Bill Wyman
| Bill Wyman | |
|---|---|
 Wyman with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings Middelburg, January 2009 Photo: Jacco Barth | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | William George Perks |
| Also known as | Lee Wyman |
| Born | 24 October 1936 Lewisham, London England United Kingdom |
| Genres | Rock and roll, R&B, swing, jazz, blues, skiffle |
| Occupations | Musician, composer, author, record producer, film producer, bandleader, photographer, inventor |
| Instruments | Upright bass, electric bass, keyboards, piano, guitar, percussion, vocals |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Labels | Velvel, Koch International, Rolling Stones, BMG |
| Associated acts | The Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Wilie & the Poor Boys, The Cliftons |
| Website | billwyman.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Framus Star Bass Vox Teardrop bass Fender Mustang Bass Ampeg Dan Armstrong | |
Bill Wyman (born William George Perks; 24 October 1936) is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band The Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. He has worked producing both records and film, and has scored music for film in movies and television.
Wyman has kept a journal since he was a child after World War II. It has been useful to him as an author who has written seven books, selling two million copies. Wyman's love of art has additionally led to his proficiency in photography and his photographs have hung in galleries around the world.[1] Wyman's lack of funds in his early years led him to create and build his own fretless bass guitar. He became an amateur archaeologist and enjoys relic hunting; The Times published a letter about his hobby (Friday 2 March 2007). He designed and markets a patented Bill Wyman signature metal detector, which he has used to find relics dating back to era of the Roman Empire in the English countryside. As a businessman, he owns several establishments including the famous Sticky Fingers Café, a rock & roll-themed bistro serving American cuisine first opened in 1989 in the Kensington area of London and later, two additional locations in Cambridge and Manchester, England.
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[edit] Early life
Bill Wyman was born in Lewisham Hospital in Lewisham, South London, the son of William Perks, a bricklayer, and his wife, Molly. One of five children, Wyman spent most of his early life living in a terraced house in one of the roughest streets in Sydenham, southeast London. He describes his childhood as "scarred by poverty".[2]
He attended Beckenham and Penge Grammar School from 1947 to Easter 1953, leaving before the GCE exams after his father found him a job working for a bookmaker and insisted that he take it.
[edit] Music career
Wyman took piano lessons from age 10 to 13. A year after his marriage on 24 October 1959 to Diane Cory, an 18-year-old bank clerk, he bought a Burns electric guitar for £52 on hire-purchase, but was not satisfied by his progress.[3] After hearing a bass guitar at The Barron Knights' concert, he fell in love with the sound of it and decided this was his instrument. He created what may have been the first fretless electric bass[4] by removing the frets from a bass guitar he was reworking, and played this in a south London band, The Cliftons. He used the stage name Lee (later Bill) Wyman, taking the surname of a friend with whom he had done National Service in the Royal Air Force from 1955 to 1957.[5]
[edit] The Rolling Stones
When drummer Tony Chapman told him that a rhythm and blues band called The Rolling Stones needed a bass player, he auditioned and was hired on 7 December 1962 as a successor to Dick Taylor. The band were impressed by his instrument and amplifiers (one of which Wyman built himself), but because he was married, employed, and older, Wyman remained an outsider.[6]
In addition to playing bass, Wyman frequently sang harmony on early records, and through 1967 in concert as well. He sang lead vocals on the track "In Another Land", on the Their Satanic Majesties Request album and a single. The song is one of two Wyman compositions released by the Rolling Stones; the second is "Downtown Suzie" (sung by Mick Jagger), on Metamorphosis, a collection of Rolling Stones outtakes. The title "Downtown Suzie" was chosen by the Rolling Stones' erstwhile manager Allen Klein without consulting Wyman or the band. The original title was "Sweet Lyle Lucy", named after Lyle Street, a street in the red light district in Soho, London.
Wyman kept a journal throughout his life, beginning when he was a child, and used it in writing his 1990 autobiography Stone Alone and his 2002 book Rolling with the Stones. In Stone Alone, Wyman claims to have composed the riff of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" with Brian Jones and drummer Charlie Watts. Wyman mentions that "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" was released as a single only after a 3-2 vote within the band: Wyman, Watts and Jones voted for, Jagger and Richards against, feeling it not sufficiently commercial. By the 1970s, Wyman, tired of the monopolisation of songwriting and production by Jagger and Richards,[citation needed] began solo projects. In the 1970s and early 80s he made three solo albums, none commercially very successful but all well received by critics.[citation needed] In July 1981 his "(Si, Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star" became a top-20 hit in many countries.[7]
Wyman also played on The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, released 1971, with Howlin' Wolf, Eric Clapton, Charlie Watts and Stevie Winwood, and on the album Jamming with Edward, released in 1972, with Ry Cooder, Nicky Hopkins, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts.
Wyman composed the score of the 1981 Ryan O'Neal-Omar Sharif film Green Ice; and in the mid-80s, he composed music for two films by Italian director Dario Argento: Phenomena (1985) and Terror at the Opera (1987). He made a cameo appearance in the 1987 film Eat the Rich. He produced and managed the group Tucky Buzzard.
Wyman was close to Brian Jones; he and Watts were the only members at Jones' funeral in July 1969. Wyman was also friends with guitarist Mick Taylor. Like the Rolling Stones he has worked with Taylor after Taylor's departure from the band.
After the Rolling Stones' 1989-90 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle tours, Wyman left the band; his decision was announced in December 1992.[8] The Rolling Stones have continued to record and tour with Darryl Jones on bass.
