The drummer that was beyond Charlie Watts’ wildest dreams: “Nothing like I thought”
For the most part, the music made y the greatest bands of the 1960s was born out of two genres: blues and rock ‘n’ roll. Whether it was The Beatles, Led Zeppelin or, indeed, The Rolling Stones, those two genres seemed to dominate the construction of all of their new-fangled pop hits.
But while The Rolling Stones seemed to be as deeply entrenched in the blues as anybody, there was one outlier in the band: Charlie Watts. The drummer wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of rock music; he came from a different genre altogether. He was, and always was, a jazz man. Despite that, he is still one of the greatest rock drummers of all time.
Charlie Watts is up there with the likes of John Bonham, Keith Moon and Ringo Starr as one of the most important British rock drummers of the 1960s. Unassuming by nature but ferociously talented, he provided the famously frenzied Rolling Stones with a solid backbone, around which the likes of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards could twist and churn to their hearts’ delight.
Drumming was Watts’ life and remains an essential part of his legacy. Here, he praises one of the drummers he himself was inspired by. Although not the most widely known drummer, Max Roach was an essential link between the heyday of trad jazz and the blossoming era of British R&B. While few rock fans are familiar with Roach, he is something of a household name in the world of jazz, having played with the likes of Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker, to name just a few.
During a conversation with Modern Drummer, Watts opened up about his affection for Roach: “I saw him at Carnegie Hall with his band and McCoy Tyner’s band. Max plays nothing like I thought he played. He’s incredible. He started up with this waltz thing which is quite incredible to watch. It was all ‘time’. It was lovely. Sort of a variation on ‘The Drum Also Waltzes.'”
This is exactly what Watts has always loved about music. While losing oneself on the kit like Keith Moon was theatrically enthralling, or powering through the skins like John Bonham, or even combining the two into a dominating force like Ginger Baker, Watts preferred the shadows. And, most importantly, to keep time.
The Rolling Stones drummer went on to add: “He just starts off playing ‘boom dit, boom dit.’ And he builds that up. Quite brilliant. To watch him play with a band is fantastic. The band with Clifford Brown was amazing.”
Roach may well have been one of the most influential drummer-percussionists of the 20th century. With groups like The Duke Ellington Orchestra and The Miles Davis Quintet – with whom he participated in sessions that later found their way onto the epoch-defining The Birth of The Cool – Roach redefined the way musicians approached the drum as an instrument. Throughout the ’40s and ’50s, he played with everyone from Benny Carter, Stan Getz, Allen Eager and Sonny Rollins to Anthony Braxton, Abdullah Ibrahim and Archie Shepp.
Remarkably, the drummer’s pursuit of new and untapped musical territory even saw him perform alongside rappers and at book readings. He was also lauded for his inclusion of improvising string players in the Max Roch Double Quartet. All the while, he was working on compositions for plays, films and dance pieces. He was, without a shadow of a doubt, a master of his trade.
