Danny Garcia’s 2019 film Rolling Stone: Life And Death Of Brian Jones, now available on DVD and digitally, is a comprehensive documentary about Brian Jones, founder, guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones, and his controversial death in 1969.
Jones was a poster boy of 1960s London — troubled as much as a brilliant musician who slowly lost his hold on the band he started. To begin, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards started writing their own songs, leaving Jones out of the fold. His consistent drug and self-destructive ways didn’t help the situation, and eventually the guitarist’s behavior and inability to perform lead to his dismissal.
There are several books and a couple of films on Jones and his untimely death, but Garcia digs a little deeper in Rolling Stone: Life And Death Of Brian Jones. He explores multiple aspects of Jones’ life and death, and interviews his friends and musicians of the era, painting a painfully accurate picture of the musician and making a solid case on how he might have been murdered.
Over 50 years later and contrary reports from so many on the scene at the time, the truth about what happened to Jones will probably never be known. Still, Garcia’s research and eye — already seen in his films The Rise And Fall Of The Clash and Sad Vacation, which chronicles the final months of the Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen — reveal a keen sense for detail and storytelling.
Along with the movie, there is a 13-song Rolling Stone: Life And Death Of Brian Jones soundtrack album available. Released as a limited edition run of 1000 copies pressed on red vinyl, the songs run a deep gambit in blues-based rock, with notable contributions from the Deadbeat Poets, Alabama 3, and Dick Taylor, an original Rolling Stone and later a member of the Pretty Things.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
