“CHARLIE’S GOOD TONIGHT! AIN’EE?”
by Shannon MacDonald
“CHARLIE ROBERT WATTS”
Celebrating the life of Charles Robert Watts is an easy party, although
a brutally tearful goodbye to give. The Rolling Stones became a
household name in the UK when “It’s All Over Now”, written by Bobby
Womack and Shirley Womack, grabbed the number one slot on the UK Charts
in 1964. 1965’s, original Stones’ song, “Satisfaction” broke them
worldwide with their first US number-one hit. Since then, the band has
outlived what seems like… everyone and every band.
“WATTS IN THE BACK?”
As we push aside the members of The Stones to reveal “the guy in the
back” we see a wide smirked expression on a very humble, classy
gentleman that seemed to always be “chin up” looking “up and over” his
simple jazz-kit. There was no flash – no pizzazz – no crazy drum solo…
there was just “Charlie”. He was always a “member of the band” – always
in the pocket – always chopping wood. His steady drumbeat gave The
Stones the solid sound they needed. Charlie “got the job done” nothing
more than fantastically. He WAS a drum machine way before it was
invented. He was exactly what Ringo was to The Beatles… a human
metronome that wasn’t looking to replace the Neil Ellwood Pearts’ of the
world.
“AND ALL THAT JAZZ”
A strange brew, indeed, for a Jazzman to be stirred into the red hot and
lip burning sauce of The Stones. And let’s make no Rolling Stones’ bones
about it… Charlie was a Jazzman! He grew up on Jazz and credited it to
his “reason for playing” that unmistakable Watts-Style. His allegiance
to Jazz was always knocking on his mind’s backdoor even while garbed in
Satanic Majesties attire toppled with love beads, patchouli, incense and
flower power. His ear was tuned to musicians like Jimmy Reed, Howlin’
Wolf, and Muddy Waters while the importance lied in pulling bits of
influence from master Chicago blues drummers… Earl Phillips, Fred Below,
and Elgin Evans. Discipline was earned and learned in Charlie’s personal
Jazz World, which was a positive addition to the “bad-boy” attitude from
the Richards/Jagger fueled band… perhaps the Yin and Yang of The Stones.
“TOUR DE FORCE OF NATURE”
As we jump back into the backseat of The Stones, Watt’s approach was
fascinating to hear, if studied within the structure of songs like
“Street Fighting Man”, “Sympathy For The Devil”, “Satisfaction”, “Paint
it Black” and of course the multi-style drum-perfection behind the
ultimate Stones-Jam… “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking?”. His Tour-De-Force may
be arguably, highly present in the early pages of The Stones with the
bouncy, “Get off My Cloud” and cowbell clanking “Honky Tonk Woman”. Yet,
when we fast forward into the video world of the 80s, the return of the
Force-de-Nature rivets and pounds us back to life with the amazing
drumming on “Undercover Of The Night”. It made us think… “Good God, The
Stones are back! … AGAIN.
“THE 2-SIDES OF WATTS”
For half a century, Charlie was the glue that held the music of The
Stones together. “I was always brought up with the theory that the
drummer is an accompanist,” Watts once explained. His drum set has
never changed and stayed a basic and simple kit, extending into his Jazz
roots, of about seven pieces including cymbals. If you look up “Less is
More” in the dictionary… more than likely you will find a picture of
Charlie.
What wasn’t “less” were his interviews over the years. Although quite
“the quiet one”… Charlie was precise and serious in his words, comments,
and the way he laid down the truth. He never swayed from what his solid
position was in The Stones nor the self-highly-ranked position he gave
his bandmates. He called Mick “the greatest frontman in the world”… and
he was dead-serious in his statement and said so. In retrospect, around
the time Mick decided to go behind The Stones’ back to rise to the top on
his own with a cut-deal that truly cut the throats of the other Stones
members… Mick received a lethal dose of Charlie’s right-handed
“drummer’s punch”. A punch that was talked about as if it was a gunslinger’s
Colt that was put away for “special moments only”. It will be a forever
mind-bender of remembrance for Mick, as he slid silently down a silver
platter of smoked salmon and onto the floor. Mick had made the mistake
of calling Charlie “his drummer”.
“YA-YAS OUT”
While Charlie is laid to rest and we simultaneously rest the needle down
on the crackling vinyl of “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!” and Mick asks the
audience, “Charlie’s good tonight. Ain’ee?”, we could all say, with
absolute conviction, “Yes!”(and quite quickly). But the truth is…
Charlie was not only good that night… Charlie was good every night.