Brian Jones - Songwriting Credits

Songwriting Credits

Unsure and insecure as a composer, Jones was not a prolific songwriter. The 30-second "Rice Krispies" jingle for Kellogg's, co-written with the J. W. Thompson advertising agency in 1963 and performed by the Rolling Stones incognito was credited to Jones; this did not sit well with the rest of the band, who felt it was a group effort and all should benefit equally. Jones was also included in the "Nanker/Phelge" songwriting credit, a pseudonym used on fourteen tracks that were composed by the entire band and Andrew Oldham.

According to Andrew Oldham, the main reason for Jones not writing songs was that Jones, being a blues purist, did not love simple pop music enough. Oldham tried to establish a songwriting partnership between Jones and Gene Pitney after "becoming bored senseless by Jones's bleating about the potential of half-finished melodies that by no means deserved completion" but after two days of sessions "the results remain best to be unheard, even by Stones' completists".

When asked in 1965 if he had written songs, Jones replied: "Always tried. I've written quite a few, but mostly in blues style". Many years later after his death, Keith Richards stated: "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". Bill Wyman has stated that Jones was "an incredibly gifted musician, but not a song writer"; and in 1995 Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone that Jones had been jealous of the Jagger/Richards songwriting team, and added: "To be honest, Brian had no talent for writing songs. None. I've never known a guy with less talent for songwriting."

Marianne Faithful reported that Brian Jones wrote an early version of the melody for Ruby Tuesday and presented it to the group. Victor Bockris reported that Keith Richards and Brian Jones worked out the final melody in the studio.

He is credited (along with Keith Richards) for the instrumental piece; "Hear It", though it is generally considered Jones's work.

However, in 1966 Jones composed, produced and played on the soundtrack to Mord und Totschlag (English title: A Degree Of Murder), an avant-garde German film with Anita Pallenberg. Guitarist Jimmy Page is one of the musicians Jones hired to play on the soundtrack.

In 1990, Carla Olson was given permission from Jones's estate to put one of his poems to music and thus created the Jones/Olson song "Thank You For Being There". It appeared on the album True Voices, performed by Krysia Kristianne and Robin Williamson.

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