The Quiet One (2019) - full transcript

[silence]

[whistles]

Shall we do a mic test, Bill?

Well, I'll just talk
about that loud, don't I?

Not much louder.

It looks like it's got
quite a good level there.

Bouncin' about.

Yep.

Here we go.

[instrumental music]

Play simple.



You're leavin' space and holes
for people to fill in.

Not to get in the way.
Not to be really noticed.

'Cause if you did
the right thing

you don't get noticed.

And that's the way I play.
Very simple.

I am Charlie Watts.
I am the drummer.

I'm Brian Jones, the guitarist
and harmonica player.

Keith Richards, guitar.

Mick Jagger, s..
I sing...songs.

Bill Wyman.
I play bass...guitar.

[The Rolling Stones singing
"Paint It Black"]

♪ I see a red door ♪

♪ And I want it painted black ♪

♪ No colors anymore ♪



♪ I want them to turn black ♪

♪ I see the girls walk by ♪

♪ Dressed
in their summer clothes ♪

[screaming]

♪ I have to turn my head ♪

♪ Until my darkness goes ♪

♪ I see a line of cars ♪

♪ And they're all
painted black ♪

♪ With flowers and my love ♪

♪ Both never to come back ♪

♪ I see people
turn their heads ♪

♪ And quickly look away ♪

♪ Like a newborn baby ♪

♪ It just happens every day ♪

♪ I look inside myself ♪

♪ And see my heart is black ♪

♪ I see my red door ♪

♪ I must have it
painted black ♪

♪ Maybe then I'll fade away ♪

♪ And not have to face
the facts ♪

♪ It's not easy facin' up ♪

♪ When your whole world
is black ♪

♪ No more will my green sea ♪

♪ Go turn a deeper blue ♪

♪ I could not foresee
this thing ♪

♪ Happening to you ♪

You've always been
the silent Stone.

That's been the-- the image.

The great Stone Face, I know.

♪ My love will laugh with me ♪

♪ Before the mornin' comes ♪♪

[instrumental music]

People always ask me
why I collected things

and why I built an archive
like I did and still do.

This is my little capsule
of my life in here.

I suppose if you looked
at my bookshelves

you would sort of
understand me better.

I always thought it was
important to keep a record

of what was going on.

I've -- I've always
kept records

or information of things

since I was a-- a little boy
in the war.

[jazz music]

[alarm blaring]

I remember standing out
in the streets

with all the local families

and watching the formations
of German bombers going over.

It was just droning.

Just this sound.

There was
a German fighter bomber

roaring up the street
towards us firing his guns.

[gunfire]

As it passed,
I ran down the street

to where my grandmother
was waiting for me.

She grabbed me
and we ran to go down

the back of the stairs
to the air raid shelter.

[explosion]

[droning]

And then the silence.

You go back to the school,
and there were two little girls

who was in our class,
they weren't there anymore.

They got killed.

We go to that bomb site

where there used to be
about 16 houses

and find toys
and children's books

and then we'd get chased off
by the air raid men.

[instrumental music]

My grandmother
was like my mother.

I mean,
she taught me everything.

She was wonderful.

She started me
collectin' things.

All kinds of treasured
little things.

I was collectin' stuff
and I made a scrapbook.

And then I had to make
another scrapbook

and another scrapbook.

Then I have to get a trunk.

And it just kept goin'
on and on.

Whenever I came into contact
with anything

that I could claim was mine,
I kept it.

Throw it in the room here.
Throw it in the room.

I always wanted to be
a musician.

I always wanted to be
in a band.

And I know it was so impossible
and so unlikely

um, that I would be
that I just dismissed it

completely from my mind.

And, um, suddenly last year..

...I -- I re -- remembered,
you know, after all that time.

I suddenly remembered
that I'd always wanted to be

and now I was, you know.

It didn't mean a thing
to me anymore.

It was a big,
it was such a big ambition.

It was-- it was unobtainable
when I was little.

[instrumental music]

[indistinct chatter]

I was coming from one
of the worst streets in Penge.

It was like gang warfare
in those days.

Most of the boys
in Blenheim Road

ended up in borstals or prisons

and a lot of them went bad.

I was really quite ahead
of everybody

because of what my gran
was teaching me.

She did whatever she could
to bring me up.

My mom and my dad
were not that kind of people.

There was a emptiness,
a blankness in 'em.

All that working-class stuff

that children should be seen
and not heard.

You felt pushed aside
all the time.

I never really felt
like I had a home, you know.

I really didn't.

[school bell rings]

I went to a grammar school,
which was something special

you know, in those days,
um, coming from a slum street.

I was accused
of trying to be snobby

by my mates in the street
and also by my dad.

He always tried to insist
that I was working class

and I should never
try to change

because that's what I was.

My dad pulled me out of school

and the headmaster
wrote a letter to him.

I've got it.
I've got the letter.

And not only did he
pull me out of school

he did the worst thing
possible.

Put me to work
in a bettin' shop.

He said,
"You're gonna contribute
to payin' for the house."

Because he was a bricklayer,
and if he had bad weather
in the winter

he couldn't work.

I returned to live
with my grandmother
a number of times

because I just couldn't get on
with my dad at all.

[indistinct chatter]

I realized I was on me own.

Once my grandmother died

being loved kind of vanished,
really.

She died when I was away
and I just never..

...paid her back, really

for all the love and affection
she gave me

and I feel guilty about it.

When I was born, she picked me
up in-- in her arms

and said, "This boy's
gonna be world-famous."

And everybody laughed

including my mom, my dad,
my relatives.

They all thought
it was like a big joke.

[crowd cheering]

Yeah.

[The Rolling Stones singing
"Not Fade Away"]

♪ I wanna tell you
how it's gonna be ♪

♪ You're gonna give
your love to me ♪♪

Give it up
for the Rolling Stones.

[singing "Around And Around"]

♪ It sounds so sweet ♪

The audience just stood
and sort of stared at us

because we didn't have
no uniforms

we didn't have
any matching guitars

and we played
this blues and R&B

which was alien to them.

And then this crowd goes
fucking apeshit.

♪ Going round and round ♪

♪ Yeah reelin' and a rockin' ♪

♪ What a crazy sound ♪

♪ And they never
stopped rockin' ♪

♪ Till the moon went down ♪♪

[cheering]

We were just so different
from any other band.

We played different music
to them.

We played in a different way.
We played it better than them.

Keith had all the licks off.

And then you got Mick up front

who's just all over
the bloody stage

with the maracas and
the tambourine and all that.

The greatest front man
there's ever been.

[cheering]

It was a special band

and we could blow
anyone off the stage

no matter who it was.

[cheering]

[instrumental music]

Bill had
a very individual style

that wasn't particularly
hip or cool

but he was his own person.

He had a tremendous presence

but he didn't impose
himself on you.

Stone Face,
I think people called him

or referred to him
as Stone Face.

He was rake thin

and when he smiled,
which wasn't that frequently

his whole face lit up

in a sort of great crease
of a smile.

And he always had an air
of world-weariness.

I remember seeing Bill
when we first rehearsed

up the road in a pub.

You know, he'd had a different
sort of upbringing.

He's locked into an era
that was before us, really.

So when we got on the road

I think it was like liberation
for him.

I went into the military
in '55.

Thank God I got the strength
when I was in the military

to be able to stand up
for myself

and fight for my beliefs.

Before that, I couldn't.

[droning]

[instrumental music]

[indistinct chatter]

I was posted to Germany.

