Charlie's Good Tonight

Charlie's Good Tonight: The Life, the Times, and the Rolling Stones: the Authorized Biography of Charlie Watts by Paul Sexton  344 pp.

I never had the chance to see the Rolling Stones with Charlie Watts playing drums. He died just one month before the "No Filter" tour resumed after being postponed for Covid. St. Louis was the the first date of the revived tour. The concert opened with photos of Charlie throughout his career with the Stones and the crowd in the Dome went wild. After that, the Stones came out and expressed their thanks for our response saying they weren't sure what the reaction would be. That being said, here is my review of the book.

Charlie Watts was born during World War II. After the war his family lived in Wembley in one of the prefab houses that was built after the Blitz (the origin of his nickname "The Wembley Whammer").  He began drumming at thirteen when he became a big fan of jazz. His first snare drum was a banjo head he removed the neck. After working various odd jobs, he began training and working in graphic design all the while drumming for various groups in his free time. Even though he was the most unlikely musician to be a Rolling Stone, Charlie finally joined them in 1963.

Watts, who was known for his OCD, kept his possessions, including his many collections of vintage items, and his wardrobe in perfect order. While the rest of the band could frequently be found in jeans and t-shirts, Charlie wore his impeccable, custom made suits which he laid out in his hotel room at every stop on whatever tour they were doing. He made the most of the millions he earned with the group, owning real estate, investing in thoroughbred race horses which was his wife, Shirley's passion, and collecting classic automobiles which he didn't drive but liked to sit in. (Charlie had no driver's license.) 

When the Stones were not touring or recording, Watts spent his time performing jazz with other musicians for special events and occasional tours. He also survived a bout of throat cancer in 2004. His cause of death was not announced but Keith Richard mentioned cancer.

Sexton's biography covers all the important parts of Charlie's life but is occasionally dry. I listened to the audiobook read by the author who really needed someone to tell him to slow down. I sounded like he was trying to finish as fast as possible.