The Rolling Stones on Brian's songwriting

Other members of the Rolling Stones have on several occasions made statements concerning Brian Jones' songwriting. All of them are negative answers to the question of him writing any. Several points they make reoccur, such as a lack of talent for writing songs, and him puzzling with many forever unfinished melodies, which Keith Richards even claims "didn't deserve completion". His fellow bandmembers are quick to swipe away the idea of any songwriting of his, but does this mean he didn't write, or that the stones have simply forgot or not heard any original songs by the timid Brian Jones?

Let's have a look at what each member has stated to the public concerning the topic. I have of course, only the various statements I know about and have found, and of all probability there are more quotes that are out there. If so, please comment. But of the ones I've found, here they are:

Mick Jagger:
"To be honest, Brian had no talent for writing songs. None. I've never known a guy with less talent for songwriting."
(Said to "Rolling Stone" in "Jagger Remembers" 1995).

Keith Richards:
"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 his 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"
(Said to "Guitar Player Magazine" in 2008).

Bill Wyman:
"An incredibly gifted musician, but not a song writer"

(Source unknown)

Did not find any statements by Charlie Watts, the stones drummer, who himself has not written anything for the stones.

Why are the member so hostile to the idea? Considering his composition of the soundtrack for "A degree of Murder", how can the stones simply dismiss his skills in such a manner? Did they perhaps want to hide them? If they indeed recorded Jones compositions, it is peculiar that it was left with two unreleased, if existing, songs. Could Jagger and Richards' ego and struggle for power in the band led to a rejection of all of Jones' songs, and then in the aftermath of his death denying his talent? If so, it is a tragedy. If nothing the world deserves all of Brrian Jones' talent, and not any form of masking or denial of it.

P.S.

Don't have the exact links to all the statements here, but they should be easy to track down. 

With regards,

Elmo Terry.

Brian Jones the Songwriter

Brian Jones. Late guitarist of the rolling stones. A true musical genius. But a songwriter?

Could he Write?

After some brief research on the internet, I've come a little closer to an answer. Take a look.

According to several sources, Brian Jones did write some songs for the stones in 1963-64. He had a certain amount of power at this stage, and it isn't unlikely that his talent in music could be reflected in songwriting, as he indisputably composed the soundtrack for the film "A degree of Murder", starring his girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg in 1967. So why not write some songs for the stones when he was at his height of power? The idea isn't that surrealistic.

His girlfriend Linda Lawrence and her mother said Brian would write plenty of songs, but could be too intimidated to present them for the stones. There are supposedly some exceptions. Brian himself said in 1965 that he "Always tried [Writing Songs]. Written quite a few, mostly in blues style"

The Songs:

But which songs did Brian write, and have we heard any of them? The answer is most likely no. The ones you have heard are either derivative of surrounded by debate about song credits. The rest, well, it seems that only the band, and a few other privileged have heard the tracks. In chronological order, the tracks that Brian wrote and the stones recorded with him are:

Rice Krispies

"I Wake up in the Morning" - It's the old commercial that was written for the Rice Krispies cereal. Recorded in october-november 1963. Now all the websites I've been to claim that Brian wrote this, or co-wrote it with J. W. Thompson. However, Christopher Sandford, in his recent book about the stones (The Rolling stones, 50 years), explains that Mick and Keith wrote it. It's on youtube, sung by mick, with Brian on a loud harmonica. Typical early blues-style stones. But if Brian wrote it, it's of some interest.

"Sure I Do" - Recorded November 20th or 21st 1963. All sites have mentioned this song, and MrMandaJones on IORR says he has read about in a "book about interesting music" which he in the comments says has never been published...

But anyways, this is a number with Brian may, or may not have co-written with Gene Pitney, whom had established a relationship with the band at the time. According to all the sites, Brian sing in a soft spoken voice, silently, not his bluesy rasp. But he sings! Lead vocals. I'd love to hear that tape, but no one has. Some claim to have heard ten seconds of it on an old bootleg, and it's definitely not on youtube. However, all sites state that it's been published by "Posner Music Company", but googling it was hopeless. I did some further research, and found a possible website, which I e-mailed to inquire about "Sure I Do". I'm still waiting for a reply. Also, some have reported that there's a record with this track for display in Bill Wyman's "Sticky Fingers cafe". Others say that this is nonsense. The song is not mentioned by Sandford. But I do hope it exists.

"I Want You to Know" - Recorded December 7th or 9th in 1963, and is supposedly a Brian original with no co-writers. But we get different answers to who sings it. One theory is that it's Brian in is raspy voice, or Mick, with Brian simply on the harmonica. But of course, I'd like seeing this in the shops as well.

"Dust My Pyramids" - Recorded in 1964 to open a BBC radio broadcast. It's an instrumental heavily derived from "Dust My Broom" credited to Brian. I have not heard it, but it may be out there somewhere. Angelfire does not mention this, probably due to its small significance. 

These are the songs, check out angelfire for all his musical work on tape. If you find any of these songs, please share them in the comments!

I'm still waiting for an answer to if "Sure I Do" and "I want you to Know" exists, but if I get it, I will share it here!

Links:

• angelfire
• earcandymag
• IORR

And check out "The Rolling Stones, 50 Years"