Rolling With the Stones

Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Stones fans will enjoy this. A lot of you will have read Wyman's earlier memoir STONE ALONE, and a common complaint many had was that Wyman was overly obsessed in that book with 1) how many groupies he slept with and 2) how little money he had in the bank at any one time. Those dual statistics grew tiresome. In this book he's a bit less obsessive and gives a better overall view, and is a bit more charitable toward his bandmates, praising them, and the like. Bill is famously bland, so this book suffers from that blandness...not a lot of witty lines as one might find in a book by Jagger. But Wyman was the band's "historian" so has everything documented well. (One obsession he does have in this book is birthdays. "On on this day, Charlie turned 33." He does the chapters by year, so we could well figure out how old each Stone is on any given year. He doesn't have to tell us!) And I did think his memorablia that is photographed might have had more revelations. And it is funny how he gets some facts wrong!! He says Mick wrote "Angie" about Davie Bowie's first wife. But Mick recently said on the Stones' website (in stories about the 40 LICKS songs) that Angie was actually Keith's daughter! So Bill should have know that. But it is an enjoyable book, and one that is fun to flip through. Check out the three photos in the 1978 chapter, where Mick and Jerry have a run-in with a photographer...and the last photo shows Mick on the ground, having been knocked down by the photographer!

Rating:
Summary: Bottom heavy
Review: The best, but way too heavy on the bottom, the 60s and early 70s, which I guess you'd expect from a bass player, rock's most accomplished. Another "stone" to pick: many of the pictures are too small. Bill should release the whole thing in magazine format, chapter by chapter, or make the photos available over the web. And one blooper: wasn't it Keith who got annoyed at the Angels at Altamont? "I want those cats out of the way...I don't like you..etc.", and not Mick, with a cracking voice. Anyway, absolutely the best, this book. Now if we can just get one more concert, at least, with Bill and the gang......

Rating:
Summary: Could be better
Review: The main strength of the book is it's vast number of good photographs. The actual story content and style of the book is weak and uninteresting. Furthermore, there are far too many quotes from Brian Jones and hardly any from Jagger or Richards. There are better Stones books out there.

Rating:
Summary: You'll Love It
Review: This book by ex-Stones bassist Bill Wyman and Richard Havers is one of the best rock books ever; it's also the most definitive Rolling Stones book. This is the second book by Wyman,
his first being 1990's "Stone Alone". This book has everything Stones- tour setlists, photos, information on singles, and clippings from newspaper articles. It even tells the real title and the story behind the infamous groupie anthem "Star Star". It also features a hilarious 1970 Peanuts comic advertising the release of "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out". The photos here are amazing. But there's one fact I can't believe. Who would vote Keith the 9th handsomest man in the world? Ray Charles? This is great book
for any Stones fan.