Today is the 70th birthday of the man many consider rock's greatest drummer, Charlie Watts. He is the man who has for nearly fifty years, first with Bill Wyman, then with Darryl Jones,provided the rhythm to the "Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World", The Rolling Stones. I had the pleasure to watch him from about 20 feet away during their August 31, 2005 concert at Comerica Park. It is, because of the basic rhythms the band uses in their songs, easy to overlook how good he really is, but when you are that close, you get a new appreciation of his talent, since you can watch what he is actually doing.
It wasn't always this way. Charles Robert Watts was born 2 June, 1941, the son of a lorry driver. His passion as a youth was football, and he dreamed of becoming a football player. That began to change when he got his first drumkit at age 15. He had become, and continues to this day, to be a passionate jazz fan, and jazz and big-band rhythms are his greatest influence, which is pretty amazing for a man renowned for his rock drumming. He then played in Alexis Corner's Blues Incorporated, through which he met Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, and the rest is history.
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