When I got there,
I met this great guy

who was a genius footballer.

His name was Gordon Lee Wyman.

He was bit of a rebel.

All his clothes were scruffy.

And I kind of really
liked him for that

because we all had to dress
tidy and neat

otherwise we got a bollocking.

But he seemed to
get away with it.

[airplane droning]

He used to be
in the refuelin' trucks

and he'd open the top
when it was being refueled.

He'd be smokin' a cigarette

and he'd just throw
the cigarette in the fuel.

[chuckles]
He did insane things.

When he finished his fag,
he just dropped it in there.

[intense music]

He was like the first person
I kind of idolized

if you like.

He did things his way,
and I related to all that.

At the beginning of the Stones,
I decided to change my name

because I'd never liked
my name.

I officially changed my name
in '64 to Bill Wyman.

I felt such a relief
havin' a different name

and it just took a cloud
off my head.

My dad hated me for it.

He thought I was trying
to get away from my roots

which I kind of was in a way.

I mean,
it just changed my life.

I bought a fleck jacket
just to be different, really.

I'd have a Tony Curtis haircut

hanging down the center there,
you know, a curly bit.

People used to stare at me
in the street

and I was proud of that.

I was being an odd one out.

[radio static]

[indistinct chatter on radio]

At the barracks, the guys in
our room all clubbed together.

We bought a radio in town,
in Oldenburg, for our room

and at last we were able
to listen to whatever we wanted

mostly through
American Forces Radio, AFN.

We'd wake up at 5:30
in the morning

and listen
to "Stickbuddy Jamboree"

this fantastic country program.

A very big, big, happy howdy
to you out there,
friends and neighbors.

This is your old country buddy
Wagon Wheel Willie

comin' at you
on "Stickbuddy Jamboree."

Sit back and relax
and enjoy 25 minutes

of good country
and western recorded music.

[country music on radio]

Then, of course,
shortly after that

we heard the beginnings
of rock and roll.

[singing "Mystery Train"]

♪ Train I ride ♪

I could go
to the American PSI shops

and buy the first
little 45 records.

♪ Train I ride ♪♪

It was just like
brand-new music.

It just blew me away.

And I had to be involved in it.

I had to.

I went straight down
into the Oldenburg town

and I bought
my first acoustic guitar.

When I came out of
the military on leave

I went to the cinema,
the, uh, Regal Cinema

in Beckenham
with a couple of friends

and we saw this film
called "Rock, Rock, Rock!"

About halfway through,
I saw this trio

called Johnny Burnette
Trio who did this..

♪ Lonesome train ♪

...on a lonesome track.

♪ Tum tum lonesome train ♪

A bit like early Elvis.

♪ I'm coming back ♪♪

With all this, you know

his mouth a bit twisted

like Elvis and all that.

I thought,
"Oh, they're great," you know.

About ten minutes
further into the film

there's this black guy
with a little mustache

in a white suit

with a little
Gibson Les Paul guitar.

♪ Do do do la da da
do do da la da da da ♪♪

Chuck Berry.

[singing "You Can't Catch Me"]

And that just blew my mind.

My hair went on the back
of my neck.

I thought, "Fuckin' hell."
It just blew me away.

This guy was doin'
the duck walk across the stage

and shakin' his legs
and shudderin'.

And the audience are laughing.

They thought it was
a comedy show or something.

And I'm sitting there thinking

"This is the most
incredible thing

that's ever happened to me."

It was then that I thought

"Well, I've got
to form a band."

♪ Get too close
you know I'm gone ♪

♪ Like a cool breeze ♪

I'm out of the military

and that's when the Cliftons
came into existence.

♪ Wee wee hours ♪

We used to sit in my kitchen
with a little tape recorder

and just learn
all these basic songs.

♪ Here come a flat-top
he was moving up with me ♪♪

We used to play
all the hits of the day.

Um, for that,
we used to get a pound each

and a sandwich and a beer.

How long did it take you
to learn to play?

It was about --

[laughter]

Now give him a chance, please.

You can ask these questions,
everybody sends

somebody else up.
No one wants to say anything.

I just messed about
with a guitar at home.

About three years ago.
Three and a half years ago.

And eventually formed a group

and I had to play bass 'cause
nobody else did, did they?

- And then I --
- Why do you play bass?

Nobody else did.

Yeah, because
there's more guitarists

and less bass players.

I went to my sister's house
for the weekend

and we went to a dance.

And I heard the bass.

[blues music]

I heard the real bass guitar
for the first time.

The low sound just filled you
up right down there, you know

when everybody else
was playing up high.

And I thought,
"God, that's what's missing

in the Cliftons."

And I asked them all. I said,
"Steve, you wanna play bass?"

"No." "Cliff, do you
wanna play bass?" "No."

Fucking hell, I suppose
I better do it then.

He didn't have a bass guitar

because he couldn't afford
to buy one.

What he did was detune
two or three of the top strings

of an ordinary six-string
and he made..

What he made of it
was brilliant, you know.

And I think we may have
all clubbed together

to buy the bass guitar.

We bought it and it was
the most ugly, horrible thing.

I turned this bass over,
got some chalk

and redrew the body.

And I went down the road
to my friend

who had a fret work machine.

I said, "I want you
to cut all this out."

He went, "Are you serious?"

I said "Yes, cut it out."

[whirring]

Took it home,
put all new electrics in it.

[whirring]

I put another pickup in,
a Baldwin pickup.

Stripped it all down,
took all the frets out.

Then I had to buy new strings,
these framer strings

which were really
springy and soft.

And I bought this amplifier.

The fucking thing,
every time I touched it

I'd get electrocuted

because it didn't have
an earth or anything.

I'd just go, "Ah!"

I bought
an 18-inch Goodman speaker

the biggest speaker there was.

And when I played this bass,
Jesus, the sound.

[imitates bass guitar]

I mean, it was amazing.

Without knowing it,
I invented the fretless bass.

[Booker T & the MG's
singing "Green Onions"]

I heard "Green Onions"
by Booker T & the MG's.

♪ Boom doom pa doom doom ♪

♪ Doom doom pa doom
pa doom doom ♪♪

And I thought,
"That bass is great."

And I started to focus

on trying to play bass
like Duck Dunn.

That's who I learned
my basics from.

The way to play,
to leave space

don't be busy,
don't fill it up.

You're not a fucking
lead guitarist

you're a bass player.

Focus on what
the drummer's doin'

and play exactly
with the drums

so that you've got
a strong foundation there

that's solid, that everybody
else can build upon.

♪ Can you handle it?
Handle it ♪

♪ Can you handle it ♪♪

[instrumental music]

I'd done gigs
with some of the lesser-known

musicians of the time.

I did have a bit of
experience like that

but it was all rock and roll.

The stuff that we were
all listening to

they weren't many bass players
on any of those records.

And I remember seeing
Bill playing and thinking

"What, a bass player?"
And he looked like a Teddy Boy.

I thought,
"Where's he come from?"

You know, his bass playing
was fantastic.

Really unique.

Forming the Cliftons
was a breath of fresh air.

I'd fallen in love
with playing music.

We were doing all these gigs
and working hard

but the trouble was
those shite promoters.

They owed us so much money,
they just wouldn't pay us.

And so the bottom started
to fall out of the band.

Tony Chapman answered an ad

for a drummer
with an R&B band.

That night we went back
to Mick's parents' house

and they played Jimmy Reid
and various things

that I'd never heard.

I think they quite liked
the way I played

because I could play
the shuffle beat

which most people couldn't.

