The Rolling Stones have somehow soldiered on as the “Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band in the World” despite the loss of drummer Charlie Watts in 2021. This could be “The Last Time” they pull that off, as their legendary song goes, but it’s surely not the first time.
In fact, with their new “Hackney Diamonds” flooring audiences and wowing critics, it’s eerily reminiscent of how fortune played out for the Stones in July 1969, when founding guitarist Brian Jones died.
“The Stones and Brian Jones,” a Magnolia Pictures documentary film, aims to shed light on the band’s early years through unseen and archival footage, along with interviews of the Stones during that era.
In the film, Nick Broomfield (“Biggie & Tupac,” “Kurt & Courtney”) explores the creative musical genius of Jones—key to the band’s early success—uncovering the tension between Jones and Mick Jagger and ultimately, how the founder of the band was left behind in the mists of time and megastardom.
The circumstances surrounding Jones’ death have careened about over the years—a coroner’s report first said that he’d drowned, later corrected to “death by misadventure,” with heart and liver enlargement pointed to through alcohol and drug abuse.
But with Jones’ death, many fans felt the Stones’ sound lost their significantly bluesy edge in favor of pop sensibilities.
With a 100% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, viewers are saying that the film helps restore Jones in his “rightful place as a central figure” of the band.
“The Stones and Brian Jones” opens on digitally on Friday, November 17, but two Cleveland-area theaters (Cedar Lee Theater and Regal Crocker Park Stadium 16) will host a special screening of the film this Tuesday, November 7.
