| Marianne Faithfull: Brian
[Jones] was obsessed by his notion of a hybrid of Elizabethan lute music
and Delta blues and would hold forth on the essential similarities between
Elizabethan ballads and Robert Johnson.... Sitting on a stool in his great
white hat with scarves tied around the brim, Brian in his sheepish way
very softly played a folkish, nursery-rhyme melody on the recorder. It
was nothing more than a wispy tune, but it caught Keith's attention. He
cocked his head. "What's that... thing you just played, man. On the
recorder! Can ya do it again?" Brian came back into focus and played
the quavery, lilting tune again on the recorder. Perfectly. Beyond perfect!
"Yeah, nice, man," said Keith and went over to the piano to
bang it out. Brian was beaming. "It's a cross between Thomas Dowland's
'Air on the Late Lord Essex' and a Skip James blues, actually." Keith
was not interested in Lord Essex or Skip James for that matter. He had
heard a riff and went at it like a dog with a bone. For ages, "Ruby
Tuesday" had no lyrics, just this beautiful melody. It was very simple
and that's when Brian loved it most. Brian's recorder dominates that song.
It's a second vocal, a plaintive gull hovering over the song. It was Brian
and Keith's song. (2000: 88) |
