“Reckless Road” by Marc Canter. Not a book about Guns N’ Roses, but a book about a deep friendship.

Reckless Road by Marc Canter is a visual documentary of the making of the best selling debut album of all time Appetite For Destruction released in July of 1987 by Guns N’ Roses. Reckless Road is the only book ever released authorized by all 5 original members of Guns N’ Roses: Steven Adler, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan, Slash and Axl Rose.

The author, Marc Canter, is a third generation owner of the landmark Canter’s Deli in the Fairfax District. Canter’s, originally in Boyle Heights, moved to the Fairfax District after World War 2, converting a Yiddish movie theater into a delicatessen. In the 1960′s, an adjacent area became the infamous Kibitz Room where The Doors, Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell and in later years Guns N’ Roses played. Canters Deli was bestowed a Historical Landmark by the city of Los Angeles.

Before Marc was to take the helm of the family business at Canter’s, Marc, as a young kid, becomes an avid collector of sports cards and signed memorabilia. Later, as a teenager, his sports obsession turns to music. When Marc entered the 5th grade, he met and became friends with a shy, multi-racial classmate from England named Saul Hudson who went by the nickname of Slash. Like Marc, who was deeply rooted in the family business and the surrounding culture so too is Slash. Slash’s family is deeply rooted in the arts and its surrounding culture. His father was an album cover designer and mom was a renowned fashion designer. At 14, Slash’s maternal grandmother, an artist as well, gave him his first guitar. The life long friendship between Marc and Slash is based on this similarity, but above all, it is the shared love of music.

Throughout their teenage years, Slash joined many bands. In 1985, along with Axl Rose, he created Guns N’ Roses, and Marc is right there capturing every moment with his camera. He attends every rehearsal, gig and band meeting. During this time, money was scarce for Slash and his bandmates. The costs to play and promote a band in clubs are high. Often times, Marc would step in and buy unsold tickets to please the promoters, print flyers needed to advertise a gig and even feed them a meal at Canter’s. It is common knowledge, if it were not for Marc Canter, Guns N’ Roses might have never existed or would have faded into oblivious like so many others. Marc is considered the unseen 6th member of Guns N’ Roses. Slash describes Marc as his best friend and the only person who has remained constant in his life.

As seen in Reckless Road, Marc’s hobbies of photography and collecting memorabilia have served him well. He has amassed one of the biggest rock n’ roll memorabilia collections of its kind. Along with the photographs of the band, Marc includes pictures of the unique memorabilia and is one of the highlights the book.  Reckless Road is narrated by interviews of the people who were closest to Guns N’ Roses and tells many of the infamous stories of the band firsthand.

The stories are all true and are meticulously documented. The photos are vast and every picture tells a story. It is a must read, not just for Guns N’ Roses fans, but for anybody who enjoys a great story, amazing photos, who root for the underdog or just want a voyeuristic glimpse into the underworld of the gritty 1980′s Hollywood music scene.

Reckless Road is not another biography of a band. It is chronological uprise of one of biggest and most controversial bands of all time told by insiders. Winner of the 2008 Best Pop Culture Book by the Independent Publishers Association, Reckless Road has been called by critics and fans as definitive, unique, raw and honest.

This piece was written by Patricia Degen, Writer/Agent.

Taken at Marc’s wedding.

Slash:

“Marc’s my best friend and one of the only good friends that is consistent in my life. There isn’t a better person to actually release any material having to do with the coming together and history of Gun’s N’ Roses, Where it went and what was going on behind the scenes.”

Duff McKagan:

“When Gun’s N’ Roses formed, Marc became like the sixth guy in the band. He believed in us from the beginning and had a much broader view of what the band was about than even we had. He documented the whole thing tirelessly.”

I’ve been a rock n’ roll fanatic since the age of 10.

I’m a rabid Stones, Aerosmith, GNR fan… to name a few.

I must have literally hundreds of book on these bands and others. Stacked on the floor 5 feet high in my study. I need a bookcase. Seriously.

I will say Reckless Road is by far one of, if not THE best book ever done on a band. Period.

I don’t care whether you like Guns N’ Roses.

I don’t care if you’ve ever bought any of their albums.

