Brian Jones - by Paul Trynka (Paperback)

About the Book

"First published in Great Britain as Sympathy of the Devil: The Birth of the Rolling Stones and the Death of Brian Jones by Bantam Press."

Book Synopsis

"Should be unfailingly interesting to any Stones fan."--Larry Rhoter, New York Times

The Rolling Stones' rise to fame is one of rock 'n' roll's epic stories. Yet one crucial part of that story has never been fully told: the role of Brian Jones, the visionary who founded the band and meticulously controlled their early sound, only to be dethroned by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Tormented by paranoia and drug problems, Jones drowned at the age of twenty-seven. Drawing on new information and interviews with Richards, Andrew Oldham, and Marianne Faithfull, among dozens of others, Brian Jones lays bare the Rolling Stones' full story, in all its glory and squalor.

Review Quotes

"Brian Jones . . . is revisionist history of the best kind--scrupulously researched and cogently argued--and should be unfailingly interesting to any Stones fan "
--Larry Rohter, New York Times

"Brian Jones . . . is the first serious, thoroughly reported biography of the ill-fated Stone, with extensive new research into Jones' privileged but difficult childhood and his transformation by the exotic language and vitality of American blues."
--RollingStone.com

"[A] thoughtful, thorough bio based on lots of new interviews that shed light on his neglected life and controversial death"
--Hollywood Reporter (Top 10 Music Books of 2014)

"In all, this is a must-read for Stones fans. If as the years continue to go by and Brian Jones becomes more and more a mere player in the tale he created, this book should bring him back into the position he belongs."
--Glide Magazine

"Paul Trynka gives us a balanced and compassionate portrait of a guy who has been slagged off and diminished a lot in Rolling Stones history. The fact is there would have been no Rolling Stones without him. He at least deserves some respect for that. Brian Jones: The Making of The Rolling Stones delivers it."
--Mike Segretto, Psychobabble

"Trynka has forged what may be the last great Stones book."
--Kris Needs, Shindig Magazine

"Magnificent and controversial . . . a monumental book"
--Paul Gleason, Stereo Embers magazine

"Impeccably researched, it will overturn all you've been spoon-fed by 'the victors'."
--Ian Fortnam, Classsic Rock

"A fantastic piece of work, and a great counter balance to Mick and Keith's revisionist history."
-- James Marshall

"An impressive undertaking and a consistently interesting read. Stones fans owe it to themselves to get a new perspective on [this] anti-hero."
--Jake G Rascoff, Dartmouth Review

"Paul Trynka―as he did in his biographies of David Bowie and Iggy Pop―does a masterful job in presenting a life that had a profound effect upon kids on both sides of the Atlantic. "
--Mike Greenblatt, The Aquarian

"A great, cautionary tale"
--George Byrne, Irish Independent

"Thorough and well researched"
--Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday

"Fascinating . . . wonderful at evoking that very non-modern age of the 50s and 60s"
--Mark Blake, Mojo

"By many accounts, Brian Jones was the visionary of the Rolling Stones, though he gets little of the credit. Paul Trynka puts the multi-instrumentalist at the forefront in Brian Jones."
--Publishers Weekly

"A lively biography of the enigmatic founder of the Rolling Stones, who was dethroned and died just as the band approached its artistic peak . . . .Trynka's portrait is that of a young man determined to get what he wanted, flaunting conventions and consequences and exhibiting little conscience as he cemented his ambition to become a professional musician . . . . An intimate portrait of the multifaceted and beguiling Jones, who forever changed popular music and culture."
--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Paul Trynka is a respected music writer known both for his groundbreaking role as editor of MOJO magazine and as author of Starman and Open Up and Bleed, biographies of David Bowie and Iggy Pop, respectively, which attracted laudatory reviews worldwide. Portrait of the Blues, his collection of oral histories with more than sixty blues musicians (in collaboration with photographer Val Wilmer), is regarded as a landmark work. Paul was also editor of the widely respected International Musician magazine and founding editor of the Guitar Magazine, for which he first interviewed Keith Richards more than twenty years ago. Paul lives with his wife, Lucy, and son, Curtis, in Greenwich, London, just down the road from Mick and Keith's old stomping ground of Dartford.