Don’t worry Mum, my hair is pretty long – but I’ve kept it tidy
As his fans rioted, lost letters reveal mild side of Rolling Stones wildman Brian Jones
HE WAS the wild man of The Rolling Stones – an out-of-control musician whose drink and drug abuse led to an untimely death.
Yet the pages of an intriguing letter, found in the loft of his parents’ old house in Cheltenham, show a very different side of Brian Jones – the middle-class boy who worried that his long hair might upset his parents.
Written in July 1963 while away with the band, Jones tells parents Lewis and Louisa that he’d like to visit but apologises in advance for his lengthy locks.
‘If it’s possible I would like to come to see you next Monday or Tuesday – but I warn you – my hair is pretty long although not untidy,’ he says.
Jones was just 21 at the time, six years before his controversial death in the swimming pool of his East Sussex home. But even then, the band seems to have known the importance of creating a brand.
‘We have created quite a stir – our publicity angles have been good – wild, off beat sort of thing (long hair etc),’ he writes.
‘We’ve had literally hundreds of write-ups in the papers up and down the country.’
The letters were found during work on a loft extension by the couple who bought the detached house from the Joneses 40 years ago. They were then sold for a five-figure sum to James Constantinou, star of the Channel 4 series Posh Pawn.
Jones – originally christened the un-hip Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones – also makes reference to another group that went on to become a global phenomenon – The Beatles.
He added: ‘PS, incidentally, I expect Barbara [his sister] likes The Beatles, they’ve been staying with us for a few days – we know them very well.’
The letter was written shortly after the Rolling Stones had released Come On and were about to start touring the UK with the Everly Brothers.
Jones, a founder member of the band, was kicked out as a result of his drug and alcohol problems in June 1969, just a month before his death.
Constantinou said he was delighted to receive the notes. He said: ‘They are amazing things to come across. This was a real find, they are a real insight into his life in the early days of The Rolling Stones.’