Wednesday, August 25, 2021
The Death of Charlie Watts
Charlie Watts, the drummer for the Rolling Stones, died yesterday at 80. He was an odd duck in the group-- an introvert in a group of extroverts, who was there from the beginning. I'm fascinated by the clip above, that isolates the tracks from my favorite Rolling Stones song-- it starts with Watts's work, and ends with the remarkable singing of Merry Clayton.
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For all their drug use and hedonistic attitudes, the Stones are amongst the sharpest businessmen in the music, if not entertainment, business. Their efforts to avoid UK Tax authorities are legendary. They were among the first bands to set up their own record label and mobile studio (referred to by Deep Purple in Smoke on the Water), which allowed them to make money on other people's work.
They also managed their image better than almost anyone, including Madonna and all the other pop tarts who have followed. One of their most interesting moves was to make Charlie the face of the band on both "Get your Ya Ya's Out," their first Live LP and on Hot Rocks, the seminal "best of" double LP featuring most of their hits from the 60's. He looked clean and sober, while the other four looked dirty, druggy and disreputable.
It was all very calculated and clever and by all accounts, he was just as smart and driven as Mick and Keith.
Brilliant in many ways.
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They also managed their image better than almost anyone, including Madonna and all the other pop tarts who have followed. One of their most interesting moves was to make Charlie the face of the band on both "Get your Ya Ya's Out," their first Live LP and on Hot Rocks, the seminal "best of" double LP featuring most of their hits from the 60's. He looked clean and sober, while the other four looked dirty, druggy and disreputable.
It was all very calculated and clever and by all accounts, he was just as smart and driven as Mick and Keith.
Brilliant in many ways.
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