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Background to recording “Let It Bleed“

“Let It Bleed” was released on November 27th 1969, the result of hundreds of hours of recordings. The Rolling Stones had begun the recording of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” in May 1968, before their previous album, Beggars Banquet, had been released. The Rolling Stones re-grouped in earnest at London’s Olympic Studios to record “Let It Bleed” in February 1969 and would continue sporadically until November the same year. However this was a turbulent time for The Rolling Stones.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richard narrowly avoided jail terms after they were arrested in a drugs bust at Keith Richard’s home. In a separate raid, Brian Jones was also arrested for drug possession and also narrowly avoided a jail term.

On top of this, founder member of The Rolling Stones, Brian Jones, left the band and was then found dead in his Swimming Pool a few weeks later.

Through all this turmoil ‘Let It Bleed‘ emerged and is now considered one of the classic Rolling Stones albums.

Brian Jones leaves The Rolling Stones

By 1969, founding member Brian Jones was nothing more than a peripheral figure in The Rolling Stones. In fact by now all The Rolling Stones were getting used to life without Brian Jones. Bill Wyman was quoted as saying, ‘Brian Jones contribution to “You can’t always get what you want” was to lie on his stomach most of the night, reading an article on botany.’

The other members of The Rolling Stones were not prepared to carry their former leader any longer. After missing days on end he would finally turn up only for the other members of The Rolling Stones to get producer Jimmy Miller to tell him to, ‘Clear off!’

Jimmy Miller felt for Brian Jones and his situation, ‘One night Brian Jones showed after he hadn’t bothered to come for the previous four. He had a sitar and we were doing a blues song….but I was happy he was there.’ Jimmy Miller felt the band should do more to help him and encourage him to turn up. The rest of The Rolling Stones were less sympathetic, “You’re new on the scene. We’ve been putting up with Brian’s nonsense for years.”

Brian Jones was struggling with addiction to prescription drugs and emotional problems. He had been left by his girlfriend, actress and model Anita Pallenburg, for his band-mate Keith Richard. This seemed to be the final nail in the coffin for his relationship with the rest of The Rolling Stones.

By now he had stopped referring to The Rolling Stones as ‘we’ and now used ‘they’ to describe them. Brian Jones only performed on only two tracks on “Let It Bleed“, the autoharp on “You Got the Silver” and percussion on “Midnight Rambler”. With a tour of the US looming and Brian Jones drug convictions making it hard to get a visa, it was obvious a parting of ways was on the cards.

As 1968 moved towards winter, The Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein, a feared man in the US Showbiz world, pushed the other members to deliver the coup de grace. The conspiracy grew during the new year and by the following summer it was decided. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts drove down to Brian Jones‘ Sussex home on the first Sunday in June, 1969. They stopped on the way back to London to tell Bill Wyman the news; Brian Jones was no longer a Rolling Stone.

As they left the feeling of relief was palpable. There were even thoughts that Brian Jones may rejoin The Rolling Stones when he recovered. Little did any of them suspect how little time he had left.

Ry Cooder as Brian Jones Replacement?

During this period The Rolling Stones had been thinking about a replacement and Ry Cooder topped their list. Ry Cooder was initially flattered to be considered, but after being invited to Keith Richards home in Chichester he became a little wary of Keith Richard’s close attention to his playing. A dispute blew up between Ry Cooder and The Rolling Stones over authorship of “Honky Tonk Women” and it’s companion “Country Tonk” (both recorded during the same period) Ry Cooder said of the incident, ‘My experience with The Rolling Stones showed me one thing, if you don’t advance yourself, you’ll find yourself left in the dust.’

The relatively innocuous track “Country Tonk” track was not only subject to Ry Cooder claiming co-authorship, but also of Gram Parsons. The former Byrds man had been hanging out with Keith Richards in London. Gram Parsons claimed he arranged the track, “Country Tonk”, a fact disputed by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. What cannot be disputed is his influence on Keith Richards, having introduced him to his collection of traditional country records.

Mick Taylor becomes Brian Jones Replacement

With Ry Cooder replacing Brian Jones no longer a possibility, Mick Jagger turned to John Mayall of The Bluesbreakers for advice. He recommended Mick Taylor, whom he had drafted in to The Bluesbreakers to replace none other than Eric Clapton when he was just 18 years old.

When initially asked by The Rolling Stones to come along, Mick Taylor thought it was as a session musician, but it soon dawned on him he was there as a possible replacement for Brian Jones. His playing impressed the duo of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and he left the studio to the sound of, ‘See you tomorrow’.

Mick Taylor continued to rehearse with The Rolling Stones played overdubs on on two tracks on “Let It Bleed“; “Country Honk” and “Live With Me” before making his on-stage debut with The Rolling Stones at their famous free concert in London’s Hyde Park on 5 July 1969.

Recording “Let It Bleed“

Mick Jagger was having greater influence away from the music (he was believed to be the driving force behind their split from former manager Andrew Loog-Oldham, their tax exile and later the formation of their own management company with Rupert Löwenstein) whereas Keith Richards was now the driving force in the studio.

Keith Richards had taken creative control in the studio. Keith Richards, who had already shared vocal duties with Mick Jagger on a handful of songs (“Connection”, “Something Happened to Me Yesterday” and “Salt of the Earth”), sang his first solo lead vocal on a Rolling Stones recording with “You Got the Silver.” (although this is rumored to be down to an engineer accidentally erasing Mick Jagger’s version!)

‘He doesn’t just march into the studio and say, “it’s going to be this, that or the other”‘, said Ian Stewart, ‘He just kicks off into something and people just follow him. He is the one that usually decides how each song is going to shape up’.

The routine of nocturnal jams and countless takes, which became the norm was also formed in over the long recording process of ‘Let It Bleed‘. The material that came out of these sessions was dark and murky. From the opening track, the classic Gimme Shelter, a foreboding warning that rape and murder are ‘just a shot away’ to the finale in the shape of ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’, beginning with the angelic voices of the London Bach Choir, and ends in a raucous, although thoroughly downbeat, climax, “Let It Bleed” is the death knell for the 1960s innocence and naivety.

On Release of “Let It Bleed“

Admittedly this innocence and naivety had died for The Rolling Stones far earlier after falling foul of The Establishment and their jail sentences following the February 1967 raid of Keith Richards home. However as the 1960’s drew to a close ‘peace and love’ was being replaced by something darker, and The Rolling Stones were perfectly placed to reflect it.

‘Let It Bleed‘ emerged as one of The Rolling Stones best albums and is widely considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time.

Upon release “Let It Bleed” made it to number 3 on the Billboard charts and in the UK it hit the number 1 spot on the album chart (knocking The Beatles “Abbey Road” from the top of the chart) “Let It Bleed” went on to go Double Platinum in the USA.

The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger

• vocals
• backing vocals
• harmonica

Keith Richards

• acoustic guitar
• electric guitar
• slide guitar
• bass
• vocals

Brian Jones

• auto-harp
• percussion (congas)

Mick Taylor

• electric guitar
• slide guitar

Charlie Watts

• drums

Bill Wyman

• bass
• auto-harp
• vibes

Production Team

• Jimmy Miller – Producer
• Glyn Johns – Engineer
• Gus Skinas – Engineer
• Bruce Botnick – Assistant Engineer
• Jesper Hansen – Assistant Engineer

Other Musicians

• Ian Stewart – piano
• Nicky Hopkins – piano, organ
• Jimmy Miller – percussion, drums, tambourine
• Merry Clayton – vocals, backing vocals on “Gimme Shelter”
• Ry Cooder – mandolin on “Love in Vain”
• Nanette Workman – backing vocals on “Country Honk” (not actress Nanette Newman as credited on the LP)
• Byron Berline – fiddle on “Country Honk”
• Bobby Keys – tenor saxophone on “Live with Me”
• Leon Russell – piano and horn arrangement on “Live with Me”
• Al Kooper – piano, French horn, and organ on “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
• Jack Nitzche – choral arrangements on “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
• Rocky Dijon – percussion on “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”

Track Listing

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, unless otherwise specified.

Side One

1. Gimmie Shelter (although more commonly titled “Gimme Shelter” on later compilation albums) – 4:31
2. Love in Vain (Robert Johnson) – 4:19
3. Country Honk – 3:07
4. Live with Me – 3:33
5. Let It Bleed – 5:28

Side Two

1. Midnight Rambler – 6:53
2. You Got the Silver – 2:50
3. Monkey Man – 4:11
4. You Can’t Always Get What You Want – 7:29

Trivia

The track listing on the sleeve did not follow the actual order of the songs on the record. The sleeve designer, Robert Brownjohn, admitted later he did this solely for aesthetic reasons. The paper label at the center of the vinyl gave the correct order for the tracks, however when “Let It Bleed” was first issued on CD in 1986, the CD track listing followed that of the original LP sleeve! The folk at ABKCO finally corrected this on the 2002 re-issue.