And then that's how I got to
play with the Stones, really.

Tony came to me and said,
"Bass player's left.

Do you wanna come up
to rehearsal on Friday?"

So I went up with him
and I had my big bass cabinet

in the boot of his car
stickin' out.

I took my homemade bass

and I went to the
Weatherby Arms in Chelsea.

I went in, and there they were,
Ian Stewart.

He was nice
when I went in there.

[indistinct chatter]

Mick was fairly sociable.

[instrumental music]

And Brian and Keith
just didn't speak to me.

They were up at the bar,
and they were really beatnik-y.

I bought them all
a round of drinks

and then they got
a bit more friendly

and -- and passed
the cigarettes round.

So, then they were sociable,
you know.

They didn't have any money
or anything.

They asked me
what music I liked

and what music I played.

So I said, "Well, Chuck Berry,"
and they went, "Great."

"Jerry Lee Lewis." "No!"

"Eddie Cochrane." "No!"

All the rock and rollers,
they didn't like any of them.

They said, "We're a blues band,
we're not a rock and roll band.

We don't play that shit."

[The Rolling Stones
singing "Mona"]

They'd already spoken
to Charlie Watts

so they fired Tony,
and Charlie said he'd join.

I kind of slotted in alright.

♪ I said yeah ♪

♪ Yeah yeah yeah Mona ♪

♪ Oh Mona ♪

♪ I tell ya Mona
what I wanna do ♪♪

I was a bit
of a rock and roller

more than anything else

and found that they were
playing pure blues.

♪ Man ♪

I mean,
really slow, slow blues.

♪ You know I didn't enjoy
things that kings and queens ♪♪

You couldn't buy
a bloody blues record

to save your life
in those days.

It was unheard of in England.

I remember saying to them
at that rehearsal

I said, "We can't play 12-bar
blues all fucking night."

Which I was totally wrong about

because we ended up
doing exactly that.

Within two months,
we were brilliant

and sounded fantastic.

And in 1963,
we played about 340 shows.

We traveled everywhere
in Stu's van.

He was a fantastic
blues piano player

and he looked after us
on the road for 22 years.

He was like
the sixth Stone, really.

Stu would turn around and say

"Okay, you three-chord wonders,
you're on."

♪ Let's go fishin'
in the crawdad hole ♪

♪ One two three four
five and nine ♪

I couldn't survive working

because we started to get gigs
out of London.

♪ I said hey crawdaddy ♪

♪ I said hey crawdaddy ♪

♪ I said hey crawdaddy ♪

♪ Hey crawdaddy ♪♪

I told my parents and friends

that I was gonna give up work
and go professional.

Every single person I knew said

"Don't do it.
Don't take the risk."

And I thought,
"Fuck it, I'm gonna do it."

Top British
rhythm and blues group

and the best new group,
the Rolling Stones.

[audience cheering]

I didn't think of it

as progressin' anywhere
really big.

It was the most excitin' thing
in my life.

The sound we had,
no one compared

with that sound in those days,
no one.

I started to collect
the little bits and pieces

as we traveled.

If I was very lucky,
I grabbed a little poster

and someone would give me
a photo they had taken.

And it just slowly escalated
into this mountain.

You know, it is all
a bit of a haze to me.

I mean, if I wanna know what
I did for certain in those years

I have to ask Bill Wyman,
you know.

- Who keeps the archives.
- Yeah.

Bill was the first guy
to have a computer.

He'd have his videos
and they'd be all stacked up.

I bet he's probably got them
even now.

He had movie cameras
before everybody.

I took reels of film.

Twenty years of home movies
on the road.

The biggest ambition we had
was to play in a club

and have people like
what we were playin'.

We never dreamed
about making a record.

It never crossed our minds
that we would ever

be on TV or radio.

Pie in the sky to think
we might go abroad sometime

because we were playin'
uncommercial music.

We were playin' pure blues

and the only place we could
play it was in jazz clubs.

Suddenly, we got a followin'
and it blossomed from there.

Glyn Johns, who was
in that band, The Presidents

said to us,
"I work at IBC Record Studios.

I can get you three hours
recording time."

We went, "What?
Make a record?"

I'd seen the Rolling Stones

and I thought
they were really good

and I thought,
"There's definitely

a commercial opportunity here."

So I approached
the studio owners and said

"Can I bring these people in
and see what we can do?"

And they said, "Yes,
on the condition that you have

"absolutely nothing to do
with getting the deal.

We'll do the business."

[instrumental music]

I took the Stones in

and that was their first
recording session.

We cut four things, I think.
Bill and I argue about this.

I thought it was only three,
but he says it was five.

He's probably right

because he's got it
all written down somewhere.

We went
and we cut five tracks.

The guy who owned the place,
Harold Clewson

took them around
to Decca and EMI and Pi

and nobody liked them.

And we thought that was the end
of our recording careers.

It started to happen
when Andrew Oldham signed us.

I'm proud of most things I did.

Just, whether the proudness
remains

is whether they happen
or they don't happen.

Um, the biggest thing
naturally is the Rolling Stones.

Andrew said he saw the sex
emanatin' from us

and, you know,
and all this sort of bullshit

the way Andrew talks,
which was fantastic

'cause he was a genius.

Bill, I didn't pay
much attention to

and he knows that.

Because of being
deeply superficial

I judged books by their cover

and he seemed to be
much more of a Duane Eddy

Johnny and the Hurricanes
type of guy to me

than a, than a Bo Diddley guy.

Bill might have had moments
where he thought

not that his life was over,
but his life was set.

And then along came
the Rolling Stones.

The phone rings
and it's Andrew Oldham saying

"Can I speak to Terry O'Neill?"
So I speak to him.

He said,
"Can you do what you did

for the Beatles
for the Stones?"

I said,
"Well, I'll give it a try."

And that's when
I first met Bill.

I took the pictures back,
and the picture editor said

"God, they look like
five prehistoric monsters."

It was a mania
with the Beatles

whereas with the Stones,
it was an appreciation.

It became a cult.

[instrumental music]

Alright then, this is
the Rolling Stones interview

for the fan club,
December, Christmastime.

Mick, Bill and Charlie.

When did you first get mobbed?
Do you remember that word?

- Yeah.
- Well, that's a good question.

I don't remember, you know.

It was like something,
I remember --

- I do.
- Oh, well, Bill, okay, go on.

He remembers everything.
I'm trying --

We, the first time
we got mobbed..

- Go on, where was it?
- This doesn't happen anymore.

It was about a third of the way

through
the Everly Brothers tour.

- Really?
- Up in the north.

It was either
in Manchester or Liverpool

one of those places.

Um, where we were actually
attacked for the first time

when we tried to get out
of the theater.

[crowd cheering]

Okay, here we go.

And now I'd like
to introduce to you

the fabulous Rolling Stones.

[cheering]

We'd go on stage
and go jan-ta-jan

and the whole crowd
would pour on stage

and that was the end
of the show.

Two chords, end of the show.

And if we got through three
songs, it was, like, amazing.

[instrumental music]

Sometimes they put police dogs
on each end of the stage

to stop the kids getting on.
The police dogs went nuts.

[dogs barking]

The only way you could get out
of the theater in time

when you played the last chord
of the last song

the curtains closed
and they had to play

"God Save The Queen."

[crowd cheering]

[instrumental
"God Save The Queen"]

And the audience had to stand
there for those two minutes.

