Blog » Bill's blog - January 23-25, 2010
Saturday 13th February 2010
Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings continued their January 2010 tour on Saturday, January 23, travelling from Aarberg to Winterbach for a gig at the Lehenbackhalle, near Stuttgart. Bill arrived at the Best Western Hotel and checked into a suite – a room that Bill says was very odd, basically being two identical, separate rooms. Bill settled on one of them, and settled in.
After updating his diary and working on photos, Bill then did a face-to-face interview with Günter Schneiderwind of SWR 1, which Bill says went well.
The evening's gig at the Lehenbackhalle in Germany got off to a great start, as the band took the audience through the first set of I Got A Woman (Georgie), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Jump Jive And Wail (Albert), Maggie's Farm (Geraint), Too Late (Terry), Everytime I Roll The Dice (Albert), All Night Long (Bill), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), I'll Be Satisfied (Beverley), That's Rock And Roll (Albert), and You Never Can Tell (Bill). With fantastic waves of applause signalling the end of the first set, Bill and the rest of the band took a short break, then returned to the stage to perform It's A Man's World (Beverley), I'm Ready (Albert), My Toot Toot (Georgie), Just Your Fool (Frank), Race With The Devil (Terry), I Just Wanna Make Love To You (Beverley), Hit The Road Jack (Georgie), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), Johnny B Goode (Geraint), Just For A Thrill (Georgie), and Honky Tonk Women (Bill). With the audience on their feet at the end of the show, and demands for encores lifting the roof, the Rhythm Kings returned with Crying In The Rain (Albert/Beverley), I Put A Spell On You (Beverley), and Tear It Up (Albert).
After the show, Bill met up with many friends including Elizabeth Berries. Elizabeth wrote this impression of the show:
"Last Saturday the RK´s were for the night´s performance in an unknown small town named Winterbach near Stuttgart in Germany. It was a drizzly cold winter evening. They visited to entertain the audience with Blues, Swing, Jazz, Soul, Skiffel, Rock and Cajun.
"Then Bill Wyman came on stage. He introduced his Rhythm Kings and one Rhythm Queen. Overlooking the stage from his full-of-history organ was the unique Georgie Fame with his beautiful smoked voice. Still I see Geraint Watkins in front of me with his antique Cajun-accordion and behind his keyboards which he played so marvellously, at all times with a friendly smile and a twinkle in his eye.
"Frank Mead and Nick Payn were fantastic on their saxophones, flutes and blues harp. They always talk with their instruments and moved well. Albert Lee's and Terry Taylor's guitar playing was amazing - just like the man on the drums, Graham Broad. One can always hear Bill Wyman´s excellent bassline as well as his wonderful walking bass. It looks like the bass-guitar is playing alone and I could see each time a sense of humour in Bill's face. What an amazing lesson for our 18-year-old son to be so close to Bill. He's playing the bass guitar in his band too and has grown up with the music of the RK's. The whole family like this music and the really nice artist.
And vocalist Beverley Skeete - a good-looking Rhythm Queen who was so well dressed. The Lady in Black. Beverley sung "I put a spell on you" so wonderful with passion in her voice and soul. She is a feast for the eyes in the men's world in front of her and I think for the men's world on stage, too. Thank you all for coming to near Stuttgart with your great hot show on this drizzly cold winter evening. We are satisfied. It was an amazing night. We hope to see you soon once again in a really stylish and snugly small club in Germany."
Onward from Winterbach to Berlin on Sunday, with a day spent travelling through German surrounded by temperatures that didn't get above freezing. Bill took photos of the snowy trees (shown above) and landscape draped in snow and edged with frost as he travelled. Bill eventually arrived at the Palace hotel in Berlin in the afternoon – and says it was bitterly cold walking from the bus to the hotel, with the temperature registering -10c.
Bill was up early on Monday, January 25, working on his photos that he took yesterday, and sending off emails to friends. Christian Hoyer from Framus arrived to see Bill in the afternoon, and Bill signed a Red Famus Star Bass Guitar for the Framus museum. Later, as Bill was leaving for the evening's performance, Christian presented Bill with a new Framus Bass Guitar to take home.
The gig, at Berlin's famed Fritz Club, was packed, with an ehtusiastic, welcoming crowd turning up the heat on the atmosphere to counteract the chill of the outside night. The band jumped in straight away with the first set of I Got A Woman (Georgie), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Jump Jive And Wail (Albert), Maggie's Farm (Geraint), Too Late (Terry), Everytime I Roll The Dice (Albert), All Night Long (Bill), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), I'll Be Satisfied (Beverley), That's Rock And Roll (Albert), and You Never Can Tell (Bill). A short break, then the second set saw It's A Man's World (Beverley), I'm Ready (Albert), My Toot Toot (Georgie), Just Your Fool (Frank), Race With The Devil (Terry), I Just Wanna Make Love To You (Beverley), Hit The Road Jack (Georgie), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), Johnny B Goode (Geraint), Just For A Thrill (Georgie), and Honky Tonk Women (Bill). Well earned encores followed of Crying In The Rain (Albert/Beverley), I Put A Spell On You (Beverley), and Tear It Up (Albert).
