Such an interesting man, so separate from the CRAY-CRAY that were the Stones as an entity, but so essential to the Stones being the Stones. They all acknowledge it. The most interesting part of this is that he was a jazz drummer. Still is. He was already doing jazz gigs, and actually making a little living at it when the Stones reached out to him. The joke is is that they couldn’t really afford him at the time. Smarter people than I (in re: jazz, at least) can speak about what Watts’ jazz background brought to the Stones. I am sure those conversations are fascinating. Watts continued to play jazz, in various quartets over the years. He never got caught up in the whole Rolling Stones “thing”, which is a feat worthy of Superman if you think about it.
Watts battled a pretty horrific addiction, but that was a little bit later than the rest of them. He wasn’t all about the party and the girls. He was married when he joined the Stones, and the marriage remained intact throughout. She has just been widowed after over 50 years of marriage. It’s fascinating that someone can be in a band like The Rolling Stones and somehow remain separate from the experience, keep perspective, keep the personal non-Rolling-Stone life operational AS the band fills stadiums around the world. I don’t know how he did it. Not too many people can pull it off. He said he thought fame was rather “silly”.
The Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. He didn’t go. His drumming has been influential to multiple generations at this point. Lars Ulrich, Metallica’s drummer, referred to Watts’ career as a “road map”.
I’ve linked to this piece before but it seems particularly a propos today. Bill Janovitz, lead singer of Buffalo Tom, wrote a wonderful piece on his site where he breaks down “Gimme Shelter” on a minute to minute basis. It’s fun to listen to the song, and stop it at the points Janovitz does, just to focus in on his specific observations.
And here’s this from Janovitz:
3:19-3:30 Charlie’s drum sounds like a monster here, and on this whole song. No, I mean really like a snarling, sweaty, limping monster.
Such a mild man, who preferred a quiet life. Such a dapper dresser. Within that dapper mild man’s talent was a “snarling, sweaty, limping monster.”
One of the all-time greats.
any thoughts on the recent passing of Don Everly?
I love Don Everly and was so sad to hear of his passing – another thread connecting us to the past is gone. August has not been conducive to new writing. My family and my life is in upheaval, none of which I’m sharing here. :( So I’m taking a second today to pay tribute to Charlie Watts. I wish I had the time to write about everyone!
thank you for your kind reply. best wishes for you and your family!
Thank you so much, Hugh – that’s kind of you to say! Inspired by your comment, I did a Twitter thread on Don Everly. I’ll try to put it together in a post if I have a second.
For some reason, what comes into my mind today when I think of Charlie’s drumming are the drum fills on the mounted toms in “Child of the Moon.” Just as nobody would play drums like Ringo did on “Rain,” or Moon did on “The Kids Are Alright,” there’s no one who would play those fills like Charlie. His drumming was a unique combination of swing and attack, each seemingly antithetical to the other, yet somehow maintained in perfect balance by Watts – in much the same way he maintained a balance between real life and Stones Life. Almost as amazing as his body of musical work is the fact that in six decades as a Stones, he never once made a fool of himself. Both seem impossible achievements, yet he did both with seeming ease.
// His drumming was a unique combination of swing and attack, each seemingly antithetical to the other, //
This is a really good way of putting it!