The Full Story of When Charlie Watts Punched Mick Jagger

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( book excerpt [‘Never Call Me Your Drummer Again’]( The full story of the time Charlie Watts punched Mick Jagger, excerpted from Sympathy for the Drummer. Photo: Christopher Simon Sykes/Getty Images Do you remember where you were when Elvis died? When John Lennon was murdered? When you got the news about Prince? David Bowie? Kurt Cobain? Lux Interior? The Ramones? Chuck Berry? I was in my car when I got the news yesterday that [Charlie Watts had died](. Half a second earlier, I was marveling at the cowbell part on an oddball New Orleans R&B single, a sort of half-mambo and a marvel of Afro-Cuban rhythm, the kind of thing that dazzles me and, aside from the nominative topic of the book, inspired me to write [Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters](. Charlie knew that swing was always the thing, and while there are a million ways to do it right, there are a million guys who are never going to come remotely close. It’s like pizza — so few ingredients, and yet there are still a lot of people who fuck it up. Charlie Watts could be the guy on the pizza box saying, “You’ve tried the rest, now try the best.” And that could just as well be his bio, or at least the origin story: a [jazz drummer who could swing a battleship](, and who was more or less slumming it when he joined the Rolling Stones, but instantly catapulted them from basement blues clubs to the big time. That was in 1963. [Read The Story »]( The Latest TV Recaps • [Love Island U.K.:]( Dates, Dances, and Declarations • [Bachelor in Paradise:](Welcome to the Rilenaissance • [Nine Perfect Strangers:](Unprecedented Times • [The Real Housewives of New York City:](Tom, Dick, and Harry Dubin [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [Last Resort, Part 3: Get Out Clean A father and son are stuck indefinitely in Angola — until a relapse sets the stage for an unlikely breakthrough.]( [Candyman Is a Soulless, Didactic Reimagining Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele’s horror sequel gravely misunderstands the allure of the original and has nothing meaningful to say on its own.]( [Weep for the Beauty of Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana on the Spencer Poster As the lead in Pablo Larraín’s Spencer.]( [OnlyFans No Longer Pulling a Tumblr, Not Banning ‘Sexually Explicit’ Content The platform tweeted it has “secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community.”]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Devour pop culture with us: [Subscribe to Vulture now for unlimited access.]( Vulture Recommends We consume it all so you don’t have to. Photo: Yannis Drakoulidis • We rounded up the [best and most intriguing Netflix original movies]( for August 2021. [Read more from Vulture]( If you enjoyed reading Vulture’s daily newsletter, forward it to a friend. Or dive deeper into the Vulture universe with our other newsletters: • [1.5x Speed](: Podcast recommendations and listening notes from Nick Quah, sent every Wednesday. • [Buffering](: Joe Adalian reports on the streaming industry, sent every Thursday. • [Read Like the Wind](: Book recommendations and literary mischief by Molly Young, sent the first Tuesday of every month. • [The Housewives Institute Bulletin](: For dedicated students of the Reality TV Arts and Sciences, sent every other Friday. [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on e-mail newsletters please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 11th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2021, All rights reserved