And that was the two minutes
we had to get off the stage

down the corridors,
out of the building

into the police van
or whatever it was

the Black Mariah
or the ambulance

or the newspaper van
we were using

to be inconspicuous.

And gone.

Sometimes we didn't get out
in time

and then we just got mashed.

And then we went abroad,
fucking hell.

[The Rolling Stones singing
"Street Fighting Man"]

Please fasten your seatbelts
and do not smoke.

♪ Everywhere I hear the sound ♪

♪ Of marching
charging feet boy ♪

♪ 'Cause summer's here
and the time is right ♪

♪ For fighting
in the street boy ♪

♪ Well now what can
a poor boy do ♪

♪ Except to sing
for a rock and roll band? ♪

♪ 'Cause
in sleepy London town ♪

♪ There's just no place
for a street fighting man ♪♪

You talk about being worn out

but you've never been
as worn out

as we were the other week.

On Wednesday, the 15th

we left Munich
and flew to West Berlin

and that's where
the story really starts.

We arrived at the airport.

They said we'll hold
a press conference.

We got in,
started the press conference.

We were there five minutes,
and the kids

are breaking the doors down
and everything

and the police kept
bringing reinforcements in

to hold the doors
and everything at each end.

The chief of police
came over and he said

"We can't hold 'em any longer.
You'll have to go."

So we had to run out and fight
our way through to the bus

and then the bus had to fight
its way through the crowd.

And away we went with an escort
of about six police cars

and about twenty helmeted
and armed police on motorbikes.

Unbelievable, you know.

I never had my movie camera
with me.

I'm so annoyed
that I missed it, you know.

[The Rolling Stones
singing "Route 66"]

♪ Well if you ever plan ♪

We were over the moon to hear

that we were gonna go
to America.

♪ Just take my way ♪

♪ That's the highway
that's the best ♪

♪ Get your kicks on Route 66 ♪

The Beatles,
they made it in America.

The Rolling Stones
were made by America.

One started to be able to watch
with all of them

some magical development

as they were able to record

with their feet
touching the land

that created their passion.

You had to break every town
and every state.

You were right
in the middle of it.

♪ Oklahoma City looks
oh so pretty ♪

♪ You'll see Amarillo ♪♪

Let's run one down.

Rolling master A.
Master A, take one.

[instrumental music]

Going to Chess
was like a pilgrimage.

We knew that that's where
most of our idols recorded.

Bo Diddley,
Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf.

We hoped we could get
the right sound

that we weren't being able
to get in the UK.

And we did.

We played
their blues music brilliantly

and that's what shocked them.

- What's your ambition now?
- To be a musician.

I'm not -- I'm not a musician.
I just play in a band, you know.

♪ Well I'm a king bee ♪

♪ Buzzing around ♪

There was something about

Bill's bass lines
in the Stones.

It was the first thing
you'd hear

the thing
that was most hooky about it.

It was so precise
and so contained, you know.

It wasn't gettin' away
with itself.

It was just right.

The best informed
are the best players

and I think
Bill's one of those.

It's never been pop.

It's been rock and roll

but it's been informed by blues

which is
the magical combination.

Bill is like no other
bass player I've ever heard.

He has an incredibly simplistic
approach to what he's doing.

And I think that's just
Bill's complete lack of ego

as a musician, really.

It's very often
not what you play

but what you don't play,
what you leave out

that makes a distinction
as to your abilities, really.

♪ We can make honey ♪

♪ The world has never seen ♪

There were a lot of these
really technically brilliant

bass players that can play me
off the stage any time.

To me, they just sound like
lead guitar players.

So busy that there doesn't seem
much room for anybody else.

♪ Sting-a-been ♪♪

[indistinct chatter]

The key for me
is Bill and Charlie together.

When they play together,
it's extraordinary.

The power of the two of them
is greater than the four.

Just that magic chemical
combination of feel.

♪ I just wanna
make love to you ♪♪

Really easy guy.
And a really good bass player.

Very, very unassuming
bass player.

And some of the records
that we made

he's quite brilliant on.

Fortunately, the pair of us

made a living
out of doing it together.

We were always referred
to as the straightest

rhythm section
in rock and roll.

[indistinct chatter]

Bill, how did this,
uh, come about?

This, uh, with writing
miserable articles

about the Stones?
Did this originate in Europe?

It started when we started
in England, you know

but, um, by now in England

everybody knows
what we really are like

so they don't write things
that are untrue, you know.

The Beatles are loved
by pretty well everybody

from the moms
down to the teenagers.

It seems to me that
you're either loved or hated.

Everything we did
was so alien to the norm.

They just did not get it.

Why we didn't succumb
to being showbiz-y.

All the other bands
would succumb to doing

what they're told
just for that bit of publicity.

We didn't need it, we avoided
publicity in the end.

It was us against the world.
It really was.

We were just refusing
to conform.

If a kid wants
to let his hair grow long

or he wants to wear rags,
or he wants to play a guitar

or do anything,
or kick a ball in the street

it's nothing to do with us.

If he likes to listen
to our music, that's great

if he wants to come
to a concert.

But apart from that,
we didn't believe

we had any responsibility.

I always thought he didn't
like me being in the Stones

'cause he never
said anything nice.

He was always moaning about it.

I just don't think
that generation could get

into their head that
their kids could be successful

in something
that wasn't a normal job.

So when I succeeded
playing music

a -- and doing better than them

it was out of order,
wasn't it?

But my mom did tell me

on a couple of occasions

when t -- they were in the pub

uh, when someone
was going on about

"Stones, dirty lot,"
he would stick up for us.

He'd tell them
to mind their own business.

And so he did it
without my knowledge

but he never did it to my face.

But he wasn't
that kind of a person.

I mean, looking back,
I don't blame him

because he -- he had
a terrible childhood.

A really terrible childhood.

Everything was changin'
in those early '60s.

[The Rolling Stones singing
"19th Nervous Breakdown"]

♪ You're the kind of person
you meet at certain ♪

♪ Dismal dull affairs ♪

♪ Center of a crowd
talking much too loud ♪

The music, art, fashion.

Suddenly,
girls were wearing miniskirts.

It just went
right across the board.

♪ And though you try
you just can't hide ♪

All the clubs
started to appear in London.

You'd bump into the Beatles
or the Animals or the Hollies.

Ah, they were just everywhere.

You just moved
from one to the other

and sometimes
you saw live acts.

You'd go
and see Benny King somewhere

and then you'd see
Lee Dorsey somewhere else.

I'm at the Scotch of St. James,
I met Otis Redding

and talked to him
for about half an hour.

You know, when you met
those people in those days

they were like gods to me.

I think a lot of it
had to do with the music

and then the birth pill

all them British movies

it was coming from everywhere.

It was sort of a hurricane

and we were coming
in the middle of it.

♪ Your father's
still perfecting ways ♪

♪ Of making sealing wax ♪

♪ You better stop ♪♪

Me and Brian used to go out
to the clubs

and pick up girls.

They used to camp outside
the hotel on the grass.

You know, of course,
I jumped at it

and it just became part
of my life after that.

It became a habit just through

honestly, loneliness
and just wanting affection.

And these girls
were affectionate.

[crowd cheering]

There was probably
an addiction to sex

because I wasn't addicted
to drugs

and I wasn't addicted to wine.

My first marriage,
it never worked.

It was down
to the same old thing

of marrying the girl
next door was the phrase.

Getting married
got me out of the family.

Of course, it did,
out of the home.

It was hard
coming home to my wife

who obviously knew
what was going on.

But then I found at one time,
she had a relationship going.

