Bill Wyman

William George Wyman (né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 albums. Since 1997, he has performed as the vocalist and bassist for Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. He was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Rolling Stones in 1989. Wyman briefly returned to recording with the Rolling Stones in 2023.

For other uses, see Bill Wyman (disambiguation).

Bill Wyman
Wyman in 2009
Wyman in 2009
Background information
Birth nameWilliam George Perks
Born (1936-10-24) 24 October 1936
Lewisham, London, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • photographer
Instrument(s)Bass guitar, vocals
Years active1959–1993, 1997–present
Labels
Member ofBill Wyman's Rhythm Kings
Formerly of
Websitebillwyman.com

Early life

He was born William George Perks in Lewisham Hospital in Lewisham, South London, the son of bricklayer William George Perks and Kathleen May ("Molly"), née Jeffery.[1] One of six children, he spent most of his early life living in Penge, Southeast London. Wyman described his wartime childhood as "scarred by poverty", having survived The Blitz and enemy fighter plane strafing that killed neighbours.[2][3]

He attended Oakfield Primary School,[2] passing his eleven plus exam to gain entry to Beckenham and Penge County 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.[4][5][2]

In January 1955, Wyman was called up for two year national service in the Royal Air Force. In the autumn, after signing for an extra year, he was posted to Oldenburg Air Base in North Germany, where he spent the rest of his service in the Motor Transport Section. He heard the beginnings of rock and roll in dancehalls such as ″Zum Grünen Wald″ and, after purchasing a radio, also on AFN.[6] In August 1956, he bought a guitar for 400 Deutsche Mark and in 1957 formed a skiffle group on camp with Casey Jones.[7]

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 (equivalent to £1,274 in 2021[8]) on hire-purchase, but was not satisfied by his progress.[9] He switched to bass guitar after hearing one at a Barron Knights concert. He created a fretless electric bass guitar[10] by removing[11] the frets on a second hand UK-built Dallas Tuxedo bass[12][13] and played this in a south London band, the Cliftons, in 1961.

He legally changed his surname to Wyman in August 1964, taking the phonetic surname of a friend, Lee Whyman, with whom he had done national service in the Royal Air Force from 1955 to 1957.[14]

The Rolling Stones and 1980s side projects
Main article: The Rolling Stones
Wyman (left) with Brian Jones (right) in 1965

When drummer Tony Chapman told him that a rhythm and blues band called the Rolling Stones needed a bass player, he auditioned at a pub in Chelsea on 7 December 1962 and was hired as a successor to Dick Taylor.[15] The band were impressed by his instrument and amplifiers (one of which Wyman modified himself, and a Vox AC30).[15][16] Wyman was the oldest member of the group.[17]

In addition to playing bass, Wyman frequently provided backing vocals on early records, and through 1967, in concert as well. He wrote and sang lead on the track "In Another Land" from the album Their Satanic Majesties Request, which was released as a single and credited solely to Wyman, making it his first official solo 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 their erstwhile manager Allen Klein without consulting Wyman or the band. The original title was "Sweet Lisle Lucy", named after Lisle Street, a street in the red light district in Soho, London.

Wyman was close to Brian Jones; they usually shared rooms while on tour and often went to clubs together.[18] He and Jones hung out together even when Jones was distancing himself from the band. Wyman was distraught when he heard the news of Jones' death, being one of two members (Watts was the other) to attend Jones' funeral in July 1969. Wyman was also friends with guitarist Mick Taylor. Like the other Rolling Stones, he has worked with Taylor since the latter's departure from the band in 1974.[19]

Wyman has 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 states that he 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 Keith Richards against, feeling it not sufficiently commercial.

Wyman touring in 1975 with the Rolling Stones

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, Jagger and Watts. He played bass on at least two tracks of the 1967 album I Can Tell by John P. Hammond.[20]

In July 1981, Wyman's solo single "(Si Si) Je Suis un Rock Star" became a top-20 hit in many countries.[21] Also in 1981, Wyman composed the soundtrack album Green Ice for the Ryan O'Neal/Omar Sharif film of the same name. In the mid-1980s, he composed music for two films by Italian director Dario Argento: Phenomena (1985) and Terror at the Opera (1987).