Tagesspiegel did a review of the event, saying:
"As bass player of the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman played in the biggest arenas of the world before many thousands. Until things began to bore him – the music, the routine, the Stones, the arenas. He left the 'world's greatest Rock 'n' Roll band', to finally do what he really enjoys to do: writing books, photographing, treasure hunting with his metal detector and playing in a hobby band.
"As the Columbiahalle seemed too big for Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, the show was spontaneously changed to the smaller Postbahnhof. Nice for the fans, who could enjoy a real club show here: intimate and seated. Even far in the back, you were near enough to the scene, the band, the music.
"Wyman, who still seems stunningly young with 73, says he put this band together 12 years ago just for fun, just to enjoy making music. And it's a pleasure indeed, to see the Rhythm Kings on stage with their dynamic and passionate mixture of Rhythm 'n' Blues, Jazz, Swing, Soul, Cajun, Blues, Jump 'n' Jive, Rock 'n' Roll. First class musicians, who don't have to prove themselves anymore, playing classical rock songs from Chuck Berry to Clifton Chenier and Screaming Jay Hawkins, complementing one another in perfect harmony, taking turns in singing and instrumental solos and visibly having fun together. Everyone has enough room to develop his abilities, but none of them is bigheaded at all.
"Georgie Fame sings selected Ray Charles songs and an exhilarating version of the old Coasters' hit 'Three Cool Cats' with his strikingly swinging R&B voice. And he 'gospels' wonderfully on an old Hammond B3 organ. Geraint Watkins does a fine interpretation of Bob Dylan's 'Maggie's Farm' and switches between rapid Boogie piano and Cajun accordion.
"Frank Mead and Nick Payne are a steaming brass section with diverse saxophones, flute and screaming Blues harp. The singer Beverley Skeete makes our heads spin with diverse Soul classics, guitarist Terry Taylor bewitches us with T-Bone-Walker Blues and Gene Vincent-Rockabilly. Albert Lee plays his typical, rapidly interspersed, steely twinkling Country guitar solo parts, which made him an idol of so many following guitar players. The rhythmical backbone is strengthened by the exquisite drummer Graham Broad.
"And last but not least there's Bill Wyman himself, who plays his melodic rhythmic bass very cool midst his formidable band fellows. With syncopated thumb strokes and his fingers easily walking on the fingerboard. Finally he gives himself and the fans the special pleasure, to cover his former band: 'Honky Tonk Women'. There's so much more pleasure here than in the big arenas."
After updating his diary and working on photos, Bill then did a face-to-face interview with Günter Schneiderwind of SWR 1, which Bill says went well.
The evening's gig at the Lehenbackhalle in Germany got off to a great start, as the band took the audience through the first set of I Got A Woman (Georgie), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Jump Jive And Wail (Albert), Maggie's Farm (Geraint), Too Late (Terry), Everytime I Roll The Dice (Albert), All Night Long (Bill), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), I'll Be Satisfied (Beverley), That's Rock And Roll (Albert), and You Never Can Tell (Bill). With fantastic waves of applause signalling the end of the first set, Bill and the rest of the band took a short break, then returned to the stage to perform It's A Man's World (Beverley), I'm Ready (Albert), My Toot Toot (Georgie), Just Your Fool (Frank), Race With The Devil (Terry), I Just Wanna Make Love To You (Beverley), Hit The Road Jack (Georgie), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), Johnny B Goode (Geraint), Just For A Thrill (Georgie), and Honky Tonk Women (Bill). With the audience on their feet at the end of the show, and demands for encores lifting the roof, the Rhythm Kings returned with Crying In The Rain (Albert/Beverley), I Put A Spell On You (Beverley), and Tear It Up (Albert).
After the show, Bill met up with many friends including Elizabeth Berries. Elizabeth wrote this impression of the show:
"Last Saturday the RK´s were for the night´s performance in an unknown small town named Winterbach near Stuttgart in Germany. It was a drizzly cold winter evening. They visited to entertain the audience with Blues, Swing, Jazz, Soul, Skiffel, Rock and Cajun.
"Then Bill Wyman came on stage. He introduced his Rhythm Kings and one Rhythm Queen. Overlooking the stage from his full-of-history organ was the unique Georgie Fame with his beautiful smoked voice. Still I see Geraint Watkins in front of me with his antique Cajun-accordion and behind his keyboards which he played so marvellously, at all times with a friendly smile and a twinkle in his eye.
"Frank Mead and Nick Payn were fantastic on their saxophones, flutes and blues harp. They always talk with their instruments and moved well. Albert Lee's and Terry Taylor's guitar playing was amazing - just like the man on the drums, Graham Broad. One can always hear Bill Wyman´s excellent bassline as well as his wonderful walking bass. It looks like the bass-guitar is playing alone and I could see each time a sense of humour in Bill's face. What an amazing lesson for our 18-year-old son to be so close to Bill. He's playing the bass guitar in his band too and has grown up with the music of the RK's. The whole family like this music and the really nice artist.
