I. INTRO:

You might have heard this exclamation before:

'without John Lennon, there would not have been a Beatles.'

'without Brian Jones, there would not have been a Rolling Stones.'

It was once said that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards WROTE songs about what Brian Jones LIVED. It's a pity that Brian himself couldn't translate his experiences to song with the same proficiency as Mick and Keith. When Jagger and Richards began contributing songs to the Rolling Stones, they slowly gained leadership of the band. Why did Brian lose control of the band, you ask? One reason could very well be because he didn't write songs for the band…or did he? We have found evidence that he did write songs that the Stones actually recorded, but never released.

Could Brian write songs? What kind of songs did Brian write? At the time of his death (or murder-but that's a whole different story!) what were Brian's recording plans? We'll try to answer each of these questions.

II. COULD BRIAN WRITE SONGS?

First, we wanted to tackle the question - could Brian Jones even write songs? We know he could write music, just witness his soundtrack to A DEGREE OF MURDER. But did he actually write the commercial type of songs that the Rolling Stones could record? When asked in 1965 if he had written songs, Brian replied,

"Always tried. I've written quite a few, but mostly in blues style."

"I remember the beam of light that flashed on his face when he wrote something he liked. Writing was a comfort to him. It was like talking to somebody. He was always writing poems and words for songs on little pieces of paper."

"Oh yes! Brian would often sit up well into the early hours of the morning writing songs at the kitchen table. It was very important to him. And they were such good songs too!"

But why wouldn't Brian submit his songs to the Rolling Stones? Again, Linda Lawrence explains,

"he was writing too and he also wanted to share with the boys. He did often come home quite upset, almost crying because they would be doing their thing and he wouldn't feel that they would even be interested in listening to what his other ideas were, and thing like that."

"No, no. Absolutely not. That was the one thing he would never do. Brian wouldn't show them to anybody within the Stones. Brian as far as I know never wrote a single finished song in 'is life; he wrote bits and pieces but he never presented them to us. No doubt he spent hours, weeks, working on things-but his paranoia was so great that he could never bring himself to present them to us."

Ian Stewart [unofficial 6th member of the Stones and their longtime keyboardist] claims that the reason that the Stones didn't record any Brian songs was that

"Brian was incapable of writing music, so I'm really not sure what else he wanted them to do."

"It's not 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."

Marianne Faithful remembered that,

"The other thing that bothered Brian was they never used any of his songs in any of their recording sessions. But then again he never really submitted a song that was ready to be recorded. Bill Wyman did, and he had accomplished the unheard of by getting them to record one of his songs on the album Satanic Majesties. And that showed that if Brian hadn't been so paranoid about their having ganged up against him as far as composing was concerned, and if Brian had actually presented them with a good song, they would have recorded it as they did Bill's. So much of Brian's resentment of Keith and Mick was in Brian's head and not in actual fact."

Brian's girlfriend Anita Pallenberg agrees that his loss of control of the band directly involved his lack of songwriting. Anita explains,

"It seems to me that Brian could have regained control of the Stones at this point except for one thing-much as he tried, he couldn't compose songs for them to sing. God knows he tried, and Andrew Oldham locked him in a room same way as he did with Keith and Mick, but it didn't work. Brian was a fabulous musician but he just couldn't write songs. There were times he'd spend the whole night with his tape recorder, creating music and recording it, but in the morning he'd listen to the tape and always destroy it."

I think that these comments show that Brian could and did write songs…BUT…they were probably not the commercial type of songs that the Rolling Stones could realistically release. Add to this Brian's fragile mental state and you can see why the Stones didn't record his songs. Plus, his paranoia was probably not helped much by the prevalence of drugs in the '60s.

III. WHAT TYPE OF SONGS DID BRIAN WRITE?

We have established that Brian did write songs, although he was very reluctant to show them to anybody. But what style were these songs and lyrics? In 1965, Brian was asked if he writes any songs. He answered,

"Yes, but they're not the right songs, apparently. Not commercial, more bluesy…I'd like to record my own songs myself. I've got a good enough voice to do folk-type stuff."

Brian's songs were his secret and one of the few people that he would play his songs for was his girlfriend, Linda Lawrence, who explained,

"When Brian played the songs he wrote he didn't feel threatened by me."

