October 2021 – Volume 45 • Number 10
Articles in October 2021
Chad and Charlie
In 2018, Charlie Watts made an appearance on Drum Channel’s The Chad Smith Show. To celebrate Watt’s imprint and impact on drumming, we are currently offering the complete interview for free at drumchannel.com, but here are a few tidbits from…
Charlie’s 50 & Counting Rehearsal Kit
We’re taking this space away from Modern Drummer readers this issue, but we hope no one will mind, because the Kit of the Month for October 2021 belonged to Charlie Watts. (We’ll showcase reader kits again starting next month—you weren’t…
DW Drums
MFG XF Double Pedal I’ve been using a DW 5000 double pedal for years. I really enjoy playing it, and it has been super reliable. I broke a spring just once. That’s the only time it needed a repair. Everything…
Charlie Watts
A Personal Remembrance and Tribute Ringo Starr and I waited at the top of his Los Angeles driveway. It was November 2006, and as noon approached, I turned to ask Ringo, “When was the last time you and Charlie saw…
RTOM
LV Mesh Drumheads I thought I was so smart. With the global pandemic surging, I drove to my rehearsal space to pack up my four-piece Yamaha kit and bring it to my home office just before lockdown. “Now, I can…
Watts Wisdom
Stone Insights from the Pages of Modern Drummer Given his stature in the drum community and his tenure in the world’s greatest rock and roll band, Charlie Watts gave few relatively interviews. For example, throughout MD’s 45 years, he only…
“The Adult in the Gang”
Photographing Charlie Watts Charlie was a real English Gentleman who brought class to the Rolling Stones as the adult in the gang. And he gave them a solid foundation to play on! As fast as rock and roll can be,…
Capturing That Charlie Vibe
As great as he was as the starship-powered engine of the Rolling Stones, Charlie Watts didn’t have a distinctly obvious drum sound on the order of John Bonham’s bombastic room rumble, or Tony Thompson’s gleefully grandiose ‘80s Power Station tracks.…
Donn Bennett’s Drum Vault
The Charlie Watts Collection Long before I ever met Charlie Watts, I was captivated by him and anything he did, said, or played. Why did this small, grey-haired gentleman sitting quietly behind the massive spectacle of the Rolling Stones command…
Charlie Watts in 1967: The Year of Experimentation
For decades, the Rolling Stones have served up their brand of raunchy, bluesy rock and roll to millions of fans around the globe. They’ve outlasted trends, age restrictions, and most of their ’60s contemporaries. To drummers, Charlie Watts represents a…
Gretsch Drums August-September 1982
“Unbeatables.” Ya think? Also, “Legends,” “Icons,” and “Badasses.” Gretsch certainly had a pair that represented all of the above—and more—for this 1982 promotional ad. Tony Williams (1945-1997) was a Gretsch user from 1959 to 1993. He used a round-badge kit…
It’s Only Rock and Roll
Welcome to a very special MD tribute to the Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts. I grew up in that era where a question like “Beatles or Stones?” sort of told you about someone. I always thought it was crazy, because although…
Don McAulay Charlie Watts’ Drum Tech
Drums are at the center of many lives, and Don McAulay seems to live in all of them. McAulay is a drummer, a woodworker, drum restorer, studio owner, vintage-drum collector, and technican for bands such as Neil Young, My Morning…
Remembering Charlie Watts
Ringo Starr Excerpted from his Change the World Press Conference Charlie Watts was a beautiful human being—a great guy and a lot of fun. He had a harder band than I did to keep together. He was like the quiet…
NEW GEAR
RenziAdvanced Heel Pedestal System Kit Founded by Berklee College of Music alumni John Renzi, the Renzi “Stomp Louder” corporation utilizes science and an “athletic” approach to drum-product research to improve performance sustainability and ergonomics. (“Drummers are athletes, as the physiological…
Buried Treasures
I Unboxed Charlie’s First Drum Kit and Other Stories from The Watts Collection It’s hard to know what to say at a time like this. Most people will mention Charlie Watt’s contribution to the world of rock drumming—which, of course,…
Charlie Watts Quartet
Four Different Collector Covers Honor the Legend The Modern Drummer staff wanted to do something ultra-special to celebrate the life and artistry of Charlie Watts, and we decided that a single cover—however great it might look—simply would not do. We…
That Seductive Charlie Watts Groove
One Style I Could Never Mimic Charlie loved music of all kinds. One of the many things we had in common. And he loved all the same drummers I did—mostly the jazz guys. But we also agreed on how great…
12 MD Cover Artists on Playing for the Song From the Modern Drummer Archives
As we honor Charlie Watts in this special tribute issue, we wanted to take a look back at how some other drummers accomplished what Watts did so brilliantly—which was create parts and arrangements that enhanced the song. A lot of…
Latin Percussion
Tommy Lee Rockstar Ridge Rider Cowbell Tommy Lee’s signature model is big. Way big. It’s loud. Crazy loud. It even looks like a rock-and roll cowbell should look, in its bright-white finish with a large red-white-black star logo under Lee’s…