Keith Richards on the most important Charlie Watts song: “It’s amazing”
In any great rock band, the drummer often receives less recognition. Unless they’re named John Bonham or Neil Peart, few people line up to applaud the person behind the kit. Typically, the drummer’s primary role is to maintain the pulse and ensure their finesse supports the song rather than overshadowing it. However, Keith Richards understood the critical role of rhythm. During The Rolling Stones’ golden age, he considered ‘Street Fighting Man’ one of Charlie Watts’ most outstanding performances.
Once The Stones were finalised, though, Watts was never going to be the traditional rock and roll drummer. He loved listening to early rock and rollers like Chuck Berry and Little Richard, but his first love was always jazz, and it’s easy to hear some of that by all of the offbeat extensions that he puts on songs.
For as iconic as it is now, tracks like ‘Paint It Black’ are insanely weird from a percussion perspective, and for as laid-back as it sounds, getting the groove right to ‘Honky Tonk Women’ takes a lot more skill than many realise. So, if anything, ‘Street Fighting Man’ should have been the more straightforward version of Watts, right?
In theory, yes, but in practice, there’s a lot more going on in the track. Since Richards is the one who lays down the groove right out of the gate with his acoustic guitar, hearing Watts play off him sounds like both of them communicating through their instruments, constantly pushing and pulling the track before the chorus comes in.
It also helps that Watts hardly ever plays his hi-hat and snare at the same time. Since there’s no bleed from either of the drums, it leaves a lot of space for Richards to be a little more aggressive with his playing, usually giving the song a little kick in the ass whenever he comes in on those chords.
Beyond just the groove, Richards thought that ‘Street Fighting Man’ was the perfect example of what Watts was capable of behind the kit, saying, “I think ‘Street Fighting Man’ is Charlie’s most important record. Listen to him on there —he has this Wall of Sound thing going the way he’s hitting that snap kit and the bigger drum. When you experiment the way we did as a band, the smallest little things can happen that turn out to be a big deal. You just need the determination to go there. It’s amazing what can happen when you have the right instruments.”
While it’s debatable whether that massive production had a bit of help from Stones production guru Jimmy Miller, Watts is still an absolute monster on the entire track. The tabla included on the track was certainly different, but even if it were removed from the song, Watts would make the entire track sound huge, as if he’s set up playing from the middle of a cavern.
Then again, maybe the reason why it works is because of how sparse Watts is playing. He’s not known for playing lavish fills or trying to grandstand. That was for jazz drummers, and while that was part of Watts’s DNA, ‘Street Fighting Man’ is the textbook definition of playing with taste as a percussionist.
