In a band where the frontman moves the stage, the guitarist turns the riffs into myth and the drummer keeps the invisible clock of the song, the bassist often remains in the shadows. With the “Rolling Stones“ that shadow has a name - Bill Wyman. On October 24, the British musician turns 90.
Wyman was born William George Perks in 1936 in Lewisham, London. Before music, he went through national service in Germany, and then played in a rock and roll band. When he joined the “Rolling Stones“ in 1962, the band was still a blues formation that would become one of the greatest forces in rock history.
The bass that remains the foundation
Wyman was part of the classic line-up along with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones and Charlie Watts. With Watts, the two built a rhythm section that did not seek ostentation, but sustainability. It was on this basis that songs and albums such as “Beggars Banquet“, “Let It Bleed“, “Stix Fingers“, “Exile on Main Street“ and “Some Girls“ developed.
“As the “Rolling Stones“ Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman formed the most reliable rhythm section in the world, writes the Guardian in a profile of the bassist. Wyman is not the kind of musician who seeks centre stage. His strength lies in precision, restraint and the ability to let the song lead.
But he is not just the man with the bass guitar. Wyman keeps diaries, collects documents and preserves the history of the band almost like a personal archivist. He keeps posters, photographs, contracts, tickets, newspaper clippings and tour footage. The accumulated material became the basis for his books Stone Alone (1990) and Rolling with the Stones (1991). since 2002.
After the „Rolling Stones“
Wyman left the band in 1993 after 31 years in the band. In an interview with „The Guardian“ he said:
Behind the laconic line is a decision to start a new phase in which music is no longer associated with the constant pressure of the most famous rock band in the world.
After the breakup, Wyman created „Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings“ – a band dedicated to blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and early rock and roll. Its first album was released in 1997, and among the musicians who worked with the group are Georgie Fame and Peter Frampton. So the bassist continues to play, but in a different environment – less mythology, more conversation between musicians.
Over the years, Wyman has remained connected to his former colleagues, although he does not return to the line-up constantly. When the “Rolling Stones“ celebrated his 80th birthday in 2016, he was already established not only as the group's former bassist, but also as its chronicler.
Bill Wyman turns 90 a man who never needed to be the loudest in the room. It is enough that for three decades his bass was there – low in the mix, but at the very heart of the sound.
Sources: theguardian.com, latimes.com