Just finished this last night. I'd rate it the best book about Brian Jones I ever read. I was worried about the ending but Paul handled it well and very objectively. I don't want to reveal any spoilers so I'll keep it vague. I would definitely recommend this if you are a Brian fan. You won't be dissapointed. Paul does Brian justice. He may be unfairly marginalized in todays world but after you read this book you'll realise just how important he really was. Paul did his research well and uses quite a lot of sources. You'll read what people really had to say and what they thought of Brian Jones. There is quite a lot of information here that I haven't read anywhere else. If I had to recommend one book to read about Brian Jones it would be this one hands down. It is by far and away the most comprehensive. Well done Paul!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-10-15 22:58 by ovalvox.

Thanks for the reports, ovalvox! I'm looking ofrward to reading this. Thanks again.

Book arrived yesterday and I'm busy reading... He's certainly done his homework on Brian's Cheltenham years - lots here I haven't seen before. Review when I get to the end.

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-10-26 04:00 by Gemini.

Paul Trynka joins Tom Dunne to discuss his new book on Brian Jones (podcast) here

Here's a review:

[www.glidemagazine.com]

Currently half way through this book. Enjoying it very much so far. I'm usually a bit cynical about Jones centric books but this one is a bit more even handed.
Certainly doesn't paint Mick & Keith in a good light, and pokes well aimed fun at Keith's fictional take on his own "Life".
The author has seemingly managed to interview some very key figures from the times of the Stones inception, probably the most fascinating part of their history for me, and it's not just all the usual quotes we've heard a thousand times.
Maybe finish it off this afternoon...

I'm at the middle now and I must say, it's a good read. The author is specific, throws some punches to Mick and Keith. But a little too much. And I'm just at the middle of the book (1964). LOL

But it's still good book about Brian. For now...

It's an easy read. The book is a reminder that Brian was an integral part of the Stones, both musically for awhile, and forever after in terms of image. He seems to be airbrushed out of the Stones' historical record. This book reminds us that he counted!

Quote
Richard from Canada
It's an easy read. The book is a reminder that Brian was an integral part of the Stones, both musically for awhile, and forever after in terms of image. He seems to be airbrushed out of the Stones' historical record. This book reminds us that he counted!

I don't think he's been airbrushed out. Brian Jones has always been part of the mythology of the Stones since he died (in book, film and online). It's not like this is the first book ever published to give credit due Brian Jones. Even in Greenfield's 71-72' era interview Keith Richards is contributing to the idea of (even if unintentional) Brian's importance to the Stones.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-10-28 17:50 by nightskyman.

Good one Nightskyman.

I've read several rock bios lately and I feel more strongly than ever that if a music writer never met and was around his subject, there's often a serious lack of verifying facts instead of relying on people who were not there. Rock and roll seems to often lead to fantasy and "over-identification."

Green Lady, looking forward to your thoughts, pro and con.

...Which one is it?!


[ amazon.co.uk ] - " 'Sympathy for the Devil: The Birth of the Rolling Stones and the Death of Brian Jones' (release: Aug. 28, 2014)"

[ amazon.co.uk ] - " 'Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones' (release: Oct. 9, 2014)"


...both by Paul Trynka.

What's the difference between them, and which one is better/ best?

This one: [www.amazon.com]

Yes, DP. "The Making of the Rolling Stones"

I would suggest that "older people" who know much about Brian and the early days of the Stones leading to his death might be wise to check it out from the
library. It's not a book you really want to read twice...just my opinion.

Quote
RoughJusticeOnYa
...Which one is it?!


[ amazon.co.uk ] - " 'Sympathy for the Devil: The Birth of the Rolling Stones and the Death of Brian Jones' (release: Aug. 28, 2014)"

[ amazon.co.uk ] - " 'Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones' (release: Oct. 9, 2014)"


...both by Paul Trynka.

What's the difference between them, and which one is better/ best?

There's a 'look inside' option and having looked inside I'd say they are both the same book

I bought the Sympathy For The Devil version because the impression I had was that they were the same book, just differently titled for the US/UK markets (and the SFTD one was cheaper).

Quote
Green Lady
I bought the Sympathy For The Devil version because the impression I had was that they were the same book, just differently titled for the US/UK markets (and the SFTD one was cheaper).

...Cheerz, y'all!
I'm buying the "Making..." one, cause the cover looks infinitely cooler.

Quote
vertigojoe
Currently half way through this book. Enjoying it very much so far. I'm usually a bit cynical about Jones centric books but this one is a bit more even handed.
Certainly doesn't paint Mick & Keith in a good light, and pokes well aimed fun at Keith's fictional take on his own "Life".
The author has seemingly managed to interview some very key figures from the times of the Stones inception, probably the most fascinating part of their history for me, and it's not just all the usual quotes we've heard a thousand times.
Maybe finish it off this afternoon...

