A new documentary spotlighting the classic-era Rolling Stones bassist, Bill Wyman, will open June 21 in New York, L.A., San Francisco and Boston. Titled The Quiet One, the film, which received its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, was written and directed by Oliver Murray and features appearances by Wyman, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Bob Geldof, Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts, Buddy Guy and the Supremes’ Mary Wilson, as well as commentary culled from footage of the late Brian Jones.
Following the brief theatrical run, the film will be available on-demand, beginning June 28.
Says a press release, “Throughout his three-decade career as a founding member of and bassist for The Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman was known to the world as the “quiet one” in the band. Now, the famously private music legend speaks out about his extraordinary life and experiences as part of ‘the greatest rock and roll band in the world.’ Opening up his vast personal archive—a lifetime’s worth of previously unseen home movies, photographs, and memorabilia—Wyman reflects on his early years with the Stones, the band’s meteoric rise to fame, and his search for a sense of ‘normalcy’ amidst the whirlwind of sex, drugs, and rebellion. Endearingly humble and down-to-earth, Wyman pulls back the curtain to offer a one-of-a-kind perspective on life as a reluctant rock star.”
“It is all of a haze to me,” says Richards. “If I want to know what I did in those years, I have to ask Bill Wyman.”
Watch the trailer for The Quiet One
Related: Bill Wyman on the birth of the Rolling Stones
A more detailed description notes that Wyman has served as the band’s archivist, keeping “a diary of every single day, shooting hours of film footage and taking thousands of photographs.” The film makes copious use of that material, and also includes interviews with family members in addition to the aforementioned musicians.
Director Murray said, in a statement, “I knew relatively little about his background and his life outside the band when we met in 2014…He welcomed me into his home and I began to understand his astonishing legacy…For a filmmaker to be allowed access to this resource, compiled by someone who wasn’t simply there at the time but who was part of its very creation was a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Watch the Stones perform in 1964…
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