A Nice Pair: Charlie Watts

It’s Sunday which means it’s time for A Nice Pair – book and vinyl pairings that go together like the last long weekend of summer and the annual fun fair. Today we’re pairing the book Charlie’s Good Tonight: The Life, the Times and the Rolling Stones by Paul Sexton with the Rolling Stones album Let It Bleed.

Paul Sexton’s Charlie’s Good Tonight paints an intimate portrait of Charlie Watts, the famously understated drummer of the Rolling Stones. Rather than focusing on rock-and-roll excess like a lot of other musician biographies, this one highlights the grace, devotion, and understated power that shaped Charlie Watts’s life in and out of the spotlight. Through personal stories and band history, it’s a tribute to the quiet force behind the Rolling Stones.

Charlie Watts was essential to the sonic identity of Let It Bleed, the Rolling Stones’ landmark 1969 album. His understated rock-solid drumming runs through the record, giving structure and groove to the band’s raw, blues-drenched momentum. It features songs like Gimme Shelter and You Can’t Always Get What You Want.