I don’t care if you’ve never seen them in concert.

You must buy this book. It’s beautifully written and exquisitely designed. The passion and love Marc has put into this book pours out of every page, every never before seen photo, every never heard before story. The memorabilia is mind blowing.

I own this wonderful print from the book I bought from Marc.

Marc believed so deeply in this band, he could only be described as a visionary.

This is a must own book. Stop reading this post and go buy it. Or go buy a print from the book.

Thank you Marc. This book is a treasure.

Check out the trailer. http://marccanter.com/trailer.html

RN’FR.

Gary Rocks

 

….Off we go to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame for the “Rolling Stones: 50 Years Of Satisfaction” exhibit.

Suffice to say when THE Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame called me and asked if I’d be interested in putting some of my collection on loan for the upcoming “Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction” exhibit, I was freakin’ blown away.

Let me think about it….Aaaaaah, YES! YES! YES!

So, off I went to pack up and say goodbye to my babies for the next two years. I mean seriously, how do you say no to this???

Sniff, sniff….separation anxiety is beginning to set in.

“Bye, bye kids….Call me every once in awhile and let me know you’re okay.”

“Okay?”

Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction will be the Museum’s first ever major exhibition capturing the band’s legendary career spanning more than 50 years.  It will include personal items and extraordinary collections that have never been seen before by the public. The exhibit will be open till March 2014.

“The Rolling Stones are the epitome of rock and roll,” said Greg Harris, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “This first-ever exhibit gives us an opportunity to tell the story of one of the definitive rock and roll bands. The experience should be on every music fan’s destination list this summer.”

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum presents Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction will be a comprehensive retrospective exhibit that chronicles the band from the mid-1960s until today.  The exhibit, which takes up two-and-a-half floors of the Museum, will celebrate the Rolling Stones’ incredible contribution to popular music from their earliest days playing small clubs, to their era-defining recordings such as “Gimme Shelter,” “Paint It Black,” “Jumping Jack Flash,” “Tumbling Dice,” “It’s Only Rock And Roll” and sold-out global tours. Through the use of artifacts, film, text and interactive technology, generations of music fans will have the opportunity to get up close and personal with rare items from nearly every aspect of the Stones’ astonishing five decades at the top.

Throughout the exhibition’s run, the Museum will host a range of free public programs that explore the significance and legacy of the Rolling Stones, including interviews, films, and special lectures.

http://rockhall.com/exhibits/rolling-stones-50-years-of-satisfaction/

These are the hand picked pieces from my collection the Hall Of Fame chose to exhibit and that will be traveling around the country.

Mick’s handwritten marketing notes for “Tattoo You.”

Keith’s Bobby Lee guitar strap used during The 1975 “Tour Of The Americas.”

Keith’s linen pirate shirt worn on tour during the mid 70′s and in the “Respectable” video.

Keith’s leopard lined leather jacket from the 70′s.

Cockroaches t-shirt and stub from the Stones secret gig at Sir Morgan’s Cove in 1981.

Mick’s handwritten selections for singles from “Tattoo You.”

Mick’s handwritten rehearsal set list for the Sir Morgan’s Cove show.

and the letter back….. pretty cool.

Finally….after many years I’ve added some Who to what I’ve been collecting..

The photos here are from a recent purchase that came from Ken White. He was given the above items from Alan Smith who received them from Mick Bratby, member of the Who’s crew during the 1976 tour of US and Canada.

The Who Tour 1976 was The Who‘s second concert tour for their The Who By Numbers album.

After spending most of the last three months of 1975 supporting The Who By Numbers, the group again embarked on a series of tours in 1976, with two stints in North America and several shows in the United Kingdom and Europe. The group added “Slip Kid” to the act in February-March, playing to a backing tape recording much like with “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again“, but it was dropped from the act after eight shows; otherwise “Squeeze Box“, and “Dreaming from the Waist” were the only songs the band played from the new album, while they continued to do a lengthy Tommy selection as in 1975.

“The Who By Numbers” tour poster for the 1976 tour.

