R.I.P. Charlie Watts (2 June 1941 - 24 August 2021)

[Foxhound]

Born in London, England, Charlie Watts learned to drum by playing along to jazz records. In 1961 he joined Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated which performed regularly in London's rhythm & blues clubs. As such he was already a well established and highly regarded drummer when he first met aspiring young rhythm & blues musicians Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Dick Taylor in mid-1962 who had no drummer of their own. Charlie Watts was of course not interested in joining their ragtag ensemble which didn't even have a name yet. He must though have seen some potential in Brian Jones and the others because he did eventually consent to join their group which by then was called the Rolling Stones. It's been widely reported that Jones, Jagger, Richards, Stewart, bassist Bill Wyman (who had joined in early December replacing Dick Taylor who'd gone back to school) and Watts played their first gig together on 1 January 1963 at the Station Hotel in the London suburb of Richmond. Wikipedia though states that Watts didn't agree to join the Stones until February. Nonetheless the rest is history. With the Stones Charlie went from this:



To this:



And finally to this:



When it came to drumming, Charlie Watts was a minimalist. As such he was an efficiency expert and drummed with an economy of motion unlike some well known contemporaries (e.g. Keith Moon who flailed away most energetically). He also suffered from no compulsion to habitually hit his drums as hard as he could unlike some other famous drummers (e.g. John Bonham). Neither was he compelled to set himself up behind as much of an array of drums as would fit on stage to show off his mastery of the art as do so many modern drummers (e.g. Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, Phil Collins). He brought along only and precisely those drums and cymbals he needed to keep the beat for the set that his band was going to play.



And that's exactly what he did. He kept the beat for the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band for more than 58 years. He knew what to play to bring out the best in each Stones' tune and more importantly he knew what NOT to play. Charlie Watts was integral to the sound of the Stones and there's no way they would have sounded as good without the way in which he laid down the beat.

Here was Charlie Watts circa 1966:





And fairly recently:



I was so hoping that the three originals plus the "new" guy Ron Wood would make it to 1 January 2023 for a proper 60th anniversary concert. Whether the Stones can continue without him is in doubt. R.I.P Charlie.