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Bill Wyman interviews by Davis Inman (Read 962 times)

moy

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Bill Wyman interviews by Davis Inman
Nov 29^th, 2011 at 11:33am

Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, “Motorvatin’ Mama”

By Davis Inman
November 28th, 2011 at 10:04 am

Jeff Beck couldn’t believe that “Motorvatin’ Mama” wasn’t a song from the 1930s. In fact, it was written by The Rolling Stones founding bassist Bill Wyman and recorded for his all-star group The Rhythm Kings’ first album, Struttin’ Our Stuff, in 1997.

“Jeff Beck said to me, ‘Where did you get ‘Motorvatin’ Mama’? Where’d that come from, who did that originally’?” Wyman recounts by phone from the UK, where he’s enjoying a day off from The Rhythm Kings seven-week tour. “I said, ‘No, I wrote that.’ He said, ‘Get out of it, that’s a ’30 song.’”

“I said, ‘I wrote it, it just sounds like one because we made it sound like that and I’m using lyrics that are familiar to that time.’ And then he said to me, ‘Who plays bass on it?’ And I said, ‘I do.’ And he said, ‘No you didn’t. That’s a double bass on there and you don’t play double bass. Your hands are too small.’ That’s me playing bass but I’m trying to make it sound like a double bass, because that’s what was being used at the time.”

Wyman, who left the Stones in 1992, has since put his focus into The Rhythm Kings, as well as other interests like writing, photography, archeology, and running his Sticky Fingers restaurant.

He says the idea for the Rhythm Kings grew out of the eclectic spirit of his 1985 Willie And The Poor Boys project, which featured some of the same members (Andy Fairweather Low, Geraint Watkins) that would work with The Rhythm Kings. The Rhythm Kings explore a wide range of styles, from rock and roll to jazz, blues, gospel, soul, and rockabilly. “It’s a variety of music, not the same old numbers,” Wyman says. (A new five-CD box set on Proper Records shows the group’s breadth on three studio albums and a double-disc live outing.)

While never a major songwriting force in the Stones, Wyman wrote songs for solo albums like Monkey Grip, Stone Alone, and Bill Wyman (which yielded the hit “(Si, Si) Je Suis un Rock Star”). But, now, when he works out a song for The Rhythm Kings, Wyman says he tries to write “in the style of the time.” He compares it to archeology: “You’re finding little treasures and bring them to life.”

“I just tried to capture the atmosphere of the time of what I was thinking that song suited, whether it was the late ’30s, or whether it was jump music, around the time of Fats Waller. [I'm] trying to use the local slang, to use the kind of melodies they would sing backing vocals to, and different kind of horn arrangements.”

“Motorvatin’ Mama” is a clear homage to ’30s hokum blues double entendre, recalling that genre’s heyday and risque tunes like Tampa Red’s “Let Me Play With Your Poodle,” Bo Carter’s “Please Warm My Weiner,” or Memphis Minnie’s “Bumble Bee.”

But with its automobile sexual innuendoes, “Motorvatin’ Mama”‘s closest influence might be Robert Johnson’s “Terraplane Blues,” named for the car made by Detroit’s Hudson Motor Company, which was popular when Johnson recorded in 1936.

Like Johnson’s automobile analogy, Wyman goes through a laundry list of car parts that need repair: starter, plugs, steering, radiator, carburetor. In both songs, the protagonist has been away from home and wonders “who’s been in my garage” (or in Johnson’s case, “Who been drivin’ my Terraplane for you since I been gone?”).

Wyman clearly enjoys the opportunity to play classic songs alongside newer tunes written in the style of the musical eras he loves. “We’ve got no pressure to make hit records or massive-selling albums, or record companies kicking us up the backside. We don’t have any of that so it’s just a pleasure to do it. You do it for the love.”

Stay tuned for our full interview with Bill Wyman, in which he discusses the difference between working with The Rhythm Kings and the Stones, getting George Harrison to play slide guitar on a song not long before he died, and his misunderstood blues book.

