Show Notes
Bill Wyman, who is 90 years old this week, and was for 31 years the bass player of the The Rolling Stones, is our guest today. Bill talks to Gyles about his wartime childhood in south-east London, and some of the really visceral experiences he had during the war of bombing and evacuation. He talks about his grandmother - who taught him to read, got him started on piano lessons, and made delicious bread pudding; and his dad, who was a tough disciplinarian who didn't like the airs and graces that Bill picked up at grammar school. Bill talks about the early days of the Rolling Stones, when Mick, Keith and Brian Jones lived in a squalid flat in Chelsea and could barely afford to feed themselves. He talks about his close friendship with Charlie Watts and their reputation as the best rhythm section in rock and roll. He talks about the instrumental role the Beatles played in the Stones being discovered. And he talks about leaving the group and finding success - and happiness - in collaboration with other musicians and artists later in his career.
This is a fascinating chat with the "oldest living rocker" on the planet, who was there at the heart of it all.
Bill has a number of releases coming up to mark his 90th birthday, including The Best of Bill Wyman, available here, and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Ultimate Collection, available here.
Our heartfelt thanks to Bill for this conversation, and a very, very happy birthday from all of us at Rosebud! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth
Dylan Jones was for 22 years the editor of the UK edition of GQ Magazine, and turned that men's style glossy into essential reading for those interested in the culture, fashion and cool of the 00s. Prior to that he worked on i-D Magazine and Arena. At GQ, Dylan also turned the GQ Man of the Year Awards into one of the big events of the London social calendar, and after GQ Jones went on to edit the Evening Standard. Dylan and Gyles talk about all this in today's fascinating conversation. And they also talk about Dylan's childhood. Born into a military family - Dylan's dad was in the RAF - Dylan moved around a great deal and was subject to his father's physical violence on a regular basis. He describes living in this "chaos" and talks about the lasting impact this difficult childhood has had on his character. This is a really important, powerful and intimate conversation, which doesn't wallow in difficulty or pain, but discusses it openly, calmly, and with real candour. (This episode does contain discussion of serious sexual assault and domestic violence).
One of our best-loved children's authors, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, is our guest today. Jacqueline has changed the lives of many young readers by introducing them to characters and subjects which reflect the complicated lives of real children. And in this conversation with Gyles, Jacqueline talks about her own childhood, which has informed a lot of her later writing. She grew up with two parents who didn't really get along - a mother who was a narcissist, and a father who was often angry and distant - and who had violent rows with each other, but gave Jacqueline rich material for her books. Jacqueline tells Gyles about being a bookish schoolgirl who liked to daydream, about a disastrous encounter with some orange hair dye, and about writing her first novel for a school teacher. Gyles and Jacqueline talk about her first job, at DC Thompson, and about her marriage and the birth of her daughter when she was only 21. They talk about writing, and about Jacqueline's relationship now, and new-found status as a gay icon.
We start this episode of Gyles's diaries by talking about all the postcards we've received after we asked listeners to revive the art of sending the - sometimes saucy - postcard. We got so many, so this is a proper, old-fashioned "mailbag" edition of Rosebud. Our huge thanks to everyone who sent us something - we so appreciate it. We have wonderful listeners.
We're honoured to have Sir Ian Rankin, one of the most successful authors in the world, as our guest today. If you love to read, you'll almost certainly have read one of Ian's novels - and in John Rebus, he created one of the most enduring, complicated and loved central characters in modern fiction.
Last Sunday - the day before he died - Jeffrey Archer was on stage at the Leicester Square Theatre in London celebrating the publication of his fiftieth book - his final novel, Adam and Eve - and talking with Gyles about his remarkable roller-coaster life. Jeffrey was in great form, telling stories even Gyles hadn’t heard before. This isn’t a regular Rosebud, but it was such a fun show, we wanted to share it with you. It’s poignant, too, because, as you will hear (and can see if you watch our interview episodes on the Rosebud Podcast channel on YouTube), at the end of the performance Jeffrey recites Puck’s farewell speech from A Midsummer Night’s Dream: ’So goodnight unto you all …'