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Interview: We chat to Bill Wyman ahead of his Tyneside gig

19 Nov 2013 13:17
Mick Burgess chats to Bill Wyman ahead of his Rhythm Kings gig at the Sage Gateshead



Are you looking forward to getting back out on the road again?

We tour every year in Europe and the UK. We’ve been doing festivals in the summer including Glastonbury which was great and now we’re doing a five week tour of the UK playing about 26 shows.

That’s a pretty heavy schedule. How do you pace yourself these days?

We play most days with the odd day off here and there. We need some time off to do our laundry! Most of the time we’re on the road playing shows and that’s what we love to do.

You’ve played Sage Gateshead a few times over the years. It’s a great venue for the audience, how is it for you as a musician?

This is a great venue and the audience are really nice there. I’ve got a lot of friends in the Newcastle area but a lot of them like Jimmy Nail and Brian Johnson, the guy from AC/DC, have moved away now but I still have some friends who I enjoy seeing again when I’m up there. I just love their great accents. The North East is a great place for football and it is for music too. They are great crowds and very appreciative. They understand what you’re doing.

The Rhythm Kings has featured many musicians over the years. Who is in your current line up?

It’s the same as the band we started with. Our two stars are Georgie Fame on organ and Albert Lee on guitar. We also have Geraint Watkins on piano who is Bob Dylan’s favourite musician. We have the same horn players and also Terry Taylor on guitar who formed the band with me and we have the lovely Beverley Skeete as our singer. We have the occasional change if someone has already been booked up to play with someone else, but overall it’s the same line up that I started with.

With your background you must have a large pool of musicians to help you out?

If one of the regular band isn’t available I could ask Andy Fairweather Lowe or Peter Frampton to fill in. I’ve also had Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Paul Carrack and George Harrison play with us at some point. Soul singer Eddie Floyd toured with us for three years and he was fantastic. We’ve also had Mary Wilson from The Supremes. It’s not too bad being able to call on players like that. We always try to have a guest each tour and this year we have Maria Mulder, the Folk singer who had a big hit with Midnight At The Oasis. She’s fantastic and that’s another feather in our cap.

You have toured the world and played enormous stadiums. Did you miss the intimacy of the theatre shows where you can see the fans close up?

I think a lot of bands like to play a club show every now and then even when they can fill stadiums. I absolutely love smaller venues. The great thing about the 60s was that you did theatres and concert halls and that’s what we are doing now and have been for 12 years. The audience is close up and they are out of their seats cheering and applauding and dancing. The atmosphere is much more intense in a smaller venue. It’s great to leave the stage with everybody cheering and stamping their feet. That’s what it’s all about for me really. It’s not a career move or a financial venture. With a nine or 10 piece band you’re not going to make any money. We do it because we love playing music.

You’re well known for your love of The Blues. When did you first hear the Blues and which artist was it that made you fall in love with the music initially?

People don’t understand that when The Stones started there wasn’t any Blues in England. It was never played on the radio and there were no Blues records in the shops. I knew nothing about it until I joined The Stones before Charlie joined. It was then when I first heard about Blues music from Brian Jones. I’d never heard it until then. I’d been listening to R&B, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Skiffle and stuff from America. In the late 50s I had been importing Chuck Berry records from Chicago and Eddie Cochrane and Johnny Burnett records as they weren’t available in England. I loved that music but my love of the Blues came after I’d joined The Stones. In the early days you had to search for the music you liked and borrow from people. I just loved it when I first heard Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.

You’ve played with some of the all-time greats including Howlin Wolf. That must have been a dream come true for you?

I became great friends with Howlin’ Wolf and used to go to his house and have dinner with his family. I played with Muddy Waters at the Montreux Jazz Festival twice in the 70s. I’ve played with Junior Wells, John Lee Hooker and Buddy Guy.

It was great to meet those people whose music had such an influence on me. I was also very lucky to play with many of the great cricket legends too when I played charity cricket for 12 years including Viv Richards, Ian Botham, David Gower and all the Australian and West Indian legends too. It was incredible batting and bowling with them on the pitch together.

I was also lucky to have known many of the great footballers and tennis players like Vitas Gerulaitis and Bjorn Borg. That’s one of the perks of being a Rock star, you get to meet all these great people, the other one is that you always get a seat at your favourite restaurant.

Worst headline ever. 

Elvin Bishop said it best:
When he asked that  the house light be turned on
He said I see it's not a sell out here tonight, thats ok the best time I ever had there weren't but two of us!
Thank you for this post!
I wish to hell I had the money and time to go see
Bill!