I mean, obviously,
I don't blame her.

And then you end up
with a child out of the blue

and you just stay together
for the sake of the child

which is always
the worst thing you can do.

Until I finally got divorced.

She insisted
that she would take Stephen

to South Africa with her,
which really hurt me.

But then I thought, "Well,
it's better that he grows up

with one parent
in a normal way of life."

If it isn't with me,
then it has to be with her.

I'll get Stephen to say
something to you.

Just a minute.

Come and say hello to Dave.

Come and say hello to Dave.

- Hello.
- Say hello, Dave.

- Hello.
- Say how are you?

How are you?
I will see you soon. Bye-bye.

He came back
in the summer of '68.

And when I saw the state
he was in, I was shocked

because he was complainin'
of toothache

he was thin,
he didn't look well at all.

So I refused to return him
to South Africa.

And then I had to fight for him
and a divorce.

I went to the court

and the judge gave me custody,
which was a miracle.

And from that day on,
I brought Stephen up.

I broke up from my wife.

Astrid, my girlfriend,
moved in with me.

I'd met her by then.

We arrived at this gate

and a gardener came
with a shotgun broken off

and said, "What do you want?"

And we said,
"Is this Gedding Hall?"

And he said, "Yes."

And I said, "We understand
that the place is goin' up

for sale tomorrow.
Could we have a look?"

And he said,
"Well, the owners are not here

but I'll show you
'round the outside."

And I saw this
unbelievable house

which I just couldn't believe.

Oh, God,
it was extraordinary.

The owner was Jeff Allen.

He took me into the lounge
for a cup of tea

and I saw a 10 by 8 photo
on the top of the TV

of Ronnie,
Reggie and Charlie Kray

saying "Love to Jeff
from the boys."

"Uh, what's that, Mr. Allen?"

He says,
"Oh, they -- they're the Krays.

They're friends of mine.
They're nice lads."

I found later
that he was a godfather

and he would invest their money
in country houses and stuff

but that's another story.

I asked him how much he wanted
for the property

and it was 45,000 pounds.

After being a top band
for five years

we didn't have money.

Money always seemed to vanish.

Jeff, bless him, did a deal

and let me have it
for a price I could afford.

He said, "I'll tell you what.

"I admire you.
You're a self-made man like me.

"I come from the east end of
London, you come from London.

It's yours."

It's a wonderful place.

I mean, my soul is there,
I think.

I'm never happier
than when I'm there.

So when the drug busts
were coming in '67

I was just reading it
in the press.

Mr. Jagger
accused of allowing his home

at West Wittering
to be used for the purpose

of smoking cannabis resin,
better known as hashish.

And after the three-minute
hearing, Jones came out

through the back of the court
and drove away

crouching down
on the rear seat of a car.

I honestly didn't know whether
who was gonna be in jail

what week and who was gonna be
in the studio.

I didn't want anything
to do with drugs.

I didn't confront it with them.

I just ignored it,
stepped away from it

and got stuck
into what I wanted to do.

I was avoiding
facing their problem

because it wasn't my problem.

So I was living two lives,
really.

Once, I had a puff
of some bloody joint they had.

Apparently, it had
elephant tranquilizer in it.

I went down this corridor
and there was someone coming

towards me
that I kind of vaguely knew

so I stopped
and chatted to them

for about 10 or 15 minutes.

And then I looked up again
and it was me.

I was looking in the mirror.

And I thought,
"I don't fucking need this."

I have to have my feet
on the ground.

I can't go floatin' off.

The emptiness underneath me
terrifies me.

I've got a phobia about it.

Most people think
there's something else

on the other side of the street
which they're not experiencin'

and so they wanna go there
and try it out, don't they?

So if you look at any band

and I mean any band
from the mid '60s

you've got losses. Every band.

Searching for something
that really ain't there.

Brian was a typical example
of that.

I was really sad
when Brian started

to, uh, fall to bits basically.

We'd be in LA
and we'd go out to the clubs

and he'd be on LSD.

And he -- he'd be getting out
the limo and going

"Oh, look, there's snakes
all over the ground."

He'd be jumping about
all over the ground.

Fucking hell, Brian. You know,
"The ceiling's on fire."

Oh, yeah.
Yeah, it certainly is, Brian.

I just used to let him
get on with it, but, um

he would go off
on those tangents a lot.

He was thrown out of the band

and he died a month later.

Charlie phoned me up.

He just said, "Brian died."

I couldn't believe it,
you know.

The press was so bad
at the funeral.

I mean, everybody's around
the grave, you know

and they're -- they're putting
the coffin in and all that

and the, the preacher's
reading -- reading out

and, like, all his family
and relatives

are all, like, tranquillized
and everything.

Everybody's crying and upset.

There's thousands
of fans everywhere.

And there's kids
running up to you

asking for autographs, you know.

And, uh, there's press guys
with cameras everywhere

like all leaning over you
and getting snaps in the..

Oh, man, it was really sick.

There's...movies going
and all that, you know.

There was no respect at all.

And when he went,
it really sort of got me bad.

Somebody a bit special.

That planned Hyde Park concert

ended up being a bit
of a memorial to Brian

because of his death
two days earlier.

An English park
on a Saturday afternoon

July 5, 1969.

There must be 200,000 people
here, youngsters.

In about another hour,
I should imagine

there will be a quarter
of a million.

And it was extraordinary
that day.

[crowd cheering]

Alright!

[singing "I'm Yours
And I'm Hers"]

♪ You know I'm yours
and I'm hers ♪

♪ Somebody else's too ♪

♪ You know I'm yours
and I'm hers ♪♪

It was Mick Taylor's
first show with us.

That must have been
a staggerin' thing for him.

The first gig with a band

and you're playin'
half a million people.

From every direction
I looked at

there were just heads

and it was just like a carpet
of different colored hair.

That's what
I could explain it as.

The whole day was wonderful.

There was no -- no violence,
no fights, no drugs, no..

It just went like a dream.

That autumn, we set off
on a tour of America

with Mick Taylor
and it was a wonderful tour.

The future of the band
was looking very healthy

and positive.

You didn't have so much
of the screamin'

or very little of it,
and people were listening.

And then came Altamont.

We wanted to repeat
Hyde Park in America

as a thank you
to the US fans.

Okay, it's definitely on.

The Rolling Stones
are not going to appear

at the, uh, raceway in Sonoma.

They've decided now they're
going to hold the concert

with the Grateful Dead,
the Jefferson Airplane, Santana

and, of course, the Rolling
Stones at Altamont Speedway

which is halfway between
Tracy and Livermore.

What you do
is you catch Highway 80..

I don't really like
talking about Altamont

'cause it was such
an awful, awful, awful event.

The violence
just never stopped.

And we kept trying to stop it,
and we knew if we just

walked off the stage,
it'd probably be worse.

So we hung on
and tried to cool people out

and it didn't work.

Four people in the audience,
uh, died

one of them from stab wounds,
and the argument goes on

about how and what
is to blame for that

or how that could have been
prevented, I should say.

Sometimes
things get out of control

and you can't do
anything about it.

It was the death of the '60s,
that's what they called it.

The death of the '60s.
It was, really.

It was the time when the Stones
could have just died

and they nearly did.

[The Rolling Stones singing
"You Can't Always Get"]

By 1970, we all owed

around about 100,000 pounds
to the Inland Revenue

which we thought had been paid.

Tax with the labor government
was between 83 and 93%.

There was no way
we could possibly

earn enough money
to pay it back.

