Interview with Bill Wyman

[Vincent Vega]

Hey, I was reading an interview with the Stones now ex bassist Bill Wyman. He was with them from 1962-1993. The Stones seem to be just as bad, if not worse than Axl. For example...Ron Wood was not made an ''official'' member of the Stones until 1994 after he had been in the band for 20 years. Because he had not been made an official member, he made little money from the Stones and had been nearly in bankrupcy for 20 years. Mick Taylor, who was the guitarist before Ron Wood (from '69-'74) left because all of the songs he had written or had a part in writing he wasn't creditted for (they were credited instead to Jagger/Richards) and didn't receive royalties for.

Here's what Wyman says:

I asked him (Mick Taylor) what he thought about your leaving the Stones after the 89/90 World Tour, and he answered he was surprised you didn't quit by the same he did...

(laughs) 74 ? Well I thought many times of leaving because I was frustrated musically.

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.

In the 70ies, I didn't quit the band because I thought "OK, let's do solo albums", so I went to California, and worked with great musicians : Leon Russel, Dr John, Van Morrisson, Sly Stone...... I had all the people I loved on my solo albums, and then my frustration was gone.

In the 80ies, I made movie musics for Dario Argenta's horror films, I made a big movie score for a major film with Omar Shariff called "Green Ice". The film was shit but the music was good !!! (laughs)

So I was releasing this tension with my solo albums, but I didn't want to play music just for money. I want to be creative, more adventurous, and that's why I left. 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.

Is it true that Mick Jagger wanted to have acces to your files ?

He wanted to take a black pen and make a complete edit on my book before I released it.

I didn't accept and he wasn't very happy.

When he wanted to make a book, he wanted all of my information, and I just said "Piss off".

My book has nothing to do with him. If he writes a book, he should write it from what he remembers.

Did you see them on their Bridges to Babylon tour ?

No, because they cancelled England. They did so because taxes were too high. They're interested in money.

[Zint]

It's funny that he slags them for being interested in money.

Bill was ALL about the money.