As you may have noticed there hasn’t been much from the Rolling Stones shared around here. I can’t say I’ve ever been a big fan, but I can’t let the death of Charlie Watts go by without a mention. When the band formed back in the early ’60s, I doubt very much if anyone expected them to be still touring and recording new music almost 60 years later, but that’s exactly what’s happened. Doing the maths, it means the original – and even the unoriginal – band members are getting on in years. Charlie made it to the grand old age of 80 and by all accounts he was a very nice man, a jazz drummer who joined a blues band and quietly got on with the job, leaving the front of house stuff to the Glimmer Twins, and Ronnie. It seems chestnut hair-dye, gaudy silk shirts and pirate-esque garb was not for Charlie, and instead he developed a penchant for fine tailoring. A good move, and very smart he always looked too. He was married to wife Shirley for 57 years, almost unheard of in the rock world, so good for them. She will be bereft.
I’m not quite sure why the Rolling Stones haven’t featured more in the ‘tracks of my years’ but much of it down to the fact I was just too young for them back in the early days and by the time I understood more of what they were about, and the themes they covered in their song lyrics, my allegiances lay elsewhere.
I do like some of their ballads however and Wild Horses has been shared around here twice before, both by them and by the The Sundays (link here). Another favourite of mine is Fool To Cry from, yes you’ve guessed it, 1976. I did say I wasn’t going to return to that year for a while but it is a beautiful song and although not too much input from Charlie on that one, I’ve enjoyed listening to it again. I remember it being one of the songs played at our local youth club as it had reached No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart that year. The good friend I’ve often mentioned around here always had to leave the hall when it came on. Perhaps it was teenage hormones, or maybe she’d just had her heart broken, but at age 16 Fool to Cry always made her cry.
There will no doubt have been a fair few tears shed by the remaining Stones today, and understandably so. They’ve had the longest of journeys in an industry where longevity is a rarity. It won’t ever be quite the same again.
Until next time…, RIP Charlie Watts.
Fool To Cry Lyrics
(Song by Keith Richards/Mick Jagger)
When I come home baby
And I’ve been working all night long
I put my daughter on my knee, and she said
“Daddy what’s wrong?”
She whispered in my ear so sweet
You know what she said?
She said
“Daddy you’re a fool to cry
You’re a fool to cry
And it makes me wonder why.”
“Daddy, you’re a fool”
You know, I got a woman
(Daddy, you’re a fool)
And she live in the poor part of town
And I go see her sometimes
And we make love, so fine
I put my head on her shoulder
She said, “Tell me all your troubles.”
You know what she said? she said
“Daddy you’re a fool to cry
You’re a fool to cry
And it makes me wonder why.”
Daddy you’re a fool to cry
Oh, I love you so much baby
Daddy you’re a fool to cry
Daddy you’re a fool to cry, yeah
She said, “Daddy you’re a fool to cry
You’re a fool to cry
And it makes me wonder why.”
She said, “Daddy you’re a fool to cry
Daddy you’re a fool to cry
Daddy you’re a fool to cry
Daddy you’re a fool to cry”
Even my friends say to me sometimes
I make out like I don’t understand them
You know what they say?
They say, “Daddy you’re a fool to cry
You’re a fool to cry
And it makes me wonder why.”
I’m a fool baby
I’m a fool baby
I’m a certified fool
I want to tell ya
Gotta tell ya, baby
I’m a fool baby
I’m a fool baby
Come on
I’m a fool
I’m a fool
I’m a fool
What's It All About? 