♪ I saw her today ♪

It was impossible for us
to stay in England

and so we had to go to France.

♪ A glass of wine
in her hand ♪

And then, of course, we became
the very first tax exiles.

♪ I knew she was gonna meet
her connection ♪

It was difficult.
We're probably

the most robbed band ever

but you learn, don't you?

♪ You can't always get
what you want ♪

I mean, some bands have
one shot, they got nothing

that's the end of it.

They don't have the chance
of moving on

to improve their situation.

♪ You can't always get
what you want ♪

But I hated leaving England.
I hated it.

But we were told
there was no alternative.

[plane whirring]

When I left that mornin'

and I left my mom and dad there
and my son, Stephen

I was tearful,
and I really didn't wanna go.

♪ Fair share of abuse ♪♪

I was sure I wasn't gonna like
living in France.

[instrumental music]

People thought we all went
and lived in the same house.

[chuckles]

We had to look
for somewhere to record

because, you know,
we needed a new record.

And in the end,
we never found anything.

We have to go
to Keith's house to do it.

Keith insists,
otherwise Keith ain't ever

gonna go to the session,
you know.

That's where we recorded
Exile On Main Street.

We did it in the basement
of his house.

It was a sad time

because everybody just got
absorbed in takin' drugs.

I didn't want it.
I didn't want anything of it,
apart from the music.

[The Rolling Stones
singing "Hip Shake"]

♪ I wanna tell you
about a dance ♪♪

We were in this basement,
which was like an oven.

And there's pictures of us
lying on the floor, you know.

Whatever inconveniences,
whatever things were impossible

to deal with sometimes,
it worked.

We were dynamite.
Un -- unbeatable, really.

Title five, take one.

[instrumental music]

Last week, New York City
finally got to see

and hear the Rolling Stones.

We were the last stop on a tour

that I'm sure most of you
have heard about.

Would you ever do
30 cities again

in that amount of time
if it were up to you?

As long as I get a holiday,
you know.

There's never been so much
energy as on this tour.

If the Stones broke up

I don't wanna start any rumors
'cause there aren't any

but if they did,
say, next week after this tour

what would you do?

You know, I always tried
to live a normal life

when I would finished recording
or finished touring

or finished the concert
or whatever it was

I'd go back
and try to be normal.

We managed to build finances

and be able to pay our taxes
and still have money.

And then, of course,
it opened me

to a whole new life here.

[instrumental music]

You've got a lovely suntan.

This presumably is, uh,
south of France suntan

because that's where
you're living now, is it not?

Yeah, that's my French look.

What do you do when you're
there apart from sunbathe?

In France, there are
so many different people

to -- to mix with

and, uh, I meet
with quite a lot of them

and going to art exhibitions,
all kinds of stuff.

It's really nice.

And I did meet Andre Verde

who was the one
that introduced me to artists

and poets and writers
and sculptors.

And you would go
to the little dinners

in the local restaurants.

It became
a lovely little family.

And then I met Jimmy Baldwin,
fucking hell.

I met him at the Colombe d'Or.

I'd go to his house

and I realized how much
he loved Ray Charles.

And I didn't know a lot
about Ray Charles.

I'd seen a Ray Charles concert

with Keith and Charlie
in '64 in England.

I said to Jimmy, "Can I borrow

some of your Ray Charles'
records?"

He said, "Yeah."

He said, "I'll bring them
up to your house."

And, God,
over the next few days

I just played
Ray Charles nonstop

and he became my favorite
musician of the 20th century.

Then Andre Verde invited me

to go to Marc Chagall's house.

"You mean Marc Chagall,
the painter?"

He said, "Yeah, yeah."

He was absolutely wonderful.

He said, "Your long hair,
not original, change it."

I said, "But we were
the first band with long hair."

He said, "Oh, that's okay then.
Then you are the originals."

[chuckles]

I was friends with him for the
last eight years of his life.

I got to know
the -- the simple way he lived.

You don't avoid
all them little things.

They're all part of living,
aren't they?

Of course, then you enjoy
the bigger things better

if you deal
with the little things.

[chopper whirring]

[crowd cheering]

[audience clapping]

[The Rolling Stones
singing "Brown Sugar"]

So what's the purpose
of doing the tour?

Oh, I got fed up with gardening.

Oh, man, the Rolling Stones
are just it, you know.

What do you mean?

They're the greatest
rock and roll band in the world.

♪ Gold Coast slave ship
bound for cotton fields ♪

♪ Sold in the market
down in New Orleans ♪

♪ Scarred old slaver knows
he's doin' alright ♪

♪ Hear him whip the women
just around midnight ♪

♪ Brown sugar
how come you taste so good? ♪

♪ Brown sugar ♪

♪ Just like a good boy should ♪

♪ Yeah yeah yeah woo ♪

♪ Just like a
just like a black boy should ♪♪

[fireworks]

On a personal sense, Bill,
is it difficult

in -- in some respects
being a Rolling Stone

in terms
of -- of the pressure that --

That's difficult for a start,
but carry on.

In terms of the pressure
in the sense

that that brings on you
as an individual?

There's a lot of difficulties,
uh..

I think the main difficulty
in being a Rolling Stone

is to pursue
your other interests.

[Bill Wyman singing
"Monkey Grip"]

I did the first solo album
of a Stone in '73

called Monkey Grip.

♪ Good old monkey grip
monkey grip ♪

♪ Monkey grip monkey grip ♪♪

I was regarded as bass player
of the Rolling Stones.

I was not expected
to be anything else

or to do anything else.

You really had to go out there

and try to prove yourself.

You did an album back in '74
with Buddy Guy

uh, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells

who were two of the original
Chicago Blues Brothers.

I was just asked to get
a rhythm section together

to play with them
at the Montreux Jazz Festival

in Switzerland.

I got this phone call
from Claude Nobbs.

He said,
"I'd like to invite you

"to the Montreux Jazz Festival

"because I've got Muddy Waters

"and he hasn't got
a band or anything.

"Do you think you could put

a little rhythm section
together?"

We just loaded up,
and I drove to Switzerland.

♪ Gonna make pretty women ♪

♪ Jump and shout ♪

♪ Then the world wanna know ♪

♪ What's this all about ♪

♪ But they'll know I'm here ♪

♪ Everybody knows I'm here ♪♪

Buddy Guy and Junior Wells
are sittin' on the side

listenin' to us and Buddy says,
"Can you be our support band?"

I said, "Yeah, yeah."

♪ The thing that I think
I would do ♪

♪ Ooh no one will never know ♪♪

We went there
to back up Muddy Waters.

So I needed that bass player
to fill every missed note

which I still do.

Every note I missed, I wanted
him to...fill in for me

'cause I was missin'
a lot of notes back then.

Somebody like him can get
the word out faster than I can.

People still look at those guys

as the greatest rock and roll
band that ever played.

[cheering]

[instrumental music]

Glyn Johns rings up and says,
"Bill, are you interested

in doing a session tomorrow
for me?"

He says, "I need you
to play with Howlin' Wolf."

I went, "What? Howlin' Wolf?

Bloody hell, put me in.
Who else is on?"

And he says,
"Well, I've got Charlie."

And I thought, "Oh, fantastic."

"And Eric Clapton.
It will be the three of you."

I went, "Oh, God almighty.
I'd love it, yes."

♪ Well I got
a little red rooster ♪

♪ Too lazy to crow for day ♪

And so I went down the next day

met up with everybody
and said hello to Wolf.

