Brian Jones - Biography - Musical Contributions

Musical Contributions

Jones's main guitar in the early years was a Harmony Stratotone, which he replaced with a Gretsch Double Anniversary in two-tone green. In 1964 and 1965 he often used a teardrop-shaped prototype Vox Mark VI. From late 1965 until his death, Jones used Gibson models (various Firebirds, ES-330, and a Les Paul model), as well as two Rickenbacker 12-string models. He can also be seen playing a Fender Telecaster in the 1968 "Jumpin' Jack Flash" promo video.

Examples of Jones's contributions are his slide guitar on "I Wanna Be Your Man" (1963), "I'm a King Bee" (1964, on the Rolling Stones), "Little Red Rooster" (1964), "I Can't Be Satisfied" (1965, on Rolling Stones No. 2), "I'm Movin' On" (1965, on the EP Got Live If You Want It!), "Doncha Bother Me" (1966, on Aftermath) and "No Expectations" (1968, on Beggars Banquet). Jones can also be heard playing Bo Diddley-style rhythm guitar on "I Need You Baby (Mona)", the guitar riff in "The Last Time"; sitar on "Street Fighting Man" and "Paint It, Black"; organ on "Let's Spend the Night Together", "Complicated", and "2000 Man"; marimba on "Under My Thumb", "Out Of Time" and "Yesterday's Papers"; recorder on "Ruby Tuesday" and "All Sold Out"; trumpet on "Child of the Moon"; Appalachian dulcimer on "I Am Waiting" and "Lady Jane" and harpsichord on "Lady Jane"; accordion on "Backstreet Girl"; saxophone and oboe on "Dandelion"; mellotron on "She's a Rainbow", "We Love You";, "Stray Cat Blues" and "2000 Light Years from Home"; saxophone and mellotron on "Citadel" and (for his final recording as a Rolling Stone) the autoharp on "You Got the Silver".

Jones also played harmonica on many of the Rolling Stones' early songs. Examples of Jones's playing are on "Stoned" (1963), "Not Fade Away" (1964), "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "Now I've Got A Witness" (1964)" (from The Rolling Stones), "Good Times, Bad Times" (1964), "2120 South Michigan Avenue" (1964) (from E.P. Five By Five), "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man", "One More Try" (1965) (from Out Of Our Heads), "High and Dry" and "Goin' Home" (1966) (from Aftermath), "Who's Driving Your Plane?" (1966), "Cool Calm and Collected", "Who's Been Sleeping Here" (1967) (from Between The Buttons), and "Dear Doctor" and "Prodigal Son" (1968) (from Beggars Banquet).

In the early years, Jones also sometimes served as a backing vocalist. Notable examples are "Come On", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "I Just Wanna Make Love to You", "Walking the Dog", "Money (That's What I Want)", "I'm Alright", "You Better Move On" and "It's All Over Now". He contributed backing vocals as late as 1968 on "Sympathy For The Devil". He is also responsible for the whistling on "Walking the Dog."

Richards maintains that what he calls "guitar weaving" emerged from this period, from listening to Jimmy Reed albums: "We listened to the teamwork, trying to work out what was going on in those records; how you could play together with two guitars and make it sound like four or five". Jones's and Richards's guitars became a signature of the sound of the Rolling Stones, with both guitarists playing rhythm and lead without clear boundaries between the two roles.

From 1966 onwards Jones's contributions in the recording studio were more as a multi-instrumentalist than as a guitarist. His aptitude for playing a wide variety of instruments is particularly evident on the albums Aftermath (1966), Between the Buttons (1967) and Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967).