"They were romantic, sort of spiritual. His songs were like Donovan's-about his feelings. But Brian never said, 'I'll show the boys this one,' because he was insecure. He thought his things were too sentimental. I would encourage him to do his own things, but Brian would say, 'They're not finished,' That was his excuse all the time. And so he just kept to himself."

There is one example of Brian's lyrics that actually made it to a CD in 1990. The poem, titled "Thank You For Being There" was written by Brian, adapted to music by Carla Olson and performed on CD by Krysia Kristianne and Robin Williamson. Here are Brian's lyrics:

(THANK YOU) For Being There?? 1. As each sharp outline Melts and weaves And undulates in time With the compulsive Rhythmic insistence Of each pounding musical line The scornful dancing lady dressed In black at last reveals She really isn't there at all She simply isn't real So thank you for being there -My love At least I know that you're real 2. As I speak with you of love -In metaphors and in code A need for satisfaction grows But they're stories still to be told Of experience and fantasies. Of vision and of fears But when the visions fade -you'll be there Lying in my tears Thank you for being there my love Then I know that you're real

3. If the lashing tail of paranoiac fears Strike my smarting face Your understanding comforts me And puts everything in its place So shush, my love, Your look and your touch Can leave everything unsaid And I can face all those Little people Just like Gulliver did. Thank you for being there, my love At last I've found someone who's real 4. The maniacal choirs that screamed out a warning Now sings out lullaby The walls that crashed to bury you and me Now shelter our hideaway Thank you for being there my love At last I've found someone that's real Thank you for being there my love At last I know that you're real.

IV. WHAT SONGS BY BRIAN DID THE ROLLING STONES RECORD?

There were songs written by Brian that the Rolling Stones actually recorded, but in most cases didn't release. We found examples of 4 songs written by Brian, which were recorded between October of 1963 and January of 1964. Although two of the songs received either TV or radio play, all of the songs are officially unreleased.

1. "Wake Up In The Morning"
(Music by Brian Jones, lyrics by J. W. Thompson)
(Recording October-November 1963? Star Sound Studios)
The Stones were commissioned by Kelloggs to provide a jingle for their Rice Krispies cereal to be used in a European TV ad.

The music, composed by Jones, is described as "I Wanna Be Your Man"-style vintage sounding Stones. Brian provided harmonica and Keith provided his classic Chuck Berry licks, while Jagger sand the lyrics not written by the band. There were two commercials which only featured the music of the group and both debuted on ITV on New Year's Day, 1964.

2. "Sure I Do"
(Brian Jones/ Gene Pitney?)
(Recorded 20-21 Nov 1963, Regent Sound, London.)
Gene Pitney may have co-written this song, which is the only known composition to feature Brian on lead vocals along with the rest of the Stones. It has been described as a slow number in which Brian sings in a soft-spoken voice. A recording of this song does exist and Posner Music Co published it.

It is entirely possible that Gene helped Brian with this song, as he had just struck up a friendship with the band, meeting them backstage on November 17th. At this meeting, the Stones showed him "My Only Girl", offered the song to Pitney and recorded a demo for him on the 20th. Evidently, all the recording sessions on the 20th and 21st were for songs that they were trying to sell to other artists. Apparently, "Sure I Do" was mainly a Jones tune, but it was unfinished the day of the session and Andrew asked Gene to help him finish it. However, Gene Pitney could not be reached for comment about his possible collaboration on the song.

More Gene Pitney/Rolling Stones connections: Pitney also covered the Jagger/Richards song "That Girl Belongs To Yesterday" and he played piano on their song "Little By Little". And, there are two unreleased Stones songs which mention Pitney - "And The Rolling Stones Met Phil And Gene" and "Mr. Spector And Mr. Pitney Came, Too".

3. "I Want You To Know"
(Brian Jones)
(Recorded 7-9 Dec 1963, Regent Sound, London)
This is another song written by Brian, which was recorded by the Stones. Brian played harmonica on the track. However, there is debate on whether it is Brian or Mick singing the lead vocals. Additionally, two versions may exist.

4. "Dust My Pyramids"
(Brian Jones)
(January 1964 BBC Radio broadcast)

The Rolling Stones on a BBC broadcast performed this Jones instrumental, written in an Elmore James-blues-style. The song was used to open the show, hence it's length of less than a minute. Unlike many other artists such as the Beates, the Who and the Yardbirds - there has not been an official issue of the Rolling Stones performances on the BBC.