In 1983, Wyman helped organize a fundraiser for Action Research into Multiple Sclerosis in the form of a concert tour with a group calling themselves Willie and the Poor Boys. The group played shows in the U.S. and the UK that included a rotating group of guest musicians, including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. The effort was inspired by Wyman's friend and former Small Faces and Faces musician Ronnie Lane.[22] The group produced an album of the same name that lists Wyman, Charlie Watts, Geraint Watkins, Mickey Gee, and Andy Fairweather Low as principal members, plus Ray Cooper, Jimmy Page, Willie Garnett, Chris Rea, Steve Gregory, Paul Rodgers, Kenney Jones, Henry Spinetti, and Terry Williams.

Wyman made a cameo appearance in the 1987 film Eat the Rich. He produced and played on a few albums of the group Tucky Buzzard.[23]

After the Rolling Stones' 1989–90 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tours, Wyman left the band in January 1993.[24] The Rolling Stones have continued to record and tour with Darryl Jones on bass, but not as an official member of the band.[25]

Later activity
Main article: Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings

Wyman formed the cross-generational Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings in 1997. The band featured a regularly rotating line-up of musicians and performed covers of blues, soul, rock 'n' roll, jazz, and occasional Rolling Stones songs. Wyman rarely performed vocals, but typically sang lead vocals on the Chuck Berry song "You Never Can Tell" and the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women".

He was a judge for the 5th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.[26]

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.[27][28]

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.[29]

In 2012, Wyman and Mick Taylor were expected to join the Rolling Stones on stage at shows in London (25 and 29 November) and Newark (13 and 15 December), though Darryl Jones supplied the bass for the majority of the show.[30][31] At the London shows on 25 and 29 November, Wyman played on two back-to-back songs, "It's Only Rock 'n Roll" and "Honky Tonk Women". He later stated that he was not interested in joining the band for further tour dates in 2013.[32]

He participated in a 2019 documentary, directed and written by Oliver Murray, titled The Quiet One, about his life and career.[33]

Wyman briefly returned to recording with the Rolling Stones in 2023, playing bass on one track on their album Hackney Diamonds.[34] It was the first time he had appeared on a Rolling Stones studio recording since 1989.

Musical instruments

Wyman's bass sound came not only from his 30-inch short-scale fretless bass (the so-called "homemade" bass; actually a modified Dallas Tuxedo bass),[35] but also from the "walking bass" style he adopted, inspired by Willie Dixon and Ricky Fenson. Wyman has played a number of basses, nearly all short scale, including a Framus Star bass and a number of other Framus basses,[36][37] a Vox Teardrop bass (issued as a Bill Wyman signature model), a Fender Mustang Bass, two Ampeg Dan Armstrong basses, a Gibson EB-3, and a Travis Bean bass. Since the late 1980s, Wyman has primarily played Steinberger basses. In 2011, The Bass Centre in London issued the Wyman Bass, a fretted interpretation of Wyman's first "homemade" fretless bass, played and endorsed by Wyman.[38] One of Wyman's basses, his 1969 Fender Mustang Bass, sold at auction for $380,000 in 2020, at the time the highest price ever for a bass.[39]

Personal life
Wyman in 1989

Wyman, although moderate in his use of alcohol and drugs, has stated that he became "girl mad" as a psychological crutch.[40]

Wyman married his first wife, Diane Cory, in 1959 and their son Stephen Paul Wyman was born on 29 March 1962.[41] They separated in 1967 and divorced in 1969.[42]

On 2 June 1989, aged 52, Wyman married 18-year-old Mandy Smith, whom he had "fallen in love with" when she was 13 and, according to Smith, had a sexual relationship with when she was 14.[43] The couple separated two years later and finalised their divorce two years after that.[44][45] In April 1993 Wyman married model Suzanne Accosta, whom he first met in 1980; the two had remained friends until their romance developed.[46] The couple has three daughters.[47]

In 1993, Wyman's son Stephen Wyman married Patsy Smith, the 46-year-old mother of Bill's ex-wife Mandy Smith. Stephen was 30 years old at the time. Therefore, the ex-Rolling Stone became his own son's ex-son-in-law, the ex-father-in-law of his ex-mother-in-law, as well as the stepgrandfather of his ex-wife.[48]

