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Topic: Wyman: Let's have performers who can play Return to archive
September 21st, 2004 10:15 PM
CS Wyman: Let's have performers who can play
By Caroline Harrap

Former Rolling Stones guitarist Bill Wyman is back touring again this autumn with his band, The Rhythm Kings. He spoke to Caroline Harrap about why he's enjoying life more than ever and how he's put his rock 'n' roll days behind him.

The Rolling Stones may have spent the last year or two playing the likes of Wembley Stadium, but their ex-bass player says he has no regrets about leaving the band. Quite frankly, at the age of 68, Bill Wyman prefers to take things a little easier these days. "I've played enough Wembley Stadiums to last me a lifetime," says Wyman, who left the group in 1993 after 31 years as their bass player. "It's just not something that interests me any more. I still see them all at family and social events, and we're still great mates.

"I'm very proud of all we achieved, but I've never regretted leaving the band; not for a moment."

Though he still keeps his hand in with his own group, The Rhythm Kings, who are touring again this autumn, he says his rock 'n' roll days are well and truly behind him now. These days, rather than living it up at some party, you are are far more likely to find him hunched over his computer working on a book - he's written four so far, including a hefty tome documenting the history of the Stones - or doing a bit of photography or painting.

And if he's not deeply immersed in research for his next literary project, then he'll be on the phone checking up on one of his business interests, such as his London restaurant, Sticky Fingers, or simply spending time with his young family. "I do all my work from home just because I don't like being away from them," admits Wyman, who has been happily married to his third wife, Suzanne Accosta, for 11 years. "We have three young daughters, who are nine, eight and six, and it's just a joy to be with them. Life is fantastic for me at the moment; I couldn't be happier."

It's all a far cry, however, from his days in the Stones, when family life was the last thing on his mind.

Born in London in 1936, he joined the Rolling Stones after replacing their original bassist in 1962. The band went on to achieve worldwide domination with such definitive anthems as It's All Over Now, Satisfaction and Let's Spend The Night Together, but were as famous, of course, for their decadent lifestyle as for their numerous hits.

The stories about their wild antics are legendary and while Wyman was always viewed as the quiet one of the band, he says it actually gave him the opportunity to get away with more. "We'd be at a press conference, in front of about 30 or 40 people, and while Mick (Jagger) was doing all the talking, me and Charlie (Watts) would be sitting there with a beer talking about where we were going on holiday," he says. "Being known as the quiet one meant I could get away with murder."

He says that of all the 'rock 'n' roll' things they got up to, the one thing that stands out in his mind is the time when he, singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Brian Jones were all arrested for urinating in public.

So looking back now, as a respectable father of four (he also has an older son, Stephen, from a previous marriage), can he believe he really did that? "I didn't do it to be rebellious," he retorts, "I did it out of necessity. There wasn't a toilet there!"

Be that as it may, he's the first one to admit that he was as much of a womaniser as the rest of the band. And he reveals that he had a crafty trick for ensuring that he snared all the best babes. "When we were on stage, I'd hold the bass guitar up to my face, so the others couldn't see, and then mouth my hotel room number to a girl in the crowd," he says. "I'd be standing there mouthing '43' - and then I'd have a friend for the night to pass the time with."

Even in later years, Wyman's love life continued to make headline material, in particular, his marriage to teenage Mandy Smith, when she was 19 and he was 53.

He is quick to point out, however, that he is a reformed character these days, and quite the devoted family man. "One of the main reasons I left the Stones was to have a proper personal life," he says. "When I first left the band, I gave up music altogether for a couple of years, got married and had my wonderful daughters . . . It takes a lot to pull me away from home now."

He does venture out of hiding once a year, however, for an autumn tour with The Rhythm Kings - the group he formed in 1996 after leaving the Stones. The band plays a mixture of jazz and blues - the music that first inspired Wyman to pick up a bass guitar - and with their impressive line-up of top musicians, which includes such venerable names as Albert Lee (guitar and vocals), Beverley Skeete (lead vocals) and Mike Sanchez (electric piano and vocals), they have gathered a devoted following.

"After the Stones, I knew I wanted to do music again but I wanted it to be something different," says Wyman, who also had a solo hit in 1981 with Je Suis A Rock Star. "So I just got together a bunch of mates and it all went from there. The great thing about it is that we do a whole variety of music - from the 1920s to the seventies and eighties. We do everything from Louis Armstrong to Nat King Cole to J.J. Cale to Credence Clearwater to Billy Holiday.

"It's not something that earns me any money; I do it for the love of it. We have a great time and so do the audiences."

The band has recently returned from a European tour of 12 countries and a series of festivals that saw them playing to crowds of 8,000 to 10,000 people.

He says he is reluctant, however, for the whole thing to get any bigger. "We keep getting offers to do other things, you know, like going to the States and Japan," says Wyman. "I want to keep a lid on it, though, because I don't want it to become some sort of version of the Stones. The whole thing is just such good fun, and I think people who haven't seen us before will be shocked at the quality of the music."

Meanwhile, he is critical of the modern music scene in Britain, complaining that the emphasis is all on becoming a star rather than being a good musician. "The industry is filled with people who haven't got the slightest desire to pick up a guitar or write a song," says Wyman. "Let them try and become a footballer without talent and it doesn't work. In the pop world, though, they can be hyped. It doesn't do the industry any good at all."

He does make some concessions to modern music, however, citing his own favourites as Redhill's very own Katie Melua, singer Joss Stone and jazz sensation Jamie Cullum.

As for his own music career, he says he's happy to continue playing with the Rhythm Kings for as long as people want to listen. "The band is so popular now, there's no reason to stop," he says. "I get back to my hotel room after a gig feeling really good and that's what music should be all about - escaping from the drudgery of everyday life. When it stops being a pleasure, I'll give up but, for now, I'm having fun.

"It's not a career for me any more, that's the beauty of it."

* Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings play Fairfield, Croydon, on Friday October 22 (box office: 0208 688 9291) and the Dorking Halls on Wednesday October 27 (box office: 01306 881717).
September 22nd, 2004 08:46 AM
FotiniD
quote:
CS wrote:
"We keep getting offers to do other things, you know, like going to the States and Japan," says Wyman. "I want to keep a lid on it, though, because I don't want it to become some sort of version of the Stones."



I wouldn't worry too much about that if I were you Billy lol

I mean, the guy's a great bass player, but heck! How do you leave the Stones and go on boasting about how you never regretted it, not for a single moment?

Weird.
September 22nd, 2004 09:45 AM
F505 This thread is certainly milked out.....
September 22nd, 2004 10:12 AM
FotiniD
quote:
F505 wrote:
This thread is certainly milked out.....



I see what you mean, but that Bill comment just couldn't get away with it
September 22nd, 2004 09:38 PM
Soldatti I'm so tired of Bill's talking, he always is saying the same.
September 23rd, 2004 01:24 AM
corgi37 At least he isnt bagging the hell out of the Stones like he usually does.
September 23rd, 2004 09:38 PM
Soldatti
quote:
corgi37 wrote:
At least he isnt bagging the hell out of the Stones like he usually does.



Wait the next interview...
September 23rd, 2004 09:41 PM
Steel Wheels Bill is so over, he's over.