Bill Wyman

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Bill Wyman (2009)

Bill Wyman (* 24. October 1936 as William George Perks in Penge , London , UK ) is an English musician. From 1962 until his departure in 1993 he was bassist for the British rock band Rolling Stones .

Musical career

Wyman in 1965
As the bass player for the Rolling Stones (1975)

During his military service (1955-1958) with the Royal Air Force at the Lower Saxony Air Base Oldenburg , Bill Wyman often listened to radio stations that played music specifically for the US soldiers stationed in Germany. This sparked his passion for blues and rock and roll . Together with Casey Jones , he founded a skiffle band in the fall of 1957 . After his return to England and into middle-class life - with jobs in a butcher's shop and in electronics retail - he became a member of the Cliftons, a rock and roll and skiffle band, in 1961. In December 1962 he became a bass player for the Rolling Stones. Although he also composed songs, In Another Land and Downtown Suzie , which he also sang, remained his only songs that were released on Rolling Stones albums ( Their Satanic Majesties Request and Metamorphosis ) . In Another Land also appeared as a single under his name in the US.

Wyman learned self-taught several instruments such as zither , guitar , vibraphone , glockenspiel , piano , synthesizer -Orgel, percussion and cello . He also sang in the background on the early Rolling Stones recordings and in the studio. His close rhythmic interaction with the drummer Charlie Watts was especially admired on stage. On the US tour in 1975 Bill Wyman played synthesizers on stage in the piece Fingerprint File , while guitarist Ron Wood switched to electric bass . A recording of this piece from a concert in Toronto can be heard on the album Love You Live .

With Charlie Watts, Eric Clapton , Ian Stewart and Steve Winwood , Wyman accompanied Howlin 'Wolf in 1970 ; to be heard on the LP The London Howlin 'Wolf Sessions . In 1972 he played electric bass for Stephen Stills on his album Manassas .

1974 Bill Wyman released his first solo album Monkey Grip; Stone Alone followed in 1976 and Bill Wyman in 1982 . With (Si, Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star , Bill Wyman made it into the international charts in 1982. On the album of the same name, released in 1985 with the band Willie and the Poor Boys , Bill was supported by numerous friends such as Jimmy Page and Charlie Watts.

In 1992 Wyman announced that he was leaving the Rolling Stones, but this announcement was not taken seriously by his colleagues, but Wyman left the band in 1993.

Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings in Middelburg (2009)

It wasn't until 1997 that he returned to rock music. With a few famous colleagues like Chris Rea , Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor , Albert Lee , Georgie Fame , Peter Frampton and Gary Brooker , he recorded songs under the band name Rhythm Kings, starting with the second album Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings . The diverse material included jazz , swing , blues and rock . The first album, Struttin 'Our Stuff , was released in October 1997. The album was not particularly successful; the two following albums (Anyway the Wind Blows in February 1999 and Groovin ' in May 2000) received more attention. The band's concerts got very good reviews; consequently also live albums appeared under the title Bootleg Kings . In May 2001 the fourth album followed, the double CD Double Bill . This album placed in the English charts. Just for a Thrill was released in May 2004.

In an interview during the tour in 2002 he announced that this would be his last tour, as he wanted to devote himself entirely to his family in the future. His dream, however, is another appearance with the Rolling Stones.

In addition to his own music, Bill Wyman also deals with traditional blues music . To this end, he published Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey , a story of the blues, which was released as a book (2001), CD and DVD (2004).

In 2011 he had resumed music with the Rolling Stones for almost 20 years when he worked with them on a cover version of the Bob Dylan song Watching the River Flow for Ben Waters ' album Boogie 4 Stu . Wyman, Jagger, Richards, Watts and Wood weren't in the studio together for the recording.

At two concerts in London's O2 Arena for the 50th anniversary of the band in November 2012, Wyman and Mick Taylor performed some songs with the rest of the Rolling Stones. Wyman played bass on Honky Tonk Women and It's Only Rock 'n' Roll . Since he was disappointed with the guest appearance that was too short for him, he declined, unlike Mick Taylor, to participate in further appearances.

Private

In 1989

Bill Wyman married his then girlfriend Diane on October 24, 1959. Their son Stephen was born on March 29, 1962. After separating from Diane, he dated Astrid Lundström from Sweden for 16 years from 1967. In 1989 he married the British singer Mandy Smith , a model. The relationship attracted a lot of attention because the 33-year-old girl was already with him when she was 14. She was 19 at the wedding and his adult son acted as best man. The marriage ended in divorce two years later, after which Wyman married a longtime friend.

