The Rolling Stones’ Doomed Genius

Charlie Watts had the decency to go to his funeral. He was always a class act.

"Brian was a brilliant, fluent multi-instrumentalist, he was the one who founded the Rolling Stones and he had the creative vision that helped them to evolve organically from a mop-top blues-pop group into the mystical rock gods they became--something that many people today might not realise."--Mick Fleetwood

“Brian’s pioneering status as a musician has become steadily less obvious thanks to the very success of his mission. The blues and world music that he championed and dragged into the mainstream have become so ubiquitous that we all suffer a hindsight bias—we find it impossible to imagine what the world was like without this music. As counter-intuitive as it might seem, this is proof of Brian’s accomplishment.”—Sympathy for the Devil by Paul Trynka

I agree that Charlie Watts was a classy man and I once read he regretted that Brian was thrown out of the group . Charlie Watts was the heart of The Rolling Stones and was a really decent guy ! RIP Charlie Watts - 🙏🏼 You will always be missed !

Fun fact, when Jethro Tull played at the Rolling Stone's Rock and Roll Circus, Tommy Iommi was playing lead guitar for Tull

To eke out my student grant I took a summer job that year as a deck chair collector in London's Royal Parks. My pitch was Victoria Tower Gardens. The Stones' concert was held in a part of Hyde Park called the Cockpit, also one of our deck chair pitches, that backed onto the Serpentine. The concert became a memorial to Jones. We saw a good deal of it stage-side and the remainder from a rowing boat floating on the Serpentine with a picnic hamper. Happy days.

Thank you for this.  It is very refreshing to see a video about a celebrity who had a sad end which is not sensationalist or lurid. Your handling of the facts and your respectful treatment of all the people involved does you credit. It was also a very nicely put together film,. understated and tasteful. I hope that you will continue to produce such worthy and informative films. Regards, Bob McGowan, (Not the Chair Circle!)

I'm a fan of the early Rolling Stones, and that means when Brian Jones made essential musical contributions to the band. At that time you never knew how their new song would be. Which instruments would figure in them, which pre-world music vibe would be in it. I always knew that Brian Jones was the musical genius behind all that. As to drugs and all kind of rivalries, almost every group of these times was doing them.

When your friend is spiraling out of control you abandon Him That is what Mick and Keith did and you can't tell me otherwise. He will always be my favorite Stone as well as Charlie & Bill.

Jagger, called him manipulative, the tea pot calling the kettle black.

"In 1966, I witnessed, on numerous occasions, the remarkable spell Brian would cast while working in the recording studio. Mick and Keith would bring songs in, Brian would listen and effectively take charge, and everyone was in awe of him. He was a real perfectionist. While recording the recorder part in Ruby Tuesday he explained to me that he had to do it over again as he had been a quarter tone off tune."--Prince Stash Klossowski de Rola (artist and friend of the Stones) in Brian Jones: Butterfly in the Park.

Brian was my favorite member of the Stones. In my opinion, they were never the same after he died.

He was the Boss! -- Inspiration, Founder, Teacher, and All Round Grand Master, Brian Jones made the Rolling Stones into the kind of band he wanted. They are still, to this day, his creation.

Alexis Korner who helped the Stones in the very beginning proves here that Jagger and Richards are full of it when they say Brian couldn't write songs. Alexis Korner - BBC Radio - The Rolling Stones Story (1973). "It's not strictly true to say that Brian couldn't write music, but his reticence in putting his music forward for consideration by the group seems to have been due to a mixture of shyness and lack of confidence." - Alexis Korner. These words by Alexis were said in response to Stu/Ian Stewart saying that Brian was "incapable of writing music ".

Enjoyed this video, took a look around the channel and decided I needed to SUBSCRIBE & HIT THE BELL!

Thank you for bringing that up Melissa The Plaque was never changed. The Dartford town council at first listened to Bill Wyman's complaint about the plaque and they even announced that the wording would be changed to keep everyone happy. But the Dartford town council led by Jeremy Kite, ( yes that is his real name), did their own research and they found that there is nothing on the plaque that is false or misleading . They unanimously decided to leave the plaque in place with the original wording . Mick and Keith went on to form the Rolling Stones. That was in 2015 and you can go to the Dartford Train Station platform #2 today and see the original plaque with the original wording in tact. Bill may still be "disgusted" by the plaque but he is now officially proven to be a liar. Brian Joined Keith's band the Blue Boys.

I was in Vancouver, BC visiting my aunt when Brian Jones died. My late older brother, about 23 years later, was invited over to Keith Richards' house, where he would spend much of the 90s and early 2000s. We saw the original lineup of The Stones perform live (NYC-1966). They performed 'Lady Jane' and ended their set with 'Paint It, Black'. If I remember correctly, my brother told me that the front door of Keith Richards' house is painted red (or, at least it was in the 90s). After my brother died, a message arrived at his memorial service from Keith Richards' business manager: A lady named Jane. I remember asking my brother how come he's wasn't in Keith Richards' autobiography ('Life', released in 2010). After all, he spent virtually a dozen years at his house. His reply was-"I heard all the stories that didn't make it into the book first hand.' For instance, Brian Jones was not the first one to be kicked out of The Stones. Keith was-in the very early days of the band. My brother claimed it was Keith's mother, Doris, who told that story in their presence!

Poor Brian. Rehab could have helped him. He was the most talented.

Hey, just wanted to say that I love your Scottish accent! I also appreciate the care and attention you put into your narration. Greetings from Austin!

“Brian Jones was indeed the father of what we now regard as world music…Brian’s championing of ethnic players such as the Moroccan Master Musicians of Joujouka back in 1967 should be regarded as groundbreaking artistic development, portents of the future.”—John Phillpott, Blues in Britain