Wednesday February 3, 1999

Bill Wyman is still struttin'

Lone Stone Bill Wyman cuts a new album

By MIKE ROSS / Express Writer

Nasty bit of luck for this former Rolling Stone. The Canadian release of the second Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings album just happens to coincide with Mick Jagger's impending divorce, which is getting as much media attention as ... well, the last time it happened.

So in every single interview - Bill Wyman's doing dozens of them - the bassist is asked to talk about Mick.

We at The Sun are no exception. First question: Any words of advice or encouragement for your former bandmate?

Wyman sounds weary over the phone from England, "Not really (nervous laugh) ... um, Mick, you know, he's ... well ... uh, we had Jerry over for lunch with the children last weekend, actually. It was pretty good. She's in quite good spirits. I think she's going ahead with the divorce. I think she's had enough, you know. It's just so many times. That's all I have to say...

"I had a very similar problem, you know, but I took care of it and I found someone in my life that I wanted to marry and have children with and be done with the rest of it. That's what I've done. Let's hope he does the same thing."

Could it be that infidelity is an occupational hazard among British rock stars?

"Charlie Watts has never been unfaithful," Wyman counters. "He's been on the road and done all the things that we've done, you know, with the exception of that. So here we are ... anyway, I don't really want to talk about this any more."

Sorry. Had to be done, old chap.

Now to the business at hand - the new album. Much more than simply a hobby project for Wyman's semi-retirement, Anyway the Wind Blows is a wonderfully laid-back collection of classic '30s and '40s swing music mixed with blues, groove and original tunes. Wyman's not jumping on the swing movement. He claims he didn't even know it existed until an American friend told him about it a couple of months ago. "Coincidence, I guess," he says.

The album features guests like Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, singer Beverley Skeete and the great Georgie Fame. Wyman could just about call anyone and they'd come.

He even turned down a few, like Jeff Beck and Mark Knopfler. And while Ringo Starr loaded up his last album with huge stars and had depressing results, Wyman basically stayed in the background and let his people go. Most of the tracks were knocked off in one or two takes, better to "capture that little bit of magic that makes you like that original song in the first place." he says.

The results are even stronger than Wyman's last record, Struttin' Our Stuff - and not necessarily because he doesn't sing on this one.

DON'T LIKE SINGING LIVE

"I purposely stayed away this time," he says. "I get talked into it by the other guys, so I kind of went for it on the first album, but the second album I said, 'No!' I've got four or five singers around me who can knock me for six. There's no point in doing it when Beverley or Georgie Fame could do it 10 times better. Also, I don't like singing live. So when we tour, I don't have to sing."

Music is just part of Wyman's interests - which include archeology, writing a sequel to Stone Alone and running his burger franchise, Sticky Fingers - but "I'm very serious about it. We do it to the highest quality we possibly can and I'm very proud of it. I think it's some of the best stuff I've ever done, as a producer, arranger, even my playing."

The "tour" he speaks of will not come to North America. It amounted to about four weeks of small theatres around Europe.

Wyman says it reminded him of when he played with the Stones during the '60s, when having fun was more important than dazzling millions of fans with massive special effects and pounding out hit after hit after hit.

Wyman has attended several recent Stones concerts, but he is not about to jump back on stage like Nigel in Spinal Tap. Since he quit in 1992, he has "never regretted it ....

"It's still like a family," he says, "but I've moved on."

Anyway the Wind Blows is in stores Feb. 23. Expect the third in the series - "more bluesy," says Bill - by the end of the year. Mick's woes should be out of the news by then.