1976 was also drummer Keith Moon’s final year touring with the band, as the London performances on 15 December, 1977 at Kilburn and 25 May, 1978 at Shepperton Studios weren’t actually part of any tours, but rather were special shows filmed specifically for inclusion in The Kids Are Alright film.

The first show of the group’s first North American tour of the year in Boston began disastrously, (figures, my home town) with Moon collapsing on stage after only two numbers, forcing a makeup performance three weeks later. Lead singer Roger Daltrey explained that Moon was very ill, adding “Why do our tours always start like this,” obviously referring to the incident at the Cow Palace during the first show of their 1973 North American tour, when Moon also collapsed.

I had friends that went to this show and are still pissed off.

The band’s second North American trip featured Moon’s final U.S. concert at the Seattle Center Coliseum in Seattle, Washington on 14 October, as well as his final concert before a paying crowd at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on 21 October. The group would not perform at all between the Toronto and Kilburn shows, the only band activity during that time being early sessions for Who Are You.

A crew jacket bearing the Indian logo for the tour.

1966 The Rolling Stones Tour of Britain. And another great signed program.

The Rolling Stones‘ 1966 British Tour was a concert tour by the band. The tour commenced on September 23 and concluded on October 9, 1966.

I’ve been fortunate to have been able to pick up my second signed program from the 1966 tour, the first being the American tour seen below.

The newest is from the 1966 British tour with a beautiful clean set of signatures on the “A Biography By Charlie Watts” page inside the program. Artwork by of course, Charlie Watts.

I usually end up buying another program to frame up with the one I have signed. I was attracted to this set and example because of the page they decided to sign on. The signatures are large and super clean.

It’s hard to find items from the early days signed on white background, lighter paper or album. Most of the Stones early album covers were all pretty much dark and black making it difficult for them to sign in pen on the covers. It was also hard to sign over the dark photos.

So most of the early signed Stones albums you see are usually signed on the back.

Depending on much text was on the reverse of the album, usually a lot, will often effects how appealing the signatures are and how clean they appear to be. This can also be a huge factor in determining value. It’s why signed albums are the most rare of all signed items. Really great ones are just super hard to find.

Remember, there were no sharpies in the 60′s.

Peace and happy hunting.

Gary Rocks

The lost art of bass drum head design. Bring back 70′s, 80′s and hell, might as well bring back the 20′s.

So about a year or so ago I had the pleasure of being able to buy a few drum heads from Joey Kramer’s collection. After I purchased them, I became obsessed with buying drum heads.

It occurred to me what a lost art form this in fact was.

When you think about it, it’s really one of the first forms of music marketing. A logo or design that sits on the bass drum acts like a billboard for the band. Something to recognize and identify with the band. Something that can also be used in printed materials, press releases, posters and merchandising.

You’d be hard pressed to find anyone, music fanatic or not that couldn’t identify The Beatles logo that sat on Ringo’s drum head.

The evolution of the art of the bass drum head dates back to the early days of the 20′s and 30′s jazz, and blues bands as well as college and high school marching bands. Clubs and organizations also emblazoned their names and designs on their marching drums to parade throughout the cities and towns they lived in.

Before the classic Beatles logo we all know, here’s a photo of Ringo with another kit. Check out the bass drum.

This was Ringo’s Premier kit used when he first joined The Beatles and at the end of his tenure with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.

Above are perhaps some of the greatest drummers in the world of rock with their classic kits. Ginger, Keith and Bonzo.

All have their own distinctive drum kits and unique bass drum designs.

The drummers of the 80′s metal bands were clearly influenced by their drum heroes and decided like their music, would pushed the boundaries of drum design.

My “Use Your Illusion” Tour drum head signed by Matt Sorum is the ultimate in 80′s skull and death design.

Here’s Matt with my latest purchase. A signed drum head from the last GNR tour.

 

Then again, sometimes a drum head doesn’t need a fancy design or logo. Sometimes just a nice sentiment does the trick.

Or even this….

Famed Rock Photographer Herb Greene and Led Zeppelin Make A Little History.

LED ZEPPELIN: JANUARY 1969

“Led Zeppelin, the Jeff Beck Group, Procol Harum – those people sought me out to take their photos, and I never figured out why. I found the British guys fun to work with. It was something entirely different, but it could be very difficult. You couldn’t understand a word anybody said!”

