The Rolling Stones, while being indisputably one of the greatest bands of the rock era, are, for the most part, an unattractive group of dudes. But, for some reason, former bassist Bill Wyman is the one that the media singled out from day one, dubbing him the slightly rude “Stone Face.”
Wyman, featured in the documentary The Quiet One, at least has a good sense of humor about most of it as he not only narrates the flick but opens up his vast archive of near-obsessive Stones (and Stones-related) memorabilia — from childhood pictures to backstage films — much of which has never been seen before, mostly because only a few people knew it even existed.
I guess at age 82, Wyman figured it’s now or never to tell his story before one of the other Stones (read: Mick or Keith) characteristically bad-mouths him in place of a meaningful pull quote. And while it would be well within Wyman’s rights to beat them to the punch, instead, he does it for himself, giving us (what I’m assuming are) truthful accounts of his good and bad years with the Stones.
All the stories you want to hear are here: guitarist Brian Jones’ death, the tragedy at Altamont and the disastrous recording of Dirty Work. But Wyman even goes into a few tales that were formerly thought of as taboo, like his notorious sexual attraction to a 13-year-old girl in 1983, and shooting the hideous music video for the funky solo hit “(Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star.”
Hey, at least it was better than She’s the Boss.
Currently touring with his band, the Rhythm Kings, Wyman comes off as probably the most “normal” Stone — the jury’s still out on Charlie Watts, though — and The Quiet One works hard to make him a warm-enough grandfather type who, you know, lived the demonic rock ’n’ roll lifestyle while probably being all up inside your coked-up mom backstage on the Stones’ ’72 Tour of the Americas. —Louis Fowler