Music

Not fade away:You'd think that millionaire rocker, founding member of The Rolling Stones and superbassist Bill Wyman would just take it easy at his home in the south of France after the Stones' exhaustive U.S. tour last year. But noooooooo; Wyman's busied himself preparing a photo book, recording a new solo album. "Bill Wyman" (A&M), and writing a film sound track. Stan Hyman and Vicki Greenleaf spoke with Wyman about his various projects and found him witty and energetic.

[Q] Playboy: What's your new album like?

[A] Wyman: It's all very, very different. There's a reggae song, a song about space, a love song and a New Wave kind of song on it. My earlier solo albums showed off the music I liked--New Orleans R&B and early jazz--rather than the music I was able to do. I decided I would never make that mistake again.

[Q] Playboy: You've recently scored the Ryan O'Neal adventure film Green Ice. How did you do that?

[A] Wyman: I did it pretty differently from the way Marvin Hamlisch and Henry Mancini do. They write the score after they see the rough cut. I couldn't do that, because I don't read or write music. So, after being told the story for about ten minutes. I started to work out the themes in my little eight-track studio at home. I assumed there had to be a romantic scene and a chase sequence. I wrote some Mexican-flavored songs and some South American-flavored songs. Then I saw the script and it all fit--I was ecstatic.

[Q] Playboy: You recently completed photography for Chagall Méditerranée. a book on Marc Chagall. How did that evolve?

[A] Wyman: I met him through a French poet friend who was writing a book on him. Chagall hates photographers and interviewers, so I was asked if I would do it. He said. "Yes. the Rolling Stone. He can do it. He's a nice person."

When we met, he looked at me and touched my hair, which was shoulder length at the time, and said. "You must change this; it's not original." And I said. "But I'm one of the musicians who began this style in 1962." He said. "Oh, well, it's OK, then."

[Q] Playboy: Did you have any training in photography?

[A] Wyman: None whatsoever. When we started touring the world. I picked up a camera and started taking pictures. I had the occasional picture in an English newspaper or magazine, but I never did anything seriously in a professional way. I was always waiting for National Geographic to call me up and say. "How 'bout doing a project for us?" But nobody ever did.

[Q] Playboy: We hear you're keeping a Rolling Stones diary.

[A] Wyman: I've kept a diary of my own life, and it involves the band, because I'm there. I've also kept all the memorabilia over the years, because nobody else could be bothered. Now my collection is locked up, because everybody is trying to get it back. I use two computers--one in England and one in France--to keep up with the enormous volume. I took one on the U. S. tour.

[Q] Playboy: What do the other band members think of your project?

[A] Wyman: They find it quite amusing. Every gig we went to on the tour. Mick would come up to me about ten minutes before we went on and ask when we last played there and in what location. Then we'd go onstage and he'd say. "Hi, we haven't seen you since 1972, when we played at So-and-so."

[Q] Playboy: Do you plan to publish your material?

[A] Wyman: If I do, it'll take two books. A factual book of details, facts and figures for the historians, the Stones freaks and the collectors: a kind of dictionary of The Rolling Stones. And a book of amusing stories and amazingly strange things that have happened to us over the years--a very nice sort of paperback to buy at the airport.

[Q] Playboy: How does the band get along?

[A] Wyman: We all live in different places, but when we come together, we're very good mates. Keith says. "We're a tough, strong fighting unit" [laughs], and that's the way it is.

[Q] Playboy: Why did you come to be called the quiet Stone?

[A] Wyman: Because I never said anything. The reason I never said anything was because nobody asked me.

[Q] Playboy: What's Charlie Watts like?

[A] Wyman: Charlie's pretty much the same as me. Charlie's very nice. He's my best mate in the band, if you like. He has a very dry kind of humor. He doesn't say much, but when he does, it's really important or really funny. He's my favorite drummer to play with.

[Q] Playboy: Ron Wood?

[A] Wyman: He's always fun--laughing, joking, bouncing about, doing silly things. He's a good catalyst between the strong-willed people--Keith and Mick--and the laid-back people--myself and Charlie. He's the clown, the knucklehead.

[Q] Playboy: Keith Richards?

[A] Wyman: He tries to be a bit more flamboyant than he really is to cover that little bit of shyness and insecurity that he has. He's like a gypsy or a pirate. He lives like one and acts like one. There's no changing him. He's great the way he is.

[Q] Playboy: Mick Jagger?

[A] Wyman: He does all the planning and organizing for the band. He's very good at finding the right people for the right project. He's all right and he's a good vocalist.

[Q] Playboy: Do the Stones remain a priority in your life?

[A] Wyman: Absolutely. These other things have happened only in my spare time. The band is the biggest thing in my life, apart from my family.

[Q] Playboy: When you look back at your career, are there still things you'd like to do?

[A] Wyman: I'd like to talk with some of the great astronomers and scientists, like Isaac Asimov. I've got friends in the tennis fraternity--Gerulaitis and McEnroe. I'd love to go out on a court one day and beat one of those guys [laughs]. Keep your eyes open--one day, I'll get Gerulaitis, even if I have to wait until he's 50.