Right: An unofficial soundtrack to "A Degree Of Murder"

V. DEGREE OF MURDER-BRIAN'S ONLY RECORDED LEGACY

March 10, 1967 Official Press Release:
ROLLING STONE BRIAN JONES FILM IS CANNES FESTIVAL CHOICE...FOR GERMANY! BRIAN JONES, of the ROLLING STONES, has added a new dimension to his talents - that of film composer and music producer. His first feature picture has been selected as Germany's entry for the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL from April 24 to May 11, 1967. Entitled 'MORD UND TOTSCHLAG', the world-wide distribution rights have already been acquired by UNIVERSAL and it will be screened in the English speaking world under the title of 'A DEGREE OF MURDER'. The film stars BRIAN'S fiancée, ANITA PALLENBURG.

"For a project nobody ever tried before-to write a whole piece of music for a film-it was good."

The director of the film, Volker Schlondorff described the film and Brian's role:

"I liked Brian and trusted him. You could feel that he had a lot of creativity. He was very much in touch with his time and he was also very much in love with Anita, the only actress in the movie - and its soul. She was bound to inspire him, if he was to write the music for her. And it wasn't just that his music was special, it was that the score was so spontaneous, vital. Only Brian could've done it. He had a tremendous feeling for the lyrical parts and knew perfectly the recording and mixing techniques required to achieve the best sound for drums, his guitar or flute et cetera."

"When the editing was done, Brian came back to Munich and sat in the editing room with me as we discussed, just as with any other professional movie composer, where to put music and what kind of music. It was just the true story of a girl who accidentally kills her boyfriend with his own gun, but instead of going to the police she hires two men for a few hundred marks to drive the corpse to the country where they bury him in the construction site of an autobahn. No moral implications, no guilt trips. It's more like an outing on a beautiful autumn day. Brian's score then was to provide a reflection of those rather callous feelings, while somehow managing to hint that of course she was mourning her boyfriend's death."

Glyn Johns described his role:

"Brian came to me and asked for help. He'd lost so much self-confidence by this time and really was in need of a hand. In a way I felt sorry for him. It wasn't that I didn't think he was capable of handling the project himself. But clearly he wanted help in the engineering. So I agreed. Brian worked very hard in his Courtfield flat on two little tape machines. He had all types of ideas which worked. He did it very well, and it came out amazingly. And we had a good time doing it. Brian was extremely together and confident while he was working on it. When it was finished he was both pleased and relieved. The rock 'n' roll bit which was written to fit the early murder scene was really good"

In the March 10, 1967 official press release, Brian explained that he used players

"ranging from one musician to ten. I ran the gamut of line-ups - from the conventional brass combination to a country-band with Jew's harp, violin and banjo. In the main the musicians were established session men - though some of the boys from the group also played."

Although the exact beginning dates of the recording are sketchy, we can pinpoint a general ending date for the project at around February 12th, 1967. Brian had been working on the finishing touches of the film score on this date when the infamous Redlands bust occurred. In fact, Brian had called Keith to tell him that he and Anita would be joining the party within a couple of hours, only to be informed by Keith that Redlands had just been busted.

The following events might sound like a soap opera, but they involve both stories that both involve Brian's soundtrack and had ramifications to Brian being able to enjoy his success...

Shortly after the bust, Keith, Brian and Anita decided to take a break from all the publicity by traveling to Morocco. Along with Keith's driver Tom Keylock, they traveled via Keith's Bentley Continental. The plan was to drive through France and Spain, crossing over to Morocco at Gibraltar. However, on the second day of the trip, Brian became ill and had to be hospitalized in Toulouse, France. Brian insisted that Anita and Keith continue and that he would meet them in Tangier soon. However, Anita soon received cables and phone messages from Brian demanding that she return to accompany him on the flight to Marrakesh. Mick and Marianne had just arrived and Marianne volunteered to travel via plane with Anita while Keith and Mick drove on to Marrakesh.

