# Brian Jones letters to his parents. Early insights on The Rolling Stones
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 19, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338 "2017-06-19T00:09:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/1 "2017-06-19T00:09:54Z")
I suggest opening the photo gallery into full screen and reading the letters. Brian had good handwriting and imho easy to read. Much better than mine. š I searched and couldnāt find a full transcript of the letters online. If someone finds a transcript, please post a link!
Brian was a founding member of the Stones. I think his comments about the business side of music is very interesting. Brian says the band isnāt happy with their new single Come On. He says, āThe record does not do justice to the group.ā That it was a rush job aimed at the commercial pop market.
Then he talks about how the band markets itself. āPublicity angles have been good,The long hair, wild off beat sort of thingā, āweāve created quite a stirā, Brian said.
Brian was a smart guy that understood this was a serious job. He talks about being the spokesman for the band and that heās paid more for that responsibility.
People have forgotten that Brian was the original leader. Mick Jagger took over later.
Itās such a shame Brian lost control and let drugs take him down. I wonder how different the Stones might have been with Brian clear-headed and in charge.
> **[Letters reveal mild side of Rolling Stones wildman Brian JonesĀ ](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4614552/Letters-reveal-mild-wildman-Brian-Jones.html)**
>
> Brian Jones was the wild man of The Rolling Stones, whose drink and drug abuse led to an untimely death. Yet new letters found in Cheltenham reveal his softer side.
> [@](#):
>
> The letters were found during work on a loft extension by the couple who bought the detached house from the Joneses 40 years ago. They were then sold for a five-figure sum to James Constantinou, star of the Channel 4 series Posh Pawn.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/2 "2017-06-19T00:28:24Z")
I had never heard Come On. Gosh, that is gruesome. The Stones were still finding their sound. I guess every band starts like this. LOL
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cFs-pKgBCk)
---
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/3 "2017-06-19T00:35:05Z")
The letters confirms what Wyman has said.
> **[Brian Jones](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Jones)**
>
> Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 ā 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones recordings and in concerts.
> After he founded the Rolling Stones as a British blues outfit in 1962 and gave the band its name, Jones's fellow band members Keith Richards and Mick Jagger began to take over the band's musical direction, especially after they be...
> [@](#):
>
> Original Rolling Stones bass guitarist Bill Wyman said of Jones, āHe formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs. ā¦ he was very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it ā highly intelligent ā and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away.ā
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/4 "2017-06-19T04:32:43Z")
Neat, thanks. Off-topic, thatās Julian Lennon in one of the photos they use in that article (surely at the RockānāRoll Circus, Dec. 1968).
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/5 "2017-06-19T13:32:59Z")
I got the impression there are several letters. The article only had portions of two letters.
I hope all are scanned and published.
I know a collector bought the letters. The real value is the letters in Brianās own handwriting.
I donāt think theyād lose value (as a collectable) if the content was published.
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### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/6 "2017-06-19T14:07:15Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> I suggest opening the photo gallery into full screen and reading the letters. Brian had good handwriting and imho easy to read. Much better than mine. š I searched and couldnāt find a full transcript of the letters online. If someone finds a transcript, please post a link!
>
> Brian was a founding member of the Stones. I think his comments about the business side of music is very interesting. Brian says the band isnāt happy with their new single Come On. He says, āThe record does not do justice to the group.ā That it was a rush job aimed at the commercial pop market.
>
> Then he talks about how the band markets itself. āPublicity angles have been good,The long hair, wild off beat sort of thingā, āweāve created quite a stirā, Brian said.
>
> Brian was a smart guy that understood this was a serious job. He talks about being the spokesman for the band and that heās paid more for that responsibility.
>
> People have forgotten that Brian was the original leader. **Mick Jagger took over later.**
>
> Itās such a shame Brian lost control and let drugs take him down. I wonder how different the Stones might have been with Brian clear-headed and in charge.
>
> [Letters reveal mild side of wildman Brian Jones | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4614552/Letters-reveal-mild-wildman-Brian-Jones.html)
(Bolding mine)
Mick is the frontman. Keith is the leader, certainly musically.
Brian was the leader but fucked it up. Couldnāt write songs; a thorny leadership style that Mick and Keith rebelled against. And when their new manager Andrew Loog Oldham found Mick and Keith easier to work with AND they started writing songs, the writing was on the wall. And when Brian hit Anita Pallenberg and she hooked up with Keith, Jones was shunted aside.
Great musician. Lousy leader. Apparently not a great guy, but I suspect more complicated than that.
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### Author:  [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/7 "2017-06-19T15:50:10Z")
Pardon the slight hijackā¦I was having trouble earlier loading the original link, and while searching for an alternate I found this other letter he had sent to Mick & Keithā¦guess he was a bit off on his insights/predictions:
[Brian Jones Hopes for the Rolling Stones](http://www.lettersofnot.com/single-post/2015/01/12/Brian-Jones-Hopes-for-the-Rolling-Stones)
---
### Author:  [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/8 "2017-06-19T15:57:40Z")
There is a good book by Paul Trynka about Brian.
It was great to read the perspective about the one who didnāt survive. It was his vision to imagine a British R and B band. This was unheard of then, and very influential on the way music evolved in the decade. He had traveled around playing lots of solo blues guitar gigs, well before the Stones, when Mick and Keith were practicing in the mirror. He hired mick and keith for his project. And that was the Stones.
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### Author:  [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/9 "2017-06-19T16:04:25Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#):
>
> Pardon the slight hijackā¦I was having trouble earlier loading the original link, and while searching for an alternate I found this other letter he had sent to Mick & Keithā¦guess he was a bit off on his insights/predictions:
>
> [Brian Jones Hopes for the Rolling Stones](http://www.lettersofnot.com/single-post/2015/01/12/Brian-Jones-Hopes-for-the-Rolling-Stones)
Fake news.
The site is called Letters of Not, which I only noticed after Iād already decided that the letter was a fake.
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### Author:  [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/10 "2017-06-19T16:30:16Z")
> [@Shakester](#):
>
> Fake news.
>
> The site is called Letters of Not, which I only noticed after Iād already decided that the letter was a fake.
:smack: Thanksā¦should have figured thatā¦handwriting didnāt look the same. At least itās funny now instead of sad.
I thought the āeā in NOTE on the page banner was covered up by bad HTML coding - missed the actual weblink text.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/11 "2017-06-19T19:04:18Z")
> [@Shakester](#):
>
> Fake news.
>
> The site is called Letters of Not, which I only noticed after Iād already decided that the letter was a fake.
This line was a bit of a ātellā:
> [@](#):
>
> Mick will be allowed to sway a little during the more vigorous numbers.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2017, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/12 "2017-06-20T04:43:10Z")
Brian Jones and Syd Barrett. Two of the biggest āShoulda Beensā.
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### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2017, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-jones-letters-to-his-parents-early-insights-on-the-rolling-stones/789338/13 "2017-06-20T10:26:35Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> Brian Jones and Syd Barrett. Two of the biggest āShoulda Beensā.
Syd wrote songs. Brian didnāt in an era where that was central to a band. Mick and Keith got the power because they wrote the songs. Brian was a Coulda, not a Shoulda. He couldāve held onto his power longer and probably not turned to drugs as an escape if he could write songs.
He was a great sideman.