The Great Charlie Watts, 1941-2021

I was saddened to hear about the recent passing of Charlie Watts, the acclaimed drummer for the Rolling Stones all these years.  He was 80.  Charlie was, at I see it, a stabilizing element for the band who refused to take sides in his bandmates' squabbles while always conducting himself in public with dignity and grace.  He was dedicated to his craft and humble enough to recognize his own limitations.  He was born in 1941, which brings to my mind all those bands back in the mid-1960s like the Stones and Beatles: they're all getting old...the ones who are still left, that is.  Watts' bandmates Bill Wyman, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards were born in 1936, 1943, and 1943 respectively...Ringo Starr entered the world in 1940 and Paul McCartney in 1942.  It's going to be a sad time when all these great musicians of my childhood are gone...of course, over the last few years I've had to hear of the deaths of various artists I've followed: when you love many you also mourn many.  As for Charlie Watts, in an industry loaded with prima donnas and excessive living, here we had someone who kept to his own standards while respecting and working with others with vastly different lifestyles and attitudes: what a class act...