The London Bach Choir plays on the song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, but the group asked to have its name removed from the credits on “Let It Bleed”

In The Rolling Stones song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, the line “I sang my song to Mr Jimmy” is a reference to their producer Jimmy Miller, not Jimi Hendrix as is often believed. The rest of the line says “and he said one word to me and that was dead”. At this time The Rolling Stones and Jimmy Miller used “dead” to refer to something they really liked, so when Mick Jagger sang the original song idea to Jimmy Miller, his response was “dead”!

Release Information

“Let It Bleed” was released on November 27th 1969 on London Records in the USA and Decca Records in the UK. The rights are now owned by ABKCO and distributed by Universal Music Group

The “Abbey Road” Recording Sessions

The Beatles released “Abbey Road” on October 1st, 1969 in the USA and September 26th, 1969 in the UK. “Let It Be” was the final album released by The Beatles although it was actually recorded before “Abbey Road“, making the “Abbey Road” sessions the final sessions The Beatles worked on together as a band. In fact when it comes to the “Abbey Road” and “Let It Be” albums, it is slightly confusing trying to follow the chronology of The Beatles.

The fact that The Beatles managed to reconvene after the disastrous “Abbey Road” sessions was deemed to be miraculous. What may have been the saving grace was the decision to get George Martin back in to produce the “Abbey Road” sessions.

George Martin back on Board

George Martin had been the stabilizing influence, curbing the worst excesses of The Beatles while encouraging them to experiment and grow. However George Martin had seen the meltdown of the relationship between the band-mates and had steered well clear of the “Let It Be” sessions. When, in April 1969, Paul McCartney asked him to be part of the “Abbey Road” sessions he was initially surprised, but when Paul McCartney assured him they wanted to record, “like they used to” he came back into the fold.

One of the conditions George Martin put on producing “Abbey Road” was that they would make a polished, studio album. This is exactly what he did, it was the first and only Beatles album to be recorded on and 8 track rather than a 4 track tape recorder.

The majority of the recording took place through July and August 1969 at EMI Studios. However since since EMI had not approved the use of their 8 track, The Beatles ironically recorded some of Abbey Road away from the EMI Studios at Abbey Road, namely at Trident and Olympic Studios.

It was also recorded and mixed through a solid state board, another first. With all this new technology, Abbey Road is probably the best sounding record The Beatles released. Although George Harrison felt it sounded harsh, it won a Grammy for “Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording” in 1970.

Go Out on a High

At this point the various warring factions within The Beatles compromised some of their more avant-guard leanings. After the disastrous “Let It Be” sessions and realizing The Beatles were coming to an end there was a desire to release a strong album and leave on better terms. Quite simply the competitive nature of The Beatles wouldn’t allow them to release a weak album as their parting shot.

Reports were that the mood for the “Abbey Road” sessions were a lot lighter in tone and feel than the “Let It Be” sessions. Of course, that is not to say that the recording process was trouble free. The resentment and difference of opinion about the band that had grown over the years was still playing a part in proceedings.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s Rivalry

John Lennon was growing increasingly exasperated with what he felt were lightweight songs that Paul McCartney was bringing to the band. Lennon believed that it was their role to produce artistically and politically valid music and held no truck with McCartney’s whimsy.

The disdain with which John Lennon obviously held some of McCartney’s songs was shown when Lennon refused to participate in recording the McCartney song “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”. Reports at the time saying Lennon referred to the track as “granny music”. John Lennon even pushed to have all his songs on one side of Abbey Road.

In 1980, when talking about the Paul McCartney track “The End”, Lennon said, “He had a line in it, ‘And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make’, which is a very cosmic, philosophical line, which again proves that if he wants to, he can think.”

Further disagreements between John Lennon and Paul McCartney about whether they should have the tracks on Abbey Road blended together (Paul McCartney’s idea) or with silence between them as John Lennon wanted. In the end a compromise was brokered and the separate tracks appeared on side one and The Medley on side two.

The Medley was mainly to pull together snippets and semi-completed songs in a way that would allow the band to complete the album with a reasonable running order and deplete their back catalog of ideas in their last sessions. However it worked out extremely well, with Paul McCartney and producer George Martin emerging with a lot of credit from the project. There is Lennon material involved in the medley but much of the credit went to Paul McCartney which caused further resentment between the pair.

The splitting of The Beatles was viewed as the dissolution of the working relationship between its two chief song writers. John Lennon was quoted as saying that he and Paul McCartney were, “cutting each other down to size to fit into some kind of format” as the reason why The Beatles could not work together as a group. This may have been true, but the competition interplay between them and George Martin was exactly why The Beatles produced such great music. The worst of their respective artistic excesses and twee nonsense were brought into check by the others.

Without these checks, they were unable to keep themselves focused, but these power struggles and competition were not easy things. It placed a great strain on their relationship and lead to bitterness between the duo. In many ways it was just a case of old friends growing apart as they grew older. The inclusion of wives and different ideas about life were the main differences in the end between Lennon and McCartney but what they experienced was no different from what many school age friends experience when they grow older. The only difference is that John Lennon and Paul McCartney had to do it in the public eye and under much greater pressure than most of us can ever imagine.

George Harrison

Whilst the main song writing duo were working separately, George Harrison was really coming into his own as a songwriter. Although George Harrison had written songs on many Beatles albums, it was always felt as though his were the weaker songs, but “Abbey Road” was definitely his moment to shine.

1969 was not a good year for George Harrison. He had been arrested for cannabis possession and had become frustrated with life in The Beatles and the dealings of their record label, Apple. “Here Comes The Sun” is the non-Medley track on side two and was written by George Harrison while at his friend Eric Clapton’s house, avoiding business meetings at Apple.

George Harrison described it, “Winter in England goes on forever; by the time spring comes you really deserve it. So one day I decided, ‘I’m going to sag-off Apple,’ and I went over to Eric Clapton’s house. I was walking in his garden. The relief of not having to go and see all those dopey accountants was wonderful. And I was walking around the garden with one of Eric’s acoustic guitars, and wrote ‘Here Comes The Sun.’”

“Something” was written during the recording of “The White Album” but everything had been recorded by that point so it was shelved. George Harrison has long felt he was being ignored and after failing to get “Something” included in the “Let It Be/Get Back” Sessions, he may well have had a point.

“Something” was famously quoted as being, “The Greatest Love Song of the Last Fifty Years” by Frank Sinatra and even his band-mates were impressed. Paul said, “I like George’s song ‘Something.’ For me I think it’s the best he’s written.” and John thought it, “about the best track on the album.”

Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr was not the most prolific or technical of songwriters. However unlike The Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts, he was not content with just being the drummer. “Ringo gets bored with just playing drums all the time, so at home he sometimes plays a bit of piano, but unfortunately he only knows about three chords. He knows about the same on guitar too.” said George Harrison.

The idea for the song came about in 1968 when Ringo Starr was on a trip with his family to Sardinia. They took a boat trip and the captain offered him an octopus lunch (which he turned it down) but the captain told him everything he knew about octopuses. This included how they move across the sea-bed looking for shiny objects and stones with which to build gardens. Ringo once said that hearing about octopuses spending their days collecting shiny objects at the bottom of the sea was one of the happiest things he’d heard of.

As George Harrison said, “(Octopus’s Garden’) is only the second song Ringo has ever written, mind you, and it’s lovely.”

On Release of “Abbey Road“

“Abbey Road” is an amazing achievement and with George Martin taking the plaudits for managing to pull the barely functioning Beatles together and creating what is widely regarded as their most tightly constructed albums.

On release “Abbey Road” became one of the most successful Beatles albums ever. In the USA, the album debuted at at 178, then moved to number 4 and in its third week it hit number one for the first time, spending 11 non-consecutive weeks at the top spending a total of 129 weeks in the Billboard 200.

It was the 4th best-selling album of 1970 in the US and is now certified 12x platinum by the RIAA. It made a brief re-entry in November 1987 when “Abbey Road” re-entered the charts at number 69 when it was released for the first time on CD.

