You always made the Stones swing, as you were a jazz drummer at heart.
“Is he the one who looks like a greengrocer?” as my mum once said.
Happy 80th Birthday Charlie Watts
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Musings on the byways of popular culture
BBC At Home thingy last year – bit of a car crash by all accounts.
But even without a kit, Charlie is still the coolest looking in those 4 squares
Not BBC and not a car crash. They were good!
Agreed.
The event was a bit meh. They were the best on it. Effortless and great.
Yes, Elton not quite as good (nor Macca)
Taylor was great.
Mick Taylor wasn’t there, was he?…
Have some Big Band.
Bit of a boogie…
Charlie is the best. Just does what is necessary, no showing off.
What I love about Charlie apart from the much mentioned swing, is his economy. Nothing flash, no “lead drums” bollocks, just an undeniable backbeat and those fills or the odd perfectly placed off beat which are never quite where you expect them and always just make you smile or drum the steering wheel when you know they’re coming.
Never better than here…
The opening moments of Can’t You Hear Me Knocking are for me the essence of the greatness of the Strollings: Charlie’s perfect judgment is absolutely central to that.
Won’t bother with the clip, I suspect you’ve heard it…
This is my favourite. From 2:25 to when he comes back in at 2:42, it’s masterful buildup. And I bet any other band who’s covered this song has played it too fast.
I mistrust any drummer who doesn’t like Charlie’s playing, indeed if they need a second tom on top of their bass drum, we’re off to a bad start.
I’ve said this about other great drummers, including Ringo, but if you listen carefully – and especially if you try and play along – it’s amazing how slow Charlie is a lot of the time. That’s a sign of proper chops: see also Sly Dunbar and Simon Kirk out of Free.
Some of the most thrilling moments of Stones’ songs are when the drums come in after the initial build up, like on Sister Morphine, or when they come back again more powerfully after a pause, like on Let It Loose. He knows exactly when to hold off and when to go all out. See also Monkey Man, what an entrance he makes there. Let It Bleed, the song, the shuffles, the shift in pace part way through, he’s on fire, funky as hell. Fantastic performance. He’s got the groove where Ringo lacks it. The Stones make you want to dance whereas The Beatles don’t, not really.
Also Midnight Rambler, when the pace picks up and the drums become more insistent and dominant, about 2.27 in. Brilliant.
The Stones are the only white guitar band whose records don’t clear the dancefloor at wedding parties.
Hotel managers instruct DJs to play the Beatles when they think that bar takings could do with a boost.
No just DJ’s but club and pub managers who used to insist ‘Give us some Stones, mate’ half an hour before closing. I used to keep one guitar permanently tuned in open D just to keep the tills (and the punters) happy drunk.
I meant that at the sound of t’Fabs there’s a stampede from the dancefloor to the bar (and, I suppose, the lavs)
Watch that tumbleweed twist and shout….
“I Saw Her Standing There” is a bonafide wedding disco banger. Not much else from t’Fabs really hits the spot, it’s true.
Open G Shirley?
Yeah…this has got some proper dancing in it…
Hey no Ringo bashing! Irrelevant. This is about Charlie!
Ringo’s great of course. It’s relevant because the two bands do a different thing and that’s a lot to do with the drums.
I was thinking that. Charlie would immediately make any band sound better where Ringo could only really be in the Beatles. I know we have to insist he’s great etc, but…
Completely agree with this. I’m more or less indifferent to both bands, but the Stones have a groove which the Beatles just don’t. It’s not necessarily a value judgement, but also explains why latter-day Beatles wannabe copyists also leave bums resolutely welded to seats (just try dancing to Oasis) while Stones copyists are that bit more interested in getting you dancing (Primal Scream).
Ringo was a great drummer, ask anybody who recorded with him. See the recent Plastic Ono Band box for lots of evidence as well as superlative drumming on Beatles tracks such as Rain, She Loves You and Strawberry Fields. Great live too.
https://vimeo.com/244758056
Beatles and Stones are always compared but apart from some early copying were completely different bands with different aims as to what they wanted to do. The Stones swing because of Keith and Bill also, not just Charlie. They have always been a “dance” band. You can certainly dance to early Beatles numbers, but they moved away from that.
I don’t really care about the Ringo being a great drummer thing – I know he was, in his way, and wasn’t saying he’s not. But drop a Beatles song at a wedding and watch everyone go to the bar, as @moose-the-mooche says above. I Saw Her Standing There (?!?!) included, I’m afraid.
Honourable exception for Twist and Shout.
The opening of Honky Tonk Women was good enough for, at around the same time, Steinski and Ultramagnetic MCs. Word.
Can I just say that I like that bit in John Hiatt’s “Slow Turning” where he affectionately mentions Charlie Watts. Good stuff.
Get Off My Cloud – no frills, no drum rolls to fill a gap, Dead on beat the whole way through. The drums drive that song as much, if not more than, the riff
I once saw Charlie strolling unobtrusively on his own during the tea break at Lord’s during a Middlesex v Surrey county championship match. I think it’s public knowledge that Mick is a keen cricket fan but who knew of Charlie’s interest? I can’t have been alone in spotting him but he was being studiously ignored. He probably enjoyed being left to himself.
Passing him behind the stands at the Nursery End, I nodded at him and asked who he was supporting. “Surrey, of course.” Good man. I like him even more now.
But he’s from Wembley (Middlesex)!
