Bill Wyman`s Internet Chat on Monday, March 8th, 7.00 pm EST

Bill Wyman: Hello everyone!

BoboShabaz asks: What is your favorite type of Bass?

Bill Wyman: I use Steinberger at the moment, I''ve been using it since 1989 I find it excellent both onstage and in the studio.

Mike Wilson from Canada asks: Hi Bill. I just wanted to say thanks for everything you have given to music. I really appreciate it. In your opinion, who is the most talented musician that you worked with or would have liked to work with?

Bill Wyman: There are many. .... There's a musician I use now, with the Rhythm Kings, the fabulous jazz guitarist Martin Taylor. He is exceptional. The love of music has inspired my career..... playing blues, and traditional and roots music...

RockOnLine Rolling Hansie: The first band that Bill played in was called the Cliftons. Drummer with the Cliftons was Tony Chapman, who briefly played with the Stones. On friday 7 december 1962 Bill and Tony went to a Stones-rehearsal fo r an audition. The minute that Bill brought in his huge amplifier ( a Vox AC30 ) the others were so impressed that he immediately was a member of the band.

waltercurtin asks: What kind of music are you listening to these days?

Bill Wyman: Once again, mostly traditional music....mainly from late 20's to forties....
I've discovered some wonderful and talented artists in that time, and it's an exceptional time for creative artists and songs.

Terry Gamble from Canada asks: Hi Bill, greetings from Canada. I know you changed your name in 1964, due to the impression a fellow serviceman had on you while you were stationed in Germany with the RAF in the mid 1950's. After you became famous did you ever have any contact with Lee Whyman?

Bill Wyman: I did until the mid-sixties, and then we lost contact. It's hard to know what's happened to him recently... The reason for the change? I didn't like my name! You know, you end up looking at a new life when you change your name...

RockOnLine Rolling Hansie: Bill was born as William George Perks at Lewisham Hospital on 24 October 1936. Later when he was in the army he met a guy named Lee Whyman. Bill was very much impressed with this guy. In 1964 William officially changed his name into Bill Wyman.

yankee_girl_25 asks: Do you miss being part of the Rolling Stones?

Bill Wyman: no... not at all, no... those days are gone now. I had thirty one wonderful years... and I thought it was time to move on and do other things in life.... never regretted it. We still stay good friends though...

Northern_Lights71 asks: Bill, been a fan since I was 7. (1978) Found you first solo album, Stone Alone after looking a long time few years ago. What do you think of that album now ? Have you listened to it the las t few years ?

Bill Wyman: that was my second solo album... I did one two years before that... called Monkey Grip....
I don't listen to them very much now, but when I do... I just have nostalgia, that's all.
Yeah, I like some things I did very much, and dislike some things very much....Those albums were done between stones work... in bits and pieces... so I wasn't really satisfied with the end product.

RockOnLine Rolling Hansie: Bill Wyman has already relesed 7 solo-albums. No other Rolling Stones member has achieved this. Besides these solo-albums he also composed the sound-track for a movie called Green Ice. Bill Wyman's 1st solo-album was Monkey Grip. Released May 1974. Bill Wyman's 2nd solo-album was Stone Alone. Released February 1976. Bill Wyman's 3rd solo-album was called Bill Wyman. Released March 1982. Bill Wyman's 4th solo-album was Willie And The Poor Boys. Released April 1985. Bill Wyman's 5th solo-album was Tear It Up. Released 1994. Bill Wyman's 6th solo-album was Struttin Our Stuff. Released 1998. Bill Wyman's 7th and latest solo-album is Anyway The Wind Blows. Released 1999.

Mrsa_AL asks: What is the worse thing about being famous?

Bill Wyman: famous? umm... the lack of privacy, I suppose. The difficulty to spend time with your family, in public...
I've got three little girls, of four and three and nine months.... and sometimes I like to take them walking, or to the park, and we have problems.
In the early days, when we were hated, I phoned up for theatre tickets, and when they asked my name, I gave it and they put the phone down on me. and I couldn't call back again.
that was in 64...
They told me things like: "we don't give tickets to the likes of you...."

kingjammy asks: it was nice seeing graham bond's name again. what does he mean to you?

Bill Wyman: umm... Graham Broad is my drummer. he's a really nice tasty drummer. and charlie likes him alot too.

RockOnLine: About Mick Taylor:

Bill Wyman: Mick has gone through some bad times. I even gave him some equipment, .. since then he's got a band together, toured europe... just released an album. so he's in really good form now.
I may well use him again in the future.

