Bill Wyman ‘Wasn’t Crazy’ About Guest Spot on Stones’ Album

Bill Wyman said he “wasn’t crazy” about the song he tracked on the Rolling Stones’ latest album Hackney Diamonds.

The former bassist – who left in 1993 – admitted that he only agreed to appear on “Live By the Sword” because it’s one of the last Stones tracks to feature late drummer Charlie Watts.

“We were always close,” Wyman told Classic Rock in a recent interview. “After I left the band, until he died, we saw each other every week. He would come to the house. ‘Can I have a cup of tea, Bill?’ And we’d spend an hour or two chatting.

READ MORE: Top 10 Rolling Stones Bill Wyman Songs

“So when the Stones had that one track with Charlie on it, Mick Jagger and the producer Andrew Watt called to ask me to play on it… I was quite happy to do it, actually.”

But he continued: “I wasn’t crazy about the song, and I wasn’t crazy about the way they’d done it. It was just full of guitars, and there was no air in it. No spaces, no gaps. … It could have been done so much simpler. But that’s the way they do it, bless ’em. It was hard for me to put a bass in because there wasn’t a lot of room.”

He recalled that Elton John arrived to add a piano track. “[W]e had a chat, but you can’t really hear his piano,” the bassist said. “Just odd little notes here and there, because the track’s so busy. But it was nice doing it, because it was me and Charlie again.”

Bill Wyman Played on Second New Rolling Stones Track

Wyman went on to confirm that he actually recorded a second track while he was in the studio, although it wasn’t included on Hackney Diamonds. “I played bass on it, and they said, ‘We’ll save that for the next album.’ So I might be on the next album as well.”

He recently released his latest solo album, Drive My Car. In the same interview he revealed he’d had a different name in mind for the work, saying: “I originally wanted to call it Rough Cut Diamond, because there’s a song on it that goes, ‘I’m just a rough cut diamond, and everybody says diamonds are a girl’s best friend.’

“But then I found out the Stones were going to call theirs Hackney Diamonds, so I thought, ‘People are going to think I’ve copied it.’ So I called Mick, and he said, ‘We can’t change it; you’re on your own, mate.’ So I changed it to Drive My Car, which worked perfectly, actually.”

Listen to the Rolling Stones’ ‘Live By the Sword’ featuring Bill Wyman