“Motorvatin’ Mama”

I’ve been out of action far too long
Who’s been in my garage since I’ve been gone
Motorvatin’ mama, driving hard
If I don’t fix you, baby, you’re heading for the breaker’s yard

Looking at your starter gotta change those wires
Searching your connection, your plugs don’t fire
Motorvatin’ mama (motorvatin’ mama), driving hard (drivin’ hard)
If I don’t get you runnin’, you’re heading for the breaker’s yard

Straighten out the steering so your wheels don’t drift
Checkin’ your suspension, gettin’ for a lift
Motorvatin’ mama (motorvatin’ mama), driving hard (drivin’ hard)
If I don’t fix you, baby, you’re heading for the breaker’s yard

Gotta rev your engine, change those oils
Plug your radiator ‘fore your engine boils
Motorvatin’ mama (motorvatin’ mama), driving hard (drivin’ hard)
If I don’t get you runnin’, you’re heading for the breaker’s yard

You’re rustin’ up, much too slow,
Gotta check the body work down below
Motorvatin’ mama (motorvatin’ mama), driving hard (drivin’ hard)
If I don’t fix you, baby, you’re heading for the breaker’s yard

Turn your carburetor get the timing right
Fix those gears ’cause you’re much too tight
Motorvatin’ mama (motorvatin’ mama), driving hard (drivin’ hard)
If I don’t get you runnin’, you’re heading for the breaker’s yard

You’re a motorvatin’ mama (motorvatin’ mama), driving hard (drivin’ hard)

Written by Bill Wyman and Terry Taylor

« Last Edit: Dec 18^th, 2011 at 2:07pm by Voodoo Chile in Wonderland »

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steel driving hammer Ex Member	Re: Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, “Motorvatin’ Mama” Reply #1 - Nov 29^th, 2011 at 11:36am God I wish he'd tour w/ the Stones! You Lazy Bastard!
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Nellcote Rocks Off Regular Offline So, what's your point? Posts: 2,921 Funifuti	Re: Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, “Motorvatin’ Mama” Reply #2 - Nov 29^th, 2011 at 11:43am Thanks for this!
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uncleson Rocks Off Regular Offline Rocks Off Rules You Bastards Posts: 1,169 USA Gender:	Re: Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, “Motorvatin’ Mama” Reply #3 - Dec 1^st, 2011 at 2:07pm Go Bill!
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moy

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Re: Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, “Motorvatin’ Mama”
Reply #4 - Dec 16^th, 2011 at 8:05am

Another article by Davis Inman

“Balls In The Bottom” – A Q&A With Bill Wyman

By Davis Inman December 15th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
American songwriter

Bill Wyman left The Rolling Stones in 1992. He was one of the five founding members — along with Brian Jones, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and Ian Stewart. (Drummer Charlie Watts didn’t join until 1963.) In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Jagger said of the current incarnation of the Stones (which includes Ron Wood on guitar, Darryl Jones on bass, and sidemen like Chuck Leavell and Bobby Keys), “It’s a very different group than the one that played 50 years ago.”

In the intervening decades as a non-Stone, Wyman has busied himself with a series of projects, from recording and touring with his all-star group The Rhythm Kings, to writing books and managing his Sticky Fingers restaurant in London. As the Stones machine begins to crank up for a possible 2012 tour (it’s rumored he’ll rejoin the band for the proposed 50th anniversary concerts), Wyman talks about the difference between playing in the Stones and the Rhythm Kings, how he emulates the songwriting of the 1930s, and what he learned from some of the great bass players before him.

Did The Rhythm Kings grow out of your desire for a more eclectic repertoire?

It was in the very beginning. But it was also the same thing when I put a band together in ’85, for Ronnie Lane of The Faces, when he had MS and we did some charity shows with Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and we came to America and did ten shows. After that, I did an album, called Willie And The Poor Boys, and I called the band. Charlie Watts was on it with me, Ronnie Wood was on the video and Ringo. It was very successful, so that was pretty much a forerunner of the Rhythm Kings, because we did a mixture of roots music again.

