SW writes:
Bill was older. Bill had served in the military. He was married and had a child when he joined the band. Bill was more conservative in that he was not a drug user. He did partake in drink and was infamous for indulgences with groupies. I have heard Keith call him an “Ernie” on several occasions. I know Bill and Keith did not speak for a number of years due to Keith's heroin use and Bill is of the opinion that he was shortchanged on song writing royalties. Bill was/is a compulsive collector and cataloger of the Stones' legacy. He kept EVERTHING from the beginning through his departure. He also kept detailed notes and diaries. Much to Mick's chagrin and to Bill's delight, the Stones organization frequently has to reach out to Bill for details regarding any number of historical issues that are needed for past concerts, recording sessions, dates etc. He is one hell of a bass player. Anyone who doubts it, needs to listen to live tracks off of the 69 tour.
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M writes:
Against the advice of all friends and family, he notes in “The Quiet One,” Wyman joined the Rolling Stones and his life was changed. In the early days of their rise, the Stones were the most notorious, scruffiest band of hit-makers in the U.K., where one tabloid headline famously asked, “Would you let your daughter marry a Rolling Stone?”
Wyman’s threat to personally rip down the plaque, however facetious, didn’t sit will with Mick and Keith. “Mick just the other day came up to me and says, ‘Do you believe this shit, man?,'” Richards told Esquire. “Bill was a quirky, funny old fucker, but why he should make some kind of public ‘do about it. I think Mick sent a note saying — because Bill comes from a town called Penge — ‘Bill, if a plaque went up in Penge station that said you were the founding member of the Rolling Stones, do you think we’d complain?’ But Bill — oh, we love him dearly, and he was a hell of a bass player. We didn’t tell him to leave.”
William George Wyman (néPerks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician, best known as the bassist for the rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993, plus a one-off guest appearance in 2012. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Rolling Stones. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. He has worked producing records and films, and has scored music for films and television.
The rolling stones are known for their aggressive stage performances.
Known as “The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band,” The Rolling Stones have been the bad boys of Rock ‘n’ Roll for five decades. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan started the British Invasion, and The Stones elevated it. They were the antithesis of The Beatles. While The Beatles were cute and beloved by teenagers and their mothers, The Rolling Stones were wild, edgy and somewhat threatening. Where The Beatles tried to avoided controversy, The Rolling Stones seemed to revel in it. When The Rolling Stones arrived for their first tour in the USA, headlines read, “Would You Let Your Daughter Marry a Rolling Stone?” Their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, was a gifted promoter and publicity shaper. He saw the long-term benefit in molding the group’s image to be opposite that of The Beatles. The Stones brooding blues-rock music and aggressive lyrics paired with lead singer Mick Jagger’s charisma and sexually charged onstage act pushed cultural boundaries and forever changed popular music.
By the late 1960s, the Rolling Stones had become the bad boys they had once promoted themselves to be. Their concerts from this period, filled with teenagers from the growing counterculture movement (young people experimenting with communal living, music, and drugs), were raucous enough to lead to a number of citations against the Rolling Stones for causing concert violence. Jagger’s Nazi goose-stepping onstage didn’t help.
The longest-performing rock band of all time, the Rolling Stones have greatly influenced rock and roll throughout the decades. Beginning as part of the British Rock Invasion of the 1960s, the Rolling Stones quickly became the “bad-boy” band with an image of sex, drugs, and wild behavior. After five decades together, the Rolling Stones have amassed eight #1 singles and ten consecutive gold albums.