Prior to the flight, Marianne, Anita and Brian had taken some acid to hopefully make the trip easier. Marianne recalled a terrible amount of tension between Anita and Brian. During a stop-over at the Rock of Gilbraltar and Marianne describes an event that is both humorous and sad:

We were on the Rock of Gilbraltar for about two hours, I think, but we didn't want to stay in the airport because we were tripping. So we went for a ride in a taxicab. Brian had with him a tape recorder that contained a tape of the music he had just composed for a movie Anita was about to perform in. About the only thing to do on the Rock of Gibraltar was to go up to where the famous monkeys were and watch them at play. So that's what we decided to do. And when the monkeys came and clustered around us, Brian decided to play them his music. He turned on the tape recorder and after a few bars the monkeys, with a collective shriek, ran pell-mell away, tearing off into the distance. Brian took it as a terrible rejection. He screamed at the monkeys, trying to get them to come back, and then when they wouldn't, he began to revile them in terrible language. It was awful. And then he began to weep. A kind of madness, shouting, "The monkeys don't like my music! Fuck the monkeys! Fuck the monkeys!" I tried to comfort him, but there was no way of stopping the outburst. There were a lot of tourists around and they were appalled."

The entourage finally made it to Tangier and the "Rolling Stones soap opera" continued. Brian and Anita fought constantly, the fights often turning physical. For Anita, this had been the last straw and she turned to Richards. They decided to head back to London and abandon Brian in Morocco. The next day when Brian went out with Brion Gysin with the hopes of hearing local musicians, Anita and Keith left without a note or warning. Keith recalled,

"He caught up with us in about a week, back in London and there was this tearful scene."

A DEGREE OF MURDER was Germany's entry for the Cannes Film Festival of 1967, held April 24-May 11, 1967. Although he attended the festival, any pride in his soundtrack work was crushed by Anita's presence at the festival. Brian left the day before the festival ended, only to return to his London flat to be busted by Scotland Yard within hours for drug charges. With the loss of Anita and his impending drug trial, Brian never really got a chance to celebrate his success of the soundtrack. To top this off, there was never an official record release of the soundtrack.

VI. BRIAN'S OTHER PROJECTS AND FUTURE PLANS

"I've got my own ideas and I don't much like the direction the group has taken." Brian Jones 1965

"I want to play my own music, which is no longer the Stones's music." Brian Jones 1969

So, what about the 'super-group' that Brian was supposedly talking about? In 1969, Brian allegedly told Nicholas Fitzgerald:

"Towards the end of last year, four musicians made a trial recording for Apple, the Beatles' label. They played under the group name of Balls. One of them was John Lennon and one of them was me. The other two swore me to secrecy, so I can't tell you about them, except to say one was a lead guitar and the other was a drummer. We recorded one track called 'Go to the Mountains.'"

"Alexis [Korner]…brought the subject up. He said a band with John Lennon and Brian Jones together could be bigger than either. [Beatles and the Rolling Stones] But on top of that, add the name of Jimi Hendrix. In the same outfit. That's right. He's falling out with Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell-his bass guitarist and his drummer. He doesn't want to carry on with the old stuff, wants to play something new. So it could be all three groups could fall apart and a new one be born. John, Jimi and me."

Collaboration between Brian and Jimi Hendrix is not too far-fetched. They got on famously (see the pictures of them backstage at the Monterey Pop Festival) and they had recorded together before. In October of 1967, they composed and recorded two takes of "My Little One" at Olympic Studios in London. Brian played sitar and percussions while Hendrix of course played guitar. Click here to download these songs and read more about the sessions

And, in January of 1968, Tom Keylock describes Brian being summoned by Jimi to play at one of his recording sessions. Afterwards, the duo headed back to Brian's place for an acoustic guitar jam-session which Keylock described as "brilliant". On January 21, 1968, Brian played piano on original takes of "All along the Watchtower", but Brian's playing was eventually taken out of the final mix of the song.

But what about Brian Jones and John Lennon? Brian had played or participated in many Beatles recordings, including: "Yellow Submarine", "Baby You're A Rich Man" and "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)". In December of 1968, Brian could have discussed the idea of a Jones/Hendrix/Lennon collaboration with Lennon at the filming of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. At the event, Lennon performed "Yer Blues" with a 'super-group' consisting of Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell. Lennon had just finished the tension-filled White Album recording sessions and maybe the idea of a super-group appealed to him.

Then there is Brian's 'missing single'; we found two people that spoke of this mysterious record. One is Janie Perrin who was a Brian confidante in 1969 (her husband Les Perrin had handled some PR for the Rolling Stones). Janie describes Brian at the end of June, 1969:

"Brian had just made a single. This was to be his first record since breaking from the Stones. He'd cut the demo and was really pleased with it. It'd actually just newly gone to press."