It’s that whole mixture, and it’s lovely to do. There’s no pressure either. We’ve got no pressure to make hit records, or massive-selling albums, or record companies kicking us up the backside. We don’t have any of that so it’s just a pleasure to do it. You do it for the love.

The recent Rhythm Kings tour featured Mary Wilson from The Supremes as a vocalist. Do you remember the first time you met Mary?

Well, Mary, I knew her when we did the T.A.M.I. Show, November ’64 in California. We did the T.A.M.I. show and they were on it, The Supremes, as was many other people like Chuck Berry, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Leslie Gore, and so and so on. We met her there and Diana [Ross], of course. They were the first ones who came over and talked to us, because we were pretty much not very well known at that time in America. It was nice to have somebody; the others didn’t take much notice of us, really. They came over and were really nice so we always thought nicely of them.

How did you come to collaborate with Madeleine Peyroux on “The Kind You Can’t Afford”?

I was in the south of France and I went to Nice Jazz Festival to see B.B. King, because I’ve known B.B. for years. So I want backstage and had a chat with B.B. And then I heard that Madeleine Peyroux was on the next [stage], we’d just missed her show actually. But I had her record so I went next door and had a chat with her and her band and we got on very well.

The following spring she got in touch with my office, because I gave her a card and said, “If you’re ever in England, just give us a bell, maybe we’ll go out and have a bite to eat and a drink and meet the family.” I sent her a song, so she rang up and said, “I want to know if I can come over and we can write some songs together.” So she came over to London and she stayed at a hotel and came over every afternoon for four or five days. We cut a bunch of ideas and demos. She chose the two songs that we did for her album, which turned out quite nice.

When I write for The Rhythm Kings I try to write in the style of the time. I don’t write what we do today. I’ve tried that before in solo recordings, it’s not quite where I’m comfortable at. I can get away with it sometimes if I do songs that are a bit tongue-in-cheek. I’ve had some success like that across the world, not so much in America, but pretty much everywhere else. So I decided to write songs that sounded like they’re from the ’30s or the ’50s, and it kind of works. I don’t know why, but it comes quite easily to me so I’ve written quite a lot of songs.

You’ve compared this type of songwriting with another of your interests, archeology.

You’re finding little treasures and bring them to life, exactly like you do with archeology. I find something from the 1920s, like Ethel Waters singing “My Handyman” or something like that, and I say to [Rhythm Kings vocalist] Beverley [Skeete], can you do this? And it comes out great.

What’s the difference between being on tour with the Stones and playing with The Rhythm Kings?

They’re very talented, my band. We’re on a 10-week tour. We had to learn seven new songs for Mary, and six new songs for the band. We always try to do new songs; every singer in the band has a new song. So it’s 13 new songs to learn, and then sharpen up on all the other stuff that we do, because we don’t play that regularly. We did it in three afternoons. We go over to the rehearsal rooms and we do that. We cut the tracks and make sure we’ve got them all right and then we go on the road. Which is a bit different than Stones. When I was in the Stones, we used to rehearse for a month, to learn songs we’d been playing for thirty years. It was quite bizarre. It always irritating to me how long it took to do things. But it worked for them, and it worked very successfully.

Obviously the Rhythm Kings are very versatile in all these kinds of styles. Why weren’t the Stones as versatile?

They are in a way, but they’re just lazy. [Laughs] Or they’re just casual about it. When I do rehearsals we say, “Alright, 12 o’clock ’til eight.” Everybody gets there at 12 o’clock and we all leave at eight. If you say that to the Stones — “Alright, rehearse tomorrow from 12 ’til eight” — me and Charlie will arrive at 12 o’clock. Mick will arrive at half past one. Woodie and Keith will arrive at four o’clock. That’s the way it always was. And if it’s an evening session, sometimes people won’t even arrive at the studio ’til 3:30 a.m., and then you’ll work ’til one o’clock the next afternoon. It’s bizarre, but that’s the way it worked. That’s the way Keith worked. It was very, very difficult for me — and Mick wasn’t very happy about it — because we’re more, sort of, organized with our lives. Keith just flies about, he’s a free bird. He doesn’t stick to times or anything. That’s the way he is so you have to live with it. Sometimes it can be very frustrating.

