Reviews

Wyman's obsession makes for a Rolling Stones fan's delight. While this tome has the visual treats of a coffee-table book, categorizing it as such betrays the rich text within. The Stones' bassist for nearly four decades, Wyman appears to have ruined it for all Stones biographers past, present and future. A tireless collector, he offers rare photographs and letters, press clippings, tour posters and record sleeves. And thanks to either reams of diaries or marvelous powers of recall unaffected by decades spent in a hard-partying rock band, he provides copious historical and observational data as well. Wyman, teaming up again with Havers (Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey), gives even short-tenured band mates commensurate face time and portrays the good times, like the band's first visit to America in 1964, and the bad, such as the time Wyman went out to score heroin for a sick-and recently busted-Keith Richards in 1977. Among the memorable photographs are a fit and trim Richards in swimwear on a 1968 Australia tour and a three-shot sequence of Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall and a paparazzo, during which Jagger confronts the shutterbug and ends up on his back on the sidewalk. Wyman shows humility and humor by including his quote from '67: "It's alright leaping about the stage when you're 20, but when you get to 25 or 26 it gets a bit embarrassing." It's too bad the book stops in 1990, when Wyman, well past the age of embarrassment, stopped touring with the band. (Oct.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.