Watts, Charlie

Charles Robert “Charlie” Watts was born into the family of Charles Richard Watts, who worked on the London, Midland and Scotland Railways , and his wife, Lillian Charlotte (nee Ives) ^[5] , and grew up at the University College Clinic in London (with sister Linda) in Kingsbury . He attended Tyler Croft Modern High School (now Kingsbury High School ) from 1952 to 1956; in school, he showed talent in drawing, cricket and football ^[6] .

When he was a child, Watts lived in Wembley , Pilgrims Way, 23 ^[7] . Many houses in Wembley were destroyed during the German bombing during World War II. Watts and his family lived in a block house, like many others. Watts' neighbor, David Green , who lived in the nearest house, on Pilgrims Way, 22 was his childhood friend, and they remain so to this day. Green was about to become a jazz musician and play the double bass. Green recalls that as boys they “discovered records on records. Charlie had more records than mine ... It used to be that we went to Charlie's room and just listened. " Watts' first recordings were jazz; he remembers that he had records of Jelly Roll Morton and Charlie Parker . Green also recalls that Watts “had a recording of Monk and the Johnny Dodge Trio ^[7] . Charlie listened and acquired more records than I did. ” When Watts and Green were thirteen years old, Watts became interested in playing drums:

“I bought a banjo, and I did not like the points on the neck. Then I took off the neck, and at that time I listened to drummer Chico Hamilton , who played with Jerry Mulligan , and I wanted to play with the help of brushes as well. I didn’t have a snare drum, so instead I used a banjo resonator ” ^[7]

. Green and Watts began their musical career simultaneously from 1958 to 1959, they played in a jazz band in Middlesex called Jo Jones All Stars.

Watts's first initiation into rhythm and blues confused, according to his comment: “I came to rhythm and blues. When they asked me to play, I did not know what it was. I thought it was Charlie Parker, played slowly. " ^[7]

Watts's parents presented him with his first drum kit in 1955; he was interested in jazz and practiced drumming with the records he had ^[6] . After graduating from high school, he enrolled in Harrow School of Art (now Westminster University ), where he studied until 1960. After leaving school, Watts worked as a graphic designer for the Charlie Daniels Studio advertising campaign, and occasionally played drums with local bands in cafes and clubs. In 1961, he met Alexis Corner , who invited him to join his band “ Blues Incorporated ”. At that time, Watts was going to temporarily reside and work in Denmark, but he accepted Corner's offer, after returning to London in February 1962 ^[6] .

Watts regularly played with Blues Incorporated and continued to work with another advertising firm, Charles, Hobson and Gray. In mid-1962, Watts first met Brian Jones , Ian Stu, Stuart , Mick Jagger and Keith Richards , who also often visited London rhythm and blues clubs, but only in January 1963 did Watts give his final consent to join The Rolling Stones ^[6] .

In addition to purely musical work, Watts made a design contribution to the early recordings of the Rolling Stones, for example, the album cover Between the Buttons . He was in charge of a press conference in New York in 1975 to announce the upcoming tour. The group surprised the crowd of reporters waiting to drive up on an open-body truck, performing “ Brown Sugar ” right in the middle of busy Manhattan street traffic. Later that year, the AC / DC group repeated this trick ( Status Quo repeated this trick in 1984 in the video “The Wanderer”, and even later U2 followed suit in the 2004 video “All Because of You”). Watts recalls that it was commonplace for New Orleans jazz bands to promote upcoming events.

