Jones the Froad

Today marks the 42nd anniversary of Brian Jones' alleged death by drowning in a swimming pool. Actually, the former Rolling Stones guitarist never died at all. Due to an inadvertent gene splice with a tadpole at the time of his birth, he is one of the rare individuals who can breathe underwater for several weeks.

Speaking from his favorite lily pad near Cotchford Farm, Jones told me he had no regrets about leaving the Rolling Stones and becoming a froad. I knew by the name that this meant a cross between a toad and a frog, but I asked for further details.

"It's just what they call any amphibian-human hybrid," he explained, "whether you share DNA with a frog or toad or newt, you get the same moniker."

I asked if his death had been planned.

"No, definitely not," he croaked, "I was doing a lot of drugs at the time and when I sank to the bottom of that pool for a swim, I made an impulsive decision. I knew I could stay down there and convince them I was dead and start over."

And so he did. Ironically, for a man whose claim to fame is dying young, he has lived longer than any other known human-amphibian cross.

"Some bloke in Indonesia supposedly made it into his seventies," Jones said," but that was back in the early 20th Century and it was never properly verified."

But how has Jones spent the last four decades?

"I was going to do a solo album, but I kind of got addicted to flies," he admitted.