Bloody hell.
I was saying hello to my hero.

Alright, let -- let everybody
get together then

and we'll try to make it.

Wolf had a voice
that, uh, nobody else had.

Oh, man, come on, he..

He ain't got nothin' to do
but count off.

Alright, let's get on it.

It was wonderful to do it
with Wolf and meet his family.

He was a lovely man,
he was so gentle.

He was this gentle giant.

He was terrifying to look at
and to be around.

Those moments are there
to be caught.

But you're bloody lucky
most times if you catch 'em.

♪ Too lazy to crow for day ♪♪

We got the message
from the office

that Mick Taylor said
I've left.

Fuck, now we were just
gonna start recording.

We haven't got a fucking
guitar player, you know.

Tune up room session.

Ah!

[The Rolling Stones
singing "Star Star"]

♪ Baby baby
I've been so sad ♪

It finally came down to trying
to borrow Woody for the tour.

Borrowing him from the Faces.

♪ Where you do belong ♪

He was a nice catalyst
between me and Charlie

and Keith and Mick.

Ronnie was like the clown that
sort of linked it all together.

♪ If I ever get back
to Fun City ♪

♪ Girl I'm gonna make you
scream all night ♪♪

What is it
after so many years of touring

that -- that keeps you going?

I don't know.
Just playing together.

All -- all the memories
and all the places, the people.

Uh, I can't --
I can't explain it.

It's just good
to get on the stage

and play in front of people
who wanna listen to you.

[singing "When The Whip
Comes Down"]

♪ Mama and papa told me
I was crazy to stay ♪

♪ I was a fag in New York
I was gay ♪♪

In July '78,
I tripped on some cables

and fell about 6 or 7 feet
with my guitar

and was knocked out.

Everybody else had gone

and then suddenly realized
that I was nowhere around.

So people came back
and just saw my silver boots

stickin' out
through the curtain.

And for the rest of that tour,
I had to play

with two central fingers
strapped up.

'81, we toured America.

Massive tour of America,
it was wonderful.

[crowd cheering]

[The Rolling Stones
singing "Miss You"]

'82, we toured Europe.

Same thing.
Also massive and wonderful.

♪ I've been holding out
so long ♪

♪ I've been sleeping
all alone ♪

♪ Girl I miss you ♪♪

And then nothing happened.

Mick and Keith started arguing

and fighting about
God knows what.

We never played a gig
for seven years.

In the meantime, I started
to look out for myself.

[instrumental
"Je Suis Un Rock Star"]

Great, let's break
and, uh, have some tea

and then we'll come up
and listen to it again
all the way through, shall we?

That's good.
That sounds really good to me.

Everybody wants to do a solo
album, but not seriously.

So I sat down
and, uh, started writin'.

I -- I made up
little cassettes at home

on this terrible
little tape recorder I've got

not a ReVox
or anything sophisticated.

When I did "Je Suis Un Rock
Star," everything went crazy.

♪ Je suis un rock star ♪

♪ Je avais un residence ♪

♪ Je habiter la ♪

♪ A la south of France ♪

♪ Voulez vous ♪

♪ Partir with me? ♪

♪ And come and rester la
with me in France ♪

Playing the single now.

That is Bill Wyman, "Si, Si,
Chay Suis Un Rock Star."

Am I saying that right, Bill?

"Je Suis Un Rock Star."
I am a rock star, yeah.

I don't believe it.
I mean, I'm not serious.

Currently in Europe,
your single is, uh

in the top ten, right?
In -- In England?

Yeah, it's gone top 15
in every country so far

and I'm really pleased with it.

I'm very naively excited
about having a hit record

just like I was in '63
with the Stones.

It's -- it's like Christmas.

♪ Je avais un residence ♪♪

Tell me, Bill, is it different

when a superstar goes
to the men's room

than for your average
ordinary person?

Um, yeah.

What's the difference?

- You have a super pee.
- Super pee.

[instrumental music]

Everybody thought
that our life was so romantic

and wonderful and exciting
and all that.

It was for two hours,
if you were on stage.

The rest of the time
was boredom.

It's very difficult
to keep your sanity, actually.

You moved away
from all your friends.

You were always traveling.

You're always on the road,
you know.

So it's forever changin'.

Nothing's kind of permanent.

There was no time.

I mean,
you looked around suddenly

and you hadn't seen
your cousin Peter for two years

and even brothers and sisters
you almost lose touch with

because you're -- you're livin'
in a different world.

I got this invite
to go to this event

and there was all these people
dancing in the front.

I saw this beautiful girl
with her hair up.

I spoke to her and found
her name was Mandy Smith.

It was from the heart.
It wasn't from, like, lust

or anything like that
which people was seeing it as.

[indistinct chatter]

Bill, were you in any way,
were you in any way hesitant

having been a bachelor boy
for so long

or free -- free spirit
for so long

were you very hesitant about

taking the months
of marriage again?

No, I always thought
she was the right girl

from the moment I met her,
but it was just the wrong time.

She was too young.

I thought she had to go out
and see life a bit

before she could make
that kind of a decision.

He is the rebel Rolling Stone

but their wedding blessing
today

could not have been
more traditional.

They both said
they wouldn't feel married

without the formalities
of a church service.

And those they had,
right down to the confettis.

When we first met each other,
actually.

When, like, years ago,
we wanted to get married

but obviously we couldn't.

The things work out in the end
if they're right

and we always thought
it was right since the beginning

and, uh, here we are.

I was really stupid to ever
think it could possibly work.

Two sad marriages, really

and I decided it was time
I got my fucking life in order.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Fire.

[crowd cheering]

♪ Start me up ♪

♪ If you start me up
I'll never stop ♪

We hadn't played one show
from '82 to '89.

So it was
a coming together again

but I saw it as a grand finale.

We did five Wembley Stadiums

we did six Shea Stadiums
in New York.

We went to Japan
for the first time.

We played the Tokyo Dome,
45,000 people

ten shows one after the other.

It was fantastic.

[whistling]

♪ I can't get no ♪

In Prague,
we played to 130,000 people

because they came from Poland
and Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

All in all, those three tours

we played 120 shows

seven and a quarter
million people.

It was extraordinary.

♪ Supposed to fire
my imagination ♪

♪ I can't get no ♪♪

We finished that tour.

I just sat back

and I thought this is
a nice time to end my career

with the Rolling Stones,
on a big high.

So I left.

[instrumental music]

All those 31 years
with the band

I -- I absolutely loved
what we did

loved what we achieved.

But I needed to sort out
my personal life and my future.

There's a very happy bird
up there.

[chuckles]

[instrumental music]

It's fantastic.

They're really cute
little butterflies.

♪ Love is such
a wonderful thing ♪

♪ When you need it ♪

♪ Look around for it ♪

♪ Love is such
a wonderful thing ♪♪

Go on, you go.

You've got a better memory
than me on those days.

- Oh, yeah. Why?
- The romantic moments.

Yeah, why do you forget
all the romantic moments?

I do. I -- I remember
all the other stuff.

You remember all the facts,
but you forget
all the romantic moments.

Yeah.

Suzanne and I met in 1979

and she became the inspiration
for "Je Suis Un Rock Star."

- Can you see me in there?
- Can you say famous?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

Hi.

We are cliche.

I was a model,
he was a musician.

He was with a photographer,
I was quite bored at the party

and I thought
I should probably go up
and talk to this photographer.

And Bill started to chat me up

and I started to -- to talk
about music

askin' him why
he was so interested in music.

