Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: New laws
Next Post: Pritzker warns of mitigations “that I think we don’t want to go to” if “the hospital beds and ICUs get full”
Posted in:
* This says it all for me…
* Ok, there’s also this…
* Allright, there’s this…
* And, yes, of course, this…
* Come to think of it, there’s just too much to post here…
* Current mood…
* The Rolling Stones wouldn’t ever have been a thing without Charlie Watts’ swing. RIP, man…
It was hard to imagine the Stones without Watts even then, though. His light touch, singular rhythmic sense, and impeccable feel, as heard on canonical rock songs such as “Paint It, Black,” “Gimme Shelter,” and “Brown Sugar,” made him both the engine that powered the Stones’ music and one of the most famous and respected drummers of all time.
As Keith Richards said in 1979: “Everybody thinks Mick and Keith are the Rolling Stones. If Charlie wasn’t doing what he’s doing on drums, that wouldn’t be true at all. You’d find out that Charlie Watts is the Stones.”
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 12:49 pm
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: New laws
Next Post: Pritzker warns of mitigations “that I think we don’t want to go to” if “the hospital beds and ICUs get full”
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Best band ever. RIP. Saw them in Champaign in 1969. My claim to fame is my future wife and I are pictured in the audience from a photo taken from back of band.
Comment by DuPage Saint Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 12:58 pm
This hurts. He was the cleanest living Stone, and yet the first to die (since Jones’ premature death). RIP Charlie.
Comment by Henry Francis Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:07 pm
Wow. really sad. so glad I saw the Stones multiple times cause silent Charlie really had the beat and it was fantastic.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:10 pm
Read he was playing drums for the Stones for 50 years.
Time to get out those old vinyl records and crank up the record player.
Comment by Back to the Future Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:11 pm
Charlie Watts set the beat for most of my life…may He rest in peace.
Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:13 pm
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rolling-stones-charlie-watts-jumpin-jack-flash-1207892/
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:15 pm
===As Keith Richards said in 1979: “Everybody thinks Mick and Keith are the Rolling Stones. If Charlie wasn’t doing what he’s doing on drums, that wouldn’t be true at all. You’d find out that Charlie Watts is the Stones.”===
Really, not more needs to be said… except for the appreciation, love, respect, and that awe that was Charlie Watts, so much so, that deference to Watts isn’t flattery, it’s honest truth that Richards was sharing… to himself… and what Watts meant to the band and it’s music.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:16 pm
There is no more legendary band than the Stones. Knew Watts was sick but no way did I expect this. RIP. When it’s all said and done, and humanity has passed, I still expect Richards to be around.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:27 pm
Charlie was my darling. This one really hurts.
Comment by Keyrock Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:28 pm
“One anecdote relates that in the mid-1980s, an intoxicated Jagger phoned Watts’s hotel room in the middle of the night, asking, “Where’s my drummer?” Watts reportedly got up, shaved, dressed in a suit, put on a tie and freshly shined shoes, descended the stairs, and punched Jagger in the face, saying: “Don’t ever call me your drummer again. You’re my f***ing singer!”
Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:31 pm
This just stinks.
Comment by Give Me A Break Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:38 pm
My best friend in the whole world just played Fingerprint File on XRT–bit of a deep cut, but well worth a listen.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:49 pm
I love the story about Charlie punching Mick for calling Watts “my drummer.”
“I’m not your drummer, you’re my effing singer.”
Whether that really happened or not, I still love the story.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:51 pm
The best Stone. RIP
Comment by Wensicia Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:53 pm
Lotta good memories to those songs. RIP.
Comment by Boone's is Back Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:05 pm
Rest in peace. It would not have been the Rolling Stones without Charlie Watts on drums.
Comment by Nick Name Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:12 pm
Quietly, the coolest Rolling Stone. I liked his drumming but it was his sartorial style that garnered my attention. Quintessentially English. Rest easy.
Comment by oifredleg Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:21 pm
He brought joy to millions. Lived a full life. RIP.
Comment by phocion Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:32 pm
He was a human metronome. The beating heart of the band.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:39 pm
Rich, you shoulda been a DJ. I am heartbroken to lose Charlie. But your selection of his work is a salve for a damaged soul.
Comment by Jimbo2 Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:42 pm
A true legend who will be dearly missed.
RIP
Comment by Etown Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 3:18 pm
Sad, sad, Sad
Comment by JDuc Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 3:38 pm
I’ve been listening to the Stones for over 50 yrs. Even so, every time I listen, I hear something new and like them more. What a loss, what a legacy.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 4:05 pm
I don’t comment much on my brother’s blog very often but it is worth noting that the Stones are the Miller family’s band of bands. I remember cruising around with Rich and hearing Beast of Burden come on the radio when Some Girls came out. My Dad playing Emotional Rescue 500 times in a row. Every album was purchased, and played over and over. All my brothers and I have one thing we can agree on - and that is the Stones are the greatest rock’n'roll band in the world. RIP Charlie, thank you for the backbeat.
Comment by Devin Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 6:35 pm
Devin-
Couldn’t have been said any better. Feel like I got gut punched today. Always knew the day would come when something like this was going to happen, but this one stings.
Comment by JDuc Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 9:52 pm
===My Dad playing Emotional Rescue 500 times in a row===
Understatement. Dad had that song on a loop on a 90-minute cassette tape. He played nothing but that for months. I still can’t listen to it without wincing. Tonight’s the first time I’ve played it in I don’t know how long https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTxQ601mlAY
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 10:08 pm
Last night, I was dreaming how you’d be mine
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 10:10 pm
===Rich, you shoulda been a DJ===
When I was 16, I worked at a radio station and my date car was a white 1963 Cadillac convertible. I really thought that was my destiny.
Times change.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 10:23 pm
===Fingerprint File===
Great high-hat work and a sophisticated disco beat before there was a common disco beat.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 10:53 pm
…On that same record, listen to what Charlie’s right foot does on this one. Makes the whole song. Not only does it drive the band forward, but makes it all swing. Impeccable syncopation, but with just enough of a rough edge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmgCy__eUa8
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 10:58 pm
“The drummer thinks that he is dynamite” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mphSvuLGAQo
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 11:00 pm
“Charlie’s good tonight, innee” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtno1O7NIGQ
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 11:03 pm
RIP Charlie… He will be rocking out in the sky from now on.
Comment by Mama Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 11:20 pm
N-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o(banned punctuation mark)
Too soon. Too soon.
RIP, Charlie Watts.
Comment by TinyDancer(FKASue) Wednesday, Aug 25, 21 @ 1:25 am