In the UK the album did even better, going straight to number 1 and stayed there for 11 weeks. It was then knocked off the top spot for just for 1 week by the Rolling Stones debuting their classic “Let It Bleed” just before Christmas. However, the following week, the week of Christmas, Abbey Road returned to the top and stayed there for another 6 weeks, completing 17 weeks at the top.

Abbey Road was the UK’s best-selling album of 1969 and the eighth best-selling album of 1970. In the UK Abbey Road was the fourth best-selling of the entire 1960s, and since a large quantity of its sales were in 1970, these is an impressive achievement. In all it spent 92 weeks inside the UK Top 75, making a big re-entry at number 30 in October 1987, when it was released for the first time on CD.

For all the differences of opinion and infighting between the individual members, the talent and drive of The Beatles shines through on “Abbey Road” and it is a fitting epitaph to The Beatles and with the Remastered Beatles albums being released in September 2009, Abbey Road is set to find a new legion of fans.

The “Abbey Road” Cover

The original title for the album “Everest” (after a brand of cigarettes smoked by Geoff Emerick, one of the engineers) was dropped as none of The Beatles wanted to travel to Nepal for a cover shoot. When asked exactly how far they would go for a cover shoot, someone made a joke along the lines of “the street outside”.

There is some disagreement as to who came up with the actual idea to shoot it in the street outside, it has been credited to Kosh, the creative director for The Beatle’s Apple Label, and to Paul McCartney. However the idea quickly grew legs and Paul McCartney made a sketch of how it should look.

Iain Macmillan, a friend of John Lennon and Yoko Ono was asked to take the shots and on Friday August 8. 1969, at 11.35 am, Iain stepped on a small ladder in the middle of Abbey Road, while a police officer stopped the traffic.

The Beatles walked up and down the zebra crossing in front of EMI Studios and Iain Macmillan took six pictures. Number five was considered the best as it was the only photograph on which all four were in step and one in which they walked away from the studio….which seemed important to them at the time, although this was one of the few things that was not read into the meaning of the cover image!

Paul McCartney is Dead

For several years there had been rumors that Paul McCartney was dead and had been replaced by a stand-in.

“I started to get letters and cards from people outlining how obvious it was that Paul was dead,” recalled George Martin. “They said that they understood all our clues on the covers over the past few years years and, you know, I started believing it myself.”

Peter Blake too was almost fooled, “We went to visit Paul. We talked about the rumors and he said, “You know I’m not Paul McCartney. You met Paul when you were working on Sgt. Pepper and he didn’t have a scar on his mouth. Look, I’ve got a scar. I’m a stand in.” And just for a moment, I wasn’t sure. Then he told me that he’d fallen off his bicycle…”

The Back Cover of “Abbey Road“

For the back cover Iain Macmillan took a photograph of one of the many old-style tiled street signs around the area. When “Abbey Road” came out, there was no title on the front and no lyric sheet, it just had one photograph on the front, and one on the rear.

On the original cover issued in the UK, The Beatles deliberately did not list the final track ‘Her Majesty’. However, due to some poor communication, the song was added to the track listing for the US and some other releases. It was removed from the cover for later releases.

Track List

All tracks by John Lennon and Paul McCartney unless otherwise noted.

Side One

1. “Come Together” – 4:20
2. “Something” (George Harrison) – 3:03
3. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” – 3:27
4. “Oh! Darling” – 3:33
5. “Octopus’s Garden” (Richard Starkey) – 2:51
6. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” – 7:47

Side Two

1. “Here Comes the Sun” (George Harrison) – 3:05
2. “Because” – 2:45
3. “You Never Give Me Your Money” – 4:02
4. “Sun King” – 2:26
5. “Mean Mr. Mustard” – 1:06
6. “Polythene Pam” – 1:12
7. “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” – 1:57
8. “Golden Slumbers” – 1:31
9. “Carry That Weight” – 1:36
10. “The End” – 2:05
11. “Her Majesty” – 0:23

Catalog Number

US – Apple/Capitol Records SO-383
UK – Apple/EMI Records/Parlophone Records PCS 7088

The Beatles

John Lennon

• lead and rhythm guitars
• six- and 12-string acoustic guitars
• lead, harmony and backing vocals
• electric and acoustic pianos
• Hammond organ and Moog synthesizer
• white noise generator and sound effects
• tambourine and maracas.

Paul McCartney

• lead, rhythm, acoustic and bass guitars
• fuzz bass
• lead, harmony and backing vocals
• electric and acoustic pianos
• Hammond organ and Moog synthesizer (ribbon strip)
• handclaps and assorted percussion and sound effects.

George Harrison

• lead, rhythm, acoustic and bass guitars
• lead, harmony and backing vocals (sometimes multi-tracked)
• Hammond organ, harmonium and Moog synthesizer
• handclaps and assorted percussion.

Ringo Starr

• drums, percussion, timpani, anvil and handclaps
• lead and backing vocals.

Additional musicians

• George Martin – piano; electric harpsichord, harmonium and percussion.
• Billy Preston – Hammond organ on “Something”

Orchestration

• “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun” orchestrated and conducted by George Martin (with George Harrison)
• “Golden Slumbers”, “Carry That Weight” and “The End” orchestrated and conducted by George Martin (with Paul McCartney).

Production

• Production by George Martin (with The Beatles)
• Engineering and Recording by Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald
• Assistant Engineer, Alan Parsons
• Mixing by Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald and George Martin (with The Beatles).
• Moog programming by Mike Vicker
• Tape Operator, Tony Banks

Trivia

The original name of the studio The Beatles recorded much of their work in was EMI Studios. This was officially renamed Abbey Road Studios after this album although it had often been referred to as Abbey Road Studios before this.

The VW Beetle shown on the cover of “Abbey Road” was not staged, but belonged to a local resident, who subsequently had the plates stolen repeatedly! The car itself was bought for $23000 in 1986 and is now on display at the Volkswagen Auto Museum in Wolfsburg, Germany.

The man seen looking back at The Beatles is American tourist Paul Cole who only realized that he had witnessed The Beatles album cover shoot when it was released later in the USA and he saw himself staring back from the cover.

Alan Parsons, later of The Alan Parsons Project was an assistant engineer. He was also involved with the recording of Pink Floyd’s classic “Dark Side of the Moon”

References

• The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion
• Norwegian Wood – Norway’s Beatles Fan Club Site
• The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962-1970
• The Beatles Anthology
• Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now
• Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles

Brian Jones Death

Brian Jones had died in mysterious circumstances a week earlier, having been found dead in his Cotchford Farm swimming pool having left the The Rolling Stones a few weeks earlier. Between Brian’s death and his funeral, The Rolling Stones had played a huge free gig in London’s Hyde Park. At the beginning of this gig, Mick Jagger has read an extract from “Adonais”, Shelly’s eulogy to his friend Keats. Hundreds of white butterfly’s were released and The Stones opened their set with Johnny Winter’s, “I’m Yours And I’m Hers”, one of Brian’s favorites.

Brian Jones Funeral

The 1960s had seen many changes in attitudes (including the response to The Rolling Stones drug busts) but back in Cheltenham in 1969, a nice middle-class town, things were still very much as they had been. However on a hot and humid July day, they were about to be invaded by the outside world.

Before the funeral, fans had already sent enough flowers to fill the cemetery, including a guitar shaped arrangement from Brian’s family and a huge arrangement spelling out “Gates of Heaven” from The Rolling Stones.

On the day of the funeral the town was besieged with tearful fans, curious onlookers and swarms of press photographers. The 14-car funeral procession crawled to the cemetery at a pace even more stately than usual as its progress was blocked by the surging crowds.

Below is the TV coverage from Dutch TV showing the scenes at the funeral. It’s in Dutch, but the interview with Keith Richard is in English.

The Service

The clash of old and new continued at the funeral service. Speaking of Brian Jones in the eulogy, Canon Hugh Evan Hopkins said -

He had little patience with authority, convention and tradition. In this he was typical of many of his generation who have come to see in The Rolling Stones an expression of their whole attitude to life. Much that this ancient church has stood for in 900 years seems totally irrelevant to them.”

For the canon, Brian Jones symbolized all the sins and excesses of his generation.

If any pretense at solemnity had been hoped for at the burial, it soon evaporated. As the casket was lowered into the ground photographers fought to get shots as teenagers jostled and pushed their way forward to toss their flowers onto Brian Jones‘ remains.

Worries about the grave being looted meant it was dug twice as deep as normal, 12 feet, and with all the shoving there was a real danger of people falling into the deep grave.

