Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St. box set with unreleased songs (Part 2)

I was just looking on the internet but can't seem to find it. See if you can find Bill Wyman's press release. In it I believe Bill states he is quitting recording and touring as a member of the Rolling Stones. I don't recall him stating he is quitting the band. I makes no financial sense for Bill to quit being a member of the Rolling Stones (unless he was subsequently offered a severence package to cut all ties).

 

If you don't tour or record with your band, in what way are you still a member?

 

It similarly doesn't make any financial sense for Mick and Keith to agree to let Bill sit at home while they tour, and collecting a slice of their income.

 

I agree.

 

Just being this side of the grass I guess and collecting the royalties.

 

I know it sounds silly but a member who no longer tours and records. If Bill truly quit the Rolling Stones, he would not have any say in matters concerning recordings and tour related projects (videos) from 1971-1991 (I am not sure how the Stones manage their 1960's stuff owned by ABKCO). After he is gone, Bill's estate would have no claim of Bill's near 30 year involvement as a member of the Rolling Stones (other than standard royalty issues). I'm sure a lawer can express this better than I can.

True. I don't think Bill would get a dime from post 1991 tours or albums of new material. As far as I know, RS Records (and related post 60's business) was started and owned by Mick, Keith, Bill and Charlie. I can't imagine why Bill would walk away from that ownership just because he no longer wants to tour and record with the Stones anymore.

 

When Bill decided to leave the band, he was supposedly "bought out". I don't know what it specifically encompassed for him to have been bought out. He was tired of the Mick & Keith show. This came to me from somebody I know who used to work with a record label that did some work with Bill on his Rhythm Kings material.

 

You can be a "retired member," the way Bill Berry is in R.E.M. Buck has actually said, "Bill is still a member of the band, he just doesn't tour or record with us."

On the subject of Taylor rejoining the Stones in any capacity - it will never happen.

 

In a legal way.

Although something tells me Bill Wyman "settled" with the Stones and that's probably why Ronnie finally received a (small, no doubt) cut in 1992.

 

So, Bill Wyman only talks about the Stones when they're touring?

 

Take a look at the cover of 'Rarities'.

A photo from 1980 in which Bill has been airbrushed out.

That says it all.

he left the band in Jan 1993 and didnt sign the new Virgin contract, so he's no longer a band member.

I'd imagine he got a tidy sum on leaving though and/or still benefits from royalties on the back catalogue, though.


here's some interview around that time : (www.timeisonourside.com)

January 6, 1993: Bill Wyman officially announces he is quitting the Rolling Stones in a British TV
interview.


Bill Wyman (January 1993): Goodbye
I really don't want to do it anymore. I have many special memories. It's been wonderful. But I thought the last two tours with them were the best we have ever done, so I was quite happy to stop after that.

When I joined this band, we thought we would last two or three years with a bit of luck and come out with a few shillings in our pockets. Now, here I am 30 years later, and I haven't done any of the other important things in life.


Keith Richards (2003): Bill leaving
It was a huge surprise when he actually said, I'm going to leave the group. Nobody says that - that's a kind of Spinal Tap line - but I eventually had to accept it. I didn't let him off the hook for ages about it, because we've got this unit and whatever it is we do somehow seems to work well. The idea of taking a slice out of something that only has five elements in it in the first place is difficult. You can't do anything about people dying, but apart from that... Also Bill was my rhythm section. As far as I was concerned he and Charlie were joined at the hip, musically. He had an affinity with Charlie Watts that was quite amazing, and good rhythm sections don't come around that often.

 

by the way, I do believe REM never fully recovered from Bill departure until Accelerate to present, but in the meantime REM was going downhill. Pretty amazing they recovered from it!

and for the Stones, I'd love a last album with Mick Taylor, Ron Wood and Keith Richards on guitars!

 

Theres no way the Stones are going to pay anyone for work they havent done. Its hard enough to get them to pay people properly for work they DID do. Ask Mick Taylor and Ian McLagan!

As for the comments about Bill saying they should hang it up, I wouldnt read too much into it. Every so often, Bill does an interview to promote some project of his. Naturally, the interviewer isnt that interested in the Rhythm Kings or his photography or his hobby of coin-collecting, so they'll invariably throw in a few questions about the Stones and how many girls he screwed. In true tabloid fashion, thats the stuff that gets printed (often out of context with a sensationalistic headline) in order to sell newspapers and the stuff he wanted to talk about gets relegated to the extent where it barely gets a mention at all.

Quotes along the lines of 'I dont listen to the Stones music anymore' invariably get distorted into stuff along the lines of 'I think they're crap and should retire' by the time theyve filtered through various copied and pasted sources.

 

I believe the photo is from 1978 (SG video shoot) and Bill's image was cut off (he was over to the right) not airbrushed out. Not sure what that says other than the cover features Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ron; the current recording and touring version of the Rolling Stones (I would have prefered the whole group shot myself).

Unless he was bought out, it makes no sense he is no longer a band member. Why would Bill walk away from his partial ownership? He worked 30 years to get to where he was in 1993 and I can't imagine he would give that away to Mick and Keith rather than his family. To me, Bill appears too smart for that. Whether or not he currently records or tours as a Stone should have no bearing on Bill's status as member of the Stones. See a few notes above on Bill Berry's similar status with REM.

 

He was photoshopped out. Bill's bass cable is still there between Mick's guitar and the mic stand.

 

"Quotes along the lines of 'I dont listen to the Stones music anymore' invariably get distorted into stuff along the lines of 'I think they're crap and should retire' by the time theyve filtered through various copied and pasted sources."

So true! We've got a bit of copy 'n pasted sources here as well

 

Wow! I stand corrected. Was this from the Respectable video?

 

Yes.

 

No. In the original photo he's in the background between Mick and Keith. On the album cover he is most definitely airbrushed/photoshopped out. (edit : Sorry, I see surfing electrode posted the original pic. Saved me a lot of time hunting for it - thanks)

What it says is that - as is the case with every Stones album since 1993 - that the Rolling Stones are Mick, Keith, Ron and Charlie. Its also a pretty petty move to use a late 70s photo with an ex-band member airbrushed out rather than use a later pic when they were a 4-piece. Especially as Bill plays on several songs on the album.

REM is a different entity than the Rolling Stones. Its apples and oranges. Berry's reasons for quitting were different. Wyman left the Stones, did not sign any of their last two recording contracts and post 1993 is not a band member in any shape or form. With the greatest respect, I dont know any other Stones fan who thinks he's 'still' a band member. The fact that he didnt sign a contract, doesnt play or record with them has EVERY bearing on whether hes a band member or not. He left because he was in a position where he could so.

Whether you or I think it was 'smart' is conjecture - he wasnt in a position where he could contribute to the degree that he did before, he felt he had done it all and had made enough money, he had little interest in the band's musical direction and he had a young family that he wanted to spend more time with.

 

I remember watching the video on TV from which that still photo was taken.......time flies by.

 

My older sister had that poster in her room. I always thought it was cool that Mick Jagger was playing a guitar (Fender Jaguar?).

Ken

 

I love it. The Black Crowes did something in the same vein when they photoshopped out their bassist on the Jimmy Page/Crowes live record.

I hate the rewriting of history.

 

Yeah, "rarities", right. I hated this release - the latest in a long line of cash grabs utilizing previously released material by the Stones. Redeeming feature - the only CD release of "Let It Rock."

In the heat of the day, down in Mobile Alabama . . .

great.

 

Yup, that's the only reason I bought it.

 

That's why I have my Spanish pressing of Sticky Fingers!