RIP Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts

[WrongVerb]

Rolling Stones Drummer Charlie Watts Dies At Age 80

[cumberlandreds]

Wow! What an Icon! One of the best drummers of all time. RIP Charlie Watts.

[westofyou]

Huge loss, big talent

[Falls City Beer]

No one on earth sounded like Charlie Watts. The absolute greatest. I hate getting old.

[westofyou]

And the drummer, he's so shattered
Trying to keep on time

[757690]

Best meter in rock and roll. No one kept time like Charlie. 80 is too young. A huge loss.

[Betterread]

RIP Charlie Watts

Bill German, who started the Beggars Banquet fanzine in 1978 when he was still at high school in Brooklyn, describes a meeting held in Amsterdam to discuss whether the Stones should break up or carry on. At one point, Jagger referred to Charlie Watts as "my drummer".

Writes German: "[Jagger said] something like: ‘None of this should matter to you because you’re only my drummer.’

"[Watts] kept it bottled inside until he got back to his hotel room. He then clicked off his TV, put on his shoes, walked down the hall and knocked on Mick’s door. When the lead singer of the Rolling Stones opened it, his drummer clocked him on the jaw. Charlie then turned round and calmly walked away.

"Keith [Richards] saw Charlie in the hallway and asked him where he was coming from. The laconic Charlie answered: ’I’ve just punched Mick Jagger in the face’ – and kept walking."
"You’re only my singer" was what he reportedly said before he landed the punch.

[Mutaman]

Nuts.

[Mutaman]

Think I'll go put on Out Of Our Heads- UK version

[GAC]

On October 14, 1964 Charlie Watts married Shirley Ann Shepherd, whom he had met before the Rolling Stones became successful. They remained married until his death (August 24, 2021)

[SunDeck]

I hear these comments about him being a song drummer. Same for Ringo, which I assume means they interpret their role to be less than flashy, maybe? Or that they feel like their job is to be the backbone of a song so that other instruments can do their jobs. For Charlie Watts, I read there was this thing where because Keith is quite an aggressive player, Charlie was always somewhat behind, like milliseconds, but always the same and never wavering, which other drummers pick up on and say something like that was just Charlie and no one else could do it. That he knew this and used it to support Keith's playing just seems like real genius level stuff.

[BernieCarbo]

I hear these comments about him being a song drummer. Same for Ringo, which I assume means they interpret their role to be less than flashy, maybe? Or that they feel like their job is to be the backbone of a song so that other instruments can do their jobs. For Charlie Watts, I read there was this thing where because Keith is quite an aggressive player, Charlie was always somewhat behind, like milliseconds, but always the same and never wavering, which other drummers pick up on and say something like that was just Charlie and no one else could do it. That he knew this and used it to support Keith's playing just seems like real genius level stuff.

Part of that was because first and foremost, Charlie was a jazz musician, and it's common for drummers to lag behind or push the beat to give a song tension or a groove. This was far more evident before technology became so dominant in music, where so often everyone follows a click and records separately on different tracks. If you listen guys like Hendrix, the Allman Brothers, Stevie Ray, etc, they were all over the place rhythmically on a lot of songs, and no one would accuse them of not being good musicians. Jimi in particular would start out at one tempo, speed up, slow down, fall behind the beat, then push the beat, etc, and it created such a groove.

With Charlie, it could be a chicken and egg thing. Was he already that way because of jazz, or did he become that way? I tend to think he was just the perfect type of drummer for a group like the Stones, who relied more on the blues feel than a lot of other groups at that time. It's probably why a lot of people like either the Stones or Beatles, but not both, because the Stones just have a groove that is pleasing to the ear if you are that ind of person. A good example is Beast of Burden, which really leverages that with Richards and Wood pushing and Watts holding back.

[15fan]

First RS concert was in Las Vegas in 2016. Phenomenal show. It’s a transcendent point in the space-time continuum when grandkids are buying beers for their grandparents while together they all belt out lyrics to Gimme Shelter or Brown Sugar.

Have tix to see them again in November. Stand-in drummer Steve Jordan has some legendary shoes to fill.

[Boston Red]

You going to the November 6th show in Vegas? I'll be in Vegas but decided against paying $200+ to see the Stones. My 1994 Voodoo Lounge Tour experience in Indy will carry me through. I thought in 1994 it was probably my last shot at seeing the Stones in concert. Slightly miscalculated that one!

[westofyou]

I saw them on them three times, 89, 94, 99

In 1999 It was easily my favorite Stones show, You got the Silver was a treat, just like Monkey Man was in 94