Bill O'hanlon

Ever since leaving the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman has been keeping a low profile – which isn't quite the same thing as keeping quiet. About a decade after quitting the world's greatest rock & roll band, he formed the Rhythm Kings, a loose collective of friends, pros, and all-stars, all gathered to play the blues, soul, R&B, and old-time rock & roll that his old group no longer played. While the concept for the Rhythm Kings was similar to Ringo Starr's ever-changing All-Starr Band, Wyman's group was more of a studio creation than Ringo's ready-for-the-road carnival, which hauled out the old hits for an appreciative audience nearly every summer in the late '80s and '90s…

The veteran vocalist wraps his suave, bottomless pipes around a well-chosen cross-section of covers, from Duke Henderson's jump blues "Get Your Kicks" and Johnny "Guitar" Watson's "I Love to Love You" to tougher straightforward blues originally cut by Freddy King, Guitar Slim, Jimmy Rogers, and Little Walter. A cadre of local session aces provides fine support, especially guitarist Steve Freund (who receives a couple of instrumental showcases).

Original 1950s Decca recordings by the Father of Bluegrass (including eight of his most famous songs), plus a 1984 duet with Ricky Skaggs.