# Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [August 24, 2021, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444 "2021-08-24T16:37:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/41 "2021-08-25T13:47:05Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > > > Which – to what I’m guessing is your point – may well have had a great deal to do _with_ his longevity. > > To which I can only respond, “Bravo, Charlie!” 🙂 Of course, there’s always the Keith Richards rebuttal. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/42 "2021-08-25T13:57:04Z")
> [@solost](#): > > That smirk Charlie Watts has, the few times the camera zooms in on his face, it looks like he’s thinking “this is all so silly”. I always kind of loved that video, and Charlie’s expression was right–it was silly. Between Mick’s facial expressions, and the way first Keith, and then Ronnie, kind of appear out of nowhere as the camera pans across, Charlie was right to smirk at it all. I was never the biggest Stones fan, but even to a casual listener like me, Charlie’s skill and steadiness were obvious, and he always looked like the coolest guy among them. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/43 "2021-08-25T15:30:44Z")
I always like [this image](https://theswinginsixties.tumblr.com/post/9839263547/music-photography-books-fashion-clothes-shopping-guitar) from the back cover of 1965’s “Got Live If You Want It.” There’s Charlie, in a Fu Manchu moustache, and Weejuns! What a fashion plate! As for performances, I love his rat-a-tat-tat on the snare going. Into the choruses of “Ruby Tuesday” and his opening on “Paint it Black.” He also did the little cartoons on the back cover of “Between the Buttons.” RIP, Charlie. 😢 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/44 "2021-08-25T15:34:02Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I always kind of loved that video, and Charlie’s expression was right–it was silly. Between Mick’s facial expressions, and the way first Keith, and then Ronnie, kind of appear out of nowhere as the camera pans across, Charlie was right to smirk at it all. Yeap, the video’s as cheezy as anything that came up in that early MTV period, and Charlie knows it and is enjoying the silliness. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/45 "2021-08-25T20:22:55Z")
Wow. You’re right. He looks cachectic (i.e. terminal cancer) in that picture. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/46 "2021-08-25T21:15:12Z")
"_Charlie was a truly great drummer, whose musical knowledge of drumming technique, from jazz to the blues, was, I’m sure, the heartbeat that made the Rolling Stones the best rock and roll band in the world.”_ –Roger Daltrey _“I only played with Charlie once…His technique was obvious immediately, the hi-hat always slightly late, and the snare drumstick held in the flat of the left hand, underpowered to some extent, lazy-loose, super-cool. The swing on the track is explosive. I’ve never enjoyed playing with a drummer quite so much._" –Pete Townshend ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/47 "2021-08-25T21:18:22Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Beast Of Burden I’ve been listening to that song for 40 years, and whenever I try to predict his switches from one-two-THREE-four to one-TWO-three-FOUR, i’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/48 "2021-08-25T21:24:31Z")
Mr. Watts was a great drummer who understood less is more. I’ve enjoyed listening to him as much as I’ve enjoyed listening to Philly Joe Jones or Jimmy Cobb or Art Blakey or Max Roach or Elvin Jones. And I’d bet the rent that Charlie would have considered that the highest praise possible. Not that I’m qualified to even mention those names. But still… ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/49 "2021-08-25T21:25:36Z")
The big elephant in the room which nobody dared to ask so far is of course: will this be the end of the Rolling Stones? On the one hand, I can’t imagine them without Charlie, but on the other, they decided before that they’d play the tour with Steve Jordan, so of course there are contracts to be fulfilled and money to be made. I’d be glad if they played that tour in Charlie’s honor and remembrance, and then called it quits. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/50 "2021-08-25T21:28:06Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > On the one hand, I can’t imagine them without Charlie, but on the other, they decided before that they’d play the tour with Steve Jordan, so of course there are contracts to be fulfilled and money to make. I read that. Apparently before Watts’ death, they’d planned to fulfill tour dates with another drummer. Steve Jordan is a great drummer (and I’ve seen him in other contexts, and he really is good), but that just seems like blasphemy. The Rolling Stones survived the death of Brian Jones, and the resignation of Mick Taylor, and (even more importantly, IMHO) the resignation of Bill Wyman, but there are no Rolling Stones without Charlie Watts. A good drummer could no doubt ape Charlie’s sound, but that’s what it would be, just an imitation. Time to hang it up. I don’t know what Mick, Keith and Ronnie will have to say about that, but I’d bet that Keith is on board. Mick may overrule him. I hope not. