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Eleanor Rigby
Classic player.
The irony is that some posters say his playing is amazing yet bag Mick Taylor for overplaying...go figure.
ernie watts overplayed during the 81 tour. ..at times he ruined it.
maybe he was simply too brilliant for the band..in the same way Mick Taylor was.
I hate the moments he played too much during the stinkin 1981 US tour.
Well...I like him more than Jaggers disgusting outfit and his stupid insipid vocals.
but hey...the tour rocked!! Haha
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Stoneage
Ernie did not only do the standard horn section bits but interacted with the band and kept the songs, and the sometimes astray guitarists, together. Kind of like a third, very reliable, guitarist.
It would have been interesting to hear what Perks, Watts and maybe Jagger has to say about Ernie's contribution to the 81 tour.
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DandelionPowdermanQuote
Stoneage
Ernie did not only do the standard horn section bits but interacted with the band and kept the songs, and the sometimes astray guitarists, together. Kind of like a third, very reliable, guitarist.
It would have been interesting to hear what Perks, Watts and maybe Jagger has to say about Ernie's contribution to the 81 tour.
Indeed. He was the glue. In a way he was Chuck with good taste, imo.
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tomk
he said he didn't enjoy it. Could be about money.
Ian McLagan mentioned that a few times.
Yeah I've read that too. You play full stadiums in front 80000 people and the end of the day when you divide the amount of money you got from Jagger by the number of shows you played with the Stones you realized you played for 1K a night.
Mmmmm....
Which was big money for a side man in 81'....Legend had it that Bowie was paying Stevie Ray $300 a night in 84....I was never big on Steve Ray V...he bailed of course....
Ian MacLagan had a nice story about the money -he negotioated the money with Jagger, and Ian was under the impression he was discussing a lumped sum for the total tour, while Jagger was talking about an amount sum per gig. I believe it was in the region of $30K per night.
Ernie Watts didn't like touring with the Stones as he felt totally secluded from normal life, and he was completely on his own. He said he played a gig for 1 hour, then spend 2 days in his hotel room waiting for the next gig. He didn't have any interaction with any of the Stones or touring entourage.
Mathijs
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Mathijs
BY his own account he hated touring with the Stones in 81, and declined for the 82 tour.
Mathijs
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tomk
he said he didn't enjoy it. Could be about money.
Ian McLagan mentioned that a few times.
Yeah I've read that too. You play full stadiums in front 80000 people and the end of the day when you divide the amount of money you got from Jagger by the number of shows you played with the Stones you realized you played for 1K a night.
Mmmmm....
Which was big money for a side man in 81'....Legend had it that Bowie was paying Stevie Ray $300 a night in 84....I was never big on Steve Ray V...he bailed of course....
Ian MacLagan had a nice story about the money -he negotioated the money with Jagger, and Ian was under the impression he was discussing a lumped sum for the total tour, while Jagger was talking about an amount sum per gig. I believe it was in the region of $30K per night.
Ernie Watts didn't like touring with the Stones as he felt totally secluded from normal life, and he was completely on his own. He said he played a gig for 1 hour, then spend 2 days in his hotel room waiting for the next gig. He didn't have any interaction with any of the Stones or touring entourage.
Mathijs
No way was it 30,000 a night. Billy Preston only got about $4,000 for Knebworth, so there's no way Jagger was gonna pay Mac that amount. Unless you meant 3,000 (or 30,000 for the whole tour). Anyway, I though McLagan took a lump sum. I'd have to check his book again, I can't remember. No way was it that much. Hell, they wouldn't even pay Bobby Womack's taxi fare.
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TooToughQuote
Mathijs
BY his own account he hated touring with the Stones in 81, and declined for the 82 tour.
Mathijs
Well, on that "Just for the record" DVD boxset Ernie Watts is talking
nicely about the tour and the Stones.
1. "Mick asked Quincy Jones if he knew a good sax player"
2. "San Diego was my audition - in front of 80.000 people"
3. "The Stones are like a jazz band - playing different every night"
4. And he is talking respectfully about every member of the band.
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stanlove
I don't know about the reaching further and extending stuff ,sounds like music critic rambling,
I find Ernie Watts just utterly fantastic on the 81 tour. He really added a melodic sense to the tracks he played on, enabling the band to really extend and reach further than they ever been. And I love his sound.
First and last time they played 10 minute versions of Let Me Go, Imagination, BoB, WOAF, LIB etc.
LIsten to the band jamming on Imagination from Hampton -even Bill Wyman starts freewheeling!
Mathijs
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Mathijs
I find Ernie Watts just utterly fantastic on the 81 tour. He really added a melodic sense to the tracks he played on, enabling the band to really extend and reach further than they ever been. And I love his sound.
First and last time they played 10 minute versions of Let Me Go, Imagination, BoB, WOAF, LIB etc.
LIsten to the band jamming on Imagination from Hampton -even Bill Wyman starts freewheeling!
Mathijs
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swimtothemoon
At the Rockford show my friend and I observed the sax player would
Continually get in Mick's stage space. Mick may have even bumped
Into him. I always thought this was Ernie Watts but it now makes
More sense that it was Lee Allen.