Well, here I am sitting at the Dublin airport waiting to catch a 7:45 flight to Liverpool before catching a train this afternoon down to London.

Got a Question, As I was really close to Charlie by the B stage at Slane, I noticed (and I can't believe I didn't notice this before) that he did not play the cowbell for Honkey Tonk Woman. Was what I heard a recording or was Blondie or someone else playing the cowbell from the main stage?

Yeah I beleive it is Blondie from the main stage or a pre recorded loop that's played through the PA and the monitors so Charlie can get in time with it. I have noticed in recent years that HTW is played at the same bpm consistently which leads me to think that it's a pre recorded loop.

NickB

You can't always get what you want.....

www.myspace.com/thesonkings

... did Charlie ever play the cowbell?

no

>> no <<

that's what i thought - thanks

Jimmy Miller played the cowbell on the original.

As I remember Jimmy Miller also played the drums as well on HTW.

NickB

You can't always get what you want.....

www.myspace.com/thesonkings

I've never read that he played drums on HWT but he did play drums on You Can't Always Get...

Yeah it's been a loop since Matt Clifford left (he did play the cowbell on the 89/90 tour though). Very often Keith doesn't start HTW in the same tempo the cowbell is at, so when it comes in there's quite a noticeable speed-up at most shows (most recently on the Austin DVD).

Though they seemed to be playing all the big hits faster on this tour (good grief, if Tumbling Dice went for 7 minutes most nights, imagine how long it would be at the proper tempo...), so perhaps they sped up the cowbell and Keith just doesn't remember most nights.

T

>> As I remember Jimmy Miller also played the drums as well on HTW. <<

nope, Charlie did, apart from the cowbell.

"We've never played an intro to Honky Tonk Women live the way it is on the record.
That's Jimmy playing the cowbell and either he comes in wrong or I come in wrong -
but Keith comes in right, which makes the whole thing right. It's one of those things
that musicologists could sit around analyzing for years. It's actually a mistake,
but from my point of view, it works."
- Charlie Watts, 2003
from [www.timeisonourside.com]