Obituary, Charlie Watts (1941-2021)

Although he made his money with rock ‘n’ roll, drummer Charlie Watts’ heart and soul was always in jazz music. Growing up in a prefab house in post-war Wembley, Watts and his neighbour - jazz bassist Dave Green - were childhood friends, and would listen to ‘78s of Jelly Roll Morton and Charlie Parker together; Green would describe Watts as always being slightly ‘ahead’ of him, and would introduce Green to players like Thelonious Monk. While working as a graphic designer from London, Watts would frequently play jazz gigs around local coffee shops and clubs, before transitioning into playing rhythm & blues, eventually meeting Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart and Keith Richard in the early ‘60s, ultimately joining the Rolling Stones in ‘63 and was a member ever since. His background in jazz gave the ‘Stones recordings a swinging groove that complimented the swagger of their charismatic lead singer.

Unlike his bandmates Jagger and Richard, Watts wasn’t so much interested in the rockstar lifestyle - he even skipped their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 - but still took great pleasure in playing with the ‘Stones. Even when alcohol and drug problems began to creep up on him, he quickly decided that ‘enough was enough’ and dropped everything at once. Outside of his work with the Rolling Stones, Watts continued to play with many jazz acts throughout his life, maintaining his love of the genre with the Charlie Watts Orchestra, numerous big bands in which he worked with names like Courtney Pine and Evan Parker, as well as his four-piece ‘The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie’. Watts was always stoically nonchalant about his time with the ‘Stones, once even describing it as ‘five years of playing and twenty years of hanging around’. He spent his later life breeding Arabian horses on his farm in Devon, as well as collecting antique silver and classic cars (despite not driving). Watts was 80 years of age when he passed away in hospital last Tuesday, and is succeeded by his wife Shirley, daughter Seraphina, and granddaughter Charlotte.