BURNING TO THE SKY

The Heartbeat of the Rolling Stones

Charlie Watts was one of my musical heroes. Although I’ve never been a drummer—and kind of fear sitting behind them— watching Watts behind his Gretsch kit has always brought a smile. He was the calm in the storm that was (and still is) the Rolling Stones, and provided a steady hand when things got a bit too crazy, which was often, when it came to the world’s greatest rock and roll band. His death this past August 24, at the age of 80, was a shock, and a time of great sadness for rock and roll music lovers around the globe.

Charlie was a steady rolling man, but he was not a metronome. He played to Keith Richards’s guitar, and so when Keith took flight, Charlie was there. That magical connection is the key to so many of the band’s greatest songs. Perhaps the most famous Charlie Watts/Keith Richards opening salvo is found on “Honky Tonk Women.” It is actually a cowbell that you first hear, but then Charlie is there, rolling in with that incredibly funky 2/4 drum beat. Nothing too fancy, but right in the pocket. The song continues and Charlie Watts is right up front in the mix, laying it down. Yet some time just before the classic Keith guitar solo, the song speeds up. It is subtle, but you can feel the excitement. Charlie is driving it, in the moment, double timing a bit, building to the finish. Then, he ends the iconic three minutes and two seconds with a cymbal crash.

You can’t program that kind of thing.

Then there is the classic Charlie Watts moment in “Bitch,” from Sticky Fingers. This propulsive, sweaty rocker is just one of the many riff-based songs the Stones pumped out effortlessly between 1965 and 1973—there would be many great songs after this period, but those were the golden years. “Bitch” starts with the full band, and Charlie is right there too, of course. He punctuates the vocal and the guitar with snare shots and cool little Charlie drum fills. It is all so loose-limbed and funky. Then, once again, during the Keith Richards guitar solo, the beat turns around ever so slightly. You barely notice, as there is so much going on, but Charlie navigates it so brilliantly. How it happened, or if he made it happen, matters little. It works and is exciting. This is not click track music my friends. You can only make this kind of rock and roll standing in a circle as a band who has a killer drummer.

I always loved how Charlie’s kit looked on stage. He was a minimalist and played a Grestch kit from the late 1950s that included ride cymbals that were decades old. It was vintage gear, but not for show. He played everything on the kit. The other incredible thing about him was how all the power of his playing seemed to come through his sticks. He moved remarkably little when he played and lacked the extreme physicality of many classic rock drummers. He was a blues and jazz player at heart, right down to the way he held his sticks. His simple trick of omitting the hi hat on the 2 and 4 beat was just one key to his deep grooviness. That aesthetic bled over into the Rolling Stones sound and set them apart. They were a band that could swing like a bebop band, primarily because Charlie was the time keeper.

Watts avoided the limelight, didn’t play drum solos and apparently hated everything to do with the rock and roll lifestyle. He loved jazz, his wife Shirley, and playing with his lifetime friends in the Rolling Stones.

I’ve been a lifelong Stones fan but only finally got to see them in 2013 on the 50th Anniversary tour. The band was brilliant and the show amazing. When Jagger did the introductions and called out Charlie, his was the loudest ovation of the night. Everyone loved him, and what he stood for within the band and in music.

Charlie Watts was the heartbeat of the Rolling Stones and will be sorely missed.