Bill Wyman Interview: Brian Jones and the Birth of the Rolling Stones
by Dennis Elsas
In 2016, former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman announced that he had prostate cancer though it didn’t slow him down. Later that year, he performed at an 80th birthday gala at Blues Fest in London with guests that included Robert Plant, Bob Geldof and Mark Knopfler. (Watch a clip from the concert below.)
Dennis Elsas is, as many Best Classic Bands readers know, one of the most respected album rock air personalities in the nation, and celebrated his 52nd year on-air in 2023. From a quarter-century-plus stint as a DJ and music director at WNEW-FM to his endeavors today as afternoon drive host at the esteemed WFUV and as co-host of the weekly Beatles talk and “call-in” show, “Fab Fourum,” heard exclusively on the Beatles Sirius/XM Channel (18) where he also hosts a weekly program, “Across the Universe,” celebrating the life and music of John Lennon. Listeners can also enjoy his Saturday shift on Sirius/XM’s Classic Vinyl Channel (26). Dennis occasionally presents his Rock ‘n’ Roll Never Forgets live multimedia show, a real treat that greater New York metro area rock fans should not miss.
Best Classic Bands is pleased to be publishing excerpts of many of his interviews with classic rock legends as a regular feature: The Dennis Elsas Conversation.
In 2002, Elsas spoke to Wyman. In Dennis’ own words: “After leaving the Stones in 1992 to focus on getting his personal life straightened out, Wyman has written numerous books, and continued to play and record music. An avid collector of many things, Wyman has often been called the Rolling Stones’ archivist. His impressive coffee table style Rolling With The Stones book [available here] is a wonderful insight into the band’s history, filled with a remarkable collection of photos, posters, ticket stubs and stories that only he could tell.
Says Elsas, “I wanted to learn the definitive story of how the band got its name.” You can also listen to their conversation here.
Dennis Elsas and Bill Wyman (Photo: Dennis Elsas Archives; used with permission)
Dennis Elsas: You start the [Rolling With the Stones] book off in the Birth of a Band chapter. You say that “I can start with myself or I can start with Keith. But I think it should be Brian. Because we were his brainchild and it was Brian who named us. He was the driving force behind the band. Brian was the original Rolling Stone.” Can you tell us a little more about that?
Bill Wyman: He created the band. It was his idea. It was his idea to play blues when blues was unheard of in England, really, apart from probably a maximum of 50 people, I would think, and some people in the jazz fraternity. You couldn’t buy blues records in shops; they didn’t exist. They [weren’t] played on the radio hardly ever. You might get one odd track by Big Bill Broonzy on a jazz program… It was so rare you didn’t know about the existence of it. Brian found out about it and he wanted to form a band to play this, which was totally un-commercial at the time. And then he spent about six months trying to put bands together… various members that knew something about blues.
The Rolling Stones pose for a group portait in Teddington, London in 1964. That’s Wyman on the right. (Photo © Terry O’Neill/Iconic Images 2016. Used with permission)
Ian Stewart was the first to join, the piano player who became our roadie, and we all loved him. He died in the ’80s. And then at a later time, Mick came along and he brought Keith. And then a few other members left. Brian’s idea of blues was Muddy Waters, and Elmore James, and Jimmy Reed and people like that. Whereas Mick and Keith brought him Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and people like that. And they kind of had a pseudo-Stones band from their first gig in July of ’62 up until the end of the year where they played sometimes three or four gigs on a month or something, just odd things with various conglomerations of other musicians and drummers and things. Then I joined in December with my drummer, who’d played with them on and off.
Then in January of ’63, they fired my drummer… he wasn’t that good and Charlie [Watts] joined and the band was formed then. But it was Brian’s thing, he gave the name of the band. He decided the style of music we would play and how and where and he talked to people and got us gigs. He wrote to music papers and jazz papers about the Stones and about blues and things like that. So it was his band, really, and then he just deteriorated over the years and Mick and Keith took over when they started writing.
Watch the Stones perform in 1964
Related: Rolling Stones in Mono – Behind the box set
DE: You say in your book it was Brian who gave it his name and there have been all these different stories about a song. You have a whole page of different things with the word “Rolling Stone” on it, so where exactly, finally, all these years later, what is the official tale?
BW: He was asked about a gig and he was in a telephone box. Although people tend to refute that. That’s the way I know about it. He was in a telephone box and they asked the name of the band and he just had some albums under his arm. And he just looked on the back of the Muddy Waters one he had. And very few people had a Muddy Waters album in those days, I assure you. And he saw “Rolling Stone Blues” so he called it “Rolling Stones.”
Wyman was born on October 24, 1936, in London, England. In 2023, he reunited with the Stones to perform on the track, “Live By the Sword,” on their Hackney Diamonds studio album [available here]. Since the song also features Charlie Watts on drums, in a sense, the band’s original rhythm section has been reunited for the last time.
Many of Wyman’s solo albums are available here.
