Ben speaks with Time Out Dubai and shares some anecdotes with 7 Days in Dubai ahead of this weekend's show in Bur Dubai.

Meet rock n' roll piano man Ben Waters

He's played with the Stones and counts Jools Holland as a mate



Rock ‘n’ roll pianist Ben Waters tells Chanelle Tourish about his inspirations and working with The Rolling Stones.

He’s a favourite of Ray Davies, Jerry Lee Lewis and The Rolling Stones and counts Shakin’ Stevens and Jools Holland as friends. But despite having some of the biggest names in rock ‘n’ roll as his pals, Ben Waters is a surprisingly humble and down-to-earth family man. The British musician and his band – with Ady Milward on the drums and Richard Hymas on bass – will bring their lively, rock ‘n’ roll piano tunes to The Music Room on Friday September 5.

Travelling the world for more than 20 years, Ben has garnered a reputation as an internationally acclaimed musician. While some of the world’s best piano players may have started playing as early as five years old, Ben was a musical late-bloomer. It wasn’t until he was in secondary school that he took an interest in music, after seeing American blues pianist Antoine ‘Fats’ Domino performing on TV.

‘I was watching a video of Fats Domino’s 60th birthday and I just fell in love with the music. I was very fortunate because my aunt and uncle were best friends with Ian Stewart (original Rolling Stones member) and so I started learning how to play by watching old footage of him when he played for the ’70s boogie-woogie band Rocket 88. I just sat there and copied what he did and I knew I had to keep playing,’ explains Ben.
Ben then began gigging at bars and clubs in Dorset, England, and by the age of 18 he was touring with Welsh rock ‘n’ roll singer Shakin’ Stevens.

‘I have been influenced by very early things from the ’20s, through to the rock ‘n’ roll period, to The Stones and The Beatles,’ says Ben.

The 40-year-old has released more than 10 albums to date, including, Boogie 4 Stu – A tribute to Ian Stewart, which features Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman, Jools Holland and PJ Harvey.

‘There’s no other piano player like Ian Stewart, he’s quite unique. For The Rolling Stones’ sound he was vital really. I don’t think a lot of those songs would have been as a good without Stu (Ian). He was such an important figure and most people don’t even know who he is, which is really sad. The Rolling Stones wouldn’t have existed without him,’ says Ben.

Ben credits Ian Stewart, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, as his inspiration. ‘When I started playing with Charlie Watts, we were talking a lot about Ian. So I told him that I was doing this tribute album and he said he wanted to play drums on it. From there the rest of The Stones got on board,’ explains Ben.

The project turned out to be one of Ben’s proudest achievements, with the proceeds going to the British Heart Foundation. His 13-year-old son, Tom, even got in on the action.

It’s clear that musicality runs in the family, with both his son Tom and his 12 year old daughter Molly touring and performing alongside him. While his family won’t be making the journey to Dubai this time, at least Ben’s got his band.

[www.timeoutdubai.com]
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Talented pianist Ben Waters jams with rock royalty Keith Richards and Jerry Lee Lewis

7DAYS - September 2, 2014

Unless you’re a supreme muso chances are you haven’t heard of boogie woogie pianist Ben Waters.

You will, however, know his chums. Despite living all his life in rural Dorset, UK, the list of folks Ben has jammed with and invited over for a beer include the great, the good, and the weird of rock’s annals.

His first proper gig as a teen for instance, saw him play with Shakin’ Stevens, Suzi Quatro and Slade.

Hitmakers have filled his address book ever since. Ahead of his gig at The Music Room on Friday, Ben shares a few choice stories.

A bored Keith Richards

“Keith is hilarious,” says Ben. “It’s well known they based Jack Sparrow on him and he’s just like that. When I first met him he was funny, talking like he was drunk, maybe he was..

We were mixing in the studio and there’s a ramp for all the PA stuff, he doesn’t like the business side and the mixing so he was a bit bored. He just jumped up and ran down on the chair and smashed into the wall.

‘This is great man!’ he yells. It’s like having a kid in the room, he is so enthusiastic and funny.”

Jerry Lee’s human side

As a huge fan of Jerry Lee Lewis, Ben’s first experience of ‘The Killer’ live in 2008 was a major letdown: “He’d travelled a long way and was tired, the acoustics were terrible. I thought this is sad and I almost didn’t want to do the gig with him in Vienna the next week.

But I went and did the sound check and he came out and blew it away. He was incredible.

I thought he was this old guy who had lost it, but he wears his heart on his sleeve. If he is tired and angry and frustrated it shows… He’s never quite got the recognition that he deserves, he’s an outstanding musician.”

Berry well

Ben met Chuck Berry when they were employed to play a private party for a wealthy client in London. Getting there, Ben found the client was nowhere to be found.

He recalls: “On top of ordering a limo driven by a model to pick Berry up at the airport [the client] had to go to Chuck’s hotel room to give him a briefcase full of cash before he’d come out and play. But the thing that struck me with Chuck – his music is so subtle… people play Chuck Berry and they usually play it loud and lumpy, he plays it so subtly.”

The Kink in Ray’s armour

Ben has played on a number of occasions with The Kinks. The first, his audition just involved one of Ray Davies’ friends holding up a phone for Ben to play into.

“In the studio, all these people are very polite to him. He got on the piano and said ‘this is what I want you to do on the record’.

And I said ‘Why don’t you do this yourself?’ Everyone gasped. And I said ‘What’s the point? You can do it yourself.’ We had an argument.

But after that cleared we got on really well, he really doesn’t like ‘Yes’ men.”

[7daysindubai.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-09-04 18:52 by bye bye johnny.

Nice..odd behavior from Keith.

I can imagine that Ben is a very nice guy,and a very talented musician.