And I felt kind of bad
that I didn't recognize him.

And that's Matilda.

We got you.

Can we use your paintbrushes?

I guess so.
It's a bit late now, isn't it?

Oh, we'll have to get
these eggs.

When we decided to get married,
it was to have a family.

He wanted to start life
over again.

He just wanted to have
a normal life.

He wanted to be able
to walk down the street

and be able to go
to a movie theater

without being bothered.

He just wanted to know
what that felt like.

Yeah, so.. Shh.

[laughs]

When we got married
and when we had the kids

it gave him time.

I think time is his foundation

and he wants to use
all this time

in a very productive way.

He just has this need

to almost relive
what he experienced

and put it
in some sort of order

and find out who he really was
and what he'd gone through.

So he started to dig out
the old boxes

scannin' things..

...and really started
to look at it

as a life's work ahead of him

that he had to complete.

I think when he works on the
archive, it inspires him.

It's almost like
he has a treasure

and he wants to share it
with someone else.

[instrumental music]

And I decided
to play music again.

[blues music]

Forming the Rhythm Kings
enabled me to play

with a whole variety
of wonderful musicians

and dig into the roots
of -- of music

finding a lot of early stuff

which had been forgotten about
and reviving it.

[blues music]

Do you mind, sir,
putting that down?

We can't have that
going on here.

[instrumental music]

[indistinct chatter]

The atmosphere on the bus,
it's like, uh, it's a family.

He likes being around players.

He likes the jokes.

All his life,
he's been a working player.

Bill is the kind of artist
who wants to do the music

but he doesn't necessarily
have to have

all the adulation for it.

He's playing his music
for himself.

You have to have that courage
to take that other road

to be yourself,
to find yourself

because you can get lost
in this road to stardom.

I mean, you really can,
and that's all you have

and then maybe at the end
of your life, you're like

"Wow, I wish I had,
you know, taken a few moments

to stop and smell the roses."

And I don't think that
Bill will ever say that.

I think he has been able to not
only smell them but name them.

[chuckles]

To have gone through
that life experience

and still be very rooted,
really the child of the 1940s

I mean, you're looking
at old England with this guy.

People only really
get bothered by fame

or it disturbs them is
when they start acting famous.

I don't think Bill
ever started acting famous.

I can get by on things we do

and, uh,
some better than average

better than some
and worse than some.

But, uh, you can always learn

and you never become as good
as you'd like to.

I don't think,
no matter what you play.

[Ray Charles singing
"Georgia On My Mind"]

♪ Georgia Georgia ♪

Ray Charles was playing
at the South Bank.

And halfway through the concert,
Ray Charles decides to do

"Georgia On My Mind"
on the piano

and he dismisses the band
and the Raylettes and everyone

and he's by himself
on the stage, and he starts..

♪ Georgia da da da Georgia ♪

And it was so emotional.

The whole audience,
4000 people in tears.

With Ray Charles,
and I thought

"No one, no one

gets an audience like that,
you know, except him."

It was amazing. And, uh, anyway,
the concert finished.

See, I get emotional
because it was so fantastic.

It finished, and the people,
and my friends said

"Can we go backstage
and meet him?" And I went..

[clicks tongue]

I said, "Musicians, they don't
really like people

"coming backstage when
they've just come offstage.

"They're exhausted, and they're
tired, and they're sweaty

and they just wanna have a break
and all that."

So I said,
"No, I'd rather not."

They said, "Alright, but just
stay here until the audience go

and then we can go
quieter out."

While we were waiting there,
someone came

from backstage,
and they came over and said, um

"Mr. Charles knows you're here
and he wants to invite you."

Because you admire him
more than any other musician

don't you, yeah?

[chuckles]

[clears throat]

You know, it was,
it was a fantastic moment.

- Just wait a minute.
- It's okay.

Ah! Leave it a minute.

[clears throat]
So..

Yeah, he, uh..

We went backstage and met him.

He was...fantastic.

- I can't do it, sorry.
- Anyhow, they asked him..

Ray Charles asked him
if he would play
on his next album and --

- And I chickened out.
- He just said how could I --

I said, "I'm not good enough."

That's what he.. Yeah.

You just, well, you didn't
say it to his face --

- I did.
- Did you really?

- Yeah.
- Oh, my God.

I didn't know that.

- Yeah.
- And what did he say?

He was, we -- we spent half
an hour in his dressing room.

He's absolutely fantastic.

And then he said that.

He said, "Would you like to play
on my next album?"

I said, "I'm not good enough."

♪ Just an old sweet song ♪

♪ Keeps Georgia on my mind ♪♪

Almost every bass player
I've ever met

is always a big guy
with huge hands.

When I was a little boy,
you know

all my heroes
were the little guys.

I think there's something
about being the little guy

you always wanna prove
that you can still do it

against the big guys

and that's the drive.

And it's been my drive
all my life.

[instrumental music]

You make your own way,
don't you?

You just head in directions
that you think are good
at the time.

Something magical happened.

Something unusual.
Something rare.

Which shouldn't have really
happened to a working-class boy

from South London,
and it's bizarre.

It's a bizarre life I've had.

Bill Wyman.
I play bass...guitar.

I think we're done here,
aren't we?

[Rhythm Kings singing
"Tell You A Secret"]

♪ Tell you a secret ♪

♪ You gotta keep it hid ♪

♪ Tell you about a woman ♪

♪ And the things she did ♪

♪ She took my money ♪

♪ And she took my pride ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you a secret ♪

♪ I got nothing to hide ♪

♪ Because I'm moving on
down the line ♪

♪ I'm gonna leave
that no-good woman ♪

♪ Get that devil woman
off my mind ♪

♪ I'll take
the moonlight special ♪

♪ Moonlight special ♪
♪ Gonna do it right ♪

♪ Yeah the moonlight special ♪
♪ Moonlight special ♪

♪ And travel overnight ♪

♪ I'm going up the country ♪
♪ I'm going up the country ♪

♪ Where I can't be found ♪

♪ Find a hideaway and keep
my ear close to the ground ♪

♪ Yes I'm moving on
down the line ♪

♪ I'm gonna leave
that no-good woman ♪

♪ Get that devil woman
off my mind ♪

♪ Aww tell me ♪

♪ She's a mean mistreater ♪
♪ Mean mistreater ♪

♪ And she treat me bad ♪
♪ Treat me bad ♪

♪ She's a robber
and a cheater ♪

♪ Robber and a cheater ♪

♪ She's got me mad ♪
♪ Got me mad ♪

♪ Gonna wash that woman ♪
♪ Gonna wash that woman ♪

♪ Right out of my mind ♪
♪ Right out of my mind ♪

♪ I'm gonna leave that woman ♪
♪ Gonna leave that woman ♪

♪ Leave that woman way behind ♪

♪ 'Cause I'm moving on
down the line ♪

♪ I'm gonna leave
that no-good woman ♪

♪ Get that devil woman
off my mind ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you a secret ♪

♪ Gonna keep it hid ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you a secret ♪

♪ Ooh about the things
she did ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you a secret ♪

♪ Gonna keep it hid ♪

Shh.

♪ Early in the morning
about the break of day ♪

♪ That's when
my baby ran away ♪

♪ Crying and pleading
won't do no good ♪

♪ Come back baby
I wish you would ♪

♪ I love you girl
I can't help myself ♪

♪ Oh aah ♪

♪ Go ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Oh ♪♪

Goodnight.

Everyone,
this is Rhythm Kings.

Goodnight to you all.

[audience cheering]