The Jones Family

The Jones family were a conservative, even snobbish, family and in many ways shared the views of Canon Hugh Evan Hopkins. Brian Jones and his father Lewis Jones had a fractious relationship. His father, a respectable aircraft designer, did not understand his son and the way he turned his back on everything he believed was right and felt his music was “evil”. Brian’s relationship with his mother was also cold, especially after his younger sister Pamela died from Leukemia.

The words chosen for Brian Jones‘ headstone seemed to sum up this relationship, “Affectionate Remembrances of Brian Jones” (incidentally the date on the headstone shows he died on July 3rd, when the death certificate cites he died before midnight on the 2nd)

Lewis Jones had wanted a private, low-key funeral, but The Rolling Stones tour manager Tom Keylock stepped in and arranged the details of the funeral. “Brian lived like a star and he died like a star” said Tom Keylock, “I got it organized how I thought fitting for Brian, not Lewis Jones.”

Brian Jones was buried wearing a powder blue jacket, white shirt and black tie. His hair had been lightened and cut in his trademark bob, he looked as if he were asleep. He was laid to rest in a grand silver and bronze casket. It is widely believed that the casket was commissioned by his close friend Bob Dylan, however Tom Keylock has claimed that he was responsible for commissioning the casket.

Attendees at the Funeral

Of The Rolling Stones, only Charlie Watts (reportedly the one most affected by the death of Brian) and Bill Wyman attended the funeral. Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful were on their way to Australia to film Ned Kelly and had been threatened with legal action if they were late. Keith Richard and Anita Pallenberg did not attend either, but considering their history with Brian, this was not surprising.

One surprising absentee was Brian’s girlfriend at the time of his death, Anna Wohlin. She had been living with Brain at Cotchford farm and had been present when he died. She had been in shock and she claims The Rolling Stones management had sent her back to Sweden because, “I was just a nuisance, I was just a problem.”

Anna Wohlin’s absence was probably for the best as Frank Thorogood, the builder who was also at Cotchford Farm the night Brian died, did attend. He died in 1993, but has since been accused by Anna Wohlin of killing Brian Jones.

According to the funeral director, The Rolling Stones management also asked for photographs to be taken of Brian’s body in the casket but at this point the Jones family put their foot down and security guards were placed at the funeral directors to make sure that no photographers got in.

Remembrances

Brian Jones had lead a brief but extraordinary life. He was also easy to hold up as a morality tale for the older generation. He had fathered 5 children, all outside wedlock (still something of a stigma then) and refused to acknowledge any of them. He was also vain and insecure, but for all his faults his charisma, musicianship and drive had launched one of the most influential bands of all-time.

As 1968 drew to a close, Brian Jones did what all rock-stars now do and bought himself a country retreat, Cotchford Farm. Cotchford Farm is a country manor house in the East Sussex countryside, formerly owned by A. A. Milne, author of the Winnie The Pooh books, and included a large outdoor swimming pool.

Around midnight on July 2nd, Brian Jones was found at the bottom of his swimming pool in mysterious circumstances. All attempts to revive him failed. He was 27.

Brian Jones Last Performance with The Rolling Stones

Back in December 1968, Brian Jones made his last ever appearance with The Rolling Stones in their “Rock and Roll Circus“. Although he appeared enthusiastic at times, throughout The Rolling Stones performance he appeared distant. In fact he was out of it and playing so badly that his guitar was turned down so low that you could not hear it on most tracks.

On the DVD commentary on “Rock and Roll Circus“, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who (who also played on “Rock and Roll Circus” along with Jethro Tull and Taj Mahal) said they thought it would be Brian Jones‘ last live musical performance and so it was.

Brian Jones leaves the Rolling Stones

Brian Jones, the blues purist, had been unhappy with the direction The Rolling Stones were taking. He had barely played a note on “Let It Bleed” and according to Anna Wohlin, “So many times the car would come down [to take him to the studios] and Brian would say, ‘Anna, you’ll have to go out and tell them I’m not going to go, I don’t want to.’”

This came to a head on June 8th, 1969, when Brian Jones and The Rolling Stones parted ways

It wasn’t a surprise to Brian Jones. He had in fact considered starting his own band and during 1969 was known to have contacted Alexis Korner, blues-man and one of his oldest friends, Rolling Stones collaborators Jimmy Miller and Ian Stewart and Mitch Mitchell who played with The Jimi Hendrix Experience. There are reports that Brian wrote and recorded a single during this time, although if it exists, it has never surfaced.

Like many things around this time, Brian Jones physical and mental state are uncertain. The last known photos of him, taken by schoolgirl Helen Spittal on 23 June 1969, show him looking bloated and tired.

Other reports say that his feeling of relief after his sacking was huge. Indeed his friend, Alexis Korner, said he seemed, “happier than he had ever been” after he visited him and his girlfriend Anna Wohlin in late June.

Anna Wohlin described them as being young and in love. “I lived with Brian and it was very nice and easy. He was very happy about his country life. He said it was the first time in his whole life that he felt he had a home.” She explained that Brian had told her of his plans to bring his two sons by previous relationships, to visit and wanted to marry her and settle down, “He was prepared to have a family. He wanted to have a big family and lots of dogs. He was even talking about having horses.”

Anna Wohlin maintained that after his arrests Brian had calmed down and was clean. “He had stopped with the drugs,” she says. “He was so scared about drugs. When he was busted and all that, he hated it. He hated the police. People have the wrong impression.” This did lead to a nasty incident when Brian hit Anna when he discovered she was taking prescription pills.

According to The Rolling Stones tour manager Tom Keylock, this was not the first time something like this had happened. In an interview he said Brian Jones, “had this thing about whacking women” (Tom Keylock had arranged for Brain to be left in Morocco the night he assaulted Anita Pallenberg and she left him for Keith Richard)

Tom Keylock tells a different story when queried on Brian’s life in the country, “He had a lot of people around him, hangers on, but to me he was a very lonely boy.”

Tom Keylock was obviously not impressed with Anna Wohlin’s claims either, “She was on the scene five or six weeks and – ‘I’m in love with Brian‘ – Bullshit! Brian was running out of birds, he’d always want one around him. She was probably on the gravy train, she wanted to groove around with a star”

Renovating Cotchford Farm

Prior to Brian Jones leaving The Rolling Stones their tour manager and general “fixer”, Tom Keylock, had arranged for his old friend Frank Thorogood to oversee the renovations on Brian’s home.

Even though Brian Jones was no longer a member of The Rolling Stones he was still on their payroll and Tom Keylock was still under instruction to keep his eye on Brian.

Frank Thorogood

Frank Thorogood had previously been employed by The Rolling Stones before, to do some work on Keith Richard’s house so he was trusted. They had employed a team of three builders and Frank Thorogood was staying at Cotchford Farm in the room over the garage to oversee the renovations and keep an eye on Brian.

Initially Frank Thorogood and Brian Jones got on well, but as the job went on their relationship became strained. Brian Jones was not the easiest client to deal with, often changing his mind or being told by his accountant to change his mind when they found out how much it was going to cost. From day to day he did not know what he was supposed to be doing, making it very hard for him to manage a team to build something that was a moving target.

The Builders

The team of builders were also openly hostile to Brian Jones. Not only was he difficult to work for, but this was 1960s Britain and to many The Rolling Stones were still public enemy number one. The fact that he was also obviously far wealthier than them and this effete fop had a string of incredibly attractive women appearing at the house (usually when Anna went away) also stoked their jealousy, although they were happy to drink his booze!

As writer Terry Rawlings put it, “There was a network of drivers, builders, laborers. The same guys who were working on Redlands. All working class, all in their thirties, all taking as many liberties as they could, borrowing his Rolls Royce. Seeing him swan around with dolly birds in this beautiful house, there’s bound to be resentment.”

Brian Jones Fires Frank Thorogood

As things progressed Frank Thorogood and Brian Jones had several arguments about both the cost and the workmanship, both accusing the other of messing things up. This culminated in a huge argument when on July 1^st when a supporting beam in the kitchen came crashing down, almost hitting Anna Wohlin.

The next morning Jones told Thorogood in no uncertain terms that he was withholding all further payments until the beam was fixed and he was also going to review all of Thorogood’s bills, including his grocery bills (which Jones was also paying as he was staying at the farm) Initially Thorogood did not take Jones seriously, feeling that he was actually employed by Tom Keylock to keep an eye on him, not to be his employee. When Jones threatened to fire him and make sure that he never worked again, the 44-year-old Thorogood became very sullen. He did not take kindly to being dressed down by some 27-year-old upstart.

