How good of a drummer is Charlie Watts?

Watts knows how to keep the music "breathing"....loose enough for the Stones, but tight enough to get through the eye of a needle when necessary.

 

I think he's a solid drummer. His drum style/sound is unmistakable.

 

And so, the real-life example of Charlie being "on-time" yet loose enough for Keith is illustrated by drbryant. Nice story.

 

You only get a 15 minute time frame in which you can edit your posts.

 

the thing that bugs me about charlie watts is that sometimes i just want him to put a bit more "oomph" it things and rock out a bit more.
Something like Silver Train for example just needs someone to give it a kick up the **** and that should be Watts. Instead he's just there playing along comfortably not doing a lot. And yet on the Stones in the Park film he's really going for it and i like it.

 

It's partially the 'less is more' thing as someone else stated. Some of Keith Moon's stuff could be considered more stand-out due to the display of virtuosity. Charlie doesn't have to do that. However I'm quite certain Charlie could do that if he ever needed or wanted to.

It's the richness and character Charlie adds to every Stones song. He embodies his style just as Keith Moon embodies his. Listen to Exile on Main St. sometime and concentrate only on Charlie, as if he were the singer. You'll probably notice things about his style that you hadn't before. It's about the groove. I don't know of another drummer in rock who does what he does.

 

Agreed. Wyman is pretty under-rated as a bass player. He's got a Jamerson thing going as he plays stuff that goes against the grain of the beat. The bass on Shattered is truely mental.

 

With out reading all the post I would say PERFECT in every way. Not only the Stones but his jazz work just blows me away. When he made rumblings about leaving the Stones last year my first thought was "Oh Boy more time for jazz cds"

 

One of the truly great Charlie stories. And for the record it did happen according to Ronnie Wood in his new Bio. How could not love some one who punches out Mick Jagger.??? lol



Izzat my drummer then?” Jagger barks into the phone. “Where’s my f****ng drummer? Get your **** down here right away!”

Watts patiently gets up from his bed, shaves, puts on a fresh white shirt and one of his tailored suits and a pair of shoes. He takes the elevator down to Keith’s floor and walks into the room where the party is still in high gear, walks up to Jagger and knocks him into a plate of smoked salmon with a left hook. Watts leans over the stunned figure and says with in a stern tone: “Don’t ever call me ‘your drummer’ again. You’re my f****ing singer.”

With that the mild mannered drummer walks out the door, takes the elevator back up to his room and goes back to sleep. End of story. Watts has never mentioned the incident and claims it never happened to the few journalists brave enough to bring it up. The fact that the band was in their darkest period and skidding toward certain curtains may answer for the drummer snapping (said Richards: “That was Charlie’s way of saying ‘it’s over’”). Still, that story is top-notch rock gossip and just as good as the one about Stevie Nicks’ hiring a special roadie to blow cocaine up…never mind. Anyway, my favorite part is that Watts shaved before going downstairs. Sure, that part could be fabricated, but still, think about it…classy

 

I suggest you listen to the "Stripped" live album (preferably on European vinyl) to hear just how good Charlie is live and without distracting production.

 

The one thing in Charlie's drumming that always stands out for me is his little habit of skipping the beat on his high hat [usually when playing 1/8 notes] when he's hitting the back beat on the snare. I don't know any other drummers who do that.

 

Keef

 

speaking as a drummer for 25 years he is/was the best.

Incredible feel for the songs, amazing timing and swung like no other white drummer. A true gent, and for me the most important Stone.

like Ringo, MASSIVELY underrated.

 

Agreed. Also one of my top five favorite Stones songs.

 

I remember that story too. That's classic. I wouldn't be surprised if Watts did it. It's always those quiet, unassuming types who can be real tough guys.

 

One thing that amazes me is that he uses the same drum set from the 69 tour. I remember some one who stopped in on the Stones during the Steel Wheels recording sessions said he saw confetti stuck in his snare from the 69 tour. lol

 

Every time I hear "Rip This Joint", I go into an "air drumming" frenzy.

A class act.

 

Yeah. You also don't ever want to get punched by a drummer.

L.

 

Yeah, that's pretty quirky. Although, I once thought to myself that he's saved a lot of muscle tissue over the years -- if you think about it, resting one out of every four beats over 3-4 decades, that's quite a bit of wear and tear avoided!

The other old time drummer with a quirk that used to freak me out was Dennis Wilson, who would drum left-handed (left hand on the hi-hat), but have his feet going right handed (right foot on the bass drum).

 

Jim Keltner does it, and I think I've seen Steve Jordan do it, too. I can't be certain, but I believe it has to do with the purity of the snare sound, unencumbered by a simultaneous hi-hat hit. It's very true. When I play Stones songs with my band, I leave off the hi-hat and it just does something.

I believe Charlie still plays a 50's-era Gretsch kit, or he did.

It's all opinion, but if you can listen to "Shattered" and not think of it as a killer drum performance, dunno what to say. It has as much attitude as anything else on the track. Charlie has a way of being on top of the groove, especially with his kick, and then also laying back at other times. Great feel!


Dan

 

Steve Jordan took this from Charlie Watts when he played with Keith's solo band and was trying to sound like Charlie. I remember him saying in a Modern Drummer article that, yes it helped the backbeat to "bloom" without the hihat on the same beat. Keltner also does it for the same reason. Charlie only really started doing this in the 70's and I think he got it from Keltner, who got it Jim Gordon who got it from Al Jackson, who got it from...

 

Yep, most of the time, he plays a maple finish Gretsch. Not sure if it is the same one that he used 30 years ago, but it looks pretty old. Of course, he played two different Gretsch kits during the Bridges to Babylon and 40 Licks tours, since there were two stages!

 

Billy Cobham does this as well, both are left handed drummers playing a right handed kit. Actually it's better because you don't have to cross your arms to play hihat. There was a bit of a movement many years ago with drum instuctors trying to get students to play the hihat with the right hand because primarily of Cobham. Willie Green(?) with the Neville Brothers is another one who plays like this. Left handed people tend to be more ambidextrous because they have to be. It's a right handed world. I'd like to see a left handed piano.