I know Mick and Charlie sometimes go to games together, think these days they are the best mates in the band.
It’s must have been those formative years at the Crawdaddy in Richmond that convinced him to turn his back on the dark side. Plus he’s probably got a property or three south of the river, in the leafy bits.
S****y? He’s just gone right down in my estimation.
We’ll ignore any Y***shire based comments, naturally. 😉
I’m fascinated by this. County Cricket fans getting tasty with each other? Are Surrey the equivalent of Millwall?
What are the chants like?
“You’re going home in a relatively economic people carrier”
“Who’s the bastard in the coat!”
My lot, Surrey, are widely regarded by other county cricket fans as the Manchester United of English cricket, in that we are financially powerful, historically successful, arrogant, flashy, and we know it. Middlesex are the local rivals, but that’s just a traditional north v south London thing. No chanting or unseemly violence involved, we are cricket fans after all, although The Oval does have a resident bunch of aging fat blokes called the Peter May Boys who like to spend sunny afternoons getting slowly boozed and offering mild vocal support. Most Surrey fans would agree that our true bete noir is actually Yorkshire, simply because they are a northern version of us – they used to win a lot and are very full of themselves.
If there’s a cricket version of Millwall, its probably Somerset. Must be the effect of be all that strong cider.
The ultimate insult – the very idea that Yorkies are anything like Surrey…
They’re a funny lot in Lancashire, but at least they’re not southerners…
I think Somerset get a bit chippy these days because they keep on finishing second in everything and see conspiracies everywhere they look. The constant references from elsewhere to the ‘Ciderabad’ phenomenon winds them up too.
I read a story once about a journalist who went to Charlie’s house to interview him. He answered the door in full flannel cricket whites. “Oh sorry” said the journo “have I got the time wrong? Are you off to play cricket?”
Turned out the cricket was just about to start on the tele and Charlie was just getting in the zone.
Fascinating. I’m guessing he’d start the day’s play in a sleeveless sweater but have the long sleeved jumper available in case the temperature dips.
And pads and gloves (and a bat?) when his team is batting?
Before they make me run….
I always loved his laconic comment in the 25X5 video. Reflecting on being in the band for 25 years, he said something like ‘Yeah, work 5 years and 20 years hanging around’…..
He bought a fleet of high end cars over the years. Only downside was he didn’t have a driving licence.
Also from the 25×5 film, he said he has to go on tour – it’s the only real chance he gets to play drums because he doesn’t have any at home.
This old chestnut too:
A drunk Mick Jagger once called Charlie Watts’ hotel room late at night looking for “my drummer.” Watts got up, showered, shaved, dressed in a shirt and tie, went to Jagger’s room, punched him in the face, saying: “Don’t ever call me your drummer again. You’re my fucking singer!'”
Astonishing, how he has managed by all accounts, to remain more or less on an even keel over the past 60 years. There are quite a few accounts of his own troubles with booze and pills and powders in the mid 80s, but he seems to have sufficient respect from his bandmates that his own accounts, occasionally mentioned in interviews, are the most damning.
That seems to bear out how well regarded he is, having been spoken of consistently as a thoroughly decent, original and proudly eccentric individual. I remember seeing a clip of him being interviewed by a wisecracking Jonathan Ross and being genuinely baffled, as to why his laconic answers and groaning asides were met with gales of laughter from the audience.
And his sense of style has always been pinpoint sharp. The zoot suits, perfect collars and cuffs, meticulous attention to detail. I love the way his long face has evolved wonderfully into old age. (He’s also one of those blokes for whom male pattern balding has never quite claimed victory, his bald patch remaining quietly static since the late 1970s. )
I’ve always been fond of his drumming – the contrast of that light, jazzy touch accentuated the best Stones moments and saved the worst from total disaster. When I played drums, I always tried to keep it simple in homage to Charlie. (That was my story anyway. The truth was that I was basically rubbish and couldn’t do anything more complex than a clunky paradiddle). But with that little Gretch kit, he’s anchored so many songs, styles and grooves with that same, benevolent frog like expression.
“You’re MY singer!” etc etc. happy birthday Chas
If I had to pick a few Charlie moments…
The clipped gallop of Its All Over Now
The relentless whack-whack-whack of Satisfaction
The toms on 19th Nervous Breakdown
Inventing baggy on Stray Cat Blues (esp the breakdown to the end) and Monkey Man
That double-tap on the bell of the ride cymbal signalling everyone to finish Dead Flowers
The fills on Loving Cup
Going Santana on Can’t You Hear Me Knocking
Funk on Miss You, Emotional Rescue,
The weird missed beat at the start of Start Me Up
Charlie talking about jazz is always a pleasure
“Charlie’s good tonite innee” is a classic.
That’s a good interview.
I liked the bit where he talks about always having Keith’s amp next to him because Keith sets the groove.
There’s a similar interview with Jim Keltner where he says it’s a common mistake to think drummers set the groove – its guitar, keys or bass. He’s really interesting about how bands should work.
That’s the essence of how the Stones sound works. It all revolves around Keef’s rhythm guitar.
Drummers certainly don’t set the groove in bebop/hard bop/post-bop jazz. Mostly it’s a piano or a guitar and/or the bass.
Just remembered another reason to laud Mr Watts – his sense of style. He answered a set-questions quiz in, I think, Q magazine like this:
Q: What have you got in your pockets?
A: Handkerchief in top jacket pocket. Credit card inside jacket. Anything else would spoil the line of my suit.