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Name: Keno
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Subject: RE: RE: RE: BJ to Beethoven
Date: Monday, November 19, 2018
Time: 12:37:37 PM
Remote Address: 97.107.69.29
Message ID: 318737
Parent ID: 318722
Thread ID: 318661
You clearly got your message across, as I did mine. I think we are both correct now in what we stated. Just 2 things...
What piano grade Jones reached I don't know (I've probably read it somewhere at some point), but suffice to say, the level of training he received was a long way from what I believe it takes to be considered to have achieved 'mastery' of an instrument.
This I disagree with. The man played the piano longer than any instrument that he ever played, and he played it his entire life - from age 5 to his death at 27. The problem was (besides having a short life), he was in a guitar band and he was one of the 2 guitarists. His band already had a piano player in Stu and then towards the end of BJ's life, they had yet a even better pianist in Nicky. Yes, Brian still got to play piano a bit here and there on some of the songs - but back then - unlike today, piano wasn't really used too much or needed in rock music. So the truth was, he only really ever applied his piano skills to one single song, that being "Ruby Tuesday", and he played that piano part in a way that Stu - who only played bookie-wookie piano (and he did so better than any other rocker), couldn't play, in a more classical way. I'm sure Nicky totally appreciated and loved the sound Brian got on that song on this piano. But because his great recorder stood out on the same number, many never noticed how wonderful the piano sound was.
It was the same deal with him and his saxophone, which he played even less with the Stones. That was his favorite instrument to play, but damn, the best sax he ever recorded was played with the Beatles and not with the Stones! The Stones didn't want sax in their band until after BJ died. Had he not died, my guess is he would have been playing a lot more sax by the '70s for them, and we won't have ever gotten to know Bobby Keys because of it (well, not by his playing for the Stones anyway).
We have spoken about this before, but I really believe that there's no question BJ would have rejoined the Stones in the early to mid '70s had he lived. But maybe not as their guitarist, as it was only stated that he might rejoin the band in the future after he left, but not how he would rejoin them. I think on his return, he would be handling the keys and sax more, and also playing percussion, too (with Ronnie maybe still joining the band on guitar), and of course, whatever other instrument he felt like adding in. If you want to go all the way into the early '90s when Bill left, he just might have taken over as the main bassist in the band. Back when the band was still new, the Glimmers and BJ actually talked about Brian being the band's bassist, since this was another instrument he played very well, even if he only played it on one Stones song (on "Heart of Stone", and it sounded great and stood out along with Keith guitar). He also played most of the bass parts on that movie soundtrack he made, too.
But of course, he didn't live past mid 1969, and that alone got in his way of mastering any one instrument. So for that reason talking about what might have happen to him might be fun to do, but it really means nothing, too, since it's only a daydream at most.
Your other point on the sitar masters, maybe "jealous" was the wrong word to use. I think that at first they were more so disgusted to hear that the instrument they loved, was being used now in Rock music and played like a heavy metal guitar (even if there wasn't any heavy metal guitar yet around, for the most part, as that sound was just starting to happen at the time). I still do think that they were pissed off by that sound he got out of it, as they didn't want a sitar to be played in that matter. For that matter, I bet all of them flat out hated the electric sitar, too. Some people are afraid of new sounds and new music, especially on an old instrument that they has been played in one way only for 300 to 400 years. Then some damn hippie punk rocker comes around out of nowhere and plays it in a wild and crazy rock n roll sort of way? They hated the idea of that alone, but in time, I still think most of them grew to like it too (or to at least understand that it was a good thing), since while it was different, it still sounded cool - once they got used to hearing it played in that matter.
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