As has been stated many times before, Brian Jones was a complex man. He was capable of great moments of “Ass-holery” as Bill Wyman described it, but he could also be very sensitive. As he hid himself away upstairs he could hear the builders working downstairs.

The Night of Brian Jones‘ Death

From here on, things are not clear. At some point Tom Keylock became aware of the situation, possibly through a call from Brian. As Tom Keylock said, “Brian was a very difficult man. One minute he would be loving, gentle, a really nice boy and a brilliant musician, but he had these turns. He couldn’t punch his way out of a paper bag, so if he upset some bloke, he had to call me to get him out of trouble.”

Janet Ann Lawson

According to Janet Ann Lawson, Keylock asked her to go down to Cotchford Farm to ‘keep an eye on Brian‘. Keylock was not only worried about the tensions between Thorogood and Jones, but also for Brian’s health and she was a state registered nurse. It would appear that Tom Keylock was doing what he could to keep Brian Jones out of trouble

Many people have reported that Janet Lawson was Frank Thorogood’s mistress (he was married) but she was in fact Keylock’s girlfriend (a fact that she confirmed herself) although she did know Frank Thorogood through Tom Keylock.

When Janet Lawson arrived she reported, “There was something in the air. Frank was acting strangely, throwing his weight around a bit.” Brian asked Frank Thorogood to go into town and get some more liquor and wine, which lead to some conjecture that other guests were expected.

However both Anna Wohlin and Janet Lawson reported that only Frank, Janet, Anna and Brian and were there, although Anna Wohlin claims that Thorogood and Lawson were in the rooms over the garage and Janet Lawson claimed they were all together for a dinner of steak and kidney pie.

This is not the only area of uncertainty as from here on the details of what happened that evening become foggy as the various reports of the evening differ, with the three guests giving as many conflicting accounts of what happened.

What is certain that at some point later in the evening everybody swam in the pool. Janet Ann Lawson described Brian as “a good swimmer and acrobatic in the water.” a view that was shared in all reports, however she did decline to get in the pool with them. This has been attributed to inability to swim by some reports, while others have said she thought they were too drunk to be swimming.

Brian Jones was also reported to be asthmatic, keeping inhalers in various places, and the following day was again hot (by British standards, the day had been in the high 80s Fahrenheit, 30+ Celsius) causing his asthma to play up.

Janet Ann Lawson’s Version of Events

According to Janet Ann Lawson, after the four had eaten dinner together, they had gone to the pool for drinks. Later that night, Wohlin, Thorogood and Jones had gone for a swim. Anna had gone back to the house to answer the phone and Brian Jones then asked Lawson to go and find his inhaler and bring it down to the pool. Frank Thorogood and Brian were then left alone in the pool.

What happened next in Janet Lawson’s words was,

I went to look for it (the inhaler) by the pool, in the music room, the reception room and then the kitchen. Frank came in in a lather. His hands were shaking. He was in a terrible state. I thought the worst almost straight away and went to the pool to check.

When I saw Brian on the bottom of the pool and was calling for help, Frank initially did nothing. I shouted for Frank again as I ran towards the house, and he burst out before I reached it, ran to the pool and instantly dived in. But I had not said where Brian was. I thought, “How did he know Brian was at the bottom of the pool?”

I ran back to the house and tried to call 999 but Anna was on the phone and would not get off it.

Anna Wohlin’s Version of Events

According to Anna Wohlin, during the day Brian Jones hid away from the builders, feeling guilty about the way he had talked to Thorogood and Jones couldn’t stand the thought that Thorogood might be upset with him. After discussing the situation repeatedly with Anna Wohlin, he decided to ask Frank Thorogood over for a drink and a swim to make things right with him. At 10 p.m Jones went to fetch Frank Thorogood.

They returned 15 minutes later with Janet Lawson (described by Wohlin as Thorogood’s companion for the evening) Brian Jones served drinks in the dining room and Frank Thorogood, who was still sulking, asked for vodka while Jones drank brandy. Jones tried to patch things up with Thorogood but with limited success.

After a while Jones suggested that they take a moonlight swim; Thorogood and Wohlin took him up on the offer while Lawson declined. Wohlin says that Jones always placed his inhaler by the side of the pool where he could get to it in case of an asthma attack and tonight was no different. Jones then went straight to the diving board and dove in.

Wohlin noticed that Frank Thorogood’s mood hadn’t improved, but Jones was feeling mischievous, swimming underwater, grabbing Thorogood’s ankles, and pulling him under. Frank Thorogood was not amused before and this only agitated him, but Jones continued to tease him, calling him “old man”. As Jones swam by, Thorogood lunged and dunked Jones’ head under the water, Jones came up coughing and laughing. At that point Janet Lawson called to Anna Wohlin from the house; she was wanted on the phone and the women went inside, leaving the men alone in the pool.

Some time later while Wohlin was on the phone with a friend, she heard Lawson screaming from outside, “Anna! Anna! Something’s happened to Brian!’”

Wohlin rushed downstairs and found Frank Thorogood dripping wet in the kitchen, trying to light a cigarette with shaking hands and unable to make eye contact with her. She ran outside, passing Lawson, and looked into the still pool, where Jones was “lying spread-eagled on the bottom.”

She dove in and tried to pull him to the surface, but he kept slipping out of her hands. She yelled to Frank Thorogood for help and he came, but took a while getting there, she said. When he arrived he sat on the edge and slipped into the water, then helped Wohlin get Jones out of the pool. As they turned Jones onto his chest, Wohlin noticed that Thorogood’s manner was “cold as ice.”

Lawson ran over to help and they turned Jones onto his back while Lawson massaged his heart as Wohlin administered CPR (“kiss of life” to use her term) They worked on him without stop. Wohlin said she thought he weakly clasped her hand and he was alive.

Around fifteen minutes later the ambulance arrived, but by then Brian Jones had passed. He was 27 years old.

So who killed Brian Jones?

Anna Wohlin said that Frank Thorogood showed little sympathy when Brian Jones was discovered in the pool and he did nothing to help them in their attempts to revive him. “I don’t think Frank meant to kill him, because I don’t think he was a killer,” she says. “I think it was some sort of horseplay. I think it went too far.”

Likewise when Janet Ann Lawson was asked if she thought Thorogood killed Brian Jones she replied

Yes. I went into the house to look for Brian’s inhaler. Frank jumped back in the pool, did something to Brian and by the time I came back, Brian was lying peacefully on the bottom of the pool with not a ripple in the water.

I think because of the state that Frank was in, something had to have happened. I mean, why would Frank have been standing in the kitchen absolutely terrified if something hadn’t happened?

Jan also believed that Thorogood had not intended to kill Jones, it was an unfortunate accident, probably the result of horseplay that had got out of hand.

In an interview with Classic Rock Magazine, Tom Keylock said that in 1993, he went to visit Frank Thorogood who was terminally ill in hospital. While there Frank Thorogood told him that he had “done” Brian Jones. However he did not get anymore details as Frank was very tired and obviously in pain, so he left him to come back the following day. Unfortunately Frank Thorogood died overnight and Tom Keylock was never able to get the details.

(This was reported in an interview in Classic Rock Magazine dated 2005, however he has also denied saying this in Bill Wyman’s book of 2002, so I will leave it up to you to decide.)

Claims that Brian Jones was Killed by the Builders

In researching his book, Blown Away author A.E. Hotchner tracked down two men who claimed they witnessed the murder, Nicholas Fitzgerald and his friendhttp://thehistoryofrockmusic.com Nicholas Fitzgerald was a good friend of Brian Jones in 1969 and he and a friend had got Cotchford Farm at about 11pm (after pub closing time) on the night of July 2. Seeing that the pool lights were on, they went around to the back of the house instead of going to the front door.

Coming through the bushes, Fitzgerald reportedly saw three men dressed like workmen by the pool and a man and a woman standing on the other side of the pool. The man on the other side of the pool was yelling instructions while one of the three workmen was down on one knee, pushing someone in the pool under the water. One of the three workmen leapt in and “landed on the back of the struggling swimmer.” Before Fitzgerald and his friend could do anything, a “burly man” with a cockney accent threatened them and scared them off.

One of the laborers who worked for Frank Thorogood at Jones’ home at the time spoke to Hotchner. He told his version on condition of anonymity and simply referred to as “Marty” in the book. Marty claimed that at least two of the laborers resented Jones for his wealth, his pretty women, and his air of superiority around them. He also claimed to have been at Cotchford Farm along with a few other members of the work crew who had also brought their wives and girlfriends on July 2^nd.

