Blog » Bill's blog - November 5-9, 2008
Saturday 15th November 2008
Bill was up and straight onto working on projects on Wednesday, November 5, spending the day immersed in his work. In the evening, Bill finally surfaced from business matters and headed off to the Royal Albert Hall with Suzanne to go to the Al Green concert.
Bill says he found the support act a disappointment - a monotonous set by Gabrielle (Louise Gabrielle Bobb) with song after song lacking dynamics and variety. "I saw it as a really great voice being wasted on very ordinary material," he says.
Al Green, on the other hand, did a corker of a show - and he also pulled in imitations of other singers who have inspired him over the years, such as Sam Cooke and Otis Reading. Bill says that the entire show was great, along with an energetic band, and he really enjoyed the show.
Following a Tuesday wrapped up in projects and business work, Bill went with Terry to Abbey Road Studios to meet with David Fishoff and take part in the Rock Fantasy Camp. Bill worked with three bands over the several hours, giving them pearls of musical wisdom and even playing a few numbers with the band. Bill also signed a few autographs and had photos taken.
Afterwards, Bill headed over to John Henry's rehearsal studios and worked with two more bands, again offering up advice and playing a few numbers with them. Bill really enjoyed the event, and the chance to help emerging bands get deeper into their music.
After Bill headed off to Gedding on Saturday, he spotted a few newspaper articles on Sunday, November 9. The Observer Music Monthly had a colour photo of Bill and his daughter Katie, with an article called 'Bill Wyman Metal Detecting':
Sarah Boden (Observer Music Monthly November 2008) said: "Bill Wyman is in a taciturn mood. 'I feel like I haven't been to bed,' he says, grumpily. 'I didn't sleep last night. You get that sometimes.' He still tours with his own group, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, but these days, the 72-year-old's lack of shut eye is down to insomnia rather than growing old disgracefully. He played bass with the Rolling Stones for 30 years.
In 1992, he left, claiming to have better things to do with his time. Chiefly, pursuing his interest in photography, archaeology and metal detecting. 'Lots of people in the music business go fishing or shooting, don't they? I don't like shooting, poor bloody birds. This is like land fishing. You never know what you're going to find next.' He's even created the Bill Wyman Signature Metal Detector and co-authored an exhaustive book cataloguing the UK's best archaeological finds (Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands).
Listening to Wyman talk, it's as if his years with the Stones never happened. When he starts on the history of his 15th-century country mansion, Gedding Hall in Suffolk, he suddenly perks up. Wyman does most of his metal detecting in the grounds of Gedding, where he has unearthed more than 6,000 artefacts including jewellery and neolithic flints. It'll be the subject of a forthcoming book, he says. 'I know everyone who lived on the site from 1150 onwards. I know all the lords, knights and sirs who lived there. I'm regarded as a local now,' he adds with a hint of pleasure. 'When I first went there, in 1963 [correction 1968], they used to doff their caps as a sign of respect but when they found out who I was they stopped bothering.'
The Observer Music Monthly also had a piece on the onset of age and relationship with death in music, including an interview with Mick Jagger:
Graeme Thomson (Observer Music Monthly November 2008) said: "Mick Jagger. Death tunes: Paint it Black (1966), Sympathy for the Devil (1968), Girnme Shelter (1969). 'We're in a bit of a pioneer area, because pop music doesn't really deal with this as a major topic. You're writing within certain conventions and you have to recognise what they are. For years, the three-and-a-half-minute pop song has been an absurd convention, but we're still in it, more or less, and there are many, many others that we tend to follow - and one is that it's not conventional to write about too depressing subjects. Some days you might feel that the dark tunnel might engulf you, but I don't think a whole album of that is going to amuse anyone. There's no harm in going there for a moment, but you don't want to be there all the time - unless you've got no option. If you're an optimistic person, you want to be able to reveal all sides. I think underneath your questions you might be saying: 'Well, your music's not very grown up!', but I write what I feel. It's pop music. It's supposed to be fun! If it's sometimes a bit immature, then maybe that's what I'm like some of the time, but I hope it's not immature all the time.'
