group’s portentous retort to
the Beatles’ "Summer of
Love" manifesto, Sgt.
Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club
Band. It also marked the last
time that the Stones would
blatantly shadow the Beatles
in a stylistic sense.
The year 1967 was an
eventful one for the Rolling
Stones. Not only did they
release three albums, but also
they were beset with legal
troubles stemming from a
string of drug busts
engineered by British
authorities wanting to make
an example of them. When
the dust cleared, Jagger,
Richards and Jones narrowly
escaped draconian prison
sentences. However, whereas
the ordeal seemed to
strengthen Jagger and
Richards’ resolve, ongoing
substance abuse was rapidly
causing Jones’ physical and
mental states to disintegrate.
He was only marginally
involved in sessions for
Beggar’s Banquet, the
Stones’ 1968 masterpiece,
and his departure due to
“musical differences” was
announced on June 9, 1969.
Less than a month later,
Jones was found dead in his
swimming pool, the official
cause being given as “death
by misadventure.”
His replacement was Mick
Taylor, an alumnus of John
Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, who
made his debut with the
Stones only days after Jones’
death at a free concert in
London’s Hyde Park. With a
crowd of more than 500,000,
the enormous outdoor concert
launched the Stones’ 1969
tour while also paying last
respects to Jones. By this
time, the Stones had returned
to definitive, hard-hitting
rock and roll. The string of
muscular Stones classics
from this period includes
“Jumpin' Jack Flash,” “Street
Fighting Man,” “Sympathy
for the Devil,” “Honky Tonk