Monkey Grip (Bill Wyman album)

Monkey Grip is the debut studio album by the English rock musician Bill Wyman, released on 10 May 1974 by Rolling Stones Records.

Although Wyman sings on every track on the album; he had only sung lead on one song in the Rolling Stones, the 1967 song "In Another Land".

Critical reception

In a retrospective review, Steve Kurutz writing for AllMusic rated the album four stars out of five. He noted "I Wanna Get Me a Gun", "White Lightnin" and "I'll Pull You Thro" as the best songs on the album and hinted approval of Wyman's vocals, describing them as "loose and joy-filled". They also praised the album for avoiding the usual egotism of solo albums: "Though these types of albums can be self-absorbed affairs, Monkey Grip is meant to be a relaxed, unpretentious outlet for the compositions that would never see the light of day in Wyman's main band – and, as a credit to the bassist, it comes off exactly that way."

Track listing

Personnel

• Bill Wyman – vocals, bass guitar (1–5, 8, 9), acoustic guitar (3, 4, 7, 8), Jew's harp (3), acoustic piano (4), backing vocals (4), electric guitar (6)
• Dr. John – acoustic piano (1), organ (6), pedalboard (6)
• Duane Smith – acoustic piano (2, 8)
• Leon Russell – acoustic piano (4)
• William "Smitty" Smith – acoustic piano (5)
• Hubert Heard – organ (8, 9), acoustic piano (9)
• Danny Kortchmar – electric guitar (1, 2, 4–6, 9), 12-string guitar (7, 8)
• Joey Murcia – electric guitar (2)
• George Terry – slide guitar (2), electric guitar (8)
• Jackie Clark – electric guitar (3, 4, 8)
• John McEuen – banjo (3), dobro (7), mandolin (7)
• Lowell George – lead guitar (5)
• Dallas Taylor – drums
• Joe Lala – percussion (1–3, 5–9)
• Byron Berline – fiddle (3, 6)
• Peter Graves – trombone (3)
• George McCrae – backing vocals (1, 2, 5, 8, 9)
• Gwen McCrae – backing vocals (1, 2, 5, 8, 9)
• Betty Wright – backing vocals (1, 2, 5, 8, 9)
• Abigale Haness – backing vocals (4)

Boneroo Horns (Tracks 1, 2, 4–6 & 8)

• Bill Wyman – horn arrangements
• Neal Bonsanti – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, cor anglais
• Mark Colby – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinet
• Peter Graves – trombone, euphonium, horn arrangements
• Ken Faulk – trumpet, flugelhorn

Production

• Bill Wyman – producer, arrangements
• Howard Albert – assistant production, engineer, mixing
• Ron Albert – assistant production, engineer, mixing
• Karl Richardson – mastering at Criteria Studios (Miami, Florida)
• Jimmy Wachtel – design, artwork
• Amanda Finch – design assistant, artwork assistant
• Bob Jenkins – photography

Charts

References

External links