Did anyone see Bill and Stephen Fry on Sky Arts last night in conversation. The idea behind the show is that 2 people from different walks of life talk candidly about themselves.

Bill did not give much away. Talked about his poor upbringing in south London. Early meeting with Mick, Keith & Brian. He claims to have invented the fretless bass when he modified an existing bass back in 1960 or so. He was quite adamant that the Stones were Brian's band - I think he is very loyal to his memory.

The usual stuff about not making any money during the 60's and then becoming tax exiles. Said he left the band because he wanted to pursue his own agenda in life and not be tied to the round of recording, touring etc.

Fry asked him if he was a sex addict in light of his so called 1,000 female conquests. Bill smiled but did not really answer. Fry was quite candid about his life but Bill was very guarded at times. There was no mention of the whole Mandy saga and you got the impression that it had been set aside as a taboo subject before the programme even started.

Andy

thanks
jeroen

Stephen Fry is great, somebody has to upload that conversation here.

Yes Stephen Fry did a lot of the talking but he is a natural raconteur. He was very open about his troubled youth, time spent in prison, celibacy, gayness etc. Talking about these things seems to help him overcome his problems but Bill seems to bottle a lot up inside himself although he seemed contented enough.

Andy


Andy

Quote
nashville
He was quite adamant that the Stones were Brian's band - I think he is very loyal to his memory.

Is that strange, considering that according to Keith's book, Brian was mean to Bill - considered him an "Ernie" and beneath the rest of the group.

Here is a three minute teaser for the show:

[video.sky.com]

N

Brian might have gotten closer to Bill as the others pulled away from him. James Phelge's book has Brian playing around with Bill's bass, with the idea of replacing him and turning the Stones into a quartet after Brian saw the popularity of the Beatles. Brian seemed to piss on everybody eventually. We don't know what Brian said or thought about the others. Charlie seemed to intimate that Brian didn't put the drummer in much high esteem. Whatever happened, in time Brian managed to piss off and alienate each and every one of them, including Bill. Then he drowned.

love to hear the part about inventing the fretless electric bass. that home-made bass is really cool.

As I understood it, Brian's bullying towards Bill was mostly in the early days. I don't know, of course, but it seems like Brian and Bill became closer towards the mid-60s, when Mick and Keith and Andrew were very close.

Maybe Bill & Brian were brothers in misery against the Mick/Keith/Andrew machine. Charlie didn't seem to gravitate towards either camp, though his situation had more in common with Bill's. It seemed like Wyman & Watts hung out a lot together on the road.

seems like Brian and Bill became closer towards the mid-60s,

............. the groupies bought 'em tagether



ROCKMAN

Ben and Bill



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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-08 09:26 by Come On.