Watch Wyman and friends celebrate his 80th birthday in 2016
Watch the trailer for the Wyman documentary, The Quiet One
The film is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
Dennis was hired at WNEW-FM by the station’s program director, Scott Muni, one of the legendary DJs he had grown up listening to. He quickly ascended to the position of Music Director, and received the rock ‘n’ roll music industry education of a lifetime. The station was emerging as one of the premiere rock radio stations and Dennis was integral to creating its sound. He was also meeting and interviewing a stream of rock ‘n’ roll heroes, including Elton John, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
Lennon was his in-studio guest on Saturday afternoon, September 28, 1974. They had met previously at the Record Plant Recording Studio as Lennon was finishing his latest album Walls and Bridges. During the conversation, Elsas casually invited him to visit WNEW-FM. When Lennon actually showed up, Dennis was more than a little surprised. What began as a discussion of the new album quickly turned into two hours of rare Beatles memories, speculation on a reunion, and candor about his immigration fight. Lennon even took over as DJ, playing some favorite, obscure 45s he’d brought with him, reading live commercials, and giving the weather reports.
Years later, excerpts of that historic afternoon were used in the Beatles Anthology, numerous books, and various documentaries. The entire show has become part of the permanent collection of the Paley Center For Media (formally the Museum of Television and Radio). It is also a pivotal part of the recent award winning PBS American Masters film “LENNONNYC”.
The interview also inspired Elsas to produce, co-write and host the radio documentary, It Was Forty Years Ago Today: The Beatles Invade America which won a number of prestigious awards (e.g. New York State Broadcasters Association Best Documentary, New York Festivals World Medal.) It aired on WFUV in February, 2004. Revised for the fiftieth anniversary in 2014, it is now featured in the Grammy Museum’s traveling exhibit Ladies and Gentleman…The Beatles!
In May 1976, Dennis took over the prime 6-10 PM slot on WNEW-FM, bringing his creative programming of the station’s vast rock ‘n’ roll record library to the nighttime audience. Rock ‘n’ roll history was being made at 102.7, and whether he was in the studio with Meatloaf, backstage with Bob Seger or onstage with John Mellencamp, Dennis was sharing the experience with his listeners. In the 1980’s he created the popular Beach Party program. The station became known as the place “Where Rock Lives” and Elsas remained there through 1998.
While still at WNEW-FM, Dennis expanded his broadcasting activities to include two years as the music correspondent for television’s PM Magazine, and to host such syndicated radio shows as Rock Today, Rock ‘n Roll Never Forgets and Billboard Entertainment News.
Dennis’ voiceover career also grew with numerous projects for HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and The Movie Channel. Corporate and commercial clients included American Express, Time, Lancôme, Procter and Gamble, and Kraft Foods. He is now featured as the “Voice of Rock History” at the Museum at Bethel Woods – the story of the Sixties and Woodstock – and has been the announcer for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame broadcasts and VH1’s Concert of the Century at the White House. Dennis was the narrator of Discovery Magazine on the Discover Network and the “voice” of the Smithsonian Channel.
But his abiding passion is to be on the air, programming music that blends old favorites with new discoveries, interviewing artists and interacting with his listeners. Today he’s happily doing that seven days a week.
Since the summer of 2000 he’s been hosting weekday afternoons (2-6 PM) on New York’s WFUV (90.7 FM, and streaming at WFUV.org). With an eclectic mix of rock, folk, jazz and blues and, guests in the studio that have included Elvis Costello, Ben Folds, Patti Smith, Edie Brickell and Ringo Starr, Dennis continues the tradition of progressive radio he helped to create.
In May 2004 he joined Sirius/XM’s Classic Vinyl (26) where he can be heard every Saturday and Sunday. He also serves as co-host of the weekly Beatles talk and “call-in” show, “Fab Fourum,” heard exclusively on the Beatles Sirius/XM Channel (18), sharing his Classic Rock knowledge and memories with a worldwide audience.
In 2010 Dennis created Rock ‘n’ Roll Never Forgets – a live multimedia show featuring highlights from his history making interviews with John Lennon, Elton John, Jerry Garcia and more. As one of the pioneers of the progressive FM radio revolution at WNEW-FM and continuing today with new opportunities at WFUV and Sirius/XM, Dennis shares his favorite stories and unique perspective on rock and radio in person with enthusiastic audiences.
6 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationYikes! I’m 68, 69 on the 3rd of march. And I remember coming home from grade school and listening to Stones records while building model cars with my friends, Yup, they’ve been around for a while.
I think that the Stones quit being the stones when Bill left the band.
Bill left the Stones in January 1993, the Stones were already what they are today: a GREAT rock and roll group, the greatest at this time but they were just players and singers (THE GREATEST !!); they had stopped creating for a long time.
I thought the stones lost a great performer in Brian Jones. He gave the group a lot of creativity in their humble beginnings..Rock On!!!!
Brian Jones could pick up any instrument and learn to play it. He inspired the Stones in creativity until he started to abusing his body.The Stones were a Blues psychedelic, pop band in the early to mid 60s. They were great. Brian Jones replacement was a 20 year old blues guitarist by the name of Mick Taylor. He step in and the Stones became “The Greatest Rock and Roll Band.” Take nothing from Brian, he was the force that created the Stones. He laid their foundation and the Stones probably never would have succeeded without him.
Loved Bill’s books “Stone Alone” and “Rolling with the Stones”. The latter used to be expensive, but it’s very reasonable now on ebay. Well worth the money.