In 1968, Wyman bought Gedding Hall as his country home near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk;[49] it dates back to 1458.[46][2] Wyman also lives in St Paul de Vence in the South of France where his friends include numerous artists. He is a keen cricket enthusiast and admired Denis Compton[2] and played in a celebrity match at the Oval against a former England XI, taking a hat-trick.[50][51] He is a lifelong Crystal Palace F.C. fan, attending his first match as a birthday treat with father William.[2] On a 1990 European tour with the Rolling Stones, he feigned a toothache and said he needed to travel back to London to see a dentist when in fact he went to watch Palace at Wembley in the 1990 FA Cup Final.[52] It was around this period of the Stones "Steel Wheels" tour he developed his fear of aeroplane flying.[53]

Wyman started selling metal detectors in 2007.[54] Treasure-detecting adventures in the British Isles are detailed in his 2005 illustrated book, Treasure Islands, co-written with Richard Havers.[55][56]

In 2009, Wyman quit smoking after 55 years.[57]

Wyman is a photographer who has taken photographs throughout his career, and in June 2010 he launched a retrospective of his work in an exhibition in St Paul de Vence. The exhibition included images of his musical and artistic acquaintances from the South of France including Marc Chagall.[58] In 2013, the Rook & Raven Gallery in London hosted an exhibition of a selection of Wyman's images which had been reworked by artists including Gerald Scarfe.[59]

In March 2016, Wyman was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was expected to make a full recovery.[60]

Discography

Albums

Studio

Compilation albums

  • Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey (2002)[61]
  • A Stone Alone: The Solo Anthology 1974–2002 (2002)

Singles

Other appearances

Soundtrack contributions

  • "Valley", for Phenomena (1985)
  • "Opera Theme" and "Black Notes", for Opera (1987) (with Terry Taylor)

Guest appearances

Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings
Main article: Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings

With The Rolling Stones
Main article: The Rolling Stones discography

Bibliography

Bill Wyman has authored or co-authored the following titles:

Archaeology
  • Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands ISBN 0-7509-3967-2

The 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 last three books[65] [66][67] and Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands[68] were all written in collaboration with Richard Havers.

A Journey through America with the Rolling Stones. Robert Greenfield. Helter Skelter Publication. ISBN 1-900924-24-2