As the evening progressed the men started horsing around in the pool, harassing Jones and preventing him from getting out of the pool. They then leapt in and held him under while the women pleaded with the men to leave him alone. Since the effect Jones had on women was one of thee things thay disliked about him, it enraged them further.

Things then got out of hand, and Jones drowned. “Those guys got carried away,” Marty said, “and I wouldn’t say what happened was an accident.”

The interview with Marty is below. WARNING there is some strong language in the interview.

This version of events contradicts all the information given by the people that were known to be there. Although neither Janet Lawson or Anna Wohlin claimed to have seen what happened at the moment Brian Jones died both were there shortly before he died. Additionally both said the only people there were Jones, Wohlin, Lawson and Thorogood. In the time the pair were in the house there was certainly not enough time for a group of laborers to arrive and start harassing Brian in the pool.

Since none of the people known to be at the house say there was anyone else there, including Anna Wohlin and Janet Lawson who both made accusations against Frank Thorogood, you have to question the validity of the witnesses. This is especially true when none have identified themselves or come forward until several years later when rumors of ill-deeds became rife. After all, without the bizarre stories it wouldn’t be rock and roll would it!

Retired Detective Inspector Stuart Booth, the man charged with preparing Sussex Police’s response to the media ‘every time this case came up’ during the Eighties and Nineties, revealed that a new file was opened on Brian Jones by Sussex CID in 1983. This was prepared as a response to a book that claimed Brian was murdered by a gang of men who held him upside down in the pool. That claim was dismissed by the police but their file contained this statement: ‘It is possible that Thorogood was larking about with Jones in the water and Jones subsequently drowned.’

Immediately After Brian Jones’s Death

Frank Thorogood called Tom Keylock who set off immediately from London. With todays cars and roads in the middle of the night it would still be approximately a 1 hour 15 minute drive to Cotchford Farm, so we can assume it took Tom Keylock around two hours to get there (for those that would like to check distances, here is the location of Cotchford Farm)

The ambulance had arrived at around midnight and The Rolling Stones were made aware of Brian Jones death around 2am as they followed their usual nocturnal patterns recording “Let It Bleed” in Olympic Studios late into the night. Since Tom Keylock was the first of The Rolling Stones people to arrive he would have been the one who would have called to tell them the news, which also fits in with this timeline.

According to Tom Keylock by the time he got to Cotchford farm, the ambulance had taken Keith’s body away and the police had spoken to everyone at the house, so there was no time to cover anything up.

Anna Wohlin also reported that as soon as Tom Keylock arrived he took charge, so this would imply that they had not been taken to be interviewed by the time he arrived. This also fits with the Police and both Wohlin and Lawson’s version of events, as the times on the interviews are between 4 and 5 am.

This would mean that contrary to Tom Keylock’s assertion, there was time at Cotchford Farm to talk to Lawson and Wohlin before they were interviewed at East Grinstead Police Station.

PC Albert Evans

PC Albert Evans was the first officer on the scene, arriving at 12.10am on July 3rd as the ambulance crew tried to revive Brian Jones. After Brian’s body was taken away Evans searched the house and took possession of a number of bottles of spirits and various pills. He also thought there had been additional people at the house, not just the three witnesses interviewed.

Now in his late 60s, Evans was asked what did he think had happened?

‘Some sort of altercation – drug-induced, alcohol-induced. It was Frank Thorogood who was mentioned – he was the one who had been in the pool with Brian Jones. There was nothing at the time to connect Thorogood with any more. Just feelings.’

‘Indeed, I said exactly this to DCI Marshall (the chief investigating officer) at the time and he reasonably asked me why I thought so. Along with everyone else, I had no evidence to support my feelings other than the ” policeman’s instinct”, but nevertheless these suspicions have remained with me down the years.’

“I’m sure that Bob Marshall [the chief investigating officer] had those feelings very strongly. I shared these views with him. I think he said exactly the same to me.”

PC Mike Harvey

Drugs squad officer PC Mike Harvey was also on the scene in the early hours of July 3. He found five “Black Bombers” (capsules of Durophet) in Frank Thorogood’s coat.

Thorogood told Harvey: ‘I look after them for Brian so that he won’t take too many at a time.’

In other words, he was in unlawful possession of them. Court proceedings would normally have resulted, but Thorogood was only cautioned.

“A caution was quite unusual in those days.” said Harvey in 2008, “We were trying to stamp down hard on drugs so we couldn’t say, ‘Just forget it,’ but given the circumstances, it didn’t justify court proceedings. That was a decision made by a senior officer.”

That officer, according to Harvey, was DCI Bob Marshall, who his part, said he had no knowledge of the drugs find and was not responsible for the decision to caution rather than prosecute Frank Thorogood.

Police Interview Thorogood, Lawson and Wohlin

The Police took Thorogood, Lawson and Wohlin to East Grinstead Police Station to take statements. It was here, outside the police station, writes Wohlin, that Frank Thorogood “sidled up to her” and said, in a very threatening manner, “Don’t forget to tell them it was Brian who wanted me to come down to you, not me. The only thing you need to tell them is that Brian had been drinking and that his drowning was an accident. You don’t have to tell them anything else. I left Brian to go to the kitchen and light a cigarette and I don’t know any more than you. There’s no need for you to tell the police that you saw me in the kitchen. Just tell them we pulled Brian out of the pool together.”

Anna further claims that Frank Thorogood threatened her again, five days later at the coroner’s inquest urging her strongly not to implicate him.

According to Janet Lawson, this was not the only subversion going on, hours after Jones’s death at East Grinstead police station Jan gave a statement to Detective Sergeant Peter Hunter, who is now retired.

“The police were trying to put words in my mouth,” said Jan. “They kept saying, ‘Did this happen or did it happen like this?’ I was very tired, it was about four or five in the morning. I wanted to know if I would be able to give another statement later on because I was tired, confused and nervous. They said ‘Yes’, so when the police asked me to give this statement, and they were suggesting all these things to me, I eventually said, ‘Yeah, yeah,’ to bring it to a close. I thought I would have another chance to give a statement where I could be clearer.”

This never happened and her statement, she says, was, “A pack of lies, the policeman suggested most of what I said. It was a load of rubbish.”

In her original statement, Janet did not mention the tension between Jones and Thorogood, the fact that she feared the worst as soon as she saw Thorogood coming in from the pool nor did she reveal how Frank Thorogood initially ignored her cries for help or that he dived into the pool without her telling him that was where Jones was.

When asked about this in 2008, DS Hunter replied, “If Janet Lawson is saying I physically wrote her statement that is correct, but if she is saying I influenced the content of her statement that is not correct.”

Janet Lawson was not the only one where claims of inaccuracies in police statement were reported. An anonymous source (a policeman at the time) claims Anna Wohlin had been given sedatives by the doctor and had to be actually woken up during her interview.

For all those involved in the events at Cotchford Farm, it is amazing to consider that there is no evidence that any follow up statements were taken from the witnesses when they had sobered up and had a chance to get some sleep and recover from the shock (the statements were all taken in the small hours of July 4^th)

The anonymous source claims that Bob Marshall was determining what evidence was being written down. He went on to say that a DCI would not “push the buttons” without orders from above.

“Chief Constables were and still are political animals, If the Chief Constable knew drugs had been found in the house you’d expect him to say, ‘I want the man charged.’ Yet Frank Thorogood was only cautioned. You wouldn’t do that unless you knew the Chief Constable was backing you. It was decided this information about the drugs find would not be given to the coroner. It’s outrageous.”

With the Police suffering from some egg-on-face following the arrests and trial of Mick Jagger and Keith Richard at Redlands on drug charges, they may simply have been trying to take a softly-softly approach. It also may have been that the Police saw the line of least resistance was to find a known drug user to have accidentally drowned in a drug fuelled stupor.

When asked about this, Marshall said everything in Wohlin’s statement was correct. He also denied manipulating the case or having orders to find a particular outcome.

“It was clear to me within two or three hours of arriving at the scene that this was a tragic accident, a simple drowning.”

The Day After Brian Jones Death

When Harvey met Sussex Chief Constable T. C. Williams the following morning for a prearranged interview at 9am, he reported that Chief Constable Williams was already aware of the details of the case (The Chief Constable is the top ranking officer for a given region)

Harvey said, “He knew Brian Jones was dead and we’d found some drugs in there. He didn’t express an opinion but he would no doubt have discussed it. He may have had some influence on it, I don’t know.”