I read a few parts of the book but haven't bought it yet. good, what I read. except for the view/opinion that ( as expressed by Marianne Faithful and others) 'Brians' death freed Keith to become Brian" or something to that effect.

I cant really see that, Keith all along has been a very committed, creative and stubborn musician. He values loyalty and commitment above all.

Long time lurker, first time contributor. Really enjoyed this book. Trynka editorializes a bit much (even tho I tend to agree with him) but has sorted fact from fiction very well and presents a more real picture of what the other Stones were dealing with in Brian. Also agree with Stonesrule that this is probably one book you won't want to read twice, Brian's life was not filled with a lot of happiness.

Quote
Chess4710
Long time lurker, first time contributor. Really enjoyed this book. Trynka editorializes a bit much (even tho I tend to agree with him) but has sorted fact from fiction very well and presents a more real picture of what the other Stones were dealing with in Brian. Also agree with Stonesrule that this is probably one book you won't want to read twice, Brian's life was not filled with a lot of happiness.

Brian's life 'not filled with a lot of happiness'...not sure if that's enough criteria to not read again. If it is good or great biography, it might be worthy of a second read regardless if it is a happy or unhappy life.

Besides, many famous people or artists' lives are not filled with total happiness, but the story of their lives is truly fascinating. Likewise historical figures (such as Stalin who was a horrifying dictator and murderer but who's bio still interesting to read more than once imo).

Just sayin.'



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-03 20:04 by nightskyman.

I get ya, nightskyman. And it is well-written. It's just not a very positive piece to read, yet still a must read.

Just finished the book. This is my point of view of the book:

Good
+ Great pictures
+ Good stories about the beginning of the band
+ Research was good
+ Correct dates, names, sources


Bad
- No in-depth information about the tracks
- Too much bashing Jagger, Richards, Oldham
- Less information about actions of Watts and Wyman
- Last few pages are a little bit sloppy and hastily written
- No or less information about his playing on other instruments
- Not fully satisfied after finishing the book
- Sometimes it's like the writer quotes different interviews from documentaries instead of own research

To be fair, there is some solid reporting on Brian's early life at home...rather sad to say the least. However, Brian's mistreatment of women and lack of responsibility regarding his numerous children is quite horrifying.

Since his death in 1969, a month after he was forced out, Jones has largely been airbrushed from the group’s history...

Uhhh. OK. Right.

[www.nytimes.com]

Quote
RoughJusticeOnYa
...Which one is it?!


[ amazon.co.uk ] - " 'Sympathy for the Devil: The Birth of the Rolling Stones and the Death of Brian Jones' (release: Aug. 28, 2014)"

[ amazon.co.uk ] - " 'Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones' (release: Oct. 9, 2014)"



...both by Paul Trynka.

Q What's the difference between them, and which one is better/ best?

A One is the UK version, one is the US version

Agenda ridden book is agenda ridden.

Good book.

I learned a few things and the interviews with people who actually knew Brian were great to read.

The author lost me momentarily when he states that Keith's "horrendously out of tune" bass tarnished the Dirty Mac segment of Rock and Roll Circus. I've always loved Keith's bass performance myself.

Apologies if posted elsewhere but this review is an interesting read.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[www.nytimes.com]

Ignobly Fading Away From the Rolling Stones
‘Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones,’ a Biography
NOV. 16, 2014

Brian Jones is to the Rolling Stones what Leon Trotsky was to the Russian Revolution: organizer, ideologist and victim of a power struggle. Jones founded the group, gave it its name and recruited the schoolboys Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who then marginalized him, eventually expelling him from the band. Since his death in 1969, a month after he was forced out, Jones has largely been airbrushed from the group’s history.

Paul Trynka’s biography “Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones” challenges the standard version of events, focused on Mr. Jagger and Mr. Richards, in favor of something far more nuanced. Though Mr. Trynka sometimes overstates Jones’s long-term cultural impact, his is revisionist history of the best kind — scrupulously researched and cogently argued — and should be unfailingly interesting to any Stones fan.

Specifically, “Brian Jones” seems designed as a corrective to “Life,” Keith Richards’s 2010 memoir. Mr. Trynka, the author of biographies of David Bowie and Iggy Pop, and a former editor of the British music magazines Mojo and Guitar, has interviewed Mr. Richards several times over the years and obviously likes him, but also considers his memory of events highly unreliable.

“History is written by the victors, and in recent years we’ve seen the proprietors of the modern Rolling Stones describe their genesis, their discovery of the blues, without even mentioning their founder,” Mr. Trynka remarks in the introduction. Without naming Mr. Richards, he also expresses his distaste for an assessment that appears in “Life,” that Brian Jones was “a kind of rotting attachment.”