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/51 "2021-08-25T21:37:17Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > I don’t know what Mick, Keith and Ronnie will have to say about that, but I’d bet that Keith is on board. Mick may overrule him. I hope not. Yeah, I could see that. But if Keith says that’s it, then there are no Rolling Stones anymore, just Mick with a backing band. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/52 "2021-08-25T22:22:13Z")
As great a drummer as Charlie Watts was, Mick and Keith are really the only indispensable Stones. Moon and Entwistle had a much more distinctive sound than Watts and Wyman, yet the Who have managed a respectable career for nearly 20 years without them. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/53 "2021-08-25T22:31:14Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > As great a drummer as Charlie Watts was, Mick and Keith are really the only indispensable Stones. Disagree, _strongly_. Charlie Watts had a unique sound, not easily replicable, and his sound is an integral part of every song credited to Mick and Keith. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/54 "2021-08-25T22:34:48Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > yet the Who have managed a respectable career for nearly 20 years without them. OBJECTION. Asserting facts not in evidence. Even Pete calls them “The World’s Most Expensive ‘Who’ Cover Band.” ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/55 "2021-08-26T00:42:34Z")
I’m so glad I got to see them five times! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JGaBlygm0UY/maxresdefault.jpg "The Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It) - OFFICIAL PROMO") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGaBlygm0UY) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/56 "2021-08-26T01:51:06Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I’ve been listening to that song for 40 years, and whenever I try to predict his switches from one-two-THREE-four to one-TWO-three-FOUR, i’m wrong. Me too! I think the track is Charlie’s masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/57 "2021-08-26T01:58:11Z")
> [@saucywench](#): > > I’m so glad I got to see them five times! I hate to tell you that video miming notwithstanding, Charlie did not play the drums on that track. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/58 "2021-08-26T02:24:43Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Charlie did not play the drums on that track. To be fair, according to [setlist.com](https://www.setlist.fm/stats/songs/the-rolling-stones-bd6ad22.html?songid=73f9d691) he played it live almost 800 times. That’s gotta count for something, ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/59 "2021-08-26T02:25:10Z")
Oh well, it doesn’t really matter. I still love the Stones and that video! It’s fun seeing all their faces, including Charlie’s, as the tent is inundated with bubbles. It supposed to be fun. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444/60 "2021-08-26T09:35:10Z")
Some videos I came across the day the news broke: At 0:55 this guy demonstrates a technique he’s observed in Charlie’s drumming. At around 1:50 he speculates as to the origins of the tecnique. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5In5jbF6IgM/maxresdefault.jpg "Drum Lesson: Play Like Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5In5jbF6IgM) At 2:50, Charlie himself confirms the speculation: “I think the reason I did it is to, ‘cause, uh, to get the hand out of the way to do a bigger backbeat.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CrAQQZi1Jf4/maxresdefault.jpg "Charlie Watts' Hi-Hat Story") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrAQQZi1Jf4) A cool video of him dancing backstage. At first, I thought it was a montage of different performances, but it’s actually the same show seen through different cameras. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NyqVeqmwfFM/maxresdefault.jpg "Rolling Stone, Charlie Watts Dances Backstage") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqVeqmwfFM) There’s also an interesting multi-part interview (I watched the first three) of him conducted by Chad Smith, who I think is a better drummer than interviewer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-has-died/949444.md?page=4)