We sadly lost two legendary musicians last week with the passing of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts (80) and singer Don Everly (84).
Charlie was the most interesting of the Stones as he was so unlike the other members of the band, avoiding the limelight whenever possible. He seemed almost normal. It is remarkable that with all the mayhem that was going on around him, Charlie appeared so calm and unaffected and looked upon proceedings with little more than a wry smile.
He was also always well-dressed, not something you normally associate with the Stones. The BBC called him "cool, calm and decidedly dapper." He even made it to Vanity Fair's "Best Dressed Hall of Fame"
In the Stones' early TV appearances you never saw much of Charlie, the cameramen understandably honing in on Mick Jagger and to a lesser extent Brian Jones and Keith Richards.
Happily married since 1964, Charlie eschewed the hedonistic lifestyle to which some succumbed, despite having groupies chasing him.
He suffered one dark period in the mid 1980s in what he called a "mid-life crisis" when he battled with drugs and alcohol. "It got so bad," he recalled "that even Keith Richards, bless him, told me to get it together."
Charlie was the backbone of the band with his faultless drumming, but was probably the least known. He possessed incredible stamina performing in all those concerts without missing a beat especially as he got older. He was also present at every Rolling Stones studio session.
Singer Joan Jett summed up Charlie nicely, calling him "The most elegant and dignified drummer in rock 'n roll".
Charlie's punch line
Charlie usually avoided confrontations with anyone, but on one celebrated occasion in the mid 1980s he felt compelled to stand up to Jagger.
Late one night an allegedly inebriated Jagger phoned Charlie in his hotel room waking him up and demanding "where's my drummer?" Charlie was furious at being summoned in such a manner. He got up, put on a suit and tie and proceeded to Jagger's room where he punched the singer in the face saying "Don't ever call me your f------ drummer again. You're my f------ singer!"
The jazzman
Charlie's first love was jazz and he was rightly proud of his own big band the 33-piece Charlie Watts Orchestra and also his jazz quintet which performed at Ronnie Scott's in Soho.
When he was a guest on Desert Island Discs it was not surprising that Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington were among his selections. But his eclectic taste included Fred Astaire, The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams and Igor Stravinsky's Dance of the Coachmen & Grooms.
Sixes and sevens
Don Everly's death sparks memories of sublime harmonies of the Everly Brothers. Even my mum would sing along to All I Have To Do Is Dream, a huge hit in 1957. However my favourite was Cathy's Clown which I always associate with Henley on Thames.
In June 1960 my school was playing cricket against Henley Grammar. I was only 13 and batting like a nervous kitten against frightening fast bowling. However, with eyes closed, a wild top edge slog saw the ball somehow plop over the boundary for my first-ever six. It was a huge relief when I was out and happily headed off the pitch. While trudging off I was greeted by the sounds of Cathy's Clown which came blasting through from a spectator's radio on the boundary. I will forever associate it with that brief but eventful innings in Henley.
Scruffy brilliance
Back to the Stones. When they first surfaced in the early 1960s they were dubbed the bad boys of pop music as opposed to the relatively clean-cut Beatles. They looked kind of scruffy (except for Charlie) and their music went along with that image, scruffy, earthy, raw, but quite brilliant. My parents hated them, but then so did everybody's parents, which of course made the Stones even more popular amongst us teenagers.
But these "long-haired louts" as one judge splendidly described them, were hated even more by the Establishment, especially the police who were determined to nail them. In 1965 bassist Bill Wyman, Jagger and Jones were fined after peeing in public against a wall when they were denied access to a toilet. The judge was not impressed by Wyman's "weak bladder" defence.
Arise, Sir Mick
Jagger and Richards were frequent targets of the police and ended up getting jail sentences in 1967 on minor drugs charges. This prompted uproar as they were widely perceived as scapegoats. Even the Times, a pillar of the Establishment, was outraged and came out with a damning editorial entitled "Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel?" which actually would have made a good Stones' song title. The Appeals Court quashed the sentences in a bid to defuse the situation.
Who would have guessed that 35 years later Jagger would be on his way to Buckingham Palace to be knighted by the Queen? Funny old world, isn't it?
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