Bill Wyman 3: Bill Wyman

Twenty years with the Stones meant a lot of sitting around for Bill Wyman, and although they were never going to use any of his songs for their semiannual albums, he kept recording anyway. Mostly this meant playing around with synthesizers, with a rotating group of friends who tended to work at Jimmy Page’s studio in Berkshire. Some of this experimentation was used on the soundtrack of the little-seen film Green Ice. Then somehow, the summer before Tattoo You was released and the subsequent tour happened, he had a mild hit with “(Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star”, a novelty song in fractured French with a truly cheesy synth part to match his weedy voice.

While it got somewhat regular MTV play when it was current, it wasn’t enough of a hit for the accompanying album to be released in America. It’s tough to say whether it would have made a dent. His voice does seem better matched to the robotic arrangements of “A New Fashion” and “Nuclear Reactions”. “Jump Up” attempts to create a new dance craze and fails, and we’re not sure how we’re supposed to relate to the weary jetsetter in “Rio De Janiero”. “Come Back Suzanne” was his other mild hit single of the period, with an even goofier video to match; it sounds like a real rhythm section too. “Ride On Baby” isn’t the Stones leftover from the Aftermath sessions, but his son helped write it. It has a lot of guitar from Brian Setzer, while Chris Rea provides the lead on the dreamy “Visions”. Knowing what we know now about his, shall we say, proclivities, “Seventeen” and “Girls” are a little cringey, though he might be trying to ape Mick on the latter.

While Bill Wyman isn’t as dull as his other two solo albums, it’s only of interest to Stones completists. They would naturally go for any of the reissues, which include four single edits as well as demos of the two hits.

Bill Wyman Bill Wyman (1982)—2½
2006 Bill Wyman Solo Collection Edition: same as 1982, plus 4 extra tracks

Bill Wyman 2: Stone Alone

With enough time on his hands, Bill Wyman once again gathered some of his talented pals—this time including Van Morrison, Joe Walsh, and two of the Pointer Sisters—and recorded his second solo album. The title Stone Alone may have been intended to add a little marketing push, but the heavy glam makeup on his front portrait didn’t pique the prospective listener’s excitement.

A faithful take on Gary U.S. Bonds’ “Quarter To Three” would be better if Bruce Springsteen wasn’t already playing a phenomenal version onstage every night. He presents a convincing thesis on “Gimme Just One Chance”, and the other singers drown him out on the discofied “Soul Satisfying”, but he really shouldn’t sing. And while the bass work is pretty tasty on “Apache Woman”, the sentiment would not pass muster in the woke era. His John Cale voice comes back for “Every Sixty Seconds”, which has some clever lyrics while Van blows harp, and “Get It On” continues his one-track mind.

Danny Kortchmar is responsible for the she-done-me-wrong “Feet”, which might have been a hit if Ringo Starr had recorded it, but the excessive cooing on “Peanut Butter Time” is not sexy, to the point where “Wine And Wimmen” is just indulgent. By now his attitude is crystal clear, but just in case, a heavy cover of “If You Wanna Be Happy” has the organ, flute, and guitar fighting for a place in the mix. At this point, the very country “What’s The Point”, with fiddle and steel courtesy of John McFee, is a welcome change of dynamic, but he puts on a Louis Armstrong voice for “No More Foolin’”, with a backing like early ‘70s Kinks albums.

The overall effect of Stone Alone was he was competing with John Entwistle, another underappreciated bass player who indulged a ‘50s fixation with a goofy sense of humor. As other people have pointed out, the album wasn’t any better or worse than what Ringo was recording around the same time, but it doesn’t have Ringo’s charm, or even vocal ability. Luckily for the average Stones fan, he took the hint and didn’t make a third right away. (Those who must, however, would want the expanded CD for the bonus tracks, two of which are single mixes, “High Flying Bird” and “Back To School Again” are instrumental, and “Can’t Put Your Picture Down” and “Love Is Such A Wonderful Thing” are inoffensive.)

Bill Wyman Stone Alone (1976)—2
2006 Bill Wyman Solo Collection Edition: same as 1976, plus 6 extra tracks

Bill Wyman 1: Monkey Grip

As frustrated as Brian Jones was when Mick and Keith took over the songwriting and subsequent benefits in the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman remained more so. Only one of his songs made it to an actual album, and while it was also released as a single, that was as far as he got. So with the strength of the Rolling Stones Records label behind him, Bill took advantage of the opportunity to make solo albums—the only Stone to do so for another ten years.

Monkey Grip was recorded with the help of some famous friends—mostly Danny Kortchmar—plus members of Manassas, Lowell George, and Dr. John. The latter two certainly helped give a New Orleans vibe to the proceedings, despite being recorded mostly in California with assistance by engineers usually based in Florida. The other Stones were conspicuous in their absence.

The nicest thing we can say about Bill’s voice is that at least it was better than Ron Wood’s, but on “I Wanna Get Me A Gun” he sounds a little like John Cale, while the lyrical content could be connected to John Entwistle. “Crazy Woman” isn’t as developed, but basically covers the same theme from another angle. A Nitty Gritty Dirt Band banjo drives “Pussy”, a bluegrass rewrite of a nursery rhyme with horns, and while he seems to have his lady troubles figured out on “Mighty Fine”, “Monkey Grip Glue” is a too-long extended advertising jingle for a product that will stick to mean mistreaters.

He puts on his creepy Cale voice again for “What A Blow”, which meanders to a fake fade and back again. “White Lightnin’” is an ode to moonshine, which suitably Appalachian touches. “I’ll Pull You Thro’” has enough stank in the music and suggestions in the lyrics to almost be a Stones contender; it’s the only track here we can hear Mick possibly singing. “It’s A Wonder” lopes around for five minutes, and now we hear a vocal resemblance to Joey Molland.

There’s nothing really wrong with Monkey Grip, except that it’s not very exciting. For his sake it would have been nice if this meant he got the solo thing out of his system, but it didn’t. Meanwhile, the strength of his name didn’t give it much of a push, and it would only be revived in the digital era by budget and/or independent labels. (The bonus tracks on the eventual gushing reissue included three outtakes—two of which were little more than jams, though “It’s Just A Matter Of Time” is better than most of the album—plus four single mixes, and a song that would be rerecorded for his next outing.)

Bill Wyman Monkey Grip (1974)—2½
2006 Bill Wyman Solo Collection Edition: same as 1974, plus 8 extra tracks