Charlie Watts has died(bbc.com)
bbc.com
Charlie Watts has died
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-58316842
100 comments
This comes from [Keith Richards' autobiography](https://www.keithrichards.com/life), apparently. Here's the full passage:
"Mick and I weren’t on great terms at the time, but I said, c’mon, let’s go out. And I lent him the jacket I got married in. We got back to the hotel about five in the morning and Mick called up Charlie. I said, don’t call him, not at this hour. But he did, and said, ‘Where’s my drummer?’ No answer. He puts the phone down. Mick and I were still sitting there, pretty pissed – give Mick a couple of glasses, he’s gone – when, about twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door. There was Charlie Watts, Savile Row suit, perfectly dressed, tie, shaved, the whole fucking bit. I could smell the cologne! I opened the door and he didn’t even look at me, he walked straight past me, got hold of Mick and said, ‘Never call me your drummer again.’ Then he hauled him up by the lapels of my jacket and gave him a right hook."
"Mick and I weren’t on great terms at the time, but I said, c’mon, let’s go out. And I lent him the jacket I got married in. We got back to the hotel about five in the morning and Mick called up Charlie. I said, don’t call him, not at this hour. But he did, and said, ‘Where’s my drummer?’ No answer. He puts the phone down. Mick and I were still sitting there, pretty pissed – give Mick a couple of glasses, he’s gone – when, about twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door. There was Charlie Watts, Savile Row suit, perfectly dressed, tie, shaved, the whole fucking bit. I could smell the cologne! I opened the door and he didn’t even look at me, he walked straight past me, got hold of Mick and said, ‘Never call me your drummer again.’ Then he hauled him up by the lapels of my jacket and gave him a right hook."
For non native speakers ( like myself ), pissed probably means (very) drunk in this context.
In British and Australian English, yes. We don't say it in the US.
That's interesting. Where I grew up in Canada, "being pissed" could mean either very drunk (piss drunk) or very angry (pissed off) and you need to rely on context to disambiguate. On the other hand, the British phrase "taking the piss" would mean obtaining a urine sample and it's just downright confusing.
In America, "piss drunk" has a place but "being pissed" means exclusively "to be angry"... at least in every part I've ever been. I can't speak for upper New England, perhaps they'd take exception.
From upper New England, been here my whole life - can confirm "Being pissed" always means being angry.
It's called "wicked drunk" down east. "wicked pissed" is very angry.
> the British phrase "taking the piss"
It's an extreme for "irony" - dissimulation (so extreme that I should add a /J). In other regions it would be "to fuck with someone".
I never understood the exact source of the expression. It could have been the mockery of stealing urine from the poor (who could actually sell it - I believe for example it is still used in tanneries around the world).
It's an extreme for "irony" - dissimulation (so extreme that I should add a /J). In other regions it would be "to fuck with someone".
I never understood the exact source of the expression. It could have been the mockery of stealing urine from the poor (who could actually sell it - I believe for example it is still used in tanneries around the world).
"taking the piss" can also mean taking a situation too far / making fun of someone =)...
Lots of Britishisms require context to disambiguate.
Lots of Britishisms require context to disambiguate.
We do say it, but it doesn't mean drunk, it means angry as in "pissed off."
Well. That answers the question, who breaks a butterfly on a wheel, then.
I'm pretty sure that this is my favorite Rolling Stones story, ever. In 'Life', Keith Richards talked about it really being Charlie's band, he was just in it.
[deleted]
lisper(8)
The biggest prize I ever won were on-stage tickets for the RS some twenty years ago and it turned out to be my greatest concert experience ever since. RIP.
https://imgur.com/a/kt1VB7n
https://imgur.com/a/kt1VB7n
This one hurts. One of my favorite parts of his style was he often didn't hit the high hat on 4 of a 4/4 beat. It's hard to hear it but I always thought that was an interesting choice. Whether he did it because that's how he learned to play or to deliberately leave some room for other sounds on the downbeat, it was interesting to me.
I first noticed that watching... the ... 81 tour film (album was 'Still Life' IIRC), I think, when I was first really digging in (well, it was ... probably 1990 when I was watching it, but that was still relatively 'recent').
I've watched for it in most videos and live perf since then and yep, didn't seem to change much. Unsure if it was a jazz-flavored thing or what, but distinctive.
I've watched for it in most videos and live perf since then and yep, didn't seem to change much. Unsure if it was a jazz-flavored thing or what, but distinctive.
Here's an interview in which he says he didn't ever noticed it - and some other guy (whom I'm too ignorant to identify) - explains how Charlie came up with that.
https://youtu.be/CrAQQZi1Jf4
https://youtu.be/CrAQQZi1Jf4
Steve Albini, apparently
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sometimes those simple removals make all the salt
“I don't need to hear Bill to go through a song. I need to hear Keith to go through a song. I know Bill will be playing what I'm playing anyway. I need to hear Keith because it's all there: the time, the chord changes, and all the licks you have to follow.”