By January 1969, Herb Greene’s gift for rock portraiture was well established in the circles that mattered. As the man behind some of the most iconic images associated with the San Francisco rock’n'roll explosion, his classy touch was world-renowned. Thus, countless musical personages, local, national and international, sought out the photographer, riding the freight elevator to his workshop atop an old one-time opera house in the Western Addition ghetto. The space was shared with underground filmmaker and light show auteur Ben van Meter, as well as the printing presses of Underground Comix. This period was to produce some of Greene’s best and most celebrated work, and in cases such as this Led Zeppelin shoot, capture a never-to-be-repeated zeitgeist. They had asked promoter Bill Graham about Herb, having been impressed by his pictures of the Jeff Beck Group.

“The stuff that came out of that studio, once it was printed, was spectacular. Out of the Jeff Beck Group sitting, I got the cover of Rolling Stone, which was pretty phenomenal. But the window light and stuff required a lot of work in the darkroom. Bill Graham got me the commission to do Led Zep, he recommended me. It was their first US tour. So they showed up and I really didn’t know whom they were. I mean, I knew who the Yardbirds were, but I had no idea that this was the “new” Yardbirds.”

When the final line-up of the Yardbirds splintered in the summer of 1968, guitarist Jimmy Page had a mandate to fulfill the groups outstanding concert commitments, and to do so, he ended up assembling what would prove to be a crack team from quite unexpected sources. Though the bassist was an unknown quantity outside the UK, John Paul Jones was a first call session player, the British equivalent of Motown’s James Jamerson. Singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham were more obscure musicians from the Midlands, who had toiled in unexceptional beat groups up until Page tagged them for what was dubbed Led Zeppelin. Page himself had a burgeoning reputation as a player in the United States, largely due to the huge influence of the Yardbirds.

This then was the quartet that would evolve into the true behemoth of 70s rock and become the most successful British group of the era, surpassing even at one point the sales of the Beatles. But these shots depict a different Led Zeppelin. A freshly-minted troupe, who had yet to establish their hard-rocking credentials with the American audience. A relatively innocuous aggregation, some way from hosting the debauched bacchanals of future legend. That January, the unknown Zeppelin was in San Francisco on their first US tour to open for Country Joe & The Fish at Bill Graham’s Fillmore West. Coincidentally, that weekend also saw the release of their eponymous debut album, a signal record in the evolution of rock during the coming decade.

Greene’s portraits convey a remarkable innocence, despite the somewhat bleary-eyed look of the musicians; unsurprising perhaps for a session held within a grueling winter slog across the States. Interestingly, the group’s members are not decked out in the Kings Road-Carnaby Street finery of their stage get-up, although one can espy a lacy stage top beneath Robert Plant’s tightly buttoned velvet jacket. Instead, they sport basic on-the-road attire, and in fact the frosty temperature of San Francisco in winter sees Page take to wearing the lengthy greatcoat that would soon be the virtual uniform of many male British rock fans in the 1970s. Nevertheless, these are still some of the most revealing photographs of Led Zeppelin every taken. Four men on the cusp of rock’n'roll immortality, captured for posterity by the knowing lens of Herb Greene.

THOSE WESTERNERS AND THEIR GUNS . . .

On paper, the unexpected and impromptu appearance of the Grateful Dead at Herb Greene’s photo shoot with a youthful Led Zeppelin in January 1969 seems like a fairly momentous prospect. East meets west: a tantalizing summit between two of the heaviest pied pipers of their particular rock generation. Except, at the time that they crossed paths in Herb’s studio, neither act was anywhere near such a status. Jimmy Page might have previously experienced the San Francisco mindset as a Yardbird, and Robert Plant, at least, was already something of an avowed Friscophile. For their part, the Grateful Dead were no doubt aware of Zeppelin’s pedigree. But as Greene himself suggests, the meeting was neither as fortuitous nor as gratifying as it would have been just a few years later. As raunchy and unfettered as Zeppelin’s rock may have come across in concert, the group’s collective personality was cowed when confronted with the freewheeling, libertarian West Coast mindset of the Dead.