AngieBollie99 asks: Hi Bill, Holland here. I saw you in Amsterdam last October (2 times on 1 night) and I really liked it. What can we expect from the upcoming UK gigs and are you coming to Amsterdam again??

BillWyman: we'll be doing a four week tour of england, for the first time... from the end of may through june. we'll have the same band as you saw, with Georgie Fame, Gary Brooker, Albert Lee, Martin Taylor, and Beverly Skeete.
And myself, of course...
I did offer the Stones to open for them at wembley once, but they turned me down... Mick and Keith didn't like the idea. Ronnie and Charlie didn't have a problem with it.
Maybe they thought we charged too much money or something :)
I'd just like to be home with my family right now... when we're touring northern europe, I can be home every few days or so... Holland is only 35 minutes away.
VH1 has asked us to shoot a special for them on tour, so maybe you'll see us on film if you don't see us live.

LilMzRoxy asks: who were some of your biggest influences?

BillWyman: really, originally... the real rock and rollers... Chuck Berry... when I joined the Stones, I learned about the rockers... Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley... Slim Harpo...
And then of course later, when I started to get into the roots music, it was more like Ray Charles and Billie Holliday... those kinds of people
And the early country blues artists like Temper Red, Blind Willy McTell....
etc. :)

kingjammy asks: in the stones you were sort of famous for standing still on stage. why was that?

Bill Wyman: hehehe.... well originally, I was a bit shy onstage... and I wasn't into the kind of adulation.... so I kept away from it... like Charlie did really.
And while I was in the shadows and keeping out of the way, I realized that I could watch the audience better...
And I realized I could mouth my number to certain girls I liked... and sometimes it worked. cause they always managed to find out what hotel you were at, they always do.
But now I'm married so I don't do that anymore.
That's why I used to hold the bass upright... it used to shade the spotlights from... umm.... you know.

RockOnLine Rolling Hansie: In his book Stone Alone Bill Wyman claims that while on tour he always managed to get more girls than anyone else from the Stones. According to many others, who accompanied the Stones in those days, he is certainly not bragging, but simply telling the truth.

kingjammy asks: love the album...what does a player like albert lee bring to such a project?

Bill Wyman: Well... Albert Lee is fantastic playing anything similar to early rock n roll, rockabilly, and early country stuff..
Whereas Martin Taylor is the complete opposite, playing very jazzy influenced music, so it's a nice balance between them.
And Albert is absolutely brilliant with timing.... he's great to work with, and a real sweetheart. no ego. I also would have loved to have Jeff Beck on the album. He has been a friend for years...... he asked me if he could be on this album... he came to three sessions and tried to be part of it
Unfortunately, his sound was too harsh. he's a wonderful player, and we're great mates.
We tried everything but without success. he was the only thing on this album that I wished we'd had.

AceFrehleyKISS asks: Bill, share some memories of Jimi hendrix with us.....PLEASE!!

Bill Wyman: Well.... we saw Jimi Hendrix play in New York clubs way before he became famous.
and we became friends with him
And after he became famous... he was a very close friends of Brian Jones... and he came to many of our recording sessions in the late sixties...
And I saw one or two of his first gigs in england, where he first set fire to his guitar onstage... and he was something else...
You know, people seemed to delight in joining me on this project... lots of the great musicians enjoy this stuff, but they can't do it in their own careers... but they seem to enjoy working on it with me. .. being able to come and go. :)

sunset_groove asks: Do you keep in contact with any of your buds in The Cliftons?

Bill Wyman: In the cliftons? umm.... I saw the drummer (RockOnLine INFO: Tony Chapman) a few years back who joined the stones before Charlie.... but not the others... I have no idea where they are.
See, when I left, the Cliftons changed into other bands.. people came and went. and Peter Frampton joined the band, which became called the Preachers, which eventually became called the Herd...
But it all came from my original band I left to join the stones.... so if i play with Peter Frampton it's like ... old mates. I knew Peter when he was 13 years old... he used to come knocking on my door.. .
And I knew Gary too (RockOnLine INFO Gary Brooker from Procol Harum) so we go back as well.
We have an affinity together, when we play. But this band is friends, that's the whole thing about it. It's not like a heavy commercial project, it's a band that plays together for the love of it. Cause there' s not much money in this kind of music.
But the reviews have been pretty good so far. there was a great review in people. The press seems to like it, I hope the people do.
It doesn't get played on the radio much... there are radio stations in europe that play this stuff, but mostly in america it's top forty
We have jazz FM here in london, but it only has twenty, thirty thousand listeners. they're the only one who will play anything we do.
But like I said, we don't do it to stall the charts. we do it for the love of it, like in the beginning. we didn't think about money at all.
We just thought, "I hope it does well..." but that was it :)
Then someone said, "you're in the charts.." and I said, "What charts?" It appeared to be the British Jazz Charts, and we even reached 5th place. I couldn't imagine that it had happened.

