"It's been years and years and years I've been playing the drums, and they're still a challenge. I still enjoy using drumsticks and a snare drum."
Read quote
86 likes
Quote collection
Charlie Watts quotes
20 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"Rock and roll has probably given more than it's taken."
Read quote
56 likes
"I've seen Keith fall asleep at business meetings about millions of dollars for him-because of heroin, just nod out and then wake up and answer a question."
Read quote
53 likes
"I wanted to play drums because I fell in love with the glitter and the lights, but it wasn't about adulation. It was being up there playing."
Read quote
27 likes
"The world of this is a load of crap. You get all these bloody people, so incredibly sycophantic."
Read quote
21 likes
"I didn't know what the hell Charlie Parker was playing... I just liked the way he played."
Read quote
20 likes
"I hate leaving home. I love what I do, but I'd love to go home every night."
Read quote
20 likes
"I don't like drum solos, to be honest with you, but if anybody ever told me he didn't like Buddy Rich I'd right away say go and see him, at least the once."
Read quote
15 likes
"I never had lessons. Used to try to play to records, which I hated doing. Still can't play to them."
Read quote
14 likes
"When people talk about the '60s I never think that was me there. It was me and I was in it, but I was never enamoured with all that. It's supposed to be sex and drugs and rock and roll and I'm not really like that. I've never really seen the Rolling Stones as anything."
Read quote
11 likes
"I never weigh myself. But if I put my trousers on and they don't do up, then I don't eat until I can."
Read quote
9 likes
"When I was a kid I never learned to play. I actually got in bands through watching people play and copying them."
Read quote
8 likes
"You need better technique than I have to play jazz, but what you have to do is the same thing, isn't it?"
Read quote
7 likes
"We always work at least a month to six weeks before we go on the road, usually for something like eight to 12 hours a night. It took six weeks to do it this time. We just play virtually everything we know."
Read quote
7 likes
"I think you get to a point where you watch something just to enjoy it. I don't think it's really done so that you're supposed to feel, Oh, he's the most wonderful drummer. I think the whole lot is what's more enjoyable."
Read quote
7 likes
"I have a very old-fashioned and traditional mode of dress. I get embarrassed, and I don't really like going to photo shoots. I don't like stylists."
Read quote
7 likes
"I'm very strict with my packing and have everything in its right place. I never change a rule. I hardly use anything in the hotel room. I wheel my own wardrobe in and that's it."
Read quote
6 likes
"To be able to play as slow as Al Jackson is almost impossible."
Read quote
5 likes
"Mick's not good on his own problems, but he's very good at other people's. He's been wonderful over the years. I don't mean I ring him up every week, but he's fantastic."
Read quote
4 likes
"It doesn't really change, actually. I think The Rolling Stones have gotten a lot better. An awful lot better, I think. A lot of people don't, but I think they have, and to me that's gratifying. It's worth it."
Read quote
4 likes