“He’s the heart”: Charlie Watts on why Keith Richards was the true leader of The Rolling Stones
Just like any team, a band needs to have the proper configuration to work. This might cause chagrin for other members, who feel put out by it. Still, as we have seen on numerous occasions, any group that reaches the highest echelon of the musical pyramid has to have a leader or a leadership team. Even Coldplay, so famed for their democratic approach and equal share of profits, is led by Chris Martin. This reality is not a new thing, either, and has been true since the very start of the rock boom, and it’s something that the late Rolling Stone Charlie Watts was fully aware of.
Watts always was an enigma. While this label can be attributed to his talent, with him bringing an ice-cool jazz flair to the fold and providing the crucial foil to the raw, exuberant blues rock of his bandmates, it also applies to his role in the broader workings of the group. Reflecting his musical function, Watts always provided a level-headed and composed counterpoint to the drug-fuelled frolicking of his fellow Rolling Stones.
It really is a mystery how he managed to continue being their drummer for decades, considering the wanton destruction the band’s hell-raising caused for their personal lives and, for years, their creative process. There is a long list of examples where members have walked out on other world-famous bands for much more trivial issues. It speaks volumes of Watts’ temperament.
With that said, Watts clearly had something in common with his bandmates. In the 1980s, his previously moderate use of alcohol and drugs hit excessive levels, something he would later attribute to a mid-life crisis after this fleeting period ended. Furthermore, he would also clearly exhibit his dark side one night after frontman Mick Jagger, who was in one of his most egotistical periods, and the band were at breaking point, repeatedly called his hotel room drunk one night, shouting: “Where’s my drummer?”
Calmly, Watts got up, had a clean shave, put on his sharpest Savile Row suit, went to Jagger’s room and gave him a firm right hook. “Never call me your drummer again,” he instructed him. Clearly, beneath the famously cool exterior, there was a darkness and a storm that could be just as tempestuous as those of his bandmates. He just did a better job at keeping a lid on it.
Watts always had a special role in the band. Aside from being their drummer, anchor, and, in times like the Jagger incident, great leveller, he also had the perception to understand each man’s role in the machine. Perhaps this also supplemented his longevity, as he saw things from the drum riser at the back of the room that the others did not.
In 1994, Watts appeared on 60 Minutes and gave a revealing interview in which he discussed each member’s role in The Rolling Stones. While he praised Jagger as the greatest frontman in the world, he also offered his take on who he thought was the true leader of the band. As you might have guessed, Jagger’s songwriting partner and general partner in crime, guitarist Keith Richards, was his pick.
Unlike the rest of his takes in the interview, Watts’ comment on Richards being the true leader of The Rolling Stones was succinct. He said simply: “Keith is the leader; he’s the heart.”
Most fans of The Rolling Stones would agree. Whether it was his songwriting, musical nouse, or keeping the flame alight when Jagger tried to abscond and go solo in the 1980s, without Richards, their story would probably have ended long ago.
