As the Rollings Stones hit the road on their No Filter tour, it is sadly without Charlie Watts. In a new interview, Mick Jagger spoke on the late Watts and what he brought to the band.
As reported by Billboard, Mick Jagger said, “Charlie brought another sensibility, the jazz touch. And he didn’t play very heavy. Sometimes, if I got him mad enough, he would. That was the only way I could get him to play really heavy – to get him mad.”
He also added that Watts “could do quite subtle cymbal work in some places. Then he could play off my [vocal] riffs with the audience. If you’re a singer, you have a relationship with a drummer which is all about the dance, the accent you’re doing physically as well as vocally.”
Jagger continued and also spoke of how it was Watts who “held the band together for so long”.
He said, “The thing about Charlie was that he was always there, always played beautifully and was always willing to discuss what to do about it — how he could make it better.”
“He held the band together for so long, musically, because he was the rock the rest of it was built around. We had a lot of wonderful times apart from playing music together.”
Charlie Watts passed away earlier this year on August 24th.
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There was some debate on whether or not the band should get on with the show, however it was decided that it would have been what the drummer wanted.
For more on this topic, follow the Classic Rock Observer.
