The Rolling Stones Were “Drooling” Over This Future Bandmate for a While Before He Finally Agreed To Join the Group

The lead singer might spend the most time in the spotlight, but anyone who has played in bands for a while knows that the drummer is the player who can make or break the group. So, it’s no surprise that The Rolling Stones were eager to find the best of the best.

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They eventually found the right drummer for the job. But in doing so, they learned a tough lesson: just because the drummer is right for the band doesn’t mean the band is right for the drummer.

The Rolling Stones Asked Charlie Watts to Join Multiple Times

Although it’s hard to imagine anyone not wanting to be in The Rolling Stones, it’s important to remember that almost every world-famous, ultra-wealthy band started out as a ragtag team of unknown musicians, trying to convince a venue to pay them enough money to pay for gas and a meal. Such is the way in the music industry. The Rolling Stones were still in that “ragtag” era when they tried to get jazz drummer Charlie Watts to join the band. Consequently, he refused.

“He was getting paid,” Keith Richards recalled to Mojo. “We weren’t. Mick [Jagger], Brian [Jones], and I had been drooling for Charlie for months. Charlie said, ‘I’d love to play with you guys. But I need a couple of regular gigs.’” The Stones spent several months building a relationship with Watts, asking him to join again, getting rejected once more, until finally, in the late winter of 1963, Watts finally gave in.

“I never did ask him that myself, ‘Why the hell did you join us, man?’” Richards reflected. “I presume it was something he heard in the music we were listening to and trying to play. Also, he had that sense of adventure. ‘I’m just going to be another jazz player in a big pond. Or I can hang with these crazy guys and see where it goes.’”

The Band Finally Found Their Missing Ingredient

The best bands are a sum of their individual parts, and The Rolling Stones were no exception. It wasn’t enough to have Keith Richards masculine guitar playing, Mick Jagger’s flamboyant on-stage personality, or Brian Jones’ instrumental prowess. Without a strong backbeat that could swing or push as the song called for it, The Rolling Stones weren’t going to scramble their way to the top of the charts. But with Charlie Watts behind the kit, they actually could.

“If it hadn’t been for Charlie, I would never have been able to expand and develop,” Keith Richards wrote in his memoir, Life. “Number one with Charlie is that he’s got great feel. He had it then, from the start. There’s tremendous personality and subtlety in his playing. He plays with humor. Charlie used to work weddings and bar mitzvahs, so he knows the schmaltz, too. It comes from starting early, playing the clubs when he was really young. A little bit of showmanship, without himself being the showman.”

Watts became The Stones’ permanent drummer on February 2, 1963, after playing with the band at the Ealing Jazz Club. The rest, as they say, is rock ‘n’ roll history.

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