The drums immediately kick off this intense track. Assertive and snappy, Watts commands this lesser-known Stones tune. (AmericanSongwriter)
Thundering amid a twinkling of keys and steady bass thumps, Watts gives this song so much texture.
From the moment the song opens, the drums dominate. It’s the steady 4/4 pattern never faltering throughout the song that makes it so effective.
A flurry of acoustic beats from congas and maracas make for the incredibly inventive drumming on “Sympathy for the Devil.” Watts said of the song, “We had a go at loads of different ways of playing it. In the end, I just played a jazz Latin feel.”
The drums and bass seem to strut hand-in-hand in this beat-driven tune. A song Watts said was heavily influenced by going to discos, “Miss You” has that signature four-to-the-floor rhythm.
Never faltering, not for one second, Watt’s driving beats pound away in this Stones classic. Tireless accuracy makes his drumming so impressive.
Watts makes a booming entrance on “Gimme Shelter.” A haunting tune, Watts injects light and life into it with each beat.
A song immediately recognizable from the opening cowbell lick, Watt’s drumming doesn’t get much better than “Honky Tonk Women.” He carries the twanging anthem from start to finish.
Max Weinberg, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
When I was a kid in New Jersey, if you were looking for work, there’d be ads for musicians. In the mid-60s and 70s, they would invariably say: “Wanted: Charlie Watts type drummer”. Charlie is not just a drummer – he’s a genre. Every beat I play, there’s Charlie Watts in there someplace.
I can tell you about the technique, though. Drummers will argue about this long into the night: either how did John Bonham get that mountain of sound, or how did Ringo Starr and Charlie Watts get that feel? Technically, what it is, is that he leads with his right foot on the kick drum, which pushes the band forward. Meanwhile his left hand on the snare, the backbeat, is a little relaxed, a little lazy – and that combination of propulsion and relaxation is the technical definition of what he’s doing. But you can try it yourself, all you want, and it ain’t going to sound like Charlie. (Stewart Copeland)
He has caused a lot of damage out there, in the same way Jimi Hendrix came out with a wah-wah pedal – it was the ruination of many guitarists who didn’t get it and ruined their guitar playing with a wah-wah pedal.
He had a very signature drum fill. During the recording of what would become Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA album, Street Fighting Man was really intriguing me because of the sound, the toughness, the beat; the fact that it was apparently recorded on a tour drum set or a box, on a cassette player, and sounded incredibly dangerous and tough. Charlie does this thing where he plays, quickly, three eighth notes: bap-bap-bap. And when Bruce presented the groove to Born in the USA, it reminded me of Street Fighting Man, so on that song, I’m doing Charlie Watts.
