Outside of diehards Brian seems to be generally forgotten. He's the modern founder of the 27 Club and yet its least known member. Whenever I see discussion pop up of Brian anywhere on the web, most of the talk devolves into his problems hitting women and his drug issues. Most people seem to think he contributed very little to the band and he has almost been relegated by your usual rock fan to just being slightly above a Pete Best-type figure. Like, it's commonly believed he played nothing on Beggar's Banquet when he played on 7 out of 10 songs. It's commonly believed One Plus One shows him nodding out when he's actually shown playing - just not heard because he's not on an open mic - he's not high in any scene of the film.

Why do you think his reputation and legacy have devolved into little more than that of a druggie and woman beater and what he added to the Stones has been generally overlooked by the public at large? Why are his personal demons so focused on when Keith, Ronnie, etc are given a free pass for their own drug addiction and issues?

Why do people seem to believe that he contributed much less than he actually did?

I'm genuinely curious, because it makes me sad. All people seem to want to remember was that he wasn't a "nice guy" and that he did a lot of drugs, but those two things didn't define him in totality and he wasn't high 24/7 from 1962 to 1969.

Why and when did his reputation and legacy take such a nosedive compared to that of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Syd - other 60s casualties?

stonedinaustralia wrote on Feb 25^th, 2018 at 8:57pm:


Where does he look wiped out to you? Also, his guitar isn't heard not because he's not micced up but because he's not an open mic. You also don't hear Bill's bass for the same reason. The camera is only capturing the sounds of the room, not the sounds of the individual mics. You can hear his acoustic toward the end of the film before it was mixed out. He is also in the very first scene of the film playing with Mick and Keith and having no issues playing.

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But look at Jimi or Janis or Jim Morrison - they're dead nearly as long. Only 2 years apart. And then compare their legacies to Brian's.

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But you say that's the high water mark of his career/contribution, I'd disagree. I mean what of Paint it Black? Street Fighting Man? Jumping Jack Flash? All of these are high water marks in the band's history and for which he contributed something. I mean, when people talk about Paint it Black, it's the sitar use that's most often mentioned. Street Fighting Man, where his sitar and tambura make an acoustic song sound electronic? Jumpin' Jack Flash - his image alone in the video seems to have inspired the modern "heroin chic" rocker look (even though he never did heroin, ironically).

Even less well known stuff like Lady Jane, where his dulcimer is what makes the song's melody or Ruby Tuesday (which he is generally said to have co-written musically) - his recorder and piano playing is the backbone of the song.

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I hate Mick and Keith sometimes for doing this. They did the same thing to Mick Taylor when Ladies & Gentlemen was officially released - mixed him much lower than he actually played. You hear Keith's meh rhythm over Mick's really inspired and exciting lead lines. It's fucking annoying.

Mick & Keith are two of the most ungrateful people in the music biz. They got lucky so many times and don't care to give credit where it's due. Brian helped make their music three dimensional. Taylor saved their asses. They could've been dead in the water after separating from Brian since he was one of the stars of the band - Taylor's talent saved them and allowed them to remain competitive into the 70s.

They should really just open the fucking vaults already to everything, promote all eras of the band equally and stop being bitter. They're old men. Brian died 49 years ago - let the animosity they hold for him still go - Taylor left 44 years ago - let that hurt go already.