— Charlie Watts
— Charlie Watts
Charlie Watts was not only a great rock musician but (unbeknownst to many) a gifted jazz player and a gentleman.
Rest in peace.
It's hard to talk too much about Charlie specifically, as in... he was a generally private person, and didn't do half the interviews the others did, but I remember a moderately 'techie' Stones connection from way back...
The Stones were a pretty early adopter of some tech, and were 'streaming' back in 1994.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbone
'A November 1994 Rolling Stones concert at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas with 50,000 fans was the "first major cyberspace multicast concert."'
The Stones were a pretty early adopter of some tech, and were 'streaming' back in 1994.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbone
'A November 1994 Rolling Stones concert at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas with 50,000 fans was the "first major cyberspace multicast concert."'
I learned to drum listening to Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones albums my dad set up for me in the garage. Watts is one of those great drummers who a lot of people miss because on the surface he seems simple. But, he’s hands down one of the greatest rock and roll drummers, up there with Ringo, Bonham.
“Charlie’s good tonight, isn’t he?” One of my favorite parts from one of my favorite albums, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out by The Rolling Stones. Wherever you are Charlie, keep being good.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=jtno1O7NIGQ
https://youtube.com/watch?v=jtno1O7NIGQ
Never thought I'd get to see the Stones, but I did a few years ago at the Desert Trip concerts. Honestly, I think I was lucky to catch them then. Same with all the bands that played there. Charlie was great and I was amazed by him. He was still banging on those drums as fast as ever and keeping the beat spot on.
They were all happy to be there. Well, except maybe Dylan. Not sure if he's ever been "happy" but they were all having fun and thrilled to be there together.
We all knew we're getting close to moving on. And we all felt like we did back then together. Each time one of them leaves the rest of us are all step closer. But, damn... our generation still rocked the house.
They were all happy to be there. Well, except maybe Dylan. Not sure if he's ever been "happy" but they were all having fun and thrilled to be there together.
We all knew we're getting close to moving on. And we all felt like we did back then together. Each time one of them leaves the rest of us are all step closer. But, damn... our generation still rocked the house.
Im speechless. Of all the things the others did and took, damn. Just a horrible shame.
RIP. I shall play some Stones tonight!
Saw him at Pizza Express in London, playing with his boogie-woogie mates... will miss that chap. I fear the rest of the Stones will soon follow. RIP Charlie.
There's going to be a lot of people who rose to fame in the 60's fame-boom who are going to drop like flies soon.
I am not big Stones fan (I have nothing against them, either, they are a legend!), but I always liked his style.
Rest In Peace.
Rest In Peace.
You know that xkcd post about people who've walked on the moon?
same thing applies for 60s cultural icons. so it goes.
same thing applies for 60s cultural icons. so it goes.
I understand and agree, although some are somewhat preposterous and only ever made sense in context. I finally watched Easy Rider recently, and sure, the freedom, riding with no protection, sleeping wherever - but it's such a mediocre, badly-woven film. Same for quite a few Stones songs and a lot of other '60s/70s stuff - except Jimi Hendrix, that man was an alien.
Could it be that they just had a different agenda for their art than you do, and that the context and agendas changed over time? I find it more interesting to try to understand their time, to try to learn what their view of art was, what the norms were, what the context, was, and why - rather than try to judge their work by my standards, as if the changes of time have made my way superior.
Context allows us to forgive some sins (which is what I was alluding to, in the first half of my comment on Easy Rider), not all of them.
It is an objective fact that the centralization and scarcity of mass-media broadcasting, back then, effectively acted as a funnel towards certain works, amplifying their influence well beyond their merit.
It is an objective fact that the centralization and scarcity of mass-media broadcasting, back then, effectively acted as a funnel towards certain works, amplifying their influence well beyond their merit.
Popular has never implied quality. Even more so now that the choice is practically infinite.
No doubt in my mind that the Stones or the Beatles would be big in the 21st century if they were upcoming bands nowadays.
No doubt in my mind that the Stones or the Beatles would be big in the 21st century if they were upcoming bands nowadays.
> It is an objective fact ...
How is that claim 'objective'?
How is that claim 'objective'?
> The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision.
Of interest is the updated graph (red line shows actual, which is sadly right on track): https://imgur.com/G7DbbBi
irrational(13)
"One anecdote relates that in the mid-1980s, an intoxicated Jagger phoned Watts's hotel room in the middle of the night, asking, "Where's my drummer?" Watts reportedly got up, shaved, dressed in a suit, put on a tie and freshly shined shoes, descended the stairs, and punched Jagger in the face, saying: "Don't ever call me your drummer again. You're my fucking singer!"