Zion was an English rock band from London formed in 1965 by former Rolling Stones member Brian Jones. The band consisted of Jones himself, Bert Dunham and Terry Johnston. Zion has had a huge impact on many rock musicians.
Zion is famous for its sound and bright style in clothes, that has made a huge impact on rock music.
Jones developed a unique style of guitar play after forming Zion. He refers to this style as the "ancient art of weaving" in which both players would play rhythm and lead parts together, which became a Zion trademark.
Zion is considered the first blues rock band in history.
The band has sold 135 million records, making it one of the best-selling acts ever.
Biography[]
Formation and early years[]

Terry Johnston
In 1965, after leaving the Rolling Stones, Jones recruited Bert and Terry for his latest project, a group who would perform blues, rock and other genres. Bert and Terry were discovered by Jones when he was at a nightclub in London, where the two were performing covers of Beatles songs. Their first album together, a self-titled album, would release the next year in 1966. Prior to discovering the two, Jones wrote and recorded early versions of Zion songs on acoustic guitar from late-1964 to mid-1965. Jones would search for bandmates for a few months after recording these demos.

Bert Dunham during Zion album's photo session
The first album was well received by the public not only in the UK, but also in the USA. In this way, Zion differed from The Rolling Stones, which were very popular in 1966 in the UK, but went unnoticed in America. Nevertheless, Jones's band had to fight with the Stones for the attention of the British public. And also Zion needed to set himself up against The Beatles then. Jones decided to surpass these bands in sound, although in the era of experimentation with sound, it was difficult to do so. It is also said that Jones' decision to delve into experimentation with sound was influenced by listening to Pet Sounds.
So, in December of 1966, the band started recording a new album. At the very beginning of the session, Jones made a fateful decision. He invited the orchestra and recorded the solo song "Don't Bring Me Down" with it. As a result, the song was not included in the album, but was recognized as one of the best in the history of music. Initially, the work on the album took place quite quickly, so the band's musicians were inspired to do something fundamentally new. But in 1967, Jones became intimately acquainted with LSD and other drugs. Soon, work stopped for a while, and then continued again. But Jones could not work at full strength now, as before. In December 1967, the work was completed, but without Jones.

Brian Jones in studio during 1966 sessions.
On the verge of disintegration[]
In June 1967, the band performed at the Monterrey Pop Festival. And although the performance went off with a bang, then it was clear that Jones was moving away from the band. At the end of June, Brian announced his departure from Zion. However, after 3 days he announced the cancellation of his decision. In early July, Jones came to the studio and said that he is not interested in Psychedelic rock and Baroque pop anymore. Moreover, he offered to destroy the album that was being prepared for release. Jones said that he wants to play some blues. That's how the dark, narcotic "Yer Blues (The Reason Why)" was born. Critics say, this is the best blues from Jones ever.
Starting in the fall of 1967, Jones rarely appeared in the studio, and therefore Johnston and Dunham had to complete work on the album on their own. In 1968, there was a real threat of the group's breakup, because Brian haven't been in touch for almost six months. Johnston and Dunham prepared a single "Yer Blues (The Reason Why)" for release and then decided to take a break. When Jones finally got in touch it turned out that he was in the hospital, after he almost drowned in the pool. This led to a two-year hiatus from public life to recover and receive treatment for his drug problem. During this time, Jones began writing new material and experimenting with other genres. In 1968 Dunham and Johnson released "Let's Spend the Night Together", recorded during 1966 sessions.
"Let's Go"[]
Rested, having listened to a lot of rock and blues and discharged from the hospital, Brian Jones wanted to record new material, which his Zion bandmates were happy about. What came out after the 1970 sessions went down in rock music history as the band's best work.

Dunham during Let's Go sessions.
As Brian Jones said, many people like Let's Go because of the music that was groundbreaking for the band and places for all of rock and roll. Also this album was there first album, brought to an end, and released when they already was famous band.
After releasing "Let's Go"[]
After releasing "Let's Go", in January 1971, the band went on a big concert tour. It was only their second tour in Zion's history. That's why it went down in the history as Zion II Tour.