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Bill Wyman or Keith Richards on bass

Exile got really bad reviews when it first came out. They got raked over the coals for trying too hard to be a blues band. Me, I thought a lot of it was stellar and a lot of it was crap.

I'm in this camp ... I would narrow the Exile tracks down to make an all killer no filler single LP, instead of the double. Great stuff before & after it though ... I say up until Steel Wheels. Loves me some Bill W!
 
I'm in this camp ... I would narrow the Exile tracks down to make an all killer no filler single LP, instead of the double. Great stuff before & after it though ... I say up until Steel Wheels. Loves me some Bill W!

I had no appreciation for Exile until we covered it. Examining each track with a microscope really uncovered these crazy layers. The new mastering helped too - it's MUCH easier to hear the subtleties even though the mix is still like soup.

I'm sure you could say that about most double LPs - hell, there was a whole bit in the Beatles Anthology videos about opinions on the White Album. At the end of the day, Paul had the best quote "It's the bloody Beatles White Album, shut up!" That's how I feel - say what you will, but Exile is some of the best and most consistent material the Stones ever produced, and consistency is NOT one of their strong points.

For those that want to hear our version of Exile, listen here:
https://soundcloud.com/the-mudflaps/sets/the-mudflaps-bear-fight-an
 
In his book,Keith says the only reason they invited bill into the band in the first place was because Bill owned a Vox amp :)

I don't recall him saying anything positive about Bills playing.

I've only one thing to say about Keith, and it's this:

When he shuffles off this mortal coil, they should preserve him in formaldehyde, stick him in the Smithsonian in a big glass tank, and harvest his DNA. For him to have survived the ravages of sex,drugs and R&R for this long, it must contain some sort of 'super-gene' that increases longevity ten-fold.
 
I've only one thing to say about Keith, and it's this:

When he shuffles off this mortal coil, they should preserve him in formaldehyde, stick him in the Smithsonian in a big glass tank, and harvest his DNA. For him to have survived the ravages of sex,drugs and R&R for this long, it must contain some sort of 'super-gene' that increases longevity ten-fold.

I heard that his father was still alive also.
 
Keith states in his book that he had his father's ashes for a time and decided to spread them under a tree he was planting. When he opened the lid some of the ashes landed on a nearby table so Keith decided to snort the "remains" rather than just sweep them aside.

When asked about the experience keith remarked "the ol' man was a bit gritty."
 
some very important data :if you watch closely this concert Bill has a huge bandage on his middle finger!!! he plays with the rest of his fingers and having painkillers for every show!!!he fell in the hole of a theater when the tour started and had a small fracture in his wrist that was very painful..he refused to cancel shows and he went on keeping the groove without his middle finger!!! still his playing was great!!
 
Love the tone from the Framus Star bass on the early albums. Tape saturation and all.

Actually, most of Wyman's recordings on Stones albums right from the start up until the late 1970s were done on his "homemade" fretless - the bass he gigged with exclusively before he began to use the Framus (and Vox teardrops) live.
 
some very important data :if you watch closely this concert Bill has a huge bandage on his middle finger!!! he plays with the rest of his fingers and having painkillers for every show!!!he fell in the hole of a theater when the tour started

Yes, at the end of the first concert he stepped through the curtain at the side of the stage and didn't realise there was a 6 foot drop on the other side of the curtain!
 
I always liked Bill Wymans Bass playing but I have heard that Keith Richards plays bass on some of their albums. The songs I know about are:
2000 Light Years
Sympathy for the Devil
Street Fighting man
Live With Me
A lot of songs from Exile on Main St
and others
When I listen to Get Your Ya Ya's Out I really like Bills bass lines on some of these songs.
Although Keith sounded great on bass on some studio cuts I still prefer Bill Wyman on bass. What do you think?

Bill Wyman was a mediocre bassist. Keith was better. And sometimes they brought in studio players who were better than both.

Bill always did the short scale thumb plucking style ... no real attack at all.