The portrait of Jones that Mr. Trynka offers here is bifurcated. Though he is impressed with Jones’s “disciplined, honed sense of musical direction” and his dexterity on guitar and many other instruments, he does not hesitate to point out his subject’s more unpleasant personality traits: He was narcissistic, manipulative, misogynistic, conniving and dishonest about money. It’s not accidental that this book is called “Sympathy for the Devil” in Britain.

Mr. Trynka attributes Jones’s downfall to a conjunction of factors, some related to those character flaws but others external to him. Much has been written about the drug busts that swept up Mr. Jagger and Mr. Richards in the mid-1960s and their court battles, though Jones seems to have been even more of a target, because he was such a dandy and so successful with women.

But as Mr. Trynka tells it, Jones did not receive strong legal advice or fight charges as hard or as successfully as the Jagger-Richards team. After his first arrest, he pleaded guilty, which drove a wedge between him and other band members, who feared it would mean they could no longer tour abroad, all of which left him feeling crushed, isolated and vulnerable. That, in turn, increased his consumption of drugs and alcohol and made him less productive as a musician.

Nevertheless, Mr. Trynka demonstrates convincingly that the original Rolling Stones were Jones’s band and reflected his look, tastes and interests, not just the blues but also renaissance music and what today would be called world music. (He recorded the master musicians of Joujouka in the mountains of Morocco.) In “Life,” Mr. Richards describes his discovery of the blues-tinged open G guitar tuning, familiar from hits like “Honky Tonk Women” and “Start Me Up,” as life changing, and says it came to him via Ry Cooder in the late 1960s. But Mr. Trynka notes that Jones often played in that tuning from the band’s earliest days and quotes Dick Taylor, an original member of the Stones, as saying, “Keith watched Brian play that tuning, and certainly knew all about it.”

Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
Some of Mr. Trynka’s account is not new, having appeared in “Stone Alone,” the often overlooked 1990 memoir of the Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, or other books written by band outsiders. What makes Mr. Trynka’s book fresh and interesting, and gives it credibility, is the length he has gone to find witnesses to corroborate and elaborate on those stories.

It’s not just that Mr. Trynka has sought out those who worked with the band on the creative side, such as the singer Marianne Faithfull, the arranger Jack Nitzsche and the recording engineers Eddie Kramer, Glyn Johns and George Chkiantz. He has also interviewed those with more of a worm’s-eye view: drivers, roadies, office staff, old girlfriends and former roommates like James Phelge, whose surname the band would appropriate to designate songs that were group compositions rather than Jagger-Richard numbers.

“Brian Jones was the main man in the Stones; Jagger got everything from him,” the drummer Ginger Baker, who played in the band at some of its earliest shows and went on to become famous as a member of Cream, says in the book. “Brian was much more of a musician than Jagger will ever be — although Jagger’s a great economist.”

Citing those present at the creation, Mr. Trynka contends that Jones had a hand in composing some well-known Stones tracks, including “Paint It, Black” and “Under My Thumb.” He also claims that “Ruby Tuesday,” a No. 1 hit early in 1967, is actually a Jones-Richards collaboration — written not by Mr. Richards in a burst of inspiration and heartbreak in a Los Angeles hotel room, which is how the story is told in “Life” and elsewhere, but, according to Ms. Faithfull and Mr. Kramer, “labored over” by the pair in London for weeks.

“I used to say to Brain, ‘What on earth are you doing?’ ” Stan Blackbourne, the accountant for the Rolling Stones at their mid-1960s peak, recalls in the book. “ ‘You write some of these songs, and you give the name over as if Mick Jagger has done it. Do you understand, you’re giving ’em thousands of pounds!’ All the time I used to tell him, ‘You’re writing a blank check.’ ”

Mr. Trynka also looks into the circumstances of Jones’s death, on July 3, 1969, in the swimming pool at his home in East Sussex, once owned by A. A. Milne, but after all the Sturm und Drang that has come before, the subject is somewhat anticlimactic. In numerous books and in films like “Stoned,” it has been suggested that Jones was murdered, but Mr. Trynka painstakingly examines the flaws in each of the theories, and ends up close to the official verdict, “death by misadventure,” because of drug and alcohol consumption.

“The official coroner’s verdict on Brian’s death was perfunctory and lazy,” Mr. Trynka concludes. Nonetheless, “I’ve come to share their belief that Brian’s death was most likely a tragic accident” and to believe that “many of the existing theories that his death was in fact murder rely on unreliable witnesses.”

In the end, with the advantage of 45 years’ perspective, Mr. Trynka maintains, it is Jones’s music that matters. “It’s understandable why the survivors resent Brian Jones beyond the grave,” given his founder’s role, he argues, and also writes: “Brian Jones got many things wrong in his life, but the most important thing he got right.”

BRIAN JONES
The Making of the Rolling Stones
By Paul Trynka
Illustrated. 371 pages. Viking. $28.95.

How are his kids? You don't hear about them like you do with Mick Jagger's or Keith Richard's.

BTW, how many kids did BJ have?