PW: Rolling with the Stones features a young Bill Wyman saying that jumping around onstage is okay when you're 20, but embarrassing when you're 25. Why did you continue jumping around into your 50s?

BW: I never did jump around! I moved a few steps occasionally, but never pushed my luck.

PW: Will your bandmates be upset to see their less-flattering moments—and hairstyles—in print?

BW: No. It's not a book of scandal or naughty little comments. It's a very straightforward book that documents our history and achievements. I've probably got 150 books on the Stones, and three-fourths of them are far from the truth.

PW: What sort of space do your scrapbooks occupy?

BW: It's enormous. I have three million words on the computer, as well as attics and a barn full of physical stuff. Everybody thought I was mad when I started collecting it, but I did it for my kid, who was eight months old when I joined the Stones. I thought I'd better keep a few things just in case we only lasted a year.

PW: How long did it take to get the book together?

BW: We started a year ago. I'd get up at 10 and start working, break for meals and work until three, four or five in the morning.

PW: How did you find your co-author?

BW: I've known Richard Havers for years. He did a wonderful job on the blues book [Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey], so I thought, why not use him again? I excel at research—ferreting out information, a bit like Sherlock Holmes. Richard's good with the written word. I'd say, "Here's a year of the Stones—we need this into three pages."

PW: Which book was harder to do?

BW: The Stones book. We literally used 1% or 2% of what I have, so it was really hard to decide what to leave out.

PW: What brought back the fondest memories during your research?

BW: The '60s, when we were all so naïve and all we thought about was music, not business; the open-air show from Hyde Park in '69, where we played for half a million people and London pretty much shut down; the first time we visited America. It was the freshness of it all that was most magical.

PW: How is being an author similar to being a rock star?

BW: It's the way I earn my living now! Believe it or not, if I want to maintain my family's lifestyle, I have to work. It's also a way of expressing myself away from making music.

PW: What's the next book project?

BW: I've got about four in the pipeline. Three years ago, I did a beautiful, limited-edition book on my times with Marc Chagall [Wyman Shoots Chagall, Genesis Publications].

PW: What are you reading now?

BW: The last couple of books I read have been about UFOs. I've always been interested in astronomy and science fiction books, as well as books about ancient civilizations.

PW: If not a musician, what other profession might you have chosen?

BW: I always thought I'd make a good photographer. I'd like to be in charge of a library, or be an archeologist. Again, it's research, a bit of detective work—the things I really love to do.