“The session was rolling along when I got a phone call. It was Rock Scully, telling me, “we got a new band member [Tom Constanten], so we need a picture right now – we’re downstairs!” I had photographed the Dead just before then, Jerry with a knife and all that stuff. It was that nice set of portraits. I told him that I was kinda in the middle of something, but they came up anyway. My set-up was in a very large room, almost half a block long. There was a row of theater seats at one end that Ben Van Meter had set up, so you could sit and look across the room to a screen. Pigpen was wearing a little .22 revolver, in a holster, and he pulled it out and started firing it off into the theater seats. I guess I was almost done with the session when all this happened, because it was pretty disruptive, ha ha! Actually, it freaked Zeppelin out. They exclaimed, “these westerners and their guns!” In fact, Led Zeppelin got so distracted, that they quickly left and didn’t pay me.”

“In retrospect, when the Dead called, I maybe thought OK, this is great, hands across the seas, we’ll have a party but that didn’t happen. The Dead didn’t want to hang out, they were just there to get a photograph. There was no interaction at all between them, no curiosity. Garcia didn’t want to talk to Page, and I don’t think Led Zeppelin even knew whom the Grateful Dead were. They were definitely not like how they would be on their subsequent tours, trashing hotel rooms and shit. Had it had been then, they probably would have pulled out their own guns and joined in the fun. It could have been a really nifty thing, but it turned out to be a fiasco. Which is OK, because I didn’t get paid but I got these pictures of Led Zeppelin, and in the pictorial history of Led Zeppelin, there’s nothing even close.”

There aren’t many bands that deserve this kind of attention. Led Zeppelin deserves it.

This is an incredible opportunity to buy and own a little piece of rock n’ roll history. I’ve seen these prints and they are nothing short of breathtaking.

Greene’s ability to capture the innocence of this “fresh new band,” that would eventually go on to change the course of rock music as we know it, is remarkable.

Clearly they are all a bit uncomfortable in front of the camera.

I’m sure they were not completely clear on what all this fuss around them is about.

We would all know soon enough.

For more information about this portfolio, contact Eric Luden.

Eric Luden – Founder/Owner
Digital Silver Imaging
eric@digitalsilverimaging.com
www.digitalsilverimaging.com
617-489-0035

 www.ledzeppelinportfolio.com 

Peace and Love. Ringo Starr and his All Star Band come to Boston.

On June 19th, Ringo Starr and his 2012 All Star Band brought their message of “Peace and Love” to Boston.

It is was an incredible show.

The All Star band featured, Steve Lukather (Toto), Gregg Rolie (Journey, Santana), Richard Page (Mr. Mister), Todd Rundgren, Mark Rivera, (Billy Joel), and drummer Gregg Bissonette.

I was lucky enough to score 2 backstage passes thanks to my friends John DeChristopher from Zildjian and Jeff Chonis, who has been Ringo’s personal drum tech for the past 22 years.

Thanks guys.

Backstage was a mad house as you could imagine. Every local music big wig was there waiting to catch a glimpse or get a chance or a picture with the legendary Billy Shears.

For most that didn’t happen.

But we did hang out until Ringo made his way to the stage.

I had incredible seats. 4th row center.

Here are some photos from my seat.

“Welcome To My Jungle.” Some rare Guns N’ Roses memorabilia.

I’ve been fortunate in my years in advertising to have met some pretty cool people.

Like say, Slash for instance.
I’ve always been a HUGE Guns N’ Roses and Slash fan.
Their critically acclaimed debut album “Appetite for Destruction” is still one of my top five favorite rock albums.
Most if not all critics agree it set the bar for heavy metal rock in the 80′s.

I just finished up a TV campaign for the L.A. Zoo promoting a new exhibit called The Lair in which Slash and the venerable wise cracking octogenarian, Betty White starred.
We shot 5 different TV spots over the course of a day at the zoo.
They were both a joy to work with.

And Slash is the real deal.
The rock icon you would expect him to be.
But down to earth and soft spoken.
A true gentleman.

I was completely beside myself.