RockOnLine Rolling Hansie: On Bill's latest album ANYWAY THE WIND BLOWS there are some wellknown fellow musicians like Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Andy Fairweather-Low, Georgie Fame, Gary Brooker, Chris Rea and former Stone Mick Taylor.

rosequeen54 asks: If you weren't a musician, what would you have been ?

Bill Wyman: well they asked Einstein that question... he said he would probably be a plumber. I think I would probably be a photographer.
Or an archaeologist.... I love ancient civilizations and stuff...
I'm finishing a book on medieval English history.. it includes my house. it is from 1480... it's what they call tudor... it is a manor house....
I can go into my grounds and just dig... and find buckles and walls and coins... from as far back as 1150
I know everyone who has lived in my house since 1150.... knights and barons.... everyone up to know. Even Rudyard Kipling. who wrote the famous Jungle Book.
One day I was walking along and I have these hazel bushes.... and I never looked there before... but one day, I found this beautiful buckle from 1570... and it had hands and roses on it.
And then I saw something shiny on the roots... there, lying on the top of the moss beside the bush... it was a Richard III coin from the 1450s. There it had been, on the surface for 500 years...
There's a dig in my backyard... I had archeologists come... I found walls, three feet wide... about 35 of them. they found all kinds of things I'm not capable of doing. I just do it for a hobby, I find it interesting. most people dont, but I do.
I'm also working on a website.. a big museum, with everything on the stones...
I'm working with people to set it up.... it might be a few months...

sunset_groove asks: Hi Bill, Pete from London, Ontario Canada - Did "The End", the group you produced in the 60's ever get off the ground? Is there album available today?

Bill Wyman: yeah... I produced quite a few bands in the sixties and early seventies...
Probably the most known band I produced was Tucky Buzzard... they had five albums.
They used to tour with bands like Grand Funk Railroad, and Deep Purple... they were a good band.
Stay tuned at http://www.stickyfingers.co.uk/ for more info on that.

Lisa Buttafuoco from New York asks: Hello Bill, what inspired you to do your book "Wyman Shoots Chagall ?"

Bill Wyman: It was my portrait of Marc Chagall the artist.... and I wrote a life story, for people that don't know him, and his life. And I included many photos that I've taken. It's a limited edition book... only 1500 copies. it's very beautiful, I'm very proud of it.
And it's not too expensive for a limited edition book. It's more like a collectors book...
You have to order it special, it's not in shops.
It's a nice project to do, which is totally different from the other things I do. I like a variety with projects I do, it's better not to stick to one format.

RockOnLine Rolling Hansie: In co-operation with Genesis Publications Bill published a wonderfull book, which features Wyman's photographs of artist Marc Chagall.
ROL_Hans: Wyman Shoots Chagall is a unique book. This limited edition volume, restricted to 1,500 copies worldwide, presents the portrait photography and extensive reminiscences of the former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman. Every copy is signed by Bill and individually numbered.
ROL_Hans: Wyman Shoots Chagall is accompanied by a special CD of solo recordings made by Bill in the early Eighties at the time he knew Chagall. For more info on this book, look at the Genesis Website.

InflatableSheep asks: What advice do you have for up and coming musicians? Should I keep my day job or risk it all for music?

Bill Wyman: keep your day job. I suppose one in a thousand will succeed, and the rest fail... not through any fault of their own... it's really alot of luck... meeting the right people at the right time. I can't suggest that it's a good thing to try to do. But if you feel really strong about it, just try try try... that's the only way you can do it really.

blackbeltbob asks: Hi Bill !! Is your solo song "(Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star" available on CD??

Bill Wyman: Yes, some of my solo albums are, Stone Alone, Monkey Grip, you can get them via velvel.
Yes.. you can get them via velvel shortly... Then there are the Willie and the Poor Boys available shortly...
And my other two albums, Bill Wyman, which was on A&M, I don't know if that's available now...
I don't know if they put that on cd.

RockOnLine Rolling Hansie: For more info on Bill's latest solo-project ANYWAY THE WIND BLOWS and his other albums, check out the website of record company VELVEL: www.velvel.com/wyman.html

RockOnLine Rolling Hansie: In 1958 Bill attended a show by Lonnie Donnegan. He got so excited that this was the first and last time that he danced in the middle of the aisle.

