Charlie Watts quotes

Charlie Watts was a British musician best known as the drummer for the Rolling Stones. His distinctive and steady drumming style was a crucial part of the band's sound for decades. He remains celebrated for his understated personality and immense influence on rock music. Here are 26 of his quotes:

I wanted to play drums because I fell in love with the glitter and the lights, but it wasn't about adulation. It was being up there playing. (Charlie Watts)
I hate leaving home. I love what I do, but I'd love to go home every night. View quote
Charlie Watts
The world of this is a load of crap. You get all these bloody people, so incredibly sycophantic. View quote
Charlie Watts
I think you get to a point where you watch something just to enjoy it. I don't think it's really done so that you're supposed to feel, Oh, he's the most wonderful drummer. I think the whole lot is what's more enjoyable. View quote
Charlie Watts
Rock and roll has probably given more than it's taken. View quote
Charlie Watts
When I was a kid I never learned to play. I actually got in bands through watching people play and copying them. View quote
Charlie Watts
I didn't know what the hell Charlie Parker was playing... I just liked the way he played. View quote
Charlie Watts
I never had lessons. Used to try to play to records, which I hated doing. Still can't play to them. View quote
Charlie Watts
I'm very strict with my packing and have everything in its right place. I never change a rule. I hardly use anything in the hotel room. I wheel my own wardrobe in and that's it. View quote
Charlie Watts
It doesn't really change, actually. I think The Rolling Stones have gotten a lot better. An awful lot better, I think. A lot of people don't, but I think they have, and to me that's gratifying. It's worth it. View quote
Charlie Watts
Mick's not good on his own problems, but he's very good at other people's. He's been wonderful over the years. I don't mean I ring him up every week, but he's fantastic. (Charlie Watts)
We always work at least a month to six weeks before we go on the road, usually for something like eight to 12 hours a night. It took six weeks to do it this time. We just play virtually everything we know. View quote
Charlie Watts
You need better technique than I have to play jazz, but what you have to do is the same thing, isn't it? View quote
Charlie Watts
To be able to play as slow as Al Jackson is almost impossible. View quote
Charlie Watts
It's been years and years and years I've been playing the drums, and they're still a challenge. I still enjoy using drumsticks and a snare drum. View quote
Charlie Watts
When people talk about the '60s I never think that was me there. It was me and I was in it, but I was never enamoured with all that. It's supposed to be sex and drugs and rock and roll and I'm not really like that. I've never really seen the Rolling Stones as anything. View quote
Charlie Watts
I don't like drum solos, to be honest with you, but if anybody ever told me he didn't like Buddy Rich I'd right away say go and see him, at least the once. View quote
Charlie Watts
I've seen Keith fall asleep at business meetings about millions of dollars for him-because of heroin, just nod out and then wake up and answer a question. View quote
Charlie Watts
I think it's an awful drink, to be honest with you. View quote
Charlie Watts
People say I play real loud. I don't, actually. I'm recorded loud and a lot of that is because we have good engineers. Mick knows what a good drum sound is as well, so that's part of the illusion really. I can't play loud. View quote
Charlie Watts
Usually I can hear the pianos, the saxophone, and usually I can hear Ronnie. But I really need to listen to Keith and Mick. The rest of the band is sort of an embellishment to that. (Charlie Watts)
I don't need to hear Bill to go through a song. I need to hear Keith to go through a song. I know Bill will be playing what I'm playing anyway. I need to hear Keith because it's all there: the time, the chord changes, and all the licks you have to follow. View quote
Charlie Watts
I saw Al Foster with Miles Davis the other week. It was beautiful. But, the whole thing was, Al Foster played as well as everybody else, but all of them were quite brilliant under Miles Davis' direction. View quote
Charlie Watts
You'd imagine Mick would be the happiest person in the world, and yet a lot of the times he isn't. View quote
Charlie Watts
A lot of our tracks have sounded a lot better than I thought they would because of recording, mixing, and because I probably didn't hear it that way. I'm not a songwriter. View quote
Charlie Watts

Charlie Watts

Charlie Watts - Image
Occupation: British Musician
Born: June 2, 1941
Died: August 24, 2021
Quotes count: 26

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