Procol bits in Stone Alone (1990)

by Bill Wyman and Ray Coleman

Page 32 (re Bill Wyman's 1989 wedding reception)
Keith and Patti, Mick and Jerry, Charlie and Shirley and Ronnie and Jo all came to the party for 400 guests that afternoon at the Grosvenor House Hotel. Andy Fairweather-Low, Gary Brooker and Georgie Fame provided great music. We had some fabulous gifts, but the one that everyone loved came from Spike Milligan, a friend of many years. He presented me with a walking frame: 'To help Bill get through the honeymoon!'

Page 73 (re the Cliftons, Bill Wyman's original band)
One night in July [1962], we played at Greenwich Town Hall opposite the Paramounts, a Southend group who played similar music to the Cliftons. We became friendly; they later became Procol Harum and had an international hit with Whiter Shade of Pale in the mid-sixties.

Page 148 (now with the Stones, September 1963)
We played a dump in Walmer, Kent called the Strand Palace Theatre. The audience comprised about 350 thugs. We were paid £ 55 and were glad to get away without any trouble – the promoter had failed to get a drinking licence, which probably saved us. Gradually we were building a community of musicians, for on the bill with us were the Paramounts whom I'd known from my Cliftons period. Their leader, Gary Brooker, remains a firm friend. He played at my wedding in 1989.

More Procol History in Print

Pages about the Rhythm Kings: here, here, here, and here,