Nice little read. I'm of the same school - it's not how many notes you play, it's how you use them.

[psyche.co]

"Charlie didn’t play drum solos, not because he wasn’t good enough to play them, but because he was good enough not to have to."

Lovely article. One of my favourite moments in any show is when they play Sympathy and Charlie seemingly teases the lyrics out of Mick. Luv Charlie!

Nice picture, too:

Good observation on Charlie, "less is more" I would say.

The comments on Jeff Beck and Buddy Rich are a bit narrow minded though.These guys had / have a lot of feeling, despite their technical skills. This is something that the author finds hard to digest is my impression."Primitivism is something that Jeff Beck never understands??" Mike Edison lost track.

If Charlie was a guitar player he'd be Steve Cropper ....



ROCKMAN

More than anything, Charlie is unique to a tee. Nobody plays like him at all.

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Rockman
If Charlie was a guitar player he'd be Steve Cropper ....

Absolutely. If you gave the Stones a superficial listening maybe you'll find Charlie is doing always the same, but at a closer hear he never plays the same. Those two strokes at Start me up's intro are a clear example: no other drummer would come up with such an idea. Why stroke the hi-hat on the third beat? Snare drum on the first beat? Those are weak beats in rock music!!. Any other drummer would made a machine gun-like roll or something more elaborated, and at the same time standard and usual. Charlie is one of a kind. The way he use the hi-hat is amazing, he's singing and answering Mick's vocals, not just driving the groove. keith is not exaggerating when he says that Charlie IS the Stones.
Pure magic and inspiration to my ears.

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"I'm gonna walk... before they make me run"

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I read that Charlie was actually a roadie when the Rolling Stones started and they had no one to play the drums, so Mick taught Charlie everything he needed to know about drumming and since then he's the drummer

What da name of da book ???
.... Sounds like it'd be a good read



ROCKMAN

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NilsHolgersson
I read that Charlie was actually a roadie when the Rolling Stones started and they had no one to play the drums, so Mick taught Charlie everything he needed to know about drumming and since then he's the drummer

I read the opposite: that Charlie is the real power in the band and Mick and Keith are terrified of him.

Charlie, like Bill, know where and when to put an accent to turn a song into art. The crashing drums at the start of Gimme Shelter for example.

More here: [iorr.org]

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ErwinH
"Charlie didn’t play drum solos, not because he wasn’t good enough to play them, but because he was good enough not to have to."

Hello everybody..
This is a great quote. A cursory read of this thread, is this about the Sympathy for the Drummer book...? I am looking forward to reading it. Charlie’s contribution to the Stones is unmatchable. I have noticed in recent interviews he seems almost to look his age .. but recently live (2018) he is AMAZING!!!

Interviewer: Charlie, with some bands, the bigger the band gets, the bigger the drummer's kit becomes. Your kit has always remained quite tastefully restrained..
Charlie: They haven't got quite big enough for me yet.. the Stones, when they get bigger I'll add more. And they're expensive.

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nick1970

Quote
ErwinH
"Charlie didn’t play drum solos, not because he wasn’t good enough to play them, but because he was good enough not to have to."

Hello everybody..
This is a great quote. A cursory read of this thread, is this about the Sympathy for the Drummer book...? I am looking forward to reading it. Charlie’s contribution to the Stones is unmatchable. I have noticed in recent interviews he seems almost to look his age .. but recently live (2018) he is AMAZING!!!

Yes, it's about that book.

~"Love is Strong"~

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Rockman
If Charlie was a guitar player he'd be Steve Cropper ....

Great observation, Rockman!

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NilsHolgersson




Interviewer: Charlie, with some bands, the bigger the band gets, the bigger the drummer's kit becomes. Your kit has always remained quite tastefully restrained..
Charlie: They haven't got quite big enough for me yet.. the Stones, when they get bigger I'll add more. And they're expensive.

This is a lovely idea that the Stones aren’t big enough yet... to justify bigger drum kit.
It put it into perspective when I saw the drum kit for Richard Ashcroft’s drummer.. and realised how small the kit Charlie has. Surely, again this signifies the quality..

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NilsHolgersson
I read that Charlie was actually a roadie when the Rolling Stones started and they had no one to play the drums, so Mick taught Charlie everything he needed to know about drumming and since then he's the drummer

I heard that before you read that.

I recently listened to Get Your Ya Ya's Out for the first time in a long time, and G.D. does Charlie shine on that album.

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ryanpow
I recently listened to Get Your Ya Ya's Out for the first time in a long time, and G.D. does Charlie shine on that album.

His drumming on Stray Cat Blues is downright evil!

I would say with no little apprection, in addition to the steady soul groove and tasteful fills on a ton or two of em; and the steady glue of his particularly no nonsense personality, which I find charming and Def held the Stones together in the mid to late innings as much as dear Ron.
But...
Also do remember quite a bit of crashing about in Ya Yas, which delights me, and there's a time live or two in Taylor years where he was totally just beating the shite out of them here or there.
So sure, primarily that magical glue every one mentions. The respect Keith has seemed to always have for him is very touching to me.
I mean he's a Rock and Roll drummer.
He doesn't have to listen to it when he gets home.
We do. I feel he's there for us. Amazing guy.
Hey hey it trips me out. But it took THAT Rhythm section to connect the beat with the club goers,
I mean I still listen to the same old 3 chord fast rock and rollers
Charlie's there for me down deep. Really love that guy.

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hopkins
I would say with no little apprection, in addition to the steady soul groove and tasteful fills on a ton or two of em; and the steady glue of his particularly no nonsense personality, which I find charming and Def held the Stones together in the mid to late innings as much as dear Ron.
But...
Also do remember quite a bit of crashing about in Ya Yas, which delights me, and there's a time live or two in Taylor years where he was totally just beating the shite out of them here or there.
So sure, primarily that magical glue every one mentions. The respect Keith has seemed to always have for him is very touching to me.
I mean he's a Rock and Roll drummer.
He doesn't have to listen to it when he gets home.
We do. I feel he's there for us. Amazing guy.
Hey hey it trips me out. But it took THAT Rhythm section to connect the beat with the club goers,
I mean I still listen to the same old 3 chord fast rock and rollers
Charlie's there for me down deep. Really love that guy.

I enjoyed these comments... very interesting..