Great vid here:

Select a Stone:

Who says this man isn't interesting to watch? Do we have more Charlie-focused vids?

Pounding away on "Midnight Rambler":

Aside from these, I have not seen Charlie-focused videos. However, I love watching him play. I'm a drummer myself and am fascinated by his unique technique of never hitting the hi-hat and snare at the same time. Has anyone ever heard him explain this?

I think it's a jazz thing. He also tends to skip one beat in four on the hi-hat which is also very not-rock. I love it.

It's rare to get Charlie talking about technique, but it's high time we start talking about Mr. Watts' contribution to the Stones' unique sound. However, Charlie's jazz influences are what give the band that sense of "swing" that many straight-ahead rock drummers ignore.

Very true...You can always tell why when even pro bands try to copy the Stones sound they fail musically. Two reasons: No Open G, and rock drumming instead of Charlie's idiosyncratic swing style.

I don't think what oldbarbarian is talking about is a jazz thing. Charlie admits he's a "lazy" player. If you avoid playing the hi-hat on that beat, you only have to play 75% of the ride rhythm on your right hand, and it's literally easier, as in your right wrist gets less fatigued.

Charlie loves jazz, and plays jazz, but is not much of a jazz drummer, and he admits this. He's technically not a good textbook drummer, but as we know, what he does for the Stones is perfect, and his style is unique in a great way. His rolls/ fills are often lopsided (heavy on the right hand), which is criticized by some, but lauded by others. I, personally, love Charlie's drumming, and will always defend that, but he frequently makes bad mistakes, and he plays sloppily, and lazily! It's just the way he plays. If it sounds good, though, it is good, and with Charlie, it does and it is. Gotta love Charlie.

i was told by mark tulin (bassist for the electric prunes who had hung out with charlie) that the not hitting the snare and hit hat came about from early stones recording sessions. because the microphone set up in the studio didn't pick up the drums very well, charlie felt that when the hit hat and snare were hit at the sametime, it took away from the sound of the snare. so he practiced not hitting the hi hat and snare.

charlie told him, after a few months of doing that he couldn't stop doing it and liked the way it sounded on record and live.

take it for what it is, that is what i heard.

Very interesting take, Canadian...I am a guitar player who learned to play drums playing to Some Girls over and over, so I copied the skipping the hi-hat every fourth beat from Charlie. Whether you call it "lazy" or not, it works perfectly with Keith's almost-out-of-kilter rhythms. So did Bill's somewhat odd bass style, which I really miss. A technically more "correct" rhythm section would not have created the Stones great unique sound.

My favourite Charlie style of playing is what's all over Ya-Ya's (as well as whatever live boots up to 1973) - that double kick drum pounding he gives the tunes.

On Ya-Ya's it's evident in JJF and it's very heavy in SFM.

My other favourite Charlie style is what you hear in She's So Cold, She Was Hot, Mixed Emotions, Highwire, Flip The Switch, Low Down, She Saw Me Coming, etc.The way he does the rolls, which, I think, he started doing that particular thing/style with the ER album and he's done it ever since. Somewhere he completely changed his approach to how he plays. I guess he started to really make changes with Black And Blue.

It Won't Take Long and Dangerous Beauty are almost like what he was doing in the late 60s to mid 70s combined with his 80s style.

Agree with that 100%, 71Tele. It is the Stones' sound, and it is definitely great. Interesting explanation on the hi-hat thing, too.

Charlie didn't start skipping the hi-hat until Some Girls.

<< Charlie didn't start skipping the hi-hat until Some Girls. >>

Good observation...I wonder if it was because of the tempo and beat of so many of those songs.

I've always thought there was "pre-Some Girls" Charlie, and there is "post-Some Girls" Charlie. You're right, that's when the skipping the high-hat began.

There is something more economical, and more four-on-the-floor, about Charlie from "Some Girls" on to the present.

I noticed it as a kid when "Some Girls" came out that something was different about his drumming, I just couldn't put my finger on it then.

I think that Charlie evolved into a more disciplined and less cluttered style, which is demonstrated in the videos above. I think most of us agree that Charlie is technically far superior NOW than he was back in the 60s. Compare the bash/crash of "Get Off My Cloud" in '65 to the perfect syncopation of "Start Me Up" in 1981.

He made a good point about his cymbal sound in the interview. Now that I think about it, his cymbal sound does come across better than many other drummers. Of course, there IS John Bonham, who had so much power that everything he played came out LOUD. For Charlie, the small crash cymbal he uses really cuts through in some of the '78 boots. You can really hear it during the opening number, "Let It Rock": 'payday comin when the work is all done', then *crash*! I love it.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2009-11-16 05:04 by bassplayer617.

here's an old thread where someone quotes Charlie about that hi-hat-skipping technique:
[www.iorr.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-11-16 09:51 by with sssoul.

Quote
with sssoul
here's an old thread where someone quotes Charlie about that hi-hat-skipping technique:
[www.iorr.org]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting this link.

I think another aspect to Charlie's sound (and therefore that of the Stones) is his use of a very un-rock 1950s Gretsch drum set.

I was there when they filmed Going To A GoGo...