All hail the great Charlie Watts...

 

The death of Charlie Watts is arguably one of the worst things that could have happened in the music world this year. A few legends did pass away as of late, including ZZ Top‘s Dusty Hill, DMX and Chick Corea, but the drumming machine behind the Rolling Stones is a loss that will be felt throughout the musical world in years to come. At this point in time, very few true legends of the first era of popular music are left to grace us with their (usually televised) presence: Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Richard Starkey (aka Ringo Starr), Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards (finally a legend who’s no Sir!), Buddy Guy, Jerry Lee Lewis… the list goes on a little, but not much.

So much has already been said about Charlie Watts that we will not even bother retell all the myths and legends surrounding the (second) greatest band in the world. He was older than the others, he was more experienced, he was primarily a jazz musician, he was rarely mentioned in the tabloids (contrary to his infamous bandmates), he was astoundingly reliable, both as a musician and a human being… which brings us to perhaps the best story about Mr Watts that we know off — and will proceed to recount once again!

The year was 1984. By that time, the Rolling Stones had been around for over two decades, and both the success and excess that they had witnessed throughout most of this time was starting to take a toll. A meeting had been organised in Amsterdam to discuss future plans and projects. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who were not exactly on the best terms, nevertheless decided to go out and have themselves a few drinks. By the time they got back to the hotel, it was 5am and a thoroughly intoxicated Jagger decided to call Charlie Watts and abruptly ask “Where’s my drummer?”.

As reported by Keith Richards himself in his seminal autobiography, Watts did show up at the door a short while after that. He was wearing a suit and tie and entered the room in silence, walking straight towards Jagger. Then, he proceeded to punch the singer in the face, finally uttering a sentence: “Never call me your drummer again”. The story goes — Jagger never once dared call Watts “his drummer” ever again…

So much is said in this story: the fact that Watts was such a professional that he would not punch a bandmate without a suit on, the fact that he also wouldn’t have anyone mistreat him, the fact that his most famous act of violence was so remarkably well-founded… And, lest we forget, the fact that the punch of a drummer of his caliber must have hurt. RIP Mr Watts, a.k.a. the world’s drummer…