Brian Jones

Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was born 28 February 1942 in England. He started as a slide guitarist and founded the Rolling Stones as a British blues outfit in 1962, naming the band himself. As Keith Richards and Mick Jagger became a successful songwriting team, they began steering the group's direction, and Jones's role shrank. He played a wide variety of instruments on recordings and sang backing vocals, but alcohol and drug problems made him increasingly unreliable in the studio. In June 1969, the Rolling Stones dismissed him; guitarist Mick Taylor replaced him. Less than a month later, on 3 Jul…