When did you first start writing songs for Rhythm Kings?

I had some ideas when we first went in the studio, and we cut like eight tracks in three days. We do every thing in three takes, maximum. If we don’t get it in three takes, we just dump it and move on to the next song, no matter what it is. A lot of them are take one, and quite a few are take two. So you don’t mess around. I was finding ideas and so was Terry Taylor, my co-writer. We’d do the music and I’d put the lyrics together and then we’d present it to the band and one of the band would [sing] it.

I just tried to capture the atmosphere of the time of what I was thinking that song suited, whether it was the late ’30s, or whether it was jump music, around the time of Fats Waller, trying to use the local slang, try to use the kind of melodies they would sing backing vocals to, and different kind of horn arrangements.

Jeff Beck said to me, “Where did you get ‘Motorvatin’ Mama’? Where’d that come from, who did that originally?” I said, “No, I wrote that.” He said, “Get out of it, that’s a ’30s song.” I said, “I wrote it, it just sounds like one because we made it sound like that and I’m using lyrics that are familiar to that time.” And then he said to me, “Who plays bass on it?” And I said, “I do.” And he said, “No you didn’t. That’s a double bass on there and you don’t play double bass. Your hands are too small.” That’s me playing bass but I’m trying to make it sound like a double bass, because that’s what was being used at the time.

Who were some of the bass players that influenced you?

Willie Dixon is the principal one. Most of the other [double bass players] in the ’30s, I don’t even know their names. We’re not aware of who they are. I always idolized Willie Dixon, particularly, because he was on with Chuck Berry and Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, and many others at Chess. I tried to play with the simplicity of Duck Dunn of Booker T.’s band. He’s a great mate of mine, and I idolized him before I even met him. He played with simplicity; he was there, he didn’t stick out. He didn’t get in the way of anybody. He just did the right things in the right spaces. His timing was perfect. That’s what I tried to do, right from the very beginning and it worked for me — that’s my style.

I’m not a busy bass player. I’m not a Stanley Clarke or anyone like that. To me, they should be playing guitar, not bass. And Ronnie Wood does that. When he played bass in the Stones sometimes, he used to say, “What do you think, Bill? Do you like me bass?” And I said, “Ron, it sounds like a solo guitar bit.” Doo-ding-ding, it’s all up there [meaning high notes on a bass guitar]. You need some balls in the bottom. I always kind of joked to him about it. You leave the space for other people, you don’t fill it in with the bass. Leave lots of room and let the track breathe from underneath. Piano can add to that, or whoever. Guitars, organ, horns. But don’t fill it up.

Proper Records has recently released a collector’s edition box set of all The Rhythm Kings recordings.

« Last Edit: Dec 16^th, 2011 at 8:07am by moy »

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Re: Bill Wyman interviews by Davis Inman
Reply #5 - Feb 26^th, 2012 at 2:27pm

A new interview with Bill from billwyman.com

Bill's Blues Revue interview - part one
Friday 24th February 2012
Part one of a two-part interview with Bill Wyman by Robert Putignano and Barry Sheffield for Blues Revue magazine and radio station WFDU. Bill chats about why he recorded Monkey Grip, why bass players get shorthanded, and the new five-CD box set.

Station manager at WFDU Barry Sheffield conducted the first part of the interview with Bill...

Barry Sheffield: Bill, I’ve been a fan…

Bill Wyman: Come on Barry, be brave.

BS: Okay, I just read Keith Richards' book where Keith describes the 1970s as being a fallow and tumultuous times for Rolling Stones; you recorded Monkey Grip around those times. It’s an album that’s one of my favorites. What drove you to make this record?

