The death of Charlie Watts this week put me in mine of an obsession I festered a few years back: Drummers!
For months, I listened to them intently at every gig I attended, trying my best to concentrate on them, tuning out the rest of the band, trying as I might to decipher how the hell they did it. In the end, all I could do was shake my head, stomp my feet to the beat, and sit in wonder at their crazy, amazing magic.
Then, by accident (or maybe guided by the speedy, ghostly hands of the Stones drummer himself), I clicked on a Netflix documentary last night, entitled "Count Me In," produced and directed by Mark Lo, that attempted to explain my fascination. And there they were, clips of my drummer heroes: Max Roach, Art Blakey, Alvin Jones, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Sandy Nelson, Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Stewart Copeland, Taylor Hawkins, Topper Headon, Nick Mason, Nicko MrBrain, Ian Paice, Chad Smith, and, of course, Charlie Watts, and a few others showing and in some cases attempting to explain just how they did it. And, of course, the answer is what I had finally determined in following my obsession way back when: It's simply crazy, amazing magic!
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