Iconic drummer for The Rolling Stones, Charlie Watts, was the spine for the British-born blues-rock band. Sadly, Watts passed away in 2021 at the age of 80. But when it happened, an outpouring arrived for the kit-playing legend.
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With nearly six decades in the business of rock and roll, however, one might wonder what Watts had to say about life and love, his band, his famous bandmates, and the world around him.
So, without further ado, here are the 20 best Charlie Watts quotes.
1. “Rock and roll has probably given more than it’s taken.”
2. “When I was a kid I never learned to play. I actually got in bands through watching people play and copying them.”
3. “For some reason at 12 or 13, I just heard Gerry Milligan and fell in love with that, whatever it was called.”
4. “I wanted to play drums because I fell in love with the glitter and the lights, but it wasn’t about adulation. It was being up there playing.”
5. “I hate leaving home. I love what I do, but I’d love to go home every night.”
6. “I think The Rolling Stones have gotten a lot better. An awful lot better, I think. A lot of people don’t, but I think they have, and to me that’s gratifying. It’s worth it.”
7. “I didn’t know what the hell Charlie Parker was playing… I just liked the way he played.”
8. “People say I play real loud. I don’t, actually. I’m recorded loud and a lot of that is because we have good engineers. Mick knows what a good drum sound is as well, so that’s part of the illusion really. I can’t play loud.”
9. “I don’t need to hear Bill to go through a song. I need to hear Keith to go through a song. I know Bill will be playing what I’m playing anyway. I need to hear Keith because it’s all there: the time, the chord changes, and all the licks you have to follow.”
10. “You’d imagine Mick would be the happiest person in the world, and yet a lot of the times he isn’t.”
11. “I don’t like drum solos, to be honest with you, but if anybody ever told me he didn’t like Buddy Rich I’d right away say go and see him, at least the once.”
12. “It’s been years and years and years I’ve been playing the drums, and they’re still a challenge. I still enjoy using drumsticks and a snare drum.”
13. “A lot of our tracks have sounded a lot better than I thought they would because of recording, mixing, and because I probably didn’t hear it that way. I’m not a songwriter.”
14. “I think you get to a point where you watch something just to enjoy it. I don’t think it’s really done so that you’re supposed to feel, Oh, he’s the most wonderful drummer. I think the whole lot is what’s more enjoyable.”
15. “We always work at least a month to six weeks before we go on the road, usually for something like eight to 12 hours a night. It took six weeks to do it this time. We just play virtually everything we know.”
16. “When people talk about the ’60s I never think that was me there. It was me and I was in it, but I was never enamored with all that. It’s supposed to be sex and drugs and rock and roll and I’m not really like that.”
17. “Mick’s not good on his own problems, but he’s very good at other people’s. He’s been wonderful over the years. I don’t mean I ring him up every week, but he’s fantastic.”
18. “I’m very strict with my packing and have everything in its right place. I never change a rule. I hardly use anything in the hotel room. I wheel my own wardrobe in and that’s it.”
19. “I never had lessons. Used to try to play to records, which I hated doing. Still can’t play to them.”
20. “Usually I can hear the pianos, the saxophone, and usually I can hear Ronnie. But I really need to listen to Keith and Mick. The rest of the band is sort of an embellishment to that.”
Photo credit: RICHARD ECCLESTONE/REDFERNS/GETTY
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