Brian Jones’s Possessions burned by Tom Keylock

Around the same time Tom Keylock was burning many of Brian’s clothes and possessions. He says this was what he was asked to do by Lewis Jones (Brian Jones’s father), and admitted he thought this was strange. He stopped when he was asked to pack all Brian’s things up and send them to Lewis Jones. This was done in a a single, huge travel case. Lewis Jones then came down with a truck to take away larger items such as Brian’s mellotron.

Some have claimed that many items went missing from the house, taken by the other builders, including recordings made by Brian Jones. Tom Keylock claims this is also untrue, “Nothing came out of that place without my knowledge.”

Since then, one item has surfaced; a watch given to Brian by Alexis Korner with a personal inscription, which was sold at Christie’s in New York.

Coroner’s Report into the Cause of Brian Jones‘ Death

Immediately after Brian Jones’s death, it was reported that his death had been caused by an asthma attack, leading to his drowning. However investigators ruled this out because such an attack would have blocked his windpipe, thereby preventing Brian from drowning.

The autopsy revealed that Brian Jones had alcohol in his blood, roughly the equivalent of 3-4 pints of beer. Brian Jones’s urine also revealed an “amphetamine-like” substance, although not amphetamine, at nearly nine times the normal level.

As much as legend would want us to believe otherwise, no hard drugs were found in Brian Jones‘ system, although the coroner noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by years of drug and alcohol abuse. There was however a “purple spot” on Brian Jones’s liver which was not explained.

But the post-mortem examination found that Brian Jones had sustained no trauma to any part of his body and body bore no internal injuries. In other words there was no evidence of violence. What his body did show was evidence that he had died through drowning.

The coroners report concluded death by misadventure, but what had caused the drowning we will never know for certain. One thing is for sure, there are some serious questions about the process followed.

Was the Investigation into Brian Jones Death Flawed?

There does appear to be plenty of evidence that the investigation by the police and coroner was not as exhaustive as it should have been. The first piece of evidence is, ironically, a response to an author denying that the investigation was flawed by DCI Marshall. Marshall retired in 1974 but he still keeps a detailed file on the case.

In 1991, Marshall wrote a letter to an author researching a book about Brian Jones stating,

“On the evening in question he [Jones] was at the farmhouse with some six or so associates, all of whom were entertaining themselves in their own way and with little concern for each other.

Most, if not all, had been indulging in alcohol and perhaps drugs of some description. This made it difficult to get a precise account of the events of the evening.

After carrying out what was a very thorough investigation, I was satisfied that this unfortunate death was accidental and at no time did I discover anything to warrant consideration of taking criminal proceedings against any person.”

So Marshall believed there were “six or so associates” yet made no effort to track them down and take statements, yet considers it a thorough investigation. In addition he states that due to the inebriated state of the witnesses making it “difficult to get a precise account of the evening” they made no attempt to take further statements when they had sobered up.

The next issue concerns PC Harvey’s statement, which was never presented to the coroner, a fact that surprised retired Detective Inspector Stuart Booth, who during the Eighties and Nineties prepared Sussex Police’s response to the media ‘every time this case came up’.

“I would expect it to have gone before the coroner and people to have asked Frank Thorogood what drugs he gave to Brian Jones, how many, when, times and dates, where he got the drugs from and did he give any other unlawful drugs to Brian Jones that night, bearing in mind the toxicology report showed there was an unidentified purple spot found on the liver”

Did a Taxi Leave Cotchford Farm before the Police Arrived?

Even though the reports of Brian being murdered by a gang do not seem to be too likely, the possibility that there were other people at the house at the time Brian Jones died do seem to have have merit.

There were other reports of a taxi that left Cotchford Farm before the ambulance arrived and the Police that arrived on the scene believed that more people had been there and in 2008 a journalist uncovered some evidence from another case that reinforces these claims.

On July 26, 1969, Joan Fitzsimons, then 29, was the victim of a vicious assault near Chichester which left her in a coma with a fractured skull and blinded for life. Her boyfriend, Jordanian Michael Ziyadeh, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and spent four years in Broadmoor Prison before being deported. Despite his guilty plea, Ziyadeh always claimed he did not carry out the attack. The police case against him concluded: “The motive for this is a mystery.”

Where this becomes more relevant to Brian Jones‘ death is that Joan Fitzsimons was the on-off mistress of Frank Thorogood. She was also friends with Janet Lawson and was the person that introduced Lawson to Tom Keylock. Fitzsimons had also occasionally stayed with Thorogood at Cotchford during the renovations. Lastly, she had driven Jones and his fellow Rolling Stone Keith Richard as she worked for her family’s taxi firm in Chichester (approximately 40 miles from Cotchford Farm)

So, had Joan Fitzsimons been invited along to Cotchford Farm, she would almost certainly have driven herself there, quite possibly in one of her family’s cabs (Cotchford Farm is in a remote location, a good distance from trains etc) So could it be that the taxi reportedly seen leaving Cotchford Farm on the night of Brian Jones‘ death was not one that had been called to take people from the farm, but one that belonged to someone already there?

Joan Fitzsimons died in 2002 so the journalist that discovered this then used the freedom of information act to get further information released (which was something unavailable to earlier biographers). This information included a letter from the Sussex Chief Constable’s office from 1969

‘She is to be asked as to her reason for allegedly being afraid of Mr Francis Thorogood as referred to in a statement of her brother Mr John Russell and what knowledge she has relating to the death of Brian Jones which causes her to be frightened.

The prime suspect: Frank Thorogood was sacked by the star on the day of his death and was in a ‘terrible state’ just before Jones’s body was found

‘In light of the statement of Mr John Russell enquiries are to be made and statements taken to eliminate Mr Francis Thorogood as being in the Chichester area between 8.30pm and 9.55pm on the 26th July, 1969, and with having anything to do with the assault on Mrs Fitzsimons.’

The statement from John Russell is still not available under the Freedom of Information Act as Mr Russell is alive and has elected not to release it into the public domain. However a statement from Frank Thorogood was taken in response to this to eliminate him from the police inquiry.

The statement eliminated Frank Thorogood as a suspect by Sussex Police after his wife and two friends confirmed he had been in London on July 26. However the other information included in the response was enlightening.

The statement from Thorogood said that Fitzsimons knew Suki Poitier, Jones’s ex-girlfriend, and stayed at Cotchford Farm for three days after Jones’s death because Poitier was upset. By this time Anna Wohlin had gone back to Sweden, either coerced by The Rolling Stones Management or on her own accord depending on which version of events you believe.

In another police statement Joan Fitzsimons’ mother, Irene Russell, told police that Suki Poitier had been at Cotchford Farm the night Brian Jones died but left about 30 minutes before the incident. Irene Russell said -

Joan told me that Frank (Thorogood) was causing trouble by trying to get her back. Frank was very persistent. Frank said to me that Joan knows a lot about The Rolling Stones that shouldn’t get out. Joan, as it appeared to me, was frightened of Frank.”

So according to Irene Russell there is a link to Frank Thorogood and she identified another potential witness to Brian Jones death not traced by Sussex police.

At the time, several newspapers reported the attack on Joan Fitzsimons. One said that detectives wanted to find out from her whom she drove on the night Brian Jones died and if she was present at Cotchford Farm at any time during that evening.

The newspaper report went on to say, “The police information is a result of “several interviews” with men, all acquaintances of Mrs Fitzsimons, who talked with her after the death of Jones.”

The same day the story appeared, Sussex Police released a statement, “There is no truth in those reports whatsoever.” As has been shown from the documents now available that they were aware of the possible connection and had made inquiries.

I was nursing in Hampshire when Joan was attacked, but I saw the headlines in a newspaper. When I saw her injuries, I cried.” Janet Lawson said. “I knew it was no coincidence. I felt there was some link with Frank. I went into hiding at my brother’s house on an RAF base. Behind those walls and security fences, that was the only place I had where they couldn’t get to me.”

Whatever actually happened on that fateful night may never be known. What can be seen is that the subsequent investigation was flawed. There were obviously leads that were not followed up and witnesses that were not tracked down. On top of this there is the information regarding the drugs found at Cotchford Farm being withheld from the coroner. Regardless as to whether this was a cover-up or ineptitude, it seems there is more than enough evidence for a further investigation.

Where are they now

Janet Ann Lawson

After this Janet Lawson dropped out of nursing and changed her name to Tallyn and was not heard from until she was persuaded to tell her story by a journalist in 2007. Janet Lawson died from cancer in a hospice in 2008.