Watts has been involved in many events and beyond as a member of The Rolling Stones . In 1964, in honor of Charlie Parker, he published a children's book, Ode to the High Flight Bird. Although rock gained widespread popularity with Watts, he himself prefers jazz. In the late 1970s, he joined Ian Stewart and his Rocket 88 band Boogie Woogie , which opened to the general public many of the most popular UK jazz, rock and R & B artists. In 1980, he took part in a big band world music tour featuring famous people such as Evan Parker , Courtney Pine and Jack Bruce , who was also a member of Rocket 88 . In 1991, Watts organized a jazz quintet, again in honor of Charlie Parker. In 1993, the Warm And Tender release was released by Quintet Charlie Watts ^[8] , in which vocalist Bernard Fowler participated. The same group released Long Ago And Far Away in 1996. Both recordings included the compositions of The Great American Songbook . After successfully collaborating with Jim Keltner during the recording of Bridges to Babylon by The Rolling Stones, Watts and Keltner recorded a techno-instrumental album, which was simply called the Charlie Watts / Jim Keltner Project. Watts notes that although the tracks have the same names as the Elvin Suite in honor of the late Alvin Jones , Max Roach and Roy Haynes , their style was not copied, but rather an attempt to emphasize the mood that these artists produce . The album Watts at Scott’s was recorded with the participation of his band “Tentet Charlie Watts” ^[8] in London's famous jazz club, Ronnie Scott's . In April 2009, he began giving concerts with ABC & D of Boogie Woogie, along with pianist Axel Zwingenberger , Ben Waters, and his childhood friend Dave Green , who plays the double bass.

In 1989, The Rolling Stones were included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . In the July 2006 issue of Modern Drummer magazine , Watts was voted to be included in the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame, with artists such as Ringo Starr , Keith Moon , Steve Gadd , Buddy Rich and other famous and influential rock and jazz drummers ^[9] . According to renowned music critic Robert Kristgau, Watts is “the greatest rock drummer” ^[10] .

On October 14, 1964, Watts married Shirley Ann Shepherd (born September 11, 1938), whom he met before the band became successful. They have a daughter, Serafina, who was born in March 1968, who, in turn, gave the Watts granddaughter Charlotte.

Watts's personal life seems much more moderate than that of other members of the group and many colleagues on rock and roll. On stage, he looks calm and contented as opposed to the rather expressive bandmates. Faithful to his wife, Watts never accepted sexual favors from female fans accompanying the group. Robert Greenfield’s documentary, STP: A Journey Through America with The Rolling Stones, on the 1972 American Tour , states that the band was invited to the Playboy Mansion during the tour, and Watts spent time in Hugh Hefner’s game room instead of have fun with women. “I never fit the stereotype of a rock star,” he noted. “In the 70s, Bill Wyman and I tried to grow beards, it turned out to be too exhausting” ^[11] .

Watts openly talked about the period in the mid-1980s when his previously moderate use of alcohol and drugs began to become a problem: “Problems with alcohol and drugs were my way of coping with family difficulties ... Going back, I now think it was a midlife crisis . I was a completely different person from about 1983, and I finished it in 1986. I almost lost my wife and everything else because of my behavior ” ^[12] .

A funny story happened in the mid-1980s when a drunken Jagger called Watts in his hotel room and asked: “Where is my drummer?” Watts got up, shaved, put on a suit with a tie and perfectly polished shoes, climbed the stairs, hit Jagger in the face and said: “Never call me“ your drummer ”again. You are my goddamn singer! ” ^[13]

In June 2004, Watts was diagnosed with throat cancer, although he quit smoking in the late 1980s. He completed a course of radiotherapy. Cancer went into remission, and Watts returned to studio recordings and tours with The Rolling Stones.

Watts now lives in Dalton , a village in the west of Devon, where he and his wife Shirley breed horses of the Arab thoroughbred breed ^[14] .

See also The Rolling Stones Discography

In addition to working on The Rolling Stones, Watts recorded the following albums:

• The Charlie Watts Orchestra Live at Fulham Town Hall (1986 / Columbia Records)
• The Charlie Watts Quintet - From One Charlie (1991 / Continuum Records)
• The Charlie Watts Quintet - A Tribute to Charlie Parker with Strings (1992 / Continuum Records)
• The Charlie Watts Quintet - Warm and Tender (1993 / Continuum Records)
• The Charlie Watts Quintet - Long Ago and Far Away (1996 / Virgin Records)
• The Charlie Watts-Jim Keltner Project (2000 / Cyber ​​Octave Records)
• The Charlie Watts Tentet - Watts at Scott’s (2004 / Sanctuary Records)
• The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie - The Magic of Boogie Woogie (2010 / Vagabond Records)
• The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie Live in Paris (2012 / Columbia Records)

• Charlie Watts at www.playdrums.ru
• Charlie Watts - Q Magazine Interview