[edit] Recent activity
Wyman continues to tour with The Rhythm Kings, which has featured such musicians as Martin Taylor,[9] Albert Lee, Gary Brooker, Terry Taylor (formerly with Tucky Buzzard), Mike Sanchez and Georgie Fame. Following his 70th birthday in October 2006, Wyman undertook another British tour.
On 10 December 2007, Wyman and his band appeared alongside a reunited Led Zeppelin at the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at The O2 in London.
Wyman was a judge for the 5th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.[10]
In 2009, ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor was invited as a guest performer with Wyman's Rhythm Kings.
On 25 October 2009, Wyman performed a reunion show with Faces, filling in for the late Ronnie Lane as he had previously done in 1986 and 1993.[11][12]
On 19 April 2011, pianist Ben Waters released an Ian Stewart tribute album titled Boogie 4 Stu. Wyman played on two tracks: "Rooming House Boogie" and "Watchin' the River Flow", the latter recorded with the Rolling Stones.
[edit] Musical instruments
Wyman's bass sound came not only from his home-made fretless bass, but the "walking bass" style he adopted, inspired by Willie Dixon and Ricky Fenson.[citation needed] His tight work with Watts anchored the Rolling Stones, exemplifying the "heartbeat and pulse" idea behind ideal rhythm sections.[citation needed] Wyman has played a number of basses, including a Framus Star bass, a Vox Teardrop bass (issued as a Bill Wyman signature model), a Fender Mustang Bass, two Ampeg Dan Armstrong basses, a Gibson SG Bass, a Rickenbacker 4005 copy, and a Travis Bean bass. His current favourite is a Steinberger bass. Wyman's amplifers over the years have included a Vox T-60, a piggyback Fender Bassman, a Hiwatt bass stack, and an Ampeg SVT. Wyman, especially in the early Stones' years, had a distinctive way of holding his bass - almost vertical. He stated that the reason he held a bass in this position is simply because his hands were small.
[edit] Personal life
Wyman, although moderate in his use of alcohol and drugs, has stated that he became "girl mad" as a psychological crutch.[13] Maxim magazine ranked Wyman at number 10 on its "Living Sex Legends" list, as he is reputed to have had sex with over 1000 women.[14]
Wyman married his first wife, Dianne, in 1959, and shared a son, Stephen Paul Wyman (29 March 1962). They separated in 1967 and divorced in 1969.[15]
From 1967 through 1983, Wyman was romantically linked to Astrid Lundström.
On 2 June 1989 Wyman married 18-year-old Mandy Smith, whom he had been dating since she was 13. Their relationship was the subject of considerable media attention. The marriage ended in spring 1991, although the divorce was not finalised until 1993.[16] In 1993, while Wyman was still married to Smith, Stephen, his son from his first marriage, became engaged to Smith's mother.[17]
In April 1993 he married Suzanne Accosta. They are still married and have three daughters, Katherine Noelle (September 1994), Jessica Rose (November 1995) and Matilda Mae (May 1998).[18]
Wyman lives in a country house in Suffolk and in St. Paul de Vence in the south of France; in St. Paul de Vence his friends include numerous artists. He is a cricket supporter (as is Mick Jagger), and played in a celebrity match at The Oval against a former England XI, taking a hat-trick.[19][20]
Wyman started selling metal detectors in 2007.[21] Treasure detecting adventures in the British Isles are detailed in his 2005 illustrated book Treasure Islands co-written with Richard Havers.[22][23]
Wyman is a keen photographer. He has taken photographs throughout his career and in June 2010 launched a retrospective of his work in an exhibition in St. Paul de Vence. The exhibition included images of his music acquaintances, as well as famous artists from the South of France, including Marc Chagall.[24]
Wyman is also a supporter of his local football team, Crystal Palace.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Solo albums
- Monkey Grip (June 1974) UK #39 [1 wk], US #99 [11 wks]
- Stone Alone (March 1976) US #166 [5 wks]
- Bill Wyman (April 1982) UK #55 [6 wks]
- Willie & The Poor Boys (May 1985) US #96 [12 wks]
- Stuff (October 1992 in Japan and Argentina only, 2000 UK)
- A Stone Alone: The Solo Anthology 1974-2002 (2002, UK)
[edit] Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings
- Struttin' Our Stuff (October 1997)
- Anyway The Wind Blows (February 1999)
- Groovin' (May 2000) UK #52 [3 wks]
- Double Bill (May 2001) UK #88 [2 wks]
- Just For A Thrill (May 2004) UK #149 [1 wk]
[edit] Also plays on
[edit] Solo singles
- "In Another Land" (December 1967) Peaked US #87
- "(Si, Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star" (July 1981) UK #14 [9 wks]
- " A New Fashion" (March 1982) UK #37 [4 wks]
- "Baby Please Don't Go" (June 1985) US Mainstream Rock #35 [7 wks]
[edit] Bibliography
Bill Wyman has authored or co-authored the following titles
[edit] Archaeology
- Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands ISBN 0-7509-3967-2
[edit] Rolling Stones
- Stone Alone ISBN 0-306-80783-1
- Rolling with the Stones ISBN 0-7513-4646-2.
- Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey ISBN 0-7513-3442-1
- The Stones - A History in Cartoons ISBN 0-7509-4248-7
The latter three books and Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands were all written in collaboration with Richard Havers.
