Muslims, Satanists & Fools

So I’ve been on a Brian Jones kick, lately. I’m not a fan, yet. Just checking out the history of things on Wikipedia -- kind of like a kid browsing the encyclopedia on a rainy day. Anyway, I had no idea that the Stones’ “Sgt. Peppers” was so poorly received. Consummate business men that the Stones are, they didn’t find much success in their “psychedelic record,” so they quickly moved back to their blues roots. Good for us, since we'd soon get “Let It Bleed,” “Sticky Fingers,” and “Exile on Main St.” Still, I find “Their Satanic Majesties Request” both charming and imaginative.

I've always been a fan of “Like a Rainbow,” and my clicking and reading has turned up a host of Fun Facts about Brian Jones and this album. For example, John Paul Jones (the guy who was kicked out of Led Zeppelin in the 90’s -- or maybe just not asked to return) did the string arrangements on “Like a Rainbow.” Also my reading led me back to the Master Musicians of Joujouka.

I can't get away from these guys! They are a Sufi trance collective made famous in the west by Beat Generation writers and -- you guessed it -- Brian Jones. References to the Master Musicians of Joujouka keep popping up in my life these days, and I find it a very strange coincidence. Completely unrelated to my new found Brian Jones interest, I finally got around to reading “The Sheltering Sky” by Paul Bowles. It's a stunning novel about an American husband and wife vacationing in North Africa just after WWII. After I finished the novel, I checked out Paul Bowles on Wikipedia and, of course, he was a fan of the Master Musicians of Joujouka.

So it goes. I've been listening to this proto-Wu-Tang Clan for a few days now, and it's very cool trance music, but no hallucinations, yet.

But back to “Their Satanic Majesties Request.” Beyond “Like A Rainbow,” the record has that fresh yet dated feel of a lot of 60s experimental recordings. Kudos to the Stones for having the stones to do this. My copy of the record came with the singles bundled in, as well. This included a straight-up cover of “My Girl,” which is ordinary enough to be quite out of place amongst this heap of psychedelic trance ephemera. Maybe that's why I woke up this morning with that cover in my head. It's also interesting to me that the Stones covered “My Girl” shortly after it was written. Not unlike Prince covering “Best of You” at the Super Bowl.

So excuse the rambling, but the subject demands it. Some Googling can get you quickly into the Master Musicians of Joujouka's music. And you can probably find the Stones CD at Wal-Mart. And I got my copy of “The Sheltering Sky” used from Amazon. Of all three, Bowles' novel is the best executed. The Master Musicians are timeless. And “Their Satanic Majesties Request” is just the point of entry.