Information about Bill Wyman

Bill Wyman (born William George Perks on 24 October 1936) was the bassist for the English rock and roll band The Rolling Stones from its founding in 1962 until 1993.

Early life

Bill Wyman (real name Bill Perks) was born at Lewisham Hospital, Pied Heath Road, Ladywell, Lewisham, South London, the son of a bricklayer and spent most of his early life in Penge, then in the county of Kent. 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.

Music career

Wyman took piano lessons from ages 10 to 13. After his marriage, he bought a guitar, but wasn't satisfied by his own progress. After hearing a bass guitar at a Barron Knights' concert, he fell in love with the sound of it and decided that this was his instrument. He created the first fretless electric bass, by removing the frets from a bass guitar he was reworking, and played this in a local south London band, The Cliftons. He began calling himself Bill Wyman using the surname of a friend with whom he had done National Service in the Royal Air Force.

When drummer Tony Chapman told him of a fledgling rhythm and blues band called The Rolling Stones who needed a bass player, he applied for the job and was officially hired in December 1962, as a successor of co-founder, Dick Taylor. Although The Stones were impressed by his instrument and amplifier (and his abilility to provide the band with cigarettes), they weren't too fond of Wyman's style and personality (probably because he was a little older compared to the rest of the group members). Although he developed into a strong bass player and a key-element in the group's sound, Wyman always remained something of an outsider in the Stones during the following decades. Wyman's work as a Rolling Stone after the first year or so of being in the band, both in the studio and during concerts, rarely involved vocals. One notable exception was the song "In Another Land", released both on the Their Satanic Majesties Request album and, oddly enough, also as a solo Bill Wyman single. A second Wyman penned song, "Downtown Suzie" (sung by Mick Jagger), was released on a collection of Rolling Stones outtakes, with the title of the song altered by Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein without informing either Wyman or the band (the subject of the song is actually named "Lucy").

In the 1970s and early '80s he released three solo albums, none of which was particularly successful. The last one, 1982's eponymous new-wave rock offering, gave him a European hit single, "(Si, Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star", a parody on his French rock star exile status.

The mid eighties also saw Wyman compose original music for two films by Italian film director Dario Argento - 1985's Phenomena and 1987's Terror At The Opera.

He also produced/managed some groups like rockers Tucky Buzzard.

Wyman kept a detailed daily journal of his days with the Rolling Stones. He used this journal extensively in writing his history of the Rolling Stones Rolling with The Stones and also his Stone Alone autobiography.

Evidently Wyman maintained a friendly relationship with guitarist Mick Taylor, the only member of the Rolling Stones to voluntarily leave the band. He continued to work with Taylor on solo projects from time to time after Taylor left the band.

Along with Charlie Watts, Wyman kept a low profile in comparison to Jagger and Richards. Although his personal life was sometimes stormy and his affair with a 13-year-old child (Mandy Smith) highly publicised, he came through his tenure as a Stone relatively unscathed. Wyman and Watts were, by all accounts, the most sensible and level headed of all the Stones, refusing to partake in the dizzying effects of drink and drugs. In Wyman's case, this could have been, to some extent, due to his age - he was the oldest member by some years. Always on the outside, it was said that he never really "joined" the band after thirty years.

Wyman says he created the essential riff to "Jumpin' Jack Flash", although Mick Jagger and Keith Richards dispute the claim and are credited with writing the song (Keith Richards even played the bass on it, much to Wyman's chagrin).

In the 1980s, distance grew between the other band members and Wyman due to, amongst other things, the Mandy Smith affair (see below). After having contributed to the album Steel Wheels (1989), he decided he'd had enough of it, but took some time to finalise his decision to retire. The Stones regretted his leaving but didn't seem too weakened by it. Instead of choosing a permanent replacement, they recruited several bass players to support them during recordings and concerts, the first of whom, Darryl Jones, made the strongest impression.

Recent activity

Wyman continues to tour with his backing band, The Rhythm Kings, which has featured such musicians as Martin Taylor, Albert Lee, Gary Brooker, Terry Taylor - formerly with Tucky Buzzard, Mike Sanchez and Georgie Fame.

Following his 70th birthday in October 2006, he undertook another British tour.

On 12 September 2007, it was announced that Bill and his band would be the backing band for the supporting artists that would feature at a Led Zeppelin reunion concert at The O2 in London.

