unfussy backbeats

 

Well now we're respected in society

We don't worry about the things that we used to be...

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        Last week I was sadly surprised to read that the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts had died.

------------------------------- [excerpts from article in The Guardian] ---------------------------------------- With his limber stance, keen knowledge of jazz, and unruffled ability to make songs swing even when keeping the strictest time, Watts is regarded as one of the greatest -- and most stylish -- rock drummers of all time....

        Born in 1941, Watts was raised in Wembley, north-west London, and later the suburb of Kingsbury.  His first musical love was US jazz from the swing and bebop eras, drumming along with jazz records after getting his first kit in his mid-teens.  He later attended art school and became a graphic designer after graduation, playing in local bands on the side.

        In 1962 he joined Blues Incorporated, a linchpin band in the British rhythm and blues scene led by Alexis Korner, playing alongside the Cream bassist Jack Bruce and more, in a fluid lineup.  Through Korner he met Brian Jones, who would play at Blues Incorporated gigs, and they found regular fans in Jagger and Richards, who also ended up playing with the group.

Jagger, Richards and Jones soon formed their own group, the Rolling Stones, with Watts joining in 1963.  "It was another band to join, I was in about three of them," Watts later said....

        Always using a straightforward four-drum setup -- positively minimalist compared with the multi-instrument setups favoured by many rock groups -- he gave the Rolling Stones propulsive, unfussy backbeats on every one of their studio albums, beginning with their self-titled 1964 debut.  

"I don't like drum solos," he once said.  "I admire some people that do them, but generally I prefer drummers playing with the band.  The challenge with rock'n'roll is the regularity of it.  My thing is to make it a dance sound -- it should swing and bounce."

...The band went on to epitomise stadium rock'n'roll -- though Watts regarded them as a "blues band" -- scoring 13 UK No 1 albums including the critically adored likes of Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street.  Watts helped to power their high-energy world tours, playing with the group well into his  mid-70s -- his final tour was the two-year No Filter tour, beginning in 2017.

Alongside the Rolling Stones, Watts also played jazz in a series of groups over the years, including his own quintet and tentet, and Rocket 88, reuniting with Korner and Bruce in the late 1970s to play boogie-woogie....

...Other artists paying tribute include Robbie Robertson of The Band, who said:  "Charlie's drumming is powerful and unique.  His approach is entirely his own and helped shape the sound of rock'n'roll."  Paul Stanley of Kiss called Watts "one of the true timeless icons and the backbone of the Stones.  Hard to fathom the loss."

        Joan Jett said Watts was "the most elegant and dignified drummer in rock'n'roll.  He played exactly what was needed -- no more, no less.  He is one of a kind."  

Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine called him "one of the greatest and most important architects of the music we love ... Rock'n'roll would not be rock'n'roll without the rhythm, the style, the vibe of this incredible  musician."  

Questlove, drummer with the Roots, called him "the heartbeat of rock'n'roll".

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article title:

"Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts dies aged 80"

written by Ben Beaumont-Thomas

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On You Tube, dance to "Respectable" by the Rolling Stones...!

Well now you're a pillar of society...

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