Frank Thorogood

Frank Thorogood lived until 1993, where he died in hospital of cancer. It was here he allegedly confessed to Tom Keylock that he killed Brian Jones.

Tom Keylock

Tom Keylock was a consultant on the 2004 film “Stoned” about the life and death of Brian Jones

Shortly after Brian Jones death he left the employ of The Rolling Stones to start up a transport business. He died at the age of 82 on July 2nd, 2009, exactly 40 year after Brian Jones death.

Anna Wohlin

For years Anna Wohlin had refused to talk about her time with Brian Jones, not least because she claims she had signed a contract with The Rolling Stones‘ management to discuss his death only with their agreement. This is again something Tom Keylock disputes, “Nobody offered her any money to keep her mouth shut. No threats. She lives in cuckoo-land if she said that”

Having married and settled down back in Sweden, Anna Wohlin finally decided she would go public after she and her husband divorced. “I kept silent all these years because, even if I had friends who [would have] supported me, I was a little bit scared over it. I knew something was very wrong. He didn’t die of drowning because he was drunk and drugged, but how could I prove it? I couldn’t.”

She wrote her book (titled either “The Murder of Brian Jones” or later re-issued as “The Wild and Wycked World of Brian Jones“) as the legions of stories circulating about Brian being drugged up to the eyeballs at the time of his death, did not represent the man she knew.

After Brian Jones‘ Death

Two days after Brian’s death, The Rolling Stones performed before over a quarter million people in London’s Hyde Park. Mick Jagger led the other Stones onto stage. As the enormous crowd looked on he stepped up to the microphone and said, “Cool it and listen. I want to say something for Brian.” He then read two verses from Percy Shelley’s eulogy “Adonais,” as thousands of white butterflies were released. The Rolling Stones then opened with “I’m Yours And I’m Hers”, a favorite of Brian’s.

Other tributes came in from many friends and fans including Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison (both of whom also died later at the age of 27)

“Stoned” – the Movie of Brian Jones Life and Death

Around the same time Stephen Woolley, probably best known for producing films such as “The Crying Game” and “Scandal” (based on the Profumo affair, another piece 1960s tabloid sleaze), was developing the movie “Stoned“. Stephen Woolley also believes that Frank Thorogood was responsible for Brian Jones‘ death and met Anna Wohlin a few times in the 10 years he spent developing “Stoned“.

Both Anna Wohlin and Tom Keylock both acted as advisors on the film and at about the only time agree that it is a fairly accurate portrayal. “Stoned” was released in late 2005 starring Leo Gregory, Paddy Considine and David Morrisey.

Afterword

Prior to buying Cotchford Farm, Brian Jones went on holiday to Ceylon and while there he visited an astrologer. The astrologer said, “Be careful swimming in the coming year. Don’t go into the water without a friend.”

References

• Brian Jones Straight From The Heart: The Rolling Stones Murder
• The Wild and Wycked World of Brian Jones: The True Story of My Love Affair with the Rolling Stone (also published as The Murder of Brian Jones)
• Blown Away
• Interviews with Keith Richards and Tom Keylock in Classic Rock magazine November 2005
• Interview with Anna Wohlin in The Independant Newspaper, November 2005
• Daily Mail Article ‘Has the riddle of Rolling Stone Brian Jones’s death been solved at last?‘ from November 2008
• Brian Jones – Who Killed Christopher Robin?: The Truth Behind The Murder of a Rolling Stone
• The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones by Stanley Booth
• According to the Rolling Stones
• Up and Down with The Rolling Stones
• Keith Richards: Satisfaction
• Rolling With The Stones

Background to Brian Jones leaving The Rolling Stones

Brian Jones was a complex man, along with his charm and presence were vicious mood swings and moments of “assholery”. A highly intelligent man (he had genius level IQ) he was fully aware that he and The Rolling Stones no longer shared the same destiny.

Keith Richard and Anita Pallenberg

Brian Jones‘ relationship with the other Rolling Stones had deteriorated. While never on the best terms with Mick Jagger (he had even backed plans to sack him in the early 1960s) his personal relationship with Keith Richard broke down when his girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg, left him for Keith Richard while they vacationed in Morocco. This had driven a wedge between the former friends that was never bridged.

Brian Jones Drug Problems

Along with the Brian’s deteriorating relationship with the other Stones his health was deteriorating with his dependency on various narcotics. He had been suffering badly with the rigors of fame and heavy drink and drug usage. After getting into LSD, these had moments only become worse. If he had a good trip he was the life and soul of the party, however a bad one would leave him crying inconsolably.

He had twice been arrested for drug possession (although the second was widely believed to be a set-up) and narrowly escaped jail time (a fate that befell his band-mates Mick Jagger and Keith Richard after the notorious “Redlands” drug raid) but had been told by the judge to get help and, “for goodness sake, don’t get into trouble again or it really will be serious”

Musical Differences

Brian Jones had also become insecure of his position in the band. Brian was a magnificent musician and arranger, but was not a prolific song-writer. Brian Jones, the blues purist, had been unhappy with the direction The Rolling Stones were taking but was powerless to change it.

With Mick Jagger and Keith Richard writing the majority of the songs, they had become the driving force in the band and Brian Jones had gone from being their self-proclaimed leader (in the early days he had even negotiated himself more money than the other members) to nothing more than a bit-part player. Brian had barely played a note on “Let It Bleed” and according to Brian’s girlfriend at the time, Anna Wohlin, “So many times the car would come down [to take him to the studios] and Brian would say, ‘Anna, you’ll have to go out and tell them I’m not going to go, I don’t want to.’”

Brian Jones and The Rolling Stones part ways

As 1969 progressed Brian had reportedly given up illegal drugs, though he continued drinking heavily. He settled into his new home, Cotchford Farm, formerly owned by A. A. Milne, and enjoying country life.

With “Let It Bleed” released The Rolling Stones wanted to tour again. Brian, with his two drug convictions, would not be given a visa to tour America. However, on a both personal and professional level they were unhappy with Brian, as Keith Richard said, “We just saw Brian as a bit of a fly in the ointment. After two years of being on the road for 350 days out of 365, you start to get a little bit antsy when the fly is still there.”

“We carried Brian for quite a long time,” says Jagger. “We put up with his tirades, and his not turning up for over a year. So it wasn’t like suddenly we just said, Fuck you. You didn’t turn up for the show, you’re out. We’d been quite patient with him. And he’d just gotten worse and worse. He just didn’t want to be in it. He didn’t want to be part of it. He didn’t want to come out of this rather sad state.”

So on June 8th, 1969 Keith Richard, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts drove down to Cotchford Farm to deliver the news. According to Keith Richards, after being fired Brian was, “A little pathetic about it, but at the same time it wasn’t like he wasn’t expecting it.”

“I’m sure it nearly killed him when we sacked him ‘cos he’d fought so hard to put it all together at the beginning.” states Charlie Watts. “It was a huge void in his life, especially being young. If he’d have made 60 million dollars, if he’d had that cushion… He had a little bit, but not what people think. But he was very young, you know, so there was a big space of nothing.”

The following day, emblazoned across the headline of the Daily Sketch was, “Brian Jones Quits The Rolling Stones as Group Clash Over Songs”.

Written on Brian’s behalf, an official statement read, “Because I no longer see eye to eye with the other Stones over the discs we were cutting, I have a desire to play my own brand of music. We have agreed that an amicable termination of our relationship is the only answer.” Allen Klein, The Rolling Stones manager at that point, offered Brian £100,000 and £20 000 a year all the time The Rolling Stones were in existence, plus his share of royalties, a lot of money in the 1960s. For comparison Keith Richard bought his Redland’s home for less than £20 000 the previous year.

Afterwards

Both parties had known for a while that Brian Jones was not going to be the man to tour the USA with. In fact The Rolling Stones had been thinking of replacing him for a considerable time and before his firing, already had his replacement lined up in the shape of 20-year-old Mick Taylor. And so, on June 13th 1969, Mick Taylor, formerly of John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, was unveiled to the press as Brian Jones‘ replacement.

Brian Jones had considered starting his own band and during 1969 was known to have contacted Alexis Korner, blues-man and one of his oldest friends, Rolling Stones collaborators Jimmy Miller and Ian Stewart and Mitch Mitchell who played with The Jimi Hendrix Experience. There are reports that Brian wrote and recorded a single during this time, although if it exists, it has never surfaced.

There was some half-hearted talk among The Rolling Stones that Brian Jones may come back when he had recovered, however events would ensure this was never an option as Brian Jones was found found dead a few weeks later.