"He wouldn't show them to me. He'd only tell me about them. He always started out with a little bit about how he'd written songs which people wouldn't record. Then he'd start talking in vague terms about ideas he'd had for songs while staying in Morocco; things he wanted to get together. He would never come to terms about it. Brian would use the word 'song,' but at the end of two hours' conversation, you hadn't the slightest idea of what they were."

O.K., enough of these wild theories! The next thing you are going to say is that Brian was murdered by the Stones because the 'super-group' that he was starting with Lennon would have meant the end of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones! Don't laugh…this is one of the conspiracy theories out there that I've read! What's next? Allen Klein was the so-called "trigger man", while Mick drove the getaway car?

Back to reality…

Only one remnant of the Brian Jones legacy HAS seen the light of day. BRIAN JONES PRESENTS THE PIPES OF PAN AT JOUJOUKA (album released by Rolling Stones Records 1971) is the only one official release that bears the name of Brian Jones. Although Brian completed the recording, he did not live to see its release. Brian discovered the exotic, thousand-year old music of the Master Musicians of Joujouka during one of his journeys to Morocco. He hoped that it could be used in some way to enhance the music of the Rolling Stones. Brian produced the recording and did the artwork for the intended album. The album was reissued on CD in 1995 with bonus remixes. It took more than twenty years, but the Rolling Stones finally used Brian's idea - using the Master Musicians of Joujouka on the song "Continental Drift" from their 1989 STEEL WHEELS album.

Right: Movie poster for "A Degree Of Murder"

VII. CONCLUSION

When all the dust has cleared (or dare I say chlorine?), there is only one cold hard fact. Brian Jones never released a solo album and the closest he came was the film score that he composed for A DEGREE OF MURDER. Unfortunately, an official soundtrack has never been released. Several bootlegs claiming to be the 'soundtrack' have appeared, but they are all straight dubs from the film, with dialogue present and often in terrible sound quality. The film itself is in public domain and an official video is not available.

You must be wondering by now how YOU can hear Brian's wonderful music? Especially since there is no official release on CD, vinyl or video cassette. Here is what IS available:

• You can hear some of Brian's music from A DEGREE OF MURDER on a website that currently has a few mp3 sound-bites from the film. Click here to hear some of Brian's solo music
• You can hear Brian's collaboration with Jimi Hendrix on a website that features both takes of their song "My Little One", plus a little history of the sessions. Click here to download these songs and read more about the sessions
• You can buy a video copy of A DEGREE OF MURDER. That way you can hear all the music within the context of the original film (in addition to seeing ultimate '60s babe Anita Pallenberg a year before Barbarella and long before the ravages of heroin). I recommend VIDEO BEAT – I ordered a copy Friday and had the video in my hand my Monday night! Plus, I had heard horror stories about the quality of video, if you could even find one. Well, my copy had not only good sound, but a good picture as well.

Brian Jones probably never could have imagined that the band that he envisioned would pass its 40th year of existence. Will we ever hear the music that Brian not only heard in his head, but also recorded? Who knows? Maybe someday we will hear Brian's compositions that the Stones recorded in a Beatles-like Rolling Stones Anthology of rarities. Maybe someone will find Brian's "lost" single or his recordings with John Lennon in some dusty attic. Maybe some industrious record company like Rhino will track down Brian's soundtrack and gives it the release it so richly deserves.

The material for this article came from a multitude of books and websites.

Book references:

"Golden Stone" by Laura Jackson (1992 published by St. Martin's Press)
"Brian Jones" by Nicholas Fitzgerald (1985 published by G.P. Putnam's Sons)
"Death of a Rolling Stone-The Brian Jones Story" by Mandy Aftel (1982 published by Delilah Books)
"The Rolling Stones-The First Twenty Years" by David Dalton (1981 published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. )
"The Rolling Stones-An Illustrated Record" by Roy Carr 1976 published by Harmony Books)
"Blown Away" by A.E. Hotchner (1990 published by Simon & Schuster)

Internet references:

Brian's Blues
Brian Jones Audio Files
Jajouka Brahim Jones-Golden Stone Brian Jones
Ever wonder what Brian Jones did in the Rolling Stones?
Brian Jones: Like a Rollin' Stone
Brian Jones 1942-1969 A Rollin' Stone