Wednesday February 17, 1999

Ex-Stone rolls to own drummer

Bill Wyman fills his 'retirement' with kids, recording, photography, writing ...

By JANE STEVENSON -- Toronto Sun

The fact that the Stones, who pull into the Air Canada Centre one week from tomorrow, still want to tour after 37 years baffles many. But former bassist Bill Wyman has a pretty good theory on what keeps them on the road.

"I don't think they've got anything more important in their lives -- I really think it's as simple as that," says Wyman, whose all-star band The Rhythm Kings' new album, Anyway The Wind Blows, hits stores on Tuesday.

"If you look at them -- Charlie, the only thing he has outside the Stones is watching cricket and playing in a jazz band. Woody -- the only thing he does outside the Stones is art. He has his art exhibitions, and that's his second interest, but he has no others. Mick -- the only othere interest outside the Stones is the movie industry, where he does the occasional film or wants to produce movies, but nothing else. And Keith really doesn't have anything else outside the band.

"So I think that's why they don't stop, because they've got nothing more interesting to do. And that's not an insult, I think that's a fact."

The Stones, meanwhile, have been getting rave reviews for their latest series of rock shows -- their first arena tour in 20 years -- with the Air Canada date selling out quickly.

Wyman, who left the band eight years ago, isn't surprised.

"Yeah, well, they were always a good band," he laughs, down the line from his estate in Suffolk, England. "No, it doesn't surprise me at all. And there's a nostalgia element there which is quite strong. People say, 'I've got to see the Stones once.' Young kids that have heard about them from their dads and their uncles. So that will go on forever."

Wyman, 62, is preparing to hit the road himself with a 12-piece band. But there will be no elaborate stages, giant inflatables or big screens where he's going.

"We're going to tour England in June," he says. "We're going to do a tour of all the small places, go on a bus, like we used to in the old days 'cause it's a non-profit-making venture as a record. All the people that play with me and come on tour with me have all got their own careers. They kind of do it for the love as much as anything because there's really very little money to be earned."

Anyway The Wind Blows, the second of three blues-jazz-R&B-rock collections that Wyman recorded with such guest musicians as Eric Clapton and Peter Frampton, is already out in Europe and made it to the Top Five on the jazz-blues album charts in England.

"I never thought that England would be that interested in seeing us, because England's very what's happening today, especially on the radio and all that sort of stuff," says Wyman. "So I didn't think there was much of a market here. But the second album did so well here that I said, 'Well, you can see if anybody wants us to play here.' And we were inundated with gigs. Masses of them. And I was really in shock."

Wyman's interests, other than music, include writing (there was his autobiography Stone Alone, and a sequel is upcoming), photography books (a recently-released one about artist Marc Chagall), archaeology, medieval history and restaurants (he's got three Sticky Fingers eateries in England that are full of Stones memorabilia).

"I just like variety in my life," says Wyman. "I'm raising a family of three little girls, four years and under, with my new marriage of six years, so life's very nice at the moment. And I'm doing exactly what I want."

So he doesn't miss the Stones experience at all?

"Well I've missed about $20 million, but that doesn't concern me," says Wyman. "Because I think other things are more important to me in this time in my life. In the mid-'90s, I saw them at Wembley Stadium in London, took my little girl when she'd just been born. It was nice. It was good, but I didn't for one minute think, 'Oh, I wish I was up there.' I really didn't. And no one can believe it. But it's absolutely true."