The Rolling Stones have just completed another US tour. Mick Jagger continues to dance on the world's biggest stages while Keith Richards plays his guitar. Former Stones guitarist Bill Wyman has long since turned his back on the rock 'n' roll circus, but not on the music. Now he's released his new solo album.
“It’s not like I do this every day,” the 87-year-old says in the album’s accompanying text. “But sometimes I see a guitar in the corner of the room, I grab it and it clicks.”
Special compositions and covers
“Drive My Car” is the name of the new record on which Wyman performs his familiar blend of British and American rhythm and blues. He records original compositions and covers such as Bob Dylan’s “Thunder In The Mountain” and Hans Theessink’s “Storm Warning.” Wyman sings these songs in a rough, breathless old man’s voice. It has charm and sounds great.
“I did it alone at first,” Wyman says in a video accompanying the release. “I played the rhythm on an acoustic guitar in my little office in my house in London. I wrote the lyrics and then recorded the basic structure with Terry.” This refers to Terry Taylor, a member of Wyman’s band The Rhythm Kings. Like guitarist Robbie McIntosh and drummer Paul Bevis, Taylor is one of Wyman’s longtime collaborators on the new album. “The music stayed the same as it was on the demo recordings, but the other musicians improved it,” Wyman says.
Regular album with a lot of groove.
Bill Wyman recorded “Drive My Car” for one reason above all else: he felt like it. You can hear the former Rolling Stones musician’s somewhat easygoing joy from start to finish on his first recording in nine years. Depending on how you count it, it’s his sixth or ninth solo album, but above all it’s a comfortable album with plenty of groove.
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