2023-10-07 16:23:00
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards speak with one voice when they talk regarding Charlie Watts. They agree on the devastating humor and admirable discretion of the Rolling Stones drummer. The two rock stars testify in the official biography of the anti-rock star par excellence, which will be published on October 18 by Harper Collins, two days before the release of the group’s highly anticipated 24th album, “Hackney Diamonds”. Their first unreleased record since 2005, the first also completed without their friend, who died on August 21, 2021 at the age of 80.
The author of the book, Paul Sexton, does not discuss this recording. But this English journalist who has followed the quartet for more than thirty years says a lot regarding the life of this surprising and endearing character. Started in 2020 with the latter, his story is nourished by numerous unpublished testimonies from relatives, including those of his sister Linda and his daughter Seraphina. We reveal the highlights in preview
He wasn’t a Stones fan!
In August 1962, Charles Robert Watts was a courted young jazz drummer when Mick and Keith noticed him at a London club and convinced him to join their fledgling band. But the man who was destined for a career as a draftsman and graphic designer was never a big fan of rock’n’roll and… the Rolling Stones. Unlike the woman of his life, Shirley, met in 1962, married in 1964.
“The Stones are a profession,” he summed up. I never listen to our records. » The musician never liked touring either. “I hate it,” he replied to the author during their first meeting in 1991. “My idea of work is to get up and cross the street to go to Ronnie Scott’s (famous London jazz club) , play until 3 a.m., come home and go to bed. » He regularly recounted “having resigned at the end of all tours since 1969”.
All the excesses… at 45
The Stones’ parties that hit the headlines in the 1960s and 1970s and sometimes landed them in prison? Very little for Charlie. “We never saw him at my so-called debauchery evenings,” admits guitarist Keith Richards. “I’m not that reasonable, but I refused to indulge in excess until I was 45,” says the drummer. And there I tried everything. And I almost killed myself. I don’t mean overdose, I mean I almost killed myself spiritually, almost fucked up my life. » This was in the mid-1980s, culminating during the recording of the album “Dirty Work” in Paris in 1986.
“Luckily, thanks to my wife, I stopped everything. I, who had never broken anything, broke my ankle going down to the cellar to get yet another bottle of wine at home. I was to play at Ronnie’s three months later, I was the one who organized it for the orchestra. And I said to myself: Enough, this is ridiculous. And I put the brakes on everything. » The descent into hell gave rise to a legendary scene: a beating delivered to Mick Jagger who had the audacity to say at a party: “Hey, there’s my drummer. » “I’m not your drummer, dammit,” Watts replied. You are my singer. »
A storage freak
“The life of a star did not interest my father,” relates his daughter, Seraphina, born in 1968. “My parents were not worldly, they never took on nannies to take care of me. » His godfather, Tony King, goes further: “He was completely domesticated. If you went to their house, you would find Charlie washing the dishes, making tea, yelling at the dogs, cleaning up their messes…”
His granddaughter Charlotte says that during their walks in the countryside, “he would tidy up the side of the road, chase away twigs, push stones aside, hide them in the tall grass”. “I was always convinced that he had OCD,” she continues. It was very funny to see. He was teased. I remember arriving at his house and going down to his dressing room to move a pair of socks and exchange it with another. They were arranged by color. We measured the time he took before shouting: Who touched my things? »
He had a farm in the Cévennes
In 1971, the Stones had problems with the British tax authorities. The Watts couple and their daughter Seraphina leave their property in Lews to settle in La Bourie, a farm located in Massiès, a small village in the Cévennes. Not only did they become attached to this old goat farm, but they always kept it. “The only people around are farmers,” Watts rejoiced. Occasionally we go out to dinner with friends, but not too often. To be honest, I prefer the company of dogs to that of humans. »
Their daughter Seraphina went to school in Saint-Jean-du-Gard until she was 8 years old. Charlie Watts’ last stay at Bourie took place in 2019 with his wife, daughter and son-in-law. “We were crying with laughter watching all these French films,” remembers Seraphina. “It was very nice,” adds her husband. This small farmhouse receives three TV channels, all French. Seraphina and Shirley speak French. Charlie and I don’t. »
He left “so quickly”
Charlie Watts had throat cancer, detected in June 2004, a tumor he had had for two years but which was quickly eradicated following six weeks of radiotherapy. Between the lines, we understand that it was a second cancer that caused him to die. In August 2021, the Stones announced that the “No Filter” North American tour would begin without their drummer, who had surgery and must rest. “He wasn’t feeling well,” says Jagger. “Over the last two years, he was showing the blow,” explains Richards. He really had to give his all for these concerts and he was exhausted following each one. »
In the book, the family talks regarding complications following the operation and a rapid decline without further details. “Ronnie (Wood, guitarist of the group) had had a similar illness (lung cancer) and recovered from it, so I thought it would be the same for Charlie,” says Jagger. It happened so quickly, that’s what was amazing. I was talking to him regarding the tour, the logo, and almost overnight, he was no longer there (…) Then, we simply had to continue. Well, we didn’t have to, but we felt like it was the right thing to do and Charlie himself felt like it was necessary. »
“Charlie Watts, the anti-rock star”, by Paul Sexton, Harper Collins Editions, 400 Pages, 21.90 euros.
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