Bill Wyman
I always got great respect as a bass player.Collection: Respect
I didn't want to stay in the Stones, and be stuck in a position having to play a music I didn't like anymore and that restricted me from doing all the others things I'm interested in because of time.
I was listening to music long before rock 'n roll.
I have no restrictions, no limits, no musical history to live with.
I live in a house that was built in 1480. It has a moat around it. It is like a little baby castle.
I'm always shy in front of an audience, so I'm always at the back, in the shadows, just doing it. I don't like the front, the adulation.
If you are any competent musician, if you have creative ideas, ideas of songs, of arrangements, in a band like the Stones, where these 2 people do all the things, there is no freedom.
You're always frustrated, you don't have the chance to do a song on the album, like the Beatles did with Ringo and George, or like Led Zeppelin, where everybody was given a chance to contribute. There never is a chance with the Stones.
I don't make any money.
But why is it that in music, anything more than 5 years old - apart from a few hits - is never played on radio to the young public?
Because of the fashion, the young people don't have any access to the history of music, unless people like me revive it. There are very few people to revive it, because you can't earn any money doing it.
I always say that I am very proud of the work that I did with the Rolling Stones and that I am also proud of what I have done with the Rhythm Kings.
I had a wonderful time with the Stones but after 31 years, I thought it was time to move on.
I have very interesting hobbies like archeology and photography.
I always listen to a lot of different music when I am working on a project.
With the Rhythm Kings, I can involve myself in arranging and producing the music as well as the choice of songs.
I am much more my own man than I was when I was with the Stones.
The first records I heard were from Dizzy Gillespie and people like that.
My first record I owned was by Les Paul.
I have found two Roman sites in the area that I live in.
You never know what your next dig is going to find.
I open events for museums and I do charity work and photography.
Everything had to be done in-between Stones time.
I love to play smaller crowds with the Rhythm Kings.
The Stones always tried to do the odd smaller gig when they could.
I think anyone would want to see their favorite band in a small club over a large stadium.
There are things that I am very proud of and there are things that you are not so proud of. But I think that applies to any musician.
I'm not an upfront person. Being upfront is not my forte. I'm quite happy to stay in the back there with the drums, where I belong.Collection: Forte
You could put Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley on one side of the stage, and James Brown on the other, and you wouldn't even notice the others were there!Collection: Littles
I'm not a musician, I just play bass.Collection: Play
Onstage I like to play with a an 18-inch speaker, which very few bass players do. I need that fat, underneath sound, which I've always had. It suits me admirably to do it like that, and I can imitate that sound by plugging directly into the board in the studio.Collection: Player
It's all right leaping about the stage when you're 20 but when you get to 25 it gets a bit embarrassingCollection: Funny
When I record in a studio I don't use an amp. I go directly into the board, so I can get that very fat, full sound - which is my favorite sound.Collection: Sound
All of my books are about researching. I do all the research and I give it to a writer who can put it in the written word better than I could.Collection: Book
Companies spend twenty, thirty, forty percent of revenues on advertising to brand their product and to get, essentially, acquire customers cheaply. You get a lot of exposure on something like this.Collection: Twenties
I can't really sing and play live, because I can't play bass efficiently and sing at the same time. If I concentrated on the vocals, I'd mess up the bass, and if I concentrated on the bass, I'd forget the lines.Collection: Play