Rolling Stones: Charlie Watts about his drug addiction – and that of Keith Richards
Charlie Watts was not only considered an essential member of the Rolling Stones, he was also one of the best drummer of all time. He died in 2021 at the age of 80. In 1995 Rolling Stone scored the drummer for an extensive interview.
We also talked about his drug addiction – and that of Keith Richards.
At the end of the conversation there was a hard time in the life of Watts’: his drug addiction, which he-unusual for a rock star career-only developed when he was already in his fifth decade in the mid-1980s.
In your book about Charlie Parker’s life, you write about the beginning of the end of “Bird”: “Rejected, Brought Down, Hey on Outlet. He found in Bad Seeds and Rye Drinks. ” Can something like that be written about you? “No, I can’t talk myself out of that. It is true that I emitted Charlie Parker at a young age and overrun it. The terrible time in the mid -eighties was everything else from a romantic role -playing game. It seemed so harmless to start, but then it went downhill with me in an insane pace. You will soon no longer know what you are doing. Alcohol, speed, heroin, for almost two years, and in the end I almost killed myself. My marriage almost broke up, my daughter no longer recognized me. It is very difficult to read any sense afterwards. “
Keith says it has a lot to do with stupidity. “Keith needed it (laughs). But I know what he means. He was also a junkie, but at the risk that the absurd sounds: he what a sensitive junkie. In this respect, when he seemed to have his addiction under control, she did not impair his work as far as one can judge as an outsider. It was clear to me that I was over when I tipped over in the studio during a session. Keith had to help me. I never forgiven myself. But then I stopped, just like that. “
In conversation with the American Rolling Stone led Watts 2005 The different ways, such as Keith Richards and the rhythm guitarist of the Stones, Ronnie Wood, use addiction: “He ((Keith) never took too many drugs, in this regard he is very strictly looking for himself in a funny way. He set the crowd himself, and he never took too much at once. Almost everyone who did this are now dead. He could have fallen; He held the position. But he didn’t fell. He has a strong will to survive. He differs from Ronnie. Ronnie has nervous energy. When he talks to you or plays guitar, he’s fine. But he can’t do that all day long. As soon as he puts his guitar, he wants a cigarette or a drink. ”