Stone Alone: The Story of a Rock 'n Roll Band

At times this interminable book seems to be little more than a self-indulgent discussion of how many birds Wyman was able to screw in between playing in the band. Some of the rest of it is interesting, but the book goes on far far too long.

Over long and perhaps overly detailed in mundane matters, nevertheless this is mostly interesting. Bizarrely, despite the length, the book ends in 1969, thereby missing probably the most interesting period of stones history, namely their sojourn as tax exiles in the south of France.

Bill is probably the least interesting member of the Rolling Stones, however as a long-standing fan it is fascinating in its detail of all the minutiae of life in the early years of the band. I found the fact that they played a gig in Baldock (small town in Herts, UK) where I was living when I first read the book really funny, but understandably was not so interested about all the other small gigs they did on the way up; Wyman has documented them all (and all the women he slept with).
I look forward to hearing the others' side of life with the Stones, but this will do for now.

Wyman delves deep into the early era of the Rolling Stones, with a sometimes overwhelming detail. Since Wyman was older than the other Stones, he provides a lot of insight into the rationing of post-war Britain and his own military training which was still compulsory in the 1950's. Bill Wyman's book carries a lot more legitimacy than Rolling Stones biographies written by critics, because Wyman was right in the middle of it.

The other reviewer calls Wyman the "least interesting" Rolling Stone. In my opinion he's the most interesting, because he took the time to step back and observe what was going on all those years. (although this volume doesn't extend past the 1960's).

The Stones were my favorite band when I was just getting into music, so the subject matter is of interest to me, and this does seem to be a fairly honestly and fully told story. But Wyman could have used some more active help from his co-writer. Too many lists, too much repetition, not enough reflection. But not ruined by any means.

$2!