In this definitive biography of Brian Jones, Laura Jackson - the first to insist that Jones was murdered and the first to identify his killer - rejects the stereotype of a narcissistic rock star who was doomed to self-destruct. Instead, she spoke to the people who knew him best: his family and friends, girlfriends and confidantes, the musicians and friends who lived and worked with him right up until his death in 1969. Jones emerges as a man of immense talent, energy and humour, but crippled by insecurities and shyness - a portrayal greatly at odds with the sordid rumours that plagued him throughout his life, which continue to this day. Jackson provides new testimony on the rivalries within the Rolling Stones and the bitter final split, together with telling details from the pathology and coroner's reports, to tell the story behind the headlines and get to the heart of the mysterious death of Brian Jones.

A limited edition book about Brian Jones and the Rolling Stones in the 1960's.

"Why does God allow bad things to happen?" This book is Jones's response to that question. Like a good friend, Brian comes alongside those seeking help in trials of life to help them find meaning and strength.

"First published in Great Britain as Sympathy for the Devil: the birth of the Rolling Stones and the death of Brian Jones, by Bantam Press"--Title page verso.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • For the first time ever—a comprehensive biography of one of the twentieth century’s most innovative creative artists: the incomparable, irreplaceable Jim Henson He was a gentle dreamer whose genial bearded visage was recognized around the world, but most people got to know him only through the iconic characters born of his fertile imagination: Kermit the Frog, Bert and Ernie, Miss Piggy, Big Bird. The Muppets made Jim Henson a household name, but they were just part of his remarkable story. This extraordinary biography—written with the generous cooperation of the Henson family—covers the full arc of Henson’s all-too-brief life: from his childhood in Leland, Mississippi, through the years of burgeoning fame in America, to the decade of international celebrity that preceded his untimely death at age fifty-three. Drawing on hundreds of hours of new interviews with Henson's family, friends, and closest collaborators, as well as unprecedented access to private family and company archives, Brian Jay Jones explores the creation of the Muppets, Henson’s contributions to Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live, and his nearly ten-year campaign to bring The Muppet Show to television. Jones provides the imaginative context for Henson’s non-Muppet projects, including the richly imagined worlds of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth—as well as fascinating misfires like Henson’s dream of opening an inflatable psychedelic nightclub. An uncommonly intimate portrait, Jim Henson captures all the facets of this American original: the master craftsman who revolutionized the presentation of puppets on television, the savvy businessman whose dealmaking prowess won him a reputation as “the new Walt Disney,” and the creative team leader whose collaborative ethos earned him the undying loyalty of everyone who worked for him. Here also is insight into Henson’s intensely private personal life: his Christian Science upbringing, his love of fast cars and expensive art, and his weakness for women. Though an optimist by nature, Henson was haunted by the notion that he would not have time to do all the things he wanted to do in life—a fear that his heartbreaking final hours would prove all too well founded. An up-close look at the charmed life of a legend, Jim Henson gives the full measure to a man whose joyful genius transcended age, language, geography, and culture—and continues to beguile audiences worldwide. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BOOKPAGE “Jim Henson vibrantly delves into the magnificent man and his Muppet methods: It’s an absolute must-read!”—Neil Patrick Harris “An exhaustive work that is never exhausting, a credit both to Jones’s brisk style and to Henson’s exceptional life.”—The New York Times “[A] sweeping portrait that is a mix of humor, mirth and poignancy.”—Washington Independent Review of Books “A meticulously researched tome chock-full of gems about the Muppets and the most thorough portrait of their creator ever crafted.”—Associated Press

Brian Jones, rock'n'roll godstar, founder member of the Rolling Stones, the murdered androgyne whose fragile psyche was ultimately broken by an industry which, nonetheless, provided him with the means to luxuriate in the bizarre and unorthodox. Jones's alcohol and drugs excesses, his tormented and often psychotic states, his dandified propensity to cross-dress, his love of literature, privileged background and refined speaking voice all placed him in the decadent tradition, the last of a rarefied aesthete's lineage. His tragic murder at the age of twenty-seven further substantiated his place in the Byronic legend of the chosen one who dies young. In The Last Decadent, author Jeremy Reed locates in Jones's obsessive fantasy world a terrain firmly aligned with the opium visions of Charles Baudelaire, the sartorial extravagance of Oscar Wilde, the sybaritic indulgences of Count Stenbock. Reed vividly recolours Brian Jones's brief, but incandescent and extraordinarily subversive life amidst the pop and fashion whirlwind of the Sixties, and in doing so presents perhaps the most illuminating and evocative portrait yet written of a fallen rock'n'roll angel.

Brian Jones has been hailed as one of the truly influential pioneers of modern music. As a founder of the Rolling Stones, Brian's music style and personality made him a star. But his arrest on drugs charges in 1967 sent him into a drink-and-drugs fuelled depression and his life slipped out of control. It was then that he met Anna Wohlin. He pursued her relentlessly, and they fell in love. How could they have guessed that a trivial domestic dispute would result in the most puzzling death in rock 'n' roll history? Anna was a witness on that tragic summer evening. In this book, she breaks her silence to tell the truth about July 3, 1969—the night Brian Jones was killed.