BW: It surprised a lot of people. I recorded it in L.A. and played it to a lot of musicians, even David Bowie. The advantage was that I employed great musicians to play on it, so the reason I did it was because of the frustrations I had was not being able to be involved with any of the records the Stones were making. I couldn’t contribute any songs or arrangements, not even the mixing. It was very limited as to what you could do there. Mick [Jagger] and Keith pretty much dominated. For the same reasons, this is why Mick Taylor left the band. So instead of getting upset, I decided to do my own thing and recorded three albums over the next ten years, plus a movie score and went on to produce other artists records as well. This satisfied my frustrations.

BS: Interesting, your bio also indicates that you had a lot of other non-music-related projects like archaeology, photography. You hit on a lot of bases.

BW: Restaurants and book writing, too. I’ve always had lots of different interests, even as a kid growing up when I joined as the fourth member of Stones right after Charlie Watts. I thought, as we all did, that if we ever had a career in music that it might last about three years, even the Beatles, the Animals, and the Who all thought similarly. So thirty years later, and even though I did some things in the seventies with photography and stuff like that, it still was very limited what I could do. I had to do these extra project in bits and pieces because of the time constraints of the Stones.

BS: Do you think that bass players in general get shorthanded?

BW: [Laughing] Most bass players are pretty quiet and are typically not pushy with high egos, which is very different than your singers and lead guitarists. That also applies to my great mate Duck Dunn, as Steve Cropper got most of the songwriting credits, even with Otis Redding. That’s the way it was with me and the Stones and I just lived with it.

BS: Thank you, Bill. I just wanted to let you know that I am honored to have spoken with you as I’ve been a Stones fan from the mid sixties. Now I will turn you over to Bob Putignano who will talk to you about the Rhythm Kings.

BW: That’s very nice of you to say Barry, thank you.

Bob Putignano for BluesWax: Alright Bill, you’ve got a nice, new Rhythm Kings five-CD collectors edition box set out now, how did this all come about?

BW: Well, the Rhythm Kings are very well known in Europe, but we haven’t been promoted in America. We do have American fans that follow us; in fact a few years ago three hundred Americans chartered a plane and flew over to London to one of our gigs. I thought that it was quite fantastic! But that’s rarity and few and far between. I’ve always felt that America was a market that hadn’t been broken into. So when Proper Records suggested compiling the box set I thought, “Yeah, well, let’s go for it!” What’s already been nice is the great feedback we’re getting from critics, so I’m very pleased. It really is a great band and we do great covers that are of high-quality, we’ve got great singers and musicians, too. This has been a dream for me to do, as otherwise I wouldn’t do it.

BP: You always have assembled high quality players for your records, some of my favorite players like Georgie Fame and Albert Lee.

BW: [Laughing] You are right, Bob, my musicians are highly rated.

BP: Growing up and to this day I always like to look to see which musicians contribute their craft to albums, so when you started releasing Rhythm Kings records I immediately became highly interested.

BW: Thank you. Of course, when I record a specific track that needs something special I also like to reach out to guys like Eric Clapton, and that’s how it’s been working out. Unfortunately I can’t take Clapton on the road. I’ve been fortunate to use Mark Knopfler, Chris Rea, Paul Carrack, Peter Frampton, which may or not be names you are familiar with in the USA, but they are well known in Europe. Just before he died, I also asked George Harrison to do a track. Harrison asked me why I wanted him and went on to say you have two of the best guitarists in your band already? That being Albert Lee and Martin Taylor, both are stunning. Harrison went on to say that you know I can only play one note [laughs] and I told him, “But that’s the one note I want!” So we recorded with George, bless him, and he did a very nice job on it. Since his passing we now cover “Taxman” as a tribute and thank you to him. So it’s nice to be able to do these kinds of things, you know we are very open to someone to join us on stage when we perform, but that only happens occasionally.

BP: Speaking of Harrison, he was caught up in a similar trap, like you, with the Beatles.