And vocalist Beverley Skeete - a good-looking Rhythm Queen who was so well dressed. The Lady in Black. Beverley sung "I put a spell on you" so wonderful with passion in her voice and soul. She is a feast for the eyes in the men's world in front of her and I think for the men's world on stage, too. Thank you all for coming to near Stuttgart with your great hot show on this drizzly cold winter evening. We are satisfied. It was an amazing night. We hope to see you soon once again in a really stylish and snugly small club in Germany."
Onward from Winterbach to Berlin on Sunday, with a day spent travelling through German surrounded by temperatures that didn't get above freezing. Bill took photos of the snowy trees (shown above) and landscape draped in snow and edged with frost as he travelled. Bill eventually arrived at the Palace hotel in Berlin in the afternoon – and says it was bitterly cold walking from the bus to the hotel, with the temperature registering -10c.
Bill was up early on Monday, January 25, working on his photos that he took yesterday, and sending off emails to friends. Christian Hoyer from Framus arrived to see Bill in the afternoon, and Bill signed a Red Famus Star Bass Guitar for the Framus museum. Later, as Bill was leaving for the evening's performance, Christian presented Bill with a new Framus Bass Guitar to take home.
The gig, at Berlin's famed Fritz Club, was packed, with an ehtusiastic, welcoming crowd turning up the heat on the atmosphere to counteract the chill of the outside night. The band jumped in straight away with the first set of I Got A Woman (Georgie), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Jump Jive And Wail (Albert), Maggie's Farm (Geraint), Too Late (Terry), Everytime I Roll The Dice (Albert), All Night Long (Bill), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), I'll Be Satisfied (Beverley), That's Rock And Roll (Albert), and You Never Can Tell (Bill). A short break, then the second set saw It's A Man's World (Beverley), I'm Ready (Albert), My Toot Toot (Georgie), Just Your Fool (Frank), Race With The Devil (Terry), I Just Wanna Make Love To You (Beverley), Hit The Road Jack (Georgie), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), Johnny B Goode (Geraint), Just For A Thrill (Georgie), and Honky Tonk Women (Bill). Well earned encores followed of Crying In The Rain (Albert/Beverley), I Put A Spell On You (Beverley), and Tear It Up (Albert).
Tagesspiegel did a review of the event, saying:
"As bass player of the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman played in the biggest arenas of the world before many thousands. Until things began to bore him – the music, the routine, the Stones, the arenas. He left the 'world's greatest Rock 'n' Roll band', to finally do what he really enjoys to do: writing books, photographing, treasure hunting with his metal detector and playing in a hobby band.
"As the Columbiahalle seemed too big for Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, the show was spontaneously changed to the smaller Postbahnhof. Nice for the fans, who could enjoy a real club show here: intimate and seated. Even far in the back, you were near enough to the scene, the band, the music.
"Wyman, who still seems stunningly young with 73, says he put this band together 12 years ago just for fun, just to enjoy making music. And it's a pleasure indeed, to see the Rhythm Kings on stage with their dynamic and passionate mixture of Rhythm 'n' Blues, Jazz, Swing, Soul, Cajun, Blues, Jump 'n' Jive, Rock 'n' Roll. First class musicians, who don't have to prove themselves anymore, playing classical rock songs from Chuck Berry to Clifton Chenier and Screaming Jay Hawkins, complementing one another in perfect harmony, taking turns in singing and instrumental solos and visibly having fun together. Everyone has enough room to develop his abilities, but none of them is bigheaded at all.
"Georgie Fame sings selected Ray Charles songs and an exhilarating version of the old Coasters' hit 'Three Cool Cats' with his strikingly swinging R&B voice. And he 'gospels' wonderfully on an old Hammond B3 organ. Geraint Watkins does a fine interpretation of Bob Dylan's 'Maggie's Farm' and switches between rapid Boogie piano and Cajun accordion.
"Frank Mead and Nick Payne are a steaming brass section with diverse saxophones, flute and screaming Blues harp. The singer Beverley Skeete makes our heads spin with diverse Soul classics, guitarist Terry Taylor bewitches us with T-Bone-Walker Blues and Gene Vincent-Rockabilly. Albert Lee plays his typical, rapidly interspersed, steely twinkling Country guitar solo parts, which made him an idol of so many following guitar players. The rhythmical backbone is strengthened by the exquisite drummer Graham Broad.
"And last but not least there's Bill Wyman himself, who plays his melodic rhythmic bass very cool midst his formidable band fellows. With syncopated thumb strokes and his fingers easily walking on the fingerboard. Finally he gives himself and the fans the special pleasure, to cover his former band: 'Honky Tonk Women'. There's so much more pleasure here than in the big arenas."
