joined, and he thought up the name. He was innovative in adding unheard-of instruments to rock music in radical new ways, and making it work. He was also a fashion pioneer, and was largely responsible for inspiring the wild 60s fashion trends (starting it early enough to have inspired The Beatles). This was my drawing from a picture of him at the Monterey Pop Festival of 1967.

Jim Morrison wrote a poem for Brian after his death. July 3rd is also the death anniversary of Jim Morrison. There are those who believe that he is not, in fact, dead... that he faked his death, and I've heard some speculation that the day July 3rd was not just a coincidence. Morrison was also 27. (27 was apparently a tough age to get past, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix also died at age 27.)

Poor, tragic Brian. I always wonder who really could have saved him.

- - Brian Jones wiki - -

10 comments:

Ellie said...

This is amazing. For whatever reason he was on my mind this weekend. I kept seeing him floating dead in his pool. And I didn't even realize this was the anniversary of his death.

Strange...

Blueberry said...

It is weird. I do think of him sometimes after all these years. I'm having a 60s moment over Let it Bleed now. The record books say it was released in December of 1969, but I distinctly remember hearing some brand new Stones music before and after the announcement, and I'm pretty sure it was from Let it Bleed. Maybe it was early singles. They were already touring with that music. I saw them in Nov. of that year (a month before Altamont) at the West Palm Beach Pop Festival.

Michael Bains said...

I'm 40 years old, and when I was a kid, I believed all sorts of things. lol

Including what a young wiccan told me when she read my palm. Her advice was to live hard, cuz I would die by the time I was 27.

Well, I did get married the first time at that age... But I survived it.

Peace, Blueberry And Happy Independence Day!

Anonymous said...

speaking of the rolling stones, I saw a commercial for a VH1 special on this band Platinum Weird where Mick Jagger is saying that they’re “the most famous band noone’s ever heard of.” I think they’re some band from the 70s that never released a record or something? check out this clip though
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGvmz32ajao
does anyone know about this?

Blueberry said...

Jed: Looks like the next "Spinal Tap" or "Rutles"! Tap rules!!
MB: I have a very rational friend who, when you mention Jim Morrison's death she says very matter-of-factly "Jim Morrison's not dead. No one has ever seen his body", and I must admit, I don't know of anyone who claims to have seen the body, other than his girlfriend and the guy who filled out the paperwork.

And glad you survived the dreaded age and the marraige. I got married the first time at 27 too, come to think of it.

pissed off patricia said...

You taught me some things today. I didn't know about this guy. I do remember crying just about all day the day Janis died.

I tried pot for the first time when I was 27. It's a funky age somewhere between adulthood and kidhood.

Blueberry said...

Janis is another favorite. I will probably do a post on her sometime in the future.

DrewL said...

No doubt, if there's a Heaven, there's a sweet band called the TwentySevens playing sold out gigs every night: Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin are rocking the house! Now that WOULD be heaven!

Anonymous said...

Well, the real thing may be in heaven, but another version does exist in Australia. My band twentysevens was named for exactly that reason, as a tribute to some amazing artists who had an everlasting influence on our music.
Later this year, we are touring the UK on a 31 date support gig for Status Quo. Seems our connection to 60's legends will continue. check out our site at www.twentysevens.com
cheers, Steve

Blueberry said...

Hey Steve! Thanks for dropping by! I visited your website. Do ya'll have a MySpace page? Best of luck on the tour, and hope the Heathrow experience goes smoothly. A band I work for, The Greencards, just did a UK tour. They are 2 Aussies and a Brit, as the press likes to say, but technically an American band. You can read their journal on the events here: http://www.thegreencards.com/journal.html