Musical instruments

Wyman is an adept musician, teaching himself to play several instruments including autoharp, guitar, vibraphone, glockenspiel, piano, organ, synthesiser, percussion and cello. He has also contributed backing vocals. His innovative bass sound came not only from his home-made fretless bass, but from the "walking bass" style he adopted (largely inspired by the odd couple of Willie Dixon and Ricky Fenson) and his tight work with Charlie Watts. Their sound not only anchored the group, but exemplified the "heartbeat and pulse" idea behind ideal rhythm sections.

Personal life

At age 47, Bill Wyman began a relationship with a 13-year old girl by the name of Mandy Smith, with her mother's blessing. Six years later, they were married, but the marriage only lasted a year.

He was close to the late Rolling Stones founder/guitarist Brian Jones. He was the only member of the group that didn't visit Brian Jones' home to inform him of his dismissal. He attended Jones' funeral a month later, along with Watts.

Outside of music

Away from the Stones, Wyman pursued numerous interests including opening up the now successful "Sticky Fingers Café" in 1989, a celebrity rock 'n roll-themed bistro serving American cuisine. These days he divides his time between his manor in Suffolk and a house in the south of France.

Former Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham admits that of all the Stones, Wyman is the one most at peace with himself, and he continues to prove that there is life after thirty years in one of the most successful bands of all time

He is also an amateur archaeologist and has a hobby of Relic hunting, going as far as having a letter published in The Times about his hobby (Friday 2 March 2007.) There is even a metal detector that bears his name on the market.

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)

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]

Solo singles

• (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]

Bibliography

Bill Wyman has authored or co-authored the following titles

Archaeology

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

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 all written in collaboration with Richard Havers

External links

• Bill Wyman's website
• Bill Wyman's Signature Metal Detector website
• Bill Wyman Corporate Events
• The Rolling Stones website
• Solo discography
• Bill Wyman at the Internet Movie Database
• Rolling Stones BILL WYMAN
• Bill Wyman Interview

•  • [ e] The Rolling Stones
Members	Mick Jagger • Keith Richards • Charlie Watts • Ron Wood Brian Jones • Bill Wyman • Mick Taylor • Ian Stewart
See also	Chuck Leavell • Darryl Jones • Andrew Loog Oldham • Allen Klein Nicky Hopkins • Bobby Keys • Jimmy Miller • Jim Price • Billy Preston
UK studio albums 1964-1967	The Rolling Stones • The Rolling Stones No. 2 • Out of Our Heads • Aftermath • Between the Buttons
US studio albums 1964-1967	England's Newest Hitmakers • 12 X 5 • The Rolling Stones, Now! • Out of Our Heads • December's Children (And Everybody's) • Aftermath • Between the Buttons
Studio albums 1967-present	Their Satanic Majesties Request • Beggars Banquet • Let It Bleed • Sticky Fingers • Exile on Main St. • Goats Head Soup • It's Only Rock'n Roll • Black and Blue • Some Girls • Emotional Rescue • Tattoo You • Undercover • Dirty Work • Steel Wheels • Voodoo Lounge • Bridges to Babylon • A Bigger Bang
UK EPs	The Rolling Stones • Five by Five • got LIVE if you want it!
Live albums	Got Live if You Want It! • Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert • Love You Live • "Still Life" (American Concert 1981) • Flashpoint • Stripped • No Security • Live Licks
Compilations	Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) • Flowers (US) • Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) • Made in the Shade • Sucking in the Seventies • Rewind (1971-1984) • • Forty Licks • Rarities 1971-2003
Post-contract ABKCO albums	Hot Rocks 1964-1971 • More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies) • Metamorphosis • • The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus • Singles 1963-1965 • Singles 1965-1967 • Singles 1968-1971
Miscellaneous albums	Jamming with Edward • Brussels Affair
Tours	American Tour 1969 • European Tour '70 • UK Tour '71 • American Tour '72 • Pacific Tour '73 • European Tour '73 Tour of the Americas '75 • Tour of Europe '76 • US Tour '78 •American Tour '81 • European Tour '82 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour • Voodoo Lounge Tour • Bridges to Babylon Tour • No Security Tour • Licks Tour • A Bigger Bang Tour
Related articles	Discography • The Glimmer Twins • Jagger/Richards Nanker Phelge • Rolling Stones Records • Rock and Roll Circus • Altamont Free Concert • Rolling Stones Mobile Studio
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