Brian was critical in the formation and development of the Stones. He put the group together. He was a multi instrumental savant. He seemed to be able to pick up any instrument and make it sing. This added a great deal of interest to the early Stones blues cover status. This helped Mick and Kieth by allowing them to grow as writters at the same time enjoyed finacial success as preformers. The success with original material would have never been possible if the band had fizzled out at the cover band stage of development. Brian helped them grow as a band and that made time for the Jagger/ Richards juggernaught to evolve. Like so many, smack first took his tallents and then his life.