BW: Indeed. In fact I just Ringo saw last week to see the new Harrison movie. It was brilliant and everyone was there. In fact Ringo and I spoke about music and told me about his recent European tour and he seems to be having a ball.

BP: Ringo hires a nice band too.

BW: Yeah, but the only difference is, with his bands (and he has hired people that I use, like Peter Frampton and Gary Brooker), but he has them perform their hits, like having Dr. John performing “Right Place, Wrong Time.” But in my band we don’t do that, everyone in my band does Rhythm Kings music, which is a mixture of roots music that can go back to the twenties to the seventies; so songs by JJ Cale, Fats Waller, you name it we do it! We like to keep our own identity as band, instead of letting our bandmates perform their greatest hits. You know, Ringo once asked me to be in his band and I told him I’m already in a band… But truly, Ringo and I are close friends.

BP: Speaking of Beatles, did you go to the recent McCartney wedding?

BW: We didn’t go; I’ve kind of lost touch with Paul over the years.

Part two of a two-part interview with Bill Wyman by Robert Putignano for Blues Revue magazine and radio station WFDU. Bill chats about his time in the Stones, Willie and the Poor Boys, the Rhythm Kings, musicians he works with.

BluesWax Sittin' In With Bill Wyman part two - by Bob Putignano

Bob Pitignano for BluesWax: So have you settled your Stones frustrations with the side projects, and with the Rhythm Kings?

Bill Wyman: Yes, it was kind of hard being in the Stones, and I felt bottled up, as did Mick Taylor. When you cannot create in a band you are in, it’s a nightmare really. We were pretty much doing an album every eighteen months, where there’s maybe ten songs on it, so the people who mainly write the songs had a whole stack of tunes to add to the record. So there was no room for me, I had to appreciate that, besides I don’t write their kind of music anyway. But I got over it. In the eighties I got involved with Willie and the Poor Boys, which were pretty much the forerunners of the Rhythm Kings. In fact Ringo was a guest on the video we did. That project was a lot of fun to do. I only do these things because they are enjoyable; fortunately I have a lot projects going on at the same time, it just goes on. And we are just starting a Rhythm Kings thirty-eight-show tour. Plus, I have three beautiful teenaged daughters, which is a nightmare! But it’s also a delight, and I enjoy every minute of these things, but if there’s something I don’t like anymore I don’t do it.

BP: From your Rhythm Kings recordings, is your only Stones cover “Melody?”

BW: Yep.

BP: With Clapton and Georgie Fame, right?

BW: Correct. And my vocalist, Beverley Skeete, when we perform “Melody” is nice as Skeete and Georgie Fame go back and forth with “Melody,” and Georgie sings Beverley, and Beverley sings back Georgie, so they make it more personal. This tune always goes down like a storm, and you know that once we started performing “Melody” the Stones must have heard about it, and they put it back into their live performances, too. But we also do Muddy Waters‘ “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” too, the up-tempo Stones version, and occasionally I get dragged into singing “Honky Tonk Women,” which I feel that I don’t have the voice for, but it goes down well, the audience loves it, and my band plays it great. But the only Stones tune we’ve recorded is “Melody.”

BP: And is it by design that you haven’t also recorded with any original Stones musicians?

BW: [Laughing] But I have used Mick Taylor who did a little bit on a track. Mick wasn’t in very good form, he had just sold his guitars, so I had to hire stuff for him, he really wasn’t up to scratch, and it was a shame. I spent three days with him trying to get stuff out of him and help him; he was in a bad state. But since that time, he’s gotten himself together and has a band now. Sometimes when we are in Europe, especially Holland, Mick Taylor comes up on stage with us and plays two or three numbers.

BP: You also used Bobby Keys, one of the few Americans you’ve recorded with.

BW: Yeah, and Chuck Leavell, too. I do still stay in touch with those guys via email which is nice.

BP: Have you heard about the new Nicky Hopkins book?

BW: No, who is the author?

BP: Julian Dawson. The book is titled And on Piano Nicky Hopkins, the Extraordinary Life of Rock’s Greatest Session Man.