I happened to have a few rare GNR items in my collection, one I brought along to the TV shoot to have Slash sign for me.
An original ticket and flyer, circa 80′s, from one of their gigs at the famed Troubadour in West Hollywood.
The band’s stomping ground and where they played several of their most memorable performances.

Here are a few pictures from the shoot, as well as some other rare items from my collection.

 

I’d like to thank Buddy and Ringo the two that started this obsession.

About a year ago, the marketing communications company I work for Allen & Gerritsen, was contacted by a potential client to do some Audience Research, that client was Zildjian Cymbals.

Suffice to say a music junkie, hack drummer, a Ringo wannabee like myself was insanely excited about doing work, any work, for a brand like this.
A brand I’d had grown up with.
Those like me who for the first time saw Ringo Starr sitting behind his Ludwig kit on the Ed Sullivan show back in 1964, were watching him play Zildjian cymbals.
I was nine at the time.
The day after their performance on national television, Zildjian was back ordered 90,000 cymbals.

And so it began.

My birthday present.

A few years later I was fortunate enough to be sitting stage side with my parents, age 13, watching one of the greatest, if not THE greatest drummer that ever lived play live at the legendary Lennie’s On The Turnpike, Buddy Rich.
This was 1968, roughly 4 years after The Beatles now historical performance.
And yes, he was playing Zildjian cymbals too.

It was then I realized only the best, the greatest, play Zildjian.
Little did I know back then, this would never change.

This photo above is Buddy at Lennie’s. It may even be the show I was at. He played there a few times.

I took the program from that night up to him, ask him to sign it for me, he gave me that “Kid get the $*&# outta my way look”, but signed it anyway. He must have thought why the hell is this little kid here.
From what I remember, there weren’t too many 13 year olds in the audience.

I was in heaven.
He was my hero.
That signed program is long gone.
I recently bought myself this signed scrap of paper and some photos from a concert in Toronto back in 1971 for my collection.

Strange as a kid I was obsessed with what was then, and still now a big band jazz drummer like Buddy Rich.
My grandfather played the sax, loved big band music and jazz and would often play for me.
Maybe that’s where this connection to this kind of music came from.
But thinking back, it still seems kind of strange to me.

I eventually found out all my heroes played Zildjian cymbals.
Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell, some of the greatest drummers of our time and my life all played this brand.
And so I wanted to play them as well.
I took drum lessons for years, had recitals, my song was “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock.
I eventually was able to play by ear, pick up the beat of a song by listening to it a few times, started my own band, jammed with friends through high school, but never became the drummer I wanted to be.
So I sold my drums, cymbals and all and headed off to art school in 1973.
Looking back, probably a smart move.

Here’s a drum head with the name of my high school band, Sponge Armor.
Recreated by my daughter, Alyssa.
Thanks pal.

Fast forward 37 years, and now this brand is back in my life.
Damn, it feels good.

But what makes this even better today, are the amazing people I’ve met at Zildjian over the course of this relationship.

Here’s a picture of Ringo’s concert used drumsticks from his Boston show.
A gift to me from John DeChristopher, Vice President Artist Relations & Event Marketing Worldwide at Zildjian.
Here he is with “you know who” the night of the show.

Doesn’t get any better than this does it?

Charlie Watts. Gentleman, Artist, Horse Breeder, Cricket Fanatic, Jazz bandleader and one of the world’s greatest drummers.

Charles Robert “Charlie” Watts (born 2 June, 1941) is an English drummer best known as a member (from January 1963 through the present) of The Rolling Stones. He is a jazz bandleader, record producer, commercial artist and horse breeder. Mick Jagger sometimes refers to Watts as “The Wembley Whammer” when introducing him during concerts.

Charlie Watts was born to a lorry driver for a precursor of British Rail and his wife at University College Hospital, London, and raised (along with his sister Linda) in Islington and then Wembley. He attended Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School from 1952 to 1956; as a schoolboy, he displayed a talent for art, cricket and football.

Watts’s parents gave him his first drum kit in 1955; he was interested in jazz, and would practice drumming along with jazz records he collected. After completing secondary school, he enrolled at Harrow Art School (now the University of Westminster), which he attended until 1960. After leaving school, Watts worked as a graphic designer for an advertising company, and also played drums occasionally with local bands in coffee shops and clubs. In 1961 he met Alexis Korner, who invited him to join his band, Blues Incorporated. At that time Watts was on his way to a sojourn working as a graphic designer in Denmark, but he accepted Korner’s offer when he returned to London in February 1962.

