Charlie Watts: the antithesis of the Rolling Stones

FLASHBACK RADIO with Chuck Reynolds

No sooner did I read last month about the Rolling Stones getting ready to start their American tour in St. Louis on September 26 with drummer Steve Jordan filling in for Charlie Watts, who was recovering from recent surgery, when I heard about Charlie passing away peacefully in a London hospital surrounded by his family on August 24, 2021.

Watts was 80 years old and had been the Rolling Stones drummer for over 58 years. He was well liked and respected by all of his peers in the music industry. Accolades and sympathies came from many different artists and friends, including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Brian Wilson. Mick Fleetwood, Steve Winwood and Ray Davis.

Perhaps Graham Nash said it best when he told Rolling Stone magazine, “Without question, Charlie Watts was one of the greatest drummers in the world. His secret – the same as Ringo – is heartbeat. Charlie Watts was the heartbeat of the Rolling Stones.”

Surprisingly, Charlie’s first love was not rock and roll music but rather jazz and, as a young teenager, he spent many hours in his bedroom listening to artists like Charlie Parker, Jelly Roll Morton, Buddy Rich and Gerry Mulligan. He once said, “The only rock ’n’ roll player I ever liked when I was young was Fats Domino.”

The first instrument Watts played was a banjo, but he found it to be too difficult to play and his parents then bought him a drum set when he was 13 years old. He quickly mastered it as he played along to all his favourite jazz records. He may have drummed all those years afterwards with one of the greatest rock bands of all time, but his first and true love was always jazz.

While he was still in school, Charlie excelled in the arts program and got a job with an advertising agency as a graphic designer. However, despite his artistic abilities, at night he started drumming in local pubs and nightclubs whenever he had the opportunity.

His big break came in 1961 when he was hired by Alexis Korner to play in Blues Incorporated. Another member in that group was Brian Jones, who eventually left and joined a band soon to be called the Rolling Stones, who by 1963 also needed a drummer. Back then, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Dick Taylor and drummer Tony Chapman made up the group.

Apparently, Brian Jones was speaking to a writer from Jazz News who asked him what his band’s name was and, seeing a Muddy Waters Record lying nearby that had a track on it called “Rollin’ Stone”, he gave him that name. The next month, on July 12, they played their first gig as “The Rollin’ Stones” in London at the Marquee Club.

In December 1962, Bill Wyman replaced Dick Taylor as bass guitarist and Charlie Watts took over as drummer on January 12, 1963. By this point, the only members remaining in the Stones were Jagger, Richards, Jones, Wyman and Watts.

Other changes have happened over the years, with Brian Jones leaving them shortly before he drowned in 1969. He was replaced by Mick Taylor. He lasted until 1974 when Ronnie Wood took over for him, and finally, in 1993, Darryl Jones replaced Wyman.

Besides being the best dressed Rolling Stone, often wearing three-piece suits when he wasn’t behind the tubs, no one else in the band had the class, style and respect that Charlie had. You could easily say he was the antithesis of the rest of the group. And, unlike any of them, Charlie’s grace carried over in his personal life where he remained faithful and dedicated to his wife, Shirley Shepherd, since 1964.

Remembering that sentimental pop song written by Alan O’Day that the Righteous Brothers sang in 1974, “If you believe in forever, then life is just a one-night stand. If there’s a rock and roll heaven, well you know they’ve got a hell of a band.” God bless you, Charlie. They’ve been waiting for a new drummer.