Hans Dani�ls and Anne Spijkstra from Holland ask: In February 1998 Bill Wyman and his Rythm Kings did a TV show in Holland, called the 2 meter sessions, presented by Dutch moderator Jan Douwe Kroeske. The session was great. They all had such a good time that even Bill was dancing at the end. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Is this typical for the new Bill Wyman ?

Bill Wyman: Ha ha, it is not really what it looked like. I was dancing with Peter Frampton. I was showing him just what Charlie does before he gets on stage. Then Charlie does a little dance with his drumsticks. And then he started to do it, and I did it. And it looked like we were dancing. I do remember that session very well though. We did have a good time. It was fun. I remember we did 6 songs and Dutch TV broadcasted 4 of them. Holland is always a good place to be. The people are very nice. You can just walk in the streets without getting into trouble. I almost bought a house near Amsterdam. Due to some politics it never happened.

RockOnLine Rolling Hansie: Charlie's little dance, that Bill is talking about, is clearly visible in the video At The Max.

glv_spud asks: Hello Mr. Wyman, what album are you most proud of contributing to in your career?

Bill Wyman: I partly produced and played on about 5 tracks on the 1st ninsesance album, and I kinda liked what Idid. But I also recored some blues stuff in the 60's in NY, and Bob Dylan was there.
But I think I like what I'm doing right now the best, because the people are very talented, and much fun to play with.

RockOnLine Rolling Hansie: Bill also has 2 Restaurants, called Sticky Fingers. For more info on these restaurants and a very tough Rolling Stones quiz check out: www.stickyfingers.co.uk/

T_Q_Westside asks: BIll, What do you think of hip hop music and the effect it has on todays youth?

Bill Wyman: I don't think of it actually. Well, Beverly Skeete was doing that type of music, but then I introduced her to the type of music I play. And she likes this alot more than what she used to do.

Terry Gamble from Canada asks: I recently came across your autobiographical movie "Digital Dreams", and I thought it is really great.

Bill Wyman: Aha, Digital dreams was just a fun expensive home movie. I had James Coburn in there, and Richard O'Brian, who wrote the Rocky Horror Show. It was never officially released on television. But I enjoyed doing it and I did some nice music for it with the London Symphony orchestra. That's the album I was talking about. That's a bit of a collectors album now. So I did enjoy doing that movie, although it cost me a lot of money.
Right now I'm doing a lot of research and I'm working on a script for a series for televions on the roots of blues music. This will be shot in the late summer, and probably released world wide in autumn.
But no movies.

BadPhish43asks: Have you seen the Stones live in concert recently?

Bill Wyman: I saw them in '95 in England. And I had a good time. That was the last time they were here
They didn't come last year. But I didn't ever feel like I wanted to be on the stage again with them. At that time it was them and us. Actually in 1995 that was the 1st time I'd seen the stones live.

Liz Armstrong from Amsterdam: Stone Alone is the only book about the Stones I enjoyed because I knew it was accurate...it finnished long before you left the Stones.Do you plan to bring out part 2?

Bill Wyman: Absolutely. I just finished my work on the 2nd book. Just as with my first book I used a ghost writer. Ray Coleman, the one I did my 1st book with, unfortunately died a few years ago.
I found a new writer and I'm hoping to get something back from him in the next few days, or weeks.
Then we'll put it to gether and release it hopefully in the next year. I really write these books for the fans, therefor I make them really detailed.
Therefor it makes the book quite large. The 1st one was about the 60's and this one will be about the 70's. Then there's the 80's and the 90's.
So, I will be quite busy. There's the blues special for television. the history of the blues. Just cut in tracks for the next rhythm kings album. which might be a little more bluesly.
Well, this must be it. I've got to go to bed, because my kids are going to wake me up in a few hours. And it is actually 1.30 am here in England, right now.
Good night everybody, I really look forward to chatting with you next time!!

RockOnLine Riff Man: Thanks for joining us, Bill wanted to say that he does still stay in touch with the Stones He'll be back online sometime in the next few months to chat some more
Thanks for coming.....
If any of your questions went unanswered, email [email protected] and we'll make sure they are answered next time
Good Nite
Rolling Stones fans chat every Sat at 2pm est in the Voodoo Lounge goto www.rockonline.com/VoodooLounge.cgi
The Voodoo Village also is a great place to check out Rolling Stone photographer Jim Crowley's works: goto www.rockonline.com/VoodooVillage for more...

It's Only Rock n Roll, But We Like It! Yes We Do!

Thank You All For Being Here, We Are Looking Forward To This Again

Bill Wyman, Riff Man, Angel, Sarah, Dear Lady Anne, Rolling Hansie

Special thanks to Hans+Anne for cleaning up the transcript...

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