Customer Reviews

Rolling With The Stones

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Let me begin by tempering my comments with the fact that I've long been a fan of the Stones (going back to my garage-band days in the late 60's), so I began this book with a sincere interest in understanding the "phenomenon" we know as "The Rolling Stones". After just a short while, I was absolutely blown away by Bill Wyman's thorough, loving, and fantasically annotated effort. Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the complete history (warts and all) of one of the world's great rock bands. I am amazed that the book comes across as objective, and Wyman never sounds as if he's boasting or bragging...he just lays out the history of the group, song-by-song and performance-by-performance. Information is presented in somewhat of a scrapbook format, but this quickly grows on you, as it allows you to skip over items you might not care to view (lists of each forum where the Stones played on each tour), and savor the tidbits of information that are so insightful. Each page holds an incredible amount of information: photographs, background information, side notes, copies of contracts, mini-biographies, discographies, and so on. Very interesting tidbits of information are found almost everywhere....did you know that the famous "Jumping Jack Flash" riff was NOT a Jagger/Richard idea? Lots of clippings from newspapers and other media of the day, in turn condemning or praising the Stones as a group and as individuals. It's almost like being allowed to view Wyman's day-by-day scrapbook/diary of what happened as the band went from a bunch of school boys to the greatest rock band left standing. The amazing thing is that I never found myself bored with this volume. Maybe that's because I've always been amazed by the Stones, and perhaps that's natural for someone who "grew up" with them. So my advice is aimed at those who are sincere Stones fans or those who have a deep interest in the history of the band. This book should pretty much answer all your questions and provide MANY hours of entertainment as you "roll" with the Stones.

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.

I was interested when I found out Bill Wyman was doing another book on the history of the "Greatest Rock And Roll Band in the World." His first book "Stone Alone" is one the better books I have read on the history of the band. Unfortunately that book ends at the start of the 1970s. Wyman's new book "Rolling with the Stones" follows the exploits of the band through his entire tenure with the band. Fanatics will enjoy the many pictures of memorabilia from Wyman's own collection. There are a number of rare photographs including some from when the band members were only kids. Other interesting items include many magazine covers and articles, tour posters, and pictures of rare import single sleeves. Album and single releases include track listings, chart positions and information about the original versions of songs the Stones covered. A general set list of songs played on each tour is included as well as list of tour dates and opening acts for each tour. Wyman makes the book a good read by spicing the book with quotes and stories from fans, friends, family, other fellow musicians and the Stones themselves. Many of the quotes and stories pertain to the memorabilia and photos included in the book. Another great aspect of the book is that since Bill Wyman was involved that book does not focus almost entirely on Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Brian Jones. The pictures are divided up more evenly among the band members including Ian Stewart. The book is essential to anyone with more than just a passing interest in the Rolling Stones. It was well worth the price especially since I got it on sale.

I'm also prejudiced as I'm a very strong and longtime Stones fan, e.g. I've got all the new SACD albums and have seen them 6 times on the 2002 US tour! This book is a superb summary of both their off and on stage escapades with lots of details too. Designed as a high end coffee book it is more than its 2,000 photos, 45 two page tour spreads (yes - each tour and every date is listed up to 1993 - when Bill Wyman had left). Plus their are lots of quotes from many who were there and so much more! It literaly starts with where they were born and goes on from there. Definitely easy to dip in to, say for your favorite album or tour, or to read through in one very long sitting. Highly recommended. Enjoy!

Once again, DK Publishing raises the bar, forever influencing the way the best pop culture biographies will be handled by the rest of the book industry. This time, the noted non-fiction publisher applies its unique visual encyclopedia approach to a bigger-than-life biographical subject, The Rolling Stones, making all previous celebrity bios pale by comparison. As such, this sophisticated coffee table production -- "Rolling With The Stones," written by none other than former Rolling Stone bassist Bill Wyman himself, with the help of his "Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey" partner, Richard Havers and a staff of DK editors -- is a thoroughly engaging insider story of the world's legendary bad-boy rock and roll band. Judging the book by its cover, one might mistakenly suspect it's a common as-told-to remembrance. To the contrary, the hefty book is a virtual mini-museum providing everything anyone could possibly want to know about the band, its history, its inspiration and its affect on cultural and social history. Drawing from his massive personal collection of Stones memorabilia, Wyman provides hundreds of one-of-a-kind artifacts, personal photos, and entries from decades of daily journals that he began writing as a child. There are more than 3,000 images here in all, amid hundreds of press clippings, set lists, quotations by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Brian Jones, Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood, as well as their famous peers, political pundits and journalists. Wyman's personal account links the historical analysis, anecdotes and images, as if he's personally guiding readers through a scholarly scrapbook of sorts.

