The Rolling Stones’ forgotten bassist – and the man who replaced Bill Wyman – is the subject of a new film, featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts
(Image credit: Photo by Paul Bergen/Redferns)
Darryl Jones: In The Blood is a new documentary about the life and career of Rolling Stones' bassist Darryl Jones. The film examines different aspects of his life: from race, music, and politics to growing up on the south side of Chicago.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood all feature, as does the late Charlie Watts in one of his last filmed interviews. “In a band you have to get on with everyone, really,” Watts says in the film. “And Darryl is one of those people who – he’s very easy to work with and very pleasant to be around.”
“He's one of the best bass players in the world,” says Keith Richards. “He played with Miles Davis for five years, and that’s no mean resume, you know?”
You can watch the trailer below (Keith Richards appears at 00:34).
After joining Miles Davis at the age of 21, Jones went on to play with Herbie Hancock, Sting, Peter Gabriel and Madonna, before eventually finding home as bassist for the Rolling Stones when Bill Wyman retired in 1993.
“It’s not an easy thing to replace someone who is a founding member of a band like the Stones,” Director Eric Hamburg said at a Q&A for the film in Santa Monica. “And yet Darryl was able to do it. I don’t know if they could have gone on for the last 30 years if they hadn’t had Darryl Jones playing with them."
“Hopefully not to sound too arrogant, but I’ve never really felt like a rookie with these guys,” says Jones. “When I played with them for the first time, I thought to myself, ‘that really felt good to me, and if it felt as good to them as it felt to me, I will hear from them again,’ and I did.”
(Image credit: Greenwich Entertainment)
According to Hamburg, there’s still a lot to learn from Jones. “I hope the film will inspire young people to pick up an instrument and play and write music,” the director said. “Darryl does not fit the clichés of rock stars. He’s not arrogant. He’s not on a big ego trip. He’s very humble. This is a movie about a very inspiring person."
In The Blood, the documentary on the life and career of bassist Darryl Jones, is out now via Amazon and Apple TV.
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Nick Wells was the Editor of Bass Guitar magazine from 2009 to 2011, before making strides into the world of Artist Relations with Sheldon Dingwall and Dingwall Guitars. He's also the producer of bass-centric documentaries, Walking the Changes and Beneath the Bassline, as well as Production Manager and Artist Liaison for ScottsBassLessons. In his free time, you'll find him jumping around his bedroom to Kool & The Gang while hammering the life out of his P-Bass.
