Charlie Watts, 80-year-old drummer passed away on 24 August 2021
The year 2021 could also be called the year of death. Now one of the best, most elegant and probably best known drummers has passed away. Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones has passed away. A moment that feels like a long, pointed arrow bores into my chest.
Smiling and serene: 6 decades of Rolling Stones
And not only that, because he was also one of the most popular. The calming pole, the backbone, the support of a wild gang. The scene speaks of him as a brilliant drummer and human being. Influenced by jazz in his earliest years, he gave the Stones a distinctive character. In the midst of the loopy young band of the 60s, Watt appeared composed, usually with a smile in a tight-fitting waistcoat. And they did well to have him around. The world has not only lost a drummer, but also a supremely elegant human being.
To be successful, you need discipline and strength of character. Even then, or perhaps precisely because they are the wildest rock band of the 20th century. With his character so lacking in wildness, Charlie Watts perhaps brought a bit more of it than his colleagues. Let us leave this to the past. He himself could already get used to the idea of quitting the Stones in 2018. Speaking to The Guardian at the time, he said:
„I don’t know what I would do if we stopped. Keith is great at keeping going. The big worry for me is that I’m doing well enough. We don’t work like we used to, thankfully. There are big gaps between every show.“
Charlie Watts
„I have never fulfilled the stereotype of rock stars“.
And that was how he was perceived. Calm, steady, with a touch of English elegance. A year after the Rolling Stones found each other, they changed the drummer and found Charlie Watts. One that fitted the concept perfectly from the first day to the last. He never saw himself as the typical rock star – says one out of the most famous rock’n roll band. Watts, Jagger and Keith Richards recorded all the albums in six decades. Never absent from a tour, he now could not finish the last tour.
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Anecdotes of the Stones with Watts
In 2010, Charlie Watts published his autobiography. The quiet man in the background tells a few stories from life. His character shows noble traits, strong and prudent, but by no means naïve. And Mick Jagger had better have thought of that in the 80s when he shouted drunkenly in a hotel room, „Where’s my drummer?“ Watts, in a mid-life crisis at the time, let Jagger feel his wrath and retorted, „You’re my fucking singer!“ Pow! A verbal slap in the face that more than clearly shows what depths were slumbering in Watts. But it probably sometimes takes this discrepancy to stay on the same level.
A work of art in its entirety! The Stones in Berlin
I was privileged to experience the Rolling Stones live. The first opportunity I had in Berlin after the opening of the Wall I immediately took advantage of the opportunity. A gigantic concert that remained in me for many years. Keith Richards once said about Charlie Watts: „He gives me the freedom to fly on stage.“ Even though I am not a musician, you can sense in these words the bond that united these two musicians. Watts was not only a human being, but of course also a little genius musically. This typical Stones groove comes precisely from Charlie Watts.
Mick Jagger comments: „He has this hypnotic groove, a samba with extremely hypnotic power. Constant and good to sing.“ I didn’t realise until today that it’s one of my favourite Stones songs that describes that Watts groove. Let’s pay tribute to the master. and enjoy „Sympathy For The Devil“ together once again.
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Rest in peace Charlie Watts. My heart mourns, but my gratitude is endless.
Beitragsbild: „The Rolling Stones Charlie Watts 2 – Rupp Arena, Lexington Kentucky [December 11, 1981]“ by michael conen is licensed underCC BY-SA 2.0
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