Bill says he found the support act a disappointment - a monotonous set by Gabrielle (Louise Gabrielle Bobb) with song after song lacking dynamics and variety. "I saw it as a really great voice being wasted on very ordinary material," he says.
Al Green, on the other hand, did a corker of a show - and he also pulled in imitations of other singers who have inspired him over the years, such as Sam Cooke and Otis Reading. Bill says that the entire show was great, along with an energetic band, and he really enjoyed the show.
Following a Tuesday wrapped up in projects and business work, Bill went with Terry to Abbey Road Studios to meet with David Fishoff and take part in the Rock Fantasy Camp. Bill worked with three bands over the several hours, giving them pearls of musical wisdom and even playing a few numbers with the band. Bill also signed a few autographs and had photos taken.
Afterwards, Bill headed over to John Henry's rehearsal studios and worked with two more bands, again offering up advice and playing a few numbers with them. Bill really enjoyed the event, and the chance to help emerging bands get deeper into their music.
After Bill headed off to Gedding on Saturday, he spotted a few newspaper articles on Sunday, November 9. The Observer Music Monthly had a colour photo of Bill and his daughter Katie, with an article called 'Bill Wyman Metal Detecting':
Sarah Boden (Observer Music Monthly November 2008) said: "Bill Wyman is in a taciturn mood. 'I feel like I haven't been to bed,' he says, grumpily. 'I didn't sleep last night. You get that sometimes.' He still tours with his own group, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, but these days, the 72-year-old's lack of shut eye is down to insomnia rather than growing old disgracefully. He played bass with the Rolling Stones for 30 years.
In 1992, he left, claiming to have better things to do with his time. Chiefly, pursuing his interest in photography, archaeology and metal detecting. 'Lots of people in the music business go fishing or shooting, don't they? I don't like shooting, poor bloody birds. This is like land fishing. You never know what you're going to find next.' He's even created the Bill Wyman Signature Metal Detector and co-authored an exhaustive book cataloguing the UK's best archaeological finds (Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands).
Listening to Wyman talk, it's as if his years with the Stones never happened. When he starts on the history of his 15th-century country mansion, Gedding Hall in Suffolk, he suddenly perks up. Wyman does most of his metal detecting in the grounds of Gedding, where he has unearthed more than 6,000 artefacts including jewellery and neolithic flints. It'll be the subject of a forthcoming book, he says. 'I know everyone who lived on the site from 1150 onwards. I know all the lords, knights and sirs who lived there. I'm regarded as a local now,' he adds with a hint of pleasure. 'When I first went there, in 1963 [correction 1968], they used to doff their caps as a sign of respect but when they found out who I was they stopped bothering.'
The Observer Music Monthly also had a piece on the onset of age and relationship with death in music, including an interview with Mick Jagger:
Graeme Thomson (Observer Music Monthly November 2008) said: "Mick Jagger. Death tunes: Paint it Black (1966), Sympathy for the Devil (1968), Girnme Shelter (1969). 'We're in a bit of a pioneer area, because pop music doesn't really deal with this as a major topic. You're writing within certain conventions and you have to recognise what they are. For years, the three-and-a-half-minute pop song has been an absurd convention, but we're still in it, more or less, and there are many, many others that we tend to follow - and one is that it's not conventional to write about too depressing subjects. Some days you might feel that the dark tunnel might engulf you, but I don't think a whole album of that is going to amuse anyone. There's no harm in going there for a moment, but you don't want to be there all the time - unless you've got no option. If you're an optimistic person, you want to be able to reveal all sides. I think underneath your questions you might be saying: 'Well, your music's not very grown up!', but I write what I feel. It's pop music. It's supposed to be fun! If it's sometimes a bit immature, then maybe that's what I'm like some of the time, but I hope it's not immature all the time.'