His son Stephen Wyman then married Patsy Smith in 1993, the 46-year-old mother of Bill's ex-wife Mandy Smith. Stephen was 30 years old at the time. So Bill became not only the father-in-law of his ex-mother-in-law, but also the step-grandfather of his ex-wife.

In addition to his work as a musician, Bill Wyman was also involved in an organization that had set itself the task of combating the nervous disease multiple sclerosis . Against this background, three concerts in the Royal Albert Hall in London took place in 1983 , in which Steve Winwood, Jeff Beck , Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page were among others . With a different line-up, Bill Wyman gave nine more concerts in the USA .

On May 9, 1989, Bill Wyman opened the Sticky Fingers Café in London , a restaurant in the style of the hard rock café chain. In England he opened two more Sticky Fingers restaurants and began writing his autobiography .

In March 2016, his spokesman said Bill Wyman had early-stage prostate cancer .

Bill Wyman as a book author

He published a book about the works of his friend Marc Chagall , whom he met in 1971 during the Rolling Stones “exile” in southern France.

Since Bill Wyman kept detailed diaries from the beginning and archived a lot of other material, he was able to access very extensive documentation for his memory book Stone Alone , in which he tells the story of the Rolling Stones up to the concert in London's Hyde Park in July 1969 To fall back on. It only briefly describes the further development of the band up to the late 1980s. In addition to the detailed descriptions of everyday life as a band in the 1960s, Wyman also reports on his promiscuous life. In addition, he highlights his creative contributions to the songs of the Rolling Stones, taking the idea for the riffs of the classics Paint It Black and Jumpin 'Jack Flash for himself. He expresses his bitterness that he was never financially involved for his contributions.

In 2001, in collaboration with Richard Havers, the 400-page reference work BLUES - History, Styles, Musicians, Songs & Recordings , a comprehensive representation of the history of the blues with over 700 photos, historical documents, record covers and labels, was published from his meticulously maintained private archive .

In October 2002 his opulent illustrated book Bill Wyman's Rolling Stones Story was published with over 3000 pictures, letters, pictures of old tickets, posters and all sorts of other things, also from his private archive; a lavish bundle that traces the history of the Rolling Stones from the first gigs to the present day.

Discography

Solo albums

  • 1974: Monkey Grip
  • 1976: Stone Alone
  • 1982: Bill Wyman
  • 1992: Stuff
  • 2015: Back to Basics
  • 2016: 80th Birthday Gala
Solo albums - Expanded Edition

In 2006 and 2007, the first four of the above solo albums were re -released by Sanctuary Records . The covers have been revised compared to the original publications and show a cigarette-smoking Bill Wyman in addition to a reduced image of the respective original cover. The re-releases are called The Bill Wyman Solo Collection - Expanded Edition; there are several bonus tracks, mostly single edits or single mixes, and all tracks are digitally remastered .

Willie and the Poor Boys

  • 1985: Willie and the Poor Boys
  • 1992: Tear It Up: Live
  • 2006: Poor Boy Boogie - The Willie and the Poor Boys Anthology (double CD, contains the two albums Willie and the Poor Boys and Tear It Up: Live)

Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings

  • 1997: Struttin 'Our Stuff
  • 1999: Anyway the Wind Blows
  • 2000: Groovin '
  • 2001: Double Bill (double CD)
  • 2004: Just for a Thrill
  • 2004: Struttin 'Our Stuff - Live in Concert ( Hybrid-SACD , Inakustik)

Bootleg Kings

  • 1998: Live in Europe
  • 2000: Ride Again
  • 2001: Travelin 'Band
  • 2002: On the Road Again

Compilations

  • 2001: The Bill Wyman Compendium: Complete Solo Recordings (double CD)
  • 2006: A Stone Alone - Solo Anthology (double CD. CD 1: Bill Wyman's solo albums, CD 2: Bill Wyman as Willie and the Poor Boys and with the Bootleg Kings)
  • 2006: Jump Jive And Wail - The Very Best of Bill Wyman's Bootleg Kings (double CD)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine: Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman has cancer , accessed on March 8, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Wyman, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES William Perks (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English bass player, member of the Rolling Stones
DATE OF BIRTH October 24, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Penge , Kent , England