Just finished reading "According To The Rolling Stones" the Anthology sketch of the band in their own words...a good book but Bill was rarely mentioned at all...now in this excellent snapshot of the band's history written by Bill you get the full scoop,total and penetrating with great photos and memorabiilia worthy of any one's coffee table or library.
Reading this gives a finer more detailed picture of the band from the elder Stone,...Not very deep nor insightful as regards to the making of the music or the real psyche of the Stones but a basic understanding is there even though it is a bit superficial..The total excitement and colour of this piece of history is essential and is captured well in this collectible book which what it set out to do.

I recently got this book as a gift, and it was very hard to find since it is apparently out of print. I'm still reading it, but if you want to know the absolute truth about "the greatest rock 'n' roll band on the planet" you need to buy it as soon as possible. Especially those of us who have tickets to see the Stones tour during 2005/2006 - read this before the first concert begins in Fenway Park, Boston. Wyman was the band's biographer, since he wrote in his personal daily diaries everything and anything that happened to the band. However, Wyman never wrote things down for publication. Wyman wrote his diaries so he would be able to show his son, when his son grew up, that "dad" used to play guitar in a rock band. When the Stones first got together in 1962, Wyman was the only one married with a baby to also support, but Brian Jones had kids with quite a few women.

Since I am still reading this beautiful coffee table book, I can't give away any secrets. However, even if I finished the book already, I would still insist on you buying this book and hearing all accounts from the inside - a band member, rather than the rock jounalists who either loved them and wanted to be a part of them for merely idol worship; or those writers who hated the Stones.

Bill Wyman wrote an unforgettable book, a must own, must read. Wyman officially retired from the Stones in 1994, but he is right now and for the rest of this summer, touring Europe with his own band.

So much has been written about the Rolling Stones over the years, but as shown in his autobiography Stone Alone, Bill Wyman's accounts carry much weight because he was there. This massive book is a huge collage of trivia, photos and memorabilia of the band's long reign. Still, the written content is just as valuable, and Wyman packs every page with inside information and personal observations which makes this priceless.

All the famous and not so famous moments of the Rolling Stones' career are highlighted, and the reader is spared the pretensions of the boring rock critics who usually suck the life out of their subjects. Particularly enjoyable (as in Stone Alone) are the anecdotes about the early Stones and their unlikely rise to fame.

Lots of tidbits all over; for example, Wyman still seems pissed 30 years later about Keith Richards overdubbing the bass on "Happy". There's trivia, like the story behind the cover shoot of Get Your Ya-Yas out and Andy Warhol's disapproval of the Love You Live cover, as well as detail like the typical set lists from all the tours. Ticket stubs and concert posters are everywhere, now if only I could find my 1979 Oshawa concert ticket that's pictured in the book!

Wyman still manages to convey the excitement of the whole experience, and its obvious that he loves being an integral part of the Rolling Stones' legacy.

I highly recommend this book to every music fan. Contains old journal entries, rare pictures, and memorabilia, this book takes you back in time when the Stones were really rolling.

Bill Wyman's book about the Rolling Stones is a superior effort. The book is similar in layout to the Beatles Anthology or the 'According to the Stones' book which followed Wyman's and was written by the remaining members of the group. Here are the reasons I believe this is the best Stones picture history on the market.

1. Wyman has attempted to be fair to all members, past and present. His treatment of Brian Jones is sympathetic without pulling punches. He acknowledges Jones as the founder and driving force behind the band, and he laments his loss.

2. Wyman has a prodigious collection of Stones ephemera, which he began saving almost from day one, so that he could show his kids that he had been in a rock and roll band for the two or three years he expected the ride to last. There are literally hundreds of color photos of Stones stuff in this book. It's like going back in time or going to the world's best Rolling Stones museum. And it is put together with love and fits Wyman's narrative perfectly. Wyman also has a lot of items dealing with other bands from the period that traveled with them, influenced them, or just existed at the same time and are of interest to the history of rock and roll.

3. The writing is superb. There is very little "I" in this book. Wyman has carefully made it a history of the band, rarely mentioning his own personal experiences except where they are historically significant. This modesty is refreshing and makes the book more credible than 'According to the Rolling Stones'.

4. The book is well-thought-out and well put together. It is a delight to read from cover to cover and will be a book you will return to and re-read to find out more about the background and historical context of the songs. It is also very reasonably priced. I got mine from Amazon used for around five dollars and it was the best five bucks I've spent in a long time on a book.

Buy it, treasure it. And thank you, Bill, for giving readers such a fun and informative look inside the life of one of the world's greatest rock and roll bands.