Bill Wyman

Bill Wyman (born October 24, 1936) was the bassist for the British rock and roll band The Rolling Stones from its founding in 1962 until 1991.

Music Career

Wyman was born William George Perks in Penge, Kent (UK). He took piano lessons from ages 10 to 13 and later taught himself bass guitar.

Related Topics:
Penge - Kent - UK

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Wyman's work as a Rolling Stone, both in the studio and during concerts, rarely involved him providing vocals. One notable exception was the song "In Another Land," released both on the Their Satanic Majesties Request album and oddly enough, released also as a solo Bill Wyman single. A second Wyman penned song, "Downtown Suzie", was released on a collection of Rolling Stones outtakes, with the title of the song altered by Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein without informing either Wyman or the band.

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Wyman kept a detailed daily journal of his days with the Rolling Stones. He used this journal extensively to refresh his memory for his history of the Rolling Stones, "Rolling with The Stones."

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Evidently Wyman maintained a friendly relationship with the first member of the Rolling Stones to voluntarily leave the band, guitarist Mick Taylor, as he continued to work with Taylor on solo projects from time to time after Taylor left the band.

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The essential riff to "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was created by Wyman, although the song itself retained the authorship of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

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Musical Instruments

Wyman is an adept musician playing several instruments including autoharp, guitar, vibraphone, glockenspiel, piano, organ, synthesizer, percussion and cello. He also contributed backing vocals.

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Over the years, Wyman has been known to play a wide variety of short-scale bass guitars. His first bass was a low-end short-scale bass; he modified the instrument by adding a second pickup, reshaping the body, and removing the frets, effectively creating the first fretless electric bass. He later played bass guitars such as the Vox Mark IV, known as "The Wyman Bass", the Fender Mustang Bass, the Gibson EB-3, Travis Bean and the Ampeg Dan Armstrong Lucite bass. He currently uses a Steinberger bass.

Related Topics:
Vox - Fender Mustang Bass - Gibson EB-3 - Travis Bean

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In addition, there was a Wyman signature 'Teardrop' Vox bass. making Wyman the only person to have a signature Vox instrument (though a Brian Jones signature Vox guitar would later be produced after his death).

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Rhythm Kings

In recent years, Wyman has been performing and playing with the Rhythm Kings, together with such artists as Peter Frampton, Gary Brooker and Albert Lee.

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