WHY, MAN?

I M STILL quite supple I ain t got arthritis or anything like that. Thus quips former Rolling Stone, Bill Wyman, his monotone South London accent still fully intact, despite years of international rock stardom. I m a bit like Tony Hancock, he adds, laughing. I face the world as I am!
And well he might. In the same week that his ex-cohorts release a new album and head out on yet another bank-breaking world tour, the 60-year-old bassist ( totally coincidentally , of course) embarks on his first musical venture since leaving the Stones more than five years ago.
An album, Struttin Our Stuff, the first in a trilogy, is due out this month, while Wyman with his new band takes to the road for a selection of dates around Europe. Flying under the flag of the Rhythm Kings the band features a host of famous friends and acquaintances including Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Albert Lee, Georgie Fame, Chris Rea, Paul Carrack and Gary Brooker (ex Procal Harum). Impressive to say the least, but it all sounds a bit Travelling Wilburys, doesn t it?
It might appear that way but it s a lot different, Wyman explains. How it came about was, I went into the studio, three days a month for about 18 months with a core band. We recorded about 60 tracks really good quality stuff with great playing. Then I got people in to sing and to overdub guitars, keys and horns. I picked people I thought would suit the tracks Clapton came in and did two tracks, Georgie Fame did a few and it went on like that.
We ended up with three whole albums, he continues. The first one is 50s to 70s stuff, another is 1920s country blues with really nice finger picking on it, the other one is 1940s bluesy, jazzy stuff. I wanted to do it as a complete package but the record company said it s not a commercial proposition so they ll be coming out separately.
At the time he announced he was quitting the Stones, Wyman gave the impression that he was leaving the music business behind him for good. Obviously, he s had a change of heart?
Not really, he says. I did step away from music for a few years, except for a few charity shows and bits and pieces. But you can t wipe away 35 years as a musician it creeps back up on you. I didn t want to do top ten chart stuff, so I thought why don t I try something more traditional and have some fun. People started saying That s nice, it sounds good , record companies became interested and it s now became a commercial project but not in the way that a modern album would be.
Songs on the album include a version of the Creedence Clearwater classic Green River , Howlin Wolf s Down In The Bottom , John D Loudermilk s Tobacco Road and there s even an old Stones song Melody , which originally appeared on the Black And Blue album. The live dates are, Wyman says, designed to promote the album which he doesn t expect to get any airplay.
It might get on Jazz FM or BBC Radio 2 at three in the morning or something but that s about it. For the shows I managed to get everybody available for a ten-day period, so we re going to Hamburg and Amsterdam, where the tickets sold out in four hours. The London date at the Forum in Kentish Town will be filmed for a special, probably on VH-1. It ll be great and we haven t got to worry about image or any of that stuff otherwise I wouldn t do it.
Meanwhile, his former employers, the Rolling Stones, con-tinue to amaze the world at large with their age-defying stage antics. Given their seemingly boundless popularity and unimaginable longevity, does Wyman have any regrets about his decision to leave the band?
Not for one moment, he answers. I can seriously swear to that. When I make my mind up that s it. I left basically because I didn t believe there was anything left to aim for. It was getting repetitive. I need to be fulfilled when I m doing something. If I m writing a book, I want it to be a good book and I want it to sell well. It has to be said that I gave up an awful lot of money on the last two tours and on this one. I could have easily stayed and picked up a wad of cash but it s not that important to me anymore.
According to Wyman, his shock departure from the Stones was reasonably amicable and he maintains regular contact with the remaining members of the band.
The only thing, he says, was the fact that they took offence that I had the courage to walk out. They were personally hurt. It was like a family thing, the Stones. We all supported each other. When one member walks out, the others can t understand it. They can t see that there s anything better to go to. Keith said to me at the time, No-one leaves this band not unless they re in a coffin, so you ain t leaving, you motherfucker .
But I still see them a lot. Charlie comes by my house and he phones me all the time when he s on tour and he says really sweet things. I d say where are you now Charlie? . He d say hang on a minute and he looks at the room service menu and says Buenos Aires or somewhere, I don t know. Then he d says. Hey Bill, we was doing a show the other night and half way through I turned to say something to you and you wasn t there I m missing ya mate.
I see Woody a lot too and I bump into Mick and Keith occasionally. Someone pointed out to me last month where Keith said nice things about me in Guitar magazine. So it s a nice thing we have between us.
In some respects, Wyman hasn t left the Stones at all in a spiritual sense, at any rate. He was never replaced permanently, the bass duties having been filled by a variety of session players leaving the door open for him should he wish to return to the fold. In some ways I m treated as if I m still in the band. They send me all the tour programmes and badges, even the daily tour newsletter telling them where they re going and what time to go to rehearsal.
And over the last few years I ve had hundreds of letters from fans all over the world saying we miss you and it s not the same without you when are you coming back? . They re all very nice letters and very complimentary but they don t understand that it s something in the past for me.
Despite his insistence that he s left for good, Wyman reveals that covert attempts have been made by the band to persuade him to rejoin. I got a very veiled message from them about six or nine months ago. Someone very close to the band took me to dinner and afterwards they said By the way Bill, if you re not doing anything in the next year, we might have a job for you, if you re interested . But they knew they were wasting their time.
Meanwhile, Wyman s other great love, cricket, has also taken a back seat in recent years: I retired from cricket about a year ago after I achieved something I m never going to achieve again, he declares proudly. I took a hat trick at the Oval against an all-England side. It s only the third time it s ever happened at the Oval and I did it live on TV with a cigarette hanging out of me mouth! I thought this is a good time to quit while I m on top. A bit like the Stones really. n
The Rhythm Kings Struttin Our Stuff is available on RCA Victor Records.