Jose Bellas
08/24/2021 4:54 PM
Clarín.com
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Updated 08/24/2021 4:54 PM
Why is Charlie Watts, the drummer of the Rolling Stones, as good as he is now assured, in time to mourn it, think about it, remember it or cheer for an obituary?
In a performance in Barcelona in 2001. Charlie Watts was the pulse of the largest rock band in the world.
Yes, the Rolling Stone Zen. The Apollonian, in counterpoint to the Dionysians Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones (RIP) and Ron Wood.
The one about family life.
The one with jazz tastes.
The integrated sessionist.
The one he promoted in the rest of the band.
The one that even taking a cue to play snooker, as I could observe it in the backstage of his visit in 1998 when they let us some journalists just to "look" closely, seemed to be consummating a separate game.
Along with Keith Richards, playing at 02 London in 2012.
In that particular graduate degree between his fingers and the varnished wood of his chopsticks, Charlie Watts had the dexterity, efficiency and humility to be the pulse of the largest rock band in the world.
1)
Walking the Dog
(
The Rolling Stones
, 1964)
An unreleased drum attack for the time, for a rogue Rufus Thomas original R&B number.
From Led Zeppelin to Aerosmith (who also recorded the song), all future hard rock aces took into account how far the genuine hits of black music could be amplified and redoubled.
And Charlie wears it like someone holding back the hiccups.
2)
Gimme Shelter
(
Let It Bleed
, 1969)
Between the violent shock of the closing of the decade and those filigree guitars by Keith Richards (once described as the dawn of heroin running through the veins), Charlie accompanies as if he were the chronicler of these sensational minutes: of the expectation of the first fills galloping from the explosion.
The drummer of the Titanic, here.
3)
Honky Tonk Women
(simple, 1969)
"Just because of Charlie Watts' rhythmic ability, this cut of The Rolling Stones would have to last at least 20 minutes, to better enjoy his hits."
That is what the English critic Roy Carr wrote at the time, and that is how Watts' interventions should be savored, starting by splitting the sound of a cowbell in two and reaching the finish line sticking out like a marathon runner.
All in just over three minutes.
4)
Tumbling Dice
(
Exile on Main Street,
1972)
The drums as a sequence shot.
Charlie Watts appears to be intruding into a casino tunnel and all he does is listen without flinching.
When you see an inappropriate thing, take a breath and move on.
He is a chaste witness to the hedonism of others, who snorts and falls silent, comes out on tiptoe and redoubled when someone cheats.
Copy.
5)
Melody
(
Black and Blue
, 1976)
In the white mob anarchy surrounding the album, keyboardist Billy Preston lets his influence creep in until he convinces the Stones to record something akin to a jazz song. If you're paying extra attention, Charlie can even be heard licking his lips between bars at this rock-and-funk break. And he does it the way we will always remember him: as a current spirit in a silhouette that strives to go unnoticed. The quality of the gods.