Editing Brian Jones (section)

===Legal issues and departure from the Rolling Stones===
Jones was arrested a second time on 21 May 1968 for possession of cannabis, which he said had been left by previous tenants of the flat. Because he was on [[probation]] at the time, he faced a long jail sentence if found guilty. The jury found him guilty, but the judge had sympathy for Jones; instead of jailing him, he fined him £50 ({{Inflation|UK|50|1968|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}) plus £105 in costs ({{Inflation|UK|105|1968|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}{{Inflation-fn |UK |df=y}}) and told him: "For goodness' sake, don't get into trouble again or it really ''will'' be serious."{{sfn|Wyman|Havers|2002|p=311}}

Jones's legal troubles, estrangement from his bandmates, substance abuse, and mood swings became too much of an obstacle to his active participation in the band. The Rolling Stones wanted to tour the United States in 1969 for the first time in three years, but Jones was not in a fit condition to tour, and his second arrest exacerbated problems with acquiring a US [[work visa]]. In addition, Jones's attendance at rehearsals and recording sessions had become erratic. When he did appear he either rarely contributed anything musically or, when he did, his bandmates would switch off his amplifier, leaving Richards to play nearly all the guitars. According to author Gary Herman, Jones was "literally incapable of making music; when he tried to play harmonica, his mouth started bleeding".<ref>Herman, Gary (1982) ''Rock 'N' Roll Babylon''. Norfolk: Fakenham Press. p. 44.{{ISBN|978-0-85965-041-0}}</ref>

This behaviour was problematic during the ''Their Satanic Majesties Request'' and ''Beggar's Banquet'' sessions and had worsened by the time the band began recording ''[[Let It Bleed]]''. In March 1969, Jones borrowed the group's [[Jaguar Cars|Jaguar]] and went shopping in Pimlico Road. After the parked car was towed away by police, Jones hired a chauffeur-driven car to get home. In May 1969, Jones crashed his motorcycle into a shop window and was secretly taken to hospital under an assumed name. From this point, he was still attending recording sessions but was no longer a major contributor to the band's music.{{sfn|Wyman|Havers|2002|p=323}} By May, he had made two contributions to the work in progress: [[autoharp]] on "[[You Got the Silver]]" and percussion on "[[Midnight Rambler]]". Jagger informed Jones that he would be fired from the band if he did not turn up to a photo session. Looking frail, he nonetheless showed up, and his last photo session as a Rolling Stone took place on 21 May 1969, first at [[St. Katherine Docks]], [[Tower Bridge]], London, and then at [[Ethan Russell]]'s photographic studio in [[South Kensington]]. The photos would appear on the album ''[[Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)]]'' in September 1969.{{sfn|Wyman|Havers|2002|p=344}}

The Stones decided that following the release of the ''Let it Bleed'' album (scheduled for July 1969 in the US), they would start a tour of North America in November 1969. However, the Stones' management was informed that Jones would not receive a work permit owing to his drug convictions. At the suggestion of Stewart, the Stones decided to add a new guitarist. On 8 June 1969, Jones was visited by Jagger, Richards and Watts and was told that the group he had formed would continue without him.{{sfn|Wyman|Havers|2002|pp=324–326}}

To the public it appeared as if Jones had left voluntarily; the other band members told him that although he was being dismissed, it was his choice how to break it to the public. Jones released a statement on 9 June 1969, announcing his departure. In this statement, he said, among other things, that "I no longer see eye-to-eye with the others over the discs we are cutting."{{sfn|Wyman|Havers|2002|p=326}} He was replaced by the 20-year-old guitarist [[Mick Taylor]], formerly of [[John Mayall's Bluesbreakers]].

During the period of his decreasing involvement in the band, Jones was living at [[Cotchford Farm]] in East Sussex, the residence formerly owned by ''[[Winnie-the-Pooh]]'' author [[A. A. Milne]],<ref name="teleg2012">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/9258085/The-rock-n-roll-house-at-Pooh-corner.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513014817/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/9258085/The-rock-n-roll-house-at-Pooh-corner.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 May 2012 |title=The rock 'n' roll house at Pooh corner |first=Christopher |last=Middleton| date=12 May 2012 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=23 August 2012}}</ref> which Jones had purchased in November 1968. [[Alexis Korner]], who visited in late June, noted that Jones seemed "happier than he had ever been".{{sfn|Wyman|Havers|2002|p=329}} Jones is known to have contacted Korner, Stewart, [[John Lennon]], [[Mitch Mitchell]], [[Alan Price]], and [[Jimmy Miller (producer)|Jimmy Miller]] about intentions to put together another band. Jones had apparently demoed a few of his own songs in the weeks before his death, including "Has Anybody Seen My Baby?" and "Chow Time".<ref name="aeppli.ch">{{cite web |url=http://aeppli.ch/TUG08/CDJonesUp.pdf |title=The Pipes of Pan |publisher=Aeppli.ch |access-date=7 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004221747/http://aeppli.ch/TUG08/CDJonesUp.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>