BW: Tell Julian thank you for writing the book. Nicky was a fantastic player.

BP: Tremendous.

BW: Nicky was a really good friend, who used to stay at my house. I liked to go visit him in California, too. We were quite close.

BP: He was truly gifted.

BW: One of the best, he could play anything. Let me tell you a brief story about Nicky. I was at Olympic Studios waiting for the rest of the Stones, so it was just me and Ian Stewart when Nicky arrived. Stewart told us that we had to hear this new album by Delaney & Bonnie, their first album. So Stewart plays it on the turntable in the control room, just the first track. Nicky walks out into the studio and played the entire song note for note, with all the breaks, etc. Ian Stewart turns around to me and says, “That’s what I don’t like about Nicky Hopkins!” Of course, he was joking, but isn’t that wonderful?

BP: The fascinating thing about Nicky was after listening to him play with all the U.K. bands, I found it remarkable that he wound up in San Francisco playing with the likes of the Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver, and even Jerry Garcia’s band.

BW: In England he played with everyone. The Who, the Beatles, the Stones, everyone wanted to use his skills whenever they could because he was a stunning player, he really embellished tracks like nobody else at the time. The only other person like that was Billy Preston, who was another gem.

BP: So there were only two musicians who played with the Beatles and the Stones, Nicky Hopkins and Billy Preston.

BW: Yeah, absolutely.

BP: And, of course, Preston got the credits on the Stones album cover Black and Blue “Melody (Inspiration by Billy Preston.)”

BW: That’s right.

BP: Bill is there anything else that you would like to add?

BW: People and fans ask me when am I going to come to America with my Rhythm Kings band. I get lots of requests via email and my website [www.BillWyman.com], unfortunately I stopped flying in 1990, so I’ve had no desire to fly again. I did go to the States twice since, but those were for book signings where I was contracted to do it. I also took the band over in 2001 and did some gigs. It wasn’t a very good tour, we weren’t known over there, and it was pretty much like the first Stones tour of the States. We did okay, but it wasn’t what it should have been. Yet people ask me, are you going to come over again, I always say, “Build a bridge or a tunnel, and I will be there!” We do go to France via the Chunnel.

BP: Thank you, Bill, continue to keep busy and stay young.

BW: I’ll try. Thank you too Bob, it’s been nice chatting with you.

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Re: Bill Wyman interviews by Davis Inman
Reply #6 - Feb 26^th, 2012 at 7:19pm

This is why IMO he is Great..........
"I’m not a busy bass player. I’m not a Stanley Clarke or anyone like that. To me, they should be playing guitar, not bass. And Ronnie Wood does that. When he played bass in the Stones sometimes, he used to say, “What do you think, Bill? Do you like me bass?” And I said, “Ron, it sounds like a solo guitar bit.” Doo-ding-ding, it’s all up there [meaning high notes on a bass guitar]. You need some balls in the bottom. I always kind of joked to him about it. You leave the space for other people, you don’t fill it in with the bass. Leave lots of room and let the track breathe from underneath. Piano can add to that, or whoever. Guitars, organ, horns. But don’t fill it up."

Bill how about a boat ride.............I love to hear you redo Sea Cruise!

« Last Edit: Feb 26^th, 2012 at 9:09pm by Kilroy »

The Core Of The Rolling Stones is Charlie Watts Hi-Hat/The Sunshine Bores The Daylights Out Of Me/And Then We Became Naked/After the Skeet Shoot & Sweet Dreams Mary & #9 11/22/1968 @#500 2/19/2010 @#800 4/09/2011 @#888 10/28/2011 @#1000 2/2/12

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Gazza Unholy Trinity Admin Offline Rat Bastid "We piss anywhere, man.." Posts: 13,231 Belfast, UK Gender:	Re: Bill Wyman interviews by Davis Inman Reply #7 - Feb 26^th, 2012 at 7:56pm I think the closing part of that interview should put to bed once and for all the notion that Bill is likely to rejoin the band for a world tour.
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