Art
  • Wyman Shoots Chagall ISBN 0904351629

References
  1. "1930s – Bill Wyman". Billwyman.com.
  2. "1940s – Bill Wyman". Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  3. Wyman, Bill (1990). Stone Alone. Viking. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-670-82894-4.
  4. Rej, Bent (2006). The Rolling Stones: in the beginning. Great Britain: Firefly Books Ltd. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-55407-230-9.
  5. Ray, Coleman (1 January 1991). Bill Wyman - Stone alone: The story of a rock 'n' roll band. Penguin. p. 66. ISBN 978-0140128222. OCLC 26358579.
  6. American Forces Network, most likely nearby AFN Bremerhaven, as northern West Germany except Bremen was part of the British zone and covered by British Forces Broadcasting Service
  7. "1950s – Bill Wyman". Billwyman.com.
  8. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  9. Wyman 1990. pp. 82–84.
  10. Roberts, Jim (2001). 'How The Fender Bass Changed the World' or Jon Sievert interview with Bill Wyman, Guitar Player magazine December (1978)
  11. "The Quiet One" stated by Wynam
  12. Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (25 October 2016). The Rolling Stones All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Running Press. ISBN 9780316317733.
  13. Newell2012-12-04T16:04:00.338Z, Roger (4 December 2012). "Bass Centre 'Wyman' Bass review". MusicRadar. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  14. Wyman 1990. p. 141.
  15. "Watch Bill Wyman Explain How He Joined the Rolling Stones in 1962". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  16. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: matthewbath (23 July 2008). "The Day I Joined The Rolling Stones" – via YouTube.
  17. Rej 2006, p. 163.
  18. Clayson, Alan (2007). The Rolling Stones: The Origin of the Species : How, why and where it All Began. Chrome Dreams. ISBN 978-1-84240-389-1.
  19. Hughes, Rob. "Mick Taylor: The Exiled Stone". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  20. "John Hammond* - I Can Tell". Discogs. 1967. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  21. Wyman, Bill (2002). Rolling With the Stones. DK Publishing. p. 466. ISBN 978-0-7894-9998-1.
  22. Palmer, Robert (15 May 1985). "British Rock Album to Help Fight MS". The New York Times.
  23. "Biography". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  24. McPherson, Ian. "The Rolling Stones Chronicle 1993". Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  25. Wheeler, Brian (30 November 2016). "Darryl Jones: The unknown Stone". BBC News. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  26. "Past Judges". Independent Music Awards. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  27. Cassidy, Jude; Shaver, Phillip R (31 July 2002). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781572308268.
  28. "Bill's blog – 24–27 October 2009". Archived from the original on 29 February 2012.
  29. Greene, Andy (8 April 2011). "Rolling Stones Cover Bob Dylan with Original Bassist Bill Wyman". Rolling Stone. New York City: Wenner Media. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  30. Hiatt, Brian (24 October 2012). "Inside the Rolling Stones' Reunion". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  31. "Rolling Stones to Reunite with Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor for O2 Shows – New York Music News". New York Music News. 21 November 2012. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  32. "Bill Wyman Not Interested in The Stones". .gibson.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  33. Farber, Jim (3 May 2019). "The Quiet One review – controversial and evasive Bill Wyman documentary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  34. Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman reunite one final time on new Rolling Stones album Hackney Diamonds. Guitar.com. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  35. Jon Sievert interview with Bill Wyman, Guitar Player magazine December (1978)
  36. "Bill Wyman". Framus Vintage Archive. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  37. "Framus - known all over the world". Framus Vintage Archive. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  38. "The Bass Centre Wyman Bass". The Bass Centre. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  39. "Bill Wyman Bass Breaks Record at Auction". Instaofbass.com. 21 September 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  40. McPherson, Ian. "Portrait of Bill". Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  41. Duerden, Nick (25 October 2003). "Grumpy old man". The Independent. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  42. Wyman 2002. pp. 23, 34, 254 and 339.
  43. "Han var 47 år og rockstjerne. Hun var 13 år. Og han bliver stadig hyldet som en halvgud". Berlingske (in Danish). Berlingske Media. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  44. Kenney, Ken (2 June 2014). "THE DAY BILL WYMAN MARRIED 18-YEAR-OLD MANDY SMITH". Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  45. "The curse of Hello! - Media, News - The Independent". The Independent. 12 May 2008. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008.
  46. Bill Wyman Why I left The Rolling Stones, retrieved 3 August 2022
  47. Wyman 2002. p. 487, pp. 496–97.
  48. "How the son of Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman married his stepmother". Videomuzic.eu.
  49. "Kray twins link to historic Suffolk hall". East Anglian Daily Times. 29 January 2008. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  50. Sky Sports interview, August 2008, featuring celebrities discussing their love for cricket
  51. "Bill Wyman talks exclusively to FR2DAY's David Stoyle". Fr2day.com. 6 June 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  52. Premier League predictions: Lawro v ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman Archived 6 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine, BBC Sport; retrieved 2 May 2015.
  53. Lifton, Dave (29 April 2012). "Bill Wyman to Rejoin The Rolling Stones?". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  54. "Bill Wyman Signature Metal Detector". Billwymandetector.com. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  55. "Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands". Richardhavers.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  56. "Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands". Billwyman.com. 18 October 2007. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  57. Rolling Stone Bill Wyman can't get no satis-fag-tion Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine Birmingham Mail
  58. "Interview in FR2DAY". Fr2day.com. 6 June 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  59. "Bill Wyman: Reworked photos in new art exhibition". BBC News. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  60. Khomami, Nadia (8 March 2016). "Rolling Stone Bill Wyman diagnosed with prostate cancer". The Guardian. Manchester, England. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  61. "Bill Wyman". Billboard. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  62. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 344. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  63. "Buddy Guy & Junior Wells With Bill Wyman, Pinetop Perkins, Terry Taylor (3) & Dallas Taylor - Drinkin' TNT 'N' Smokin' Dynamite". Discogs. 1984.
  64. "Muddy Waters With Buddy Guy & Junior Wells - Messin' With The Blues". Discogs. 1991.
  65. "Rolling with the Stones". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 25 September 2023. Bill Wyman, with Richard Havers
  66. Wyman, Bill; Havers, Richard (12 October 2023). Bill Wyman's (Blues Odyssey). DK Pub. ISBN 9780789480460. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023. Contributors Havers, Richard
  67. "The Stones – A History in Cartoons by Bill Wyman, Richard Havers". Waterstones. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  68. "Bill Wyman's Treasure Island : Britain's History Uncovered". S2CID 190784272. B. Wyman, Richard Havers {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
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