Happy B-day Brian!

Today, had he not passed away in 1969, founding Rolling Stone and original rhythm guitarist Brian Jones would be 70 years old. Original member Bill Wyman stated about Jones: "...he formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs ... Very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it - highly intelligent - and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away."

Here's footage of the Stones playing on Ed Sullivan, with Brian on sitar, playing one of their most classic tunes:

From what I can tell, the Stones lost something that could never be replaced (2 rhythm guitarists later)! Maybe it was an attitude, or an impishness, or a talent for playing multiple instruments. Brian was definitely the equivalent of George Harrison in the band...the "dark horse" if you will. Like George, Brian was a guy overshadowed by the two main song-writers/front-men. He was also the one that nobody realized was as important to the band as he was until he was gone.