To Absent Friends - Charlie Watts

 

Charlie Watts

1941-2021

The news came with a simple announcement:

As a young boy in England, Charlie Watts loved music and showed a propensity for playing the drums.  Educated as a graphic designer, he worked in a London ad agency, and messed around playing drums in various blues and jazz bands.  In 1963, singer Mick Jagger asked him to join in a band that he was forming with Keith Richards and Brian Jones.  Thus, the Rolling Stones as the world came to know them were born, and Watts was a part of it for over fifty years.

I won't pretend to offer critical commentary about Watts' ability as a drummer.  Jagger and Richards swore by him, so that's good enough for me, and I loved this quote that I saw in his obituary that appears in  Variety online today.  This is from a 2019 review in that publication of the Stones' tour that was taking place at the time:

“Sitting at a minimalist kit and moving even more minimally with his casual jazz grip, [Watts looks] like the mild-mannered banker who no one in the heist movie realizes is the guy actually blowing up the vault.”

RIP Charlie Watts

"The World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band" 

Watts, Richards, Jagger, and Ronnie Wood 

The Rolling Stones

"Blue & Lonesome"

A review of this new album popped up my Facebook feed this afternoon, and after just visiting Memphis, Beale Street, and the Sun Records recording studio, I just couldn't resist going to the iTunes store and purchasing this one.

The album is a collection of blues cover tunes by this young up and coming blues cover band from England.  Maybe you've heard of them.

The Rolling Stones

Even casual rock & roll fans probably know that the Rolling Stones, back in their formative days, were heavily influenced by American blues musicians and their music.  This album pays tribute to those roots, and, while it may not be what you're used to hearing from the Stones, it is a listening treat.

I think the promotional blurb that appears on iTunes says it better than I can:

"American blues has long been a part of the Stones' DNA, and Blue & Lonesome  is a greasy, grimy tribute to their blues heroes. Deep cuts by the likes of Jimmy Reed, Howlin' Wolf, Magic Sam and Little Walter are delivered with soulful reverence, showing that even rock n' roll legends are still just music fans at heart."

Couldn't have said it better.  

Four stars from The Grandstander.