Watts played regularly with Blues Incorporated as well as working at the advertising firm of Charles, Hobson, and Grey. It was in mid-1962 that Watts first met Brian Jones, Ian “Stu” Stewart, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who also frequented the London rhythm and blues clubs; but it wasn’t until January 1963 that Watts finally agreed to join the Rolling Stones.

Watts has been involved in many activities outside his high-profile life as a member of the Rolling Stones.
In 1964, he published a cartoon tribute to Charlie Parker entitled Ode to a High Flying Bird.

Although he has made his name in rock, his personal tastes focus on jazz; in the late 70s, he joined Ian “Stu” Stewart in the back-to-the-roots boogie-woogie band Rocket 88, which featured many of the UK’s top jazz, rock and R&B musicians. In the 1980s, he toured worldwide with a big band that included such names as Evan Parker, Courtney Pine, and Jack Bruce, who was also a member of Rocket 88. In 1991, he organized a jazz quintet as another tribute to Charlie Parker. 1993 saw the release of Warm And Tender, by the Charlie Watts Quintet, which included vocalist Bernard Fowler. This same group then released Long Ago And Far Away in 1996. Both records included a collection of Great American Songbook standards. After a successful collaboration with Jim Keltner on The Rolling Stones’ Bridges to Babylon, Charlie and Jim released a techno/instrumental album called simply Charlie Watts/Jim Keltner Project. Featuring the names of his favourite jazz drummers, Charlie stated that even though the tracks bore such names as the “Elvin Suite” in honor of the late Elvin Jones, Max Roach and Roy Haynes, they were not copying their style of drumming, but rather, capturing a feeling by those artists. Watts At Scott’s was recorded with his group, The Charlie Watts Tentet, at the famous jazz club in London, Ronnie Scott’s. In April 2009 he started to do concerts with “The ABC&D of Boogie Woogie” together with pianists Axel Zwingenberger and Ben Waters plus his childhood friend Dave Green on bass.

Besides his musical creativity, he contributed graphic art to early records such as the Between the Buttons record sleeve and was responsible for the famous 1975 tour announcement press conference in New York City. The band surprised the throng of waiting reporters by driving and playing “Brown Sugar” on the back of a flatbed truck in the middle of Manhattan traffic; a gimmick AC/DC copied later the same year, Status Quo repeated the trick for the 1984 video to “The Wanderer” and U2 would later emulate it in the 2004 video for “All Because of You”. Watts remembered this was a common way for New Orleans jazz bands to promote upcoming dates. Moreover, with Jagger, he designed the elaborate stages for tours, first contributing to the lotus-shaped design of that 1975 Tour of the Americas, as well as the 1989–1990 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour.

There are many instances where Jagger and Richards have lauded Watts as the key member of The Rolling Stones. Richards went so far as to say in a 2005 Guitar Player magazine interview that the Rolling Stones would not be, or could not continue as, the Rolling Stones without Watts. An example of Watts’s importance was demonstrated in 1993, after Bill Wyman had left the band. After auditioning several bassists, Jagger and Richards asked Watts to choose the new bass player; he selected the respected session musician Darryl Jones, who had previously been a sideman for both Miles Davis and Sting.

In 1989, the Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the July 2006 issue of Modern Drummer, Watts was voted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame along with Steve Gadd, Keith Moon, Buddy Rich and other highly esteemed drummers.

Charlie Watts plays Gretsch drums and a variety of brands of cymbals, mostly UFIP. His drums are 1956-7 Gretsch Round Badge: a 22″ (56 cm) bass drum, a 16″ (41 cm) floor tom, a 12″ (30 cm) tom and a 5-by-14-inch (13 cm × 36 cm) snare drum. Cymbals he is known to use include: an 18″ UFIP Natural Series Fast China, a UFIP Rough Series China with rivets, a very old UFIP Flat Ride, an Avedis Zildjian Swish, and a very old set of hi-hats, brand unknown.