 Charlie Watts was a young boy when he heard jazz drummer Chico Hamilton playing the brushes on a Gerry Mulligan Quartet record called Walking Shoes. Young Charlie knew, in that moment, that he wanted to be a jazz drummer too. Before long, he's drumming for the rock band he never left - The Rolling Stones.
It may seem counterintuitive, but Charlie's jazz roots made him exactly the right man for what would become the world's best live rock and roll band. His rock steady drumming anchored the Stones rhythm section, creating opportunities for Mick, Keith and soloists to shine. And that would have been more than enough. But the best drummers do much more by doing less. They add fills and breaks - but no more than the song requires. Sometimes, Charlie would play a fraction behind the beat, creating a soulful, funky element that empowered Stones rock songs. Charlie Watts was a great drummer, and a true gentleman. AUDIO Listen to the story of Charlie Watts
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 We've been tracking the evolution of popular music, dropping in to the first year of each decade since the 40s. In 1961, the first wave of rock & roll was gone, seemingly without a trace. Many of its pioneers were still on the scene, doing smoother stuff. Teenage stars were popular that year, as were guitar instrumentals, particularly the surfing kind.
There were great songs on the airwaves in 1961. Real rock was rare, but it would make a huge comeback in the following years. AUDIO Listen to the songs of 1961  The well known story of music in 1969 is the journey from the utopia of Woodstock to the murderous unravelling at Altamont. But there was another huge festival that year. Somehow it has slipped from our memories, our histories.
The Harlem Cultural Festival ran over six weekends in the summer of 1969, a remarkable celebration of black pride, black music. 300,000 people came to see the hottest acts, including Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Gladys Knight, Fifth Dimension and more. Film of these concerts sat in a basement for 50 years. Now US music producer Questlove has made a feature film about the Festival, and why it vanished from our remembering of the 60s. Summer of Soul is an accomplished piece of story-telling, and the music is funk at its best. AUDIO Listen to the music of Summer of Soul  In 1960s Texas, a band called Moving Sidewalks was a big deal, playing psychedelia to groovy people in Houston, opening shows for The Doors and Jimi Hendrix.
They became a hard-rocking blues band called ZZ Top, with Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard and Dusty Hill. They started having hits in the early 70s, and they saw the 1980s coming, hitching to the top on the brand new MTV. ZZ Top has been playing ever since, and will continue, despite the death of bass player Dusty Hill in July. AUDIO Listen to the story of Dusty Hill and ZZ Top  At the tail end of the 1970s, we first heard Rickie Lee Jones, who had an Australian hit about some bloke called Chucky being in love. Turns out, the song was about Chuck E. Weiss, a famous fixture on the Los Angeles music and nightclub scene, contemporary of Rickie and Tom Waits. Together, they were night-hawks, making music and adventure under the California moonlight and neon glow.
Chuck started out as a drummer in Colorado, where he got to back blues legend Lightnin Hopkins. Chuck was a musician, song-writer, and he was the hippest of the hip for decades. He died in July - he was 76. AUDIO Listen to the story of Chuck E Weiss |
AuthorRichard is a writer, podcaster, radio and TV broadcaster, an editor, and a lover of music. He tells the stories of how great songs are made, and of the people who make them. Archives
August 2021
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