Stones 1966 (RIP Charlie Watts)

 

The passing of Charlie Watts prompted me to revisit live footage from 1966.

1966 was my pet year at one point. I saw it as a sea-change in American culture, and the sound of music itself, darker and more brooding. 

I always liked the English Folk/World Music side of the Stones rather than the blues borrowings. I liked how Watts always played what was rhythmically (and perhaps melodically) appropriate for the song's foundation. This is what McCartney means when he says Watts was "a rock".

I love this Ready Steady Go performance from 1966. 

Instead of a backbeat on the 2 and the 4 on I Am Waiting, it's the 4 and the 1, then the "and" of 1 and the 4 for Under My Thumb, the fast 2/2 Greek/Turkish feel of Paint It Black, which interestingly was also used by The Hollies for Bus Stop. 

 

Something new was in the air in 1966.