Bang The Drum Slowly

 It took fifty years for the Grim Reaper to catch up to the Rolling Stones. The last Stone to die was Brian Jones, back in 1969. Just as the fame bus was pulling out of the station for the bad boys of the British Invasion, Mister Jones drowned in his swimming pool a month after being let go by the group he founded seven years earlier. He was a casualty of the era. Drinking, drugs and excess made him a poster boy for the live fast, die young generation. 

And then a half a century passed. In spite of legendary hedonism and nearly constant recording and touring, The core of the band remained intact. Back in 1990, bassist Bill Wyman bowed out, after nearly thirty years on the road. In 2009, he quit smoking. A healthy life choice for a man of seventy-three. Seven years later he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and he recovered. Lately, Bill has been savoring his golden years immersing himself in the comparatively mundane passions of cricket, photography, and being a recovering member of the Rolling Stones.

Mick Jagger seems to defy aging, as he approaches eighty years of rocking and rolling. He and the boys are still regularly found somewhere on the globe, playing for crowds that are made up primarily of people who were not born when the band was formed. His movie career never fully took off, but the side gigs Mick has managed to fill in his spare time have supplemented his meager rock star earnings. His career with the Rolling Stones has easily outlasted any and all of his marriages. 

Ron Wood, Mick Taylor, well, they are guitarists who have been in and out of the band, but it's Keith Richards who everyone associated with rock and roll has assumed at some point most likely made some sort of pact with Satan. Keith's legendary abuse of his mortal frame is the litmus test for all other aspiring musicians to emulate. Live hard, die young, and leave a good looking corpse used to be the standard. Keith only seems to ascribe to that first one. And yet, he lives!

Which brings us to the passing of the drummer, Charlie Watts. Just prior to stepping out on tour one more time, a health concern gave Charlie pause. He decided not to go out on the next iteration of the traveling show that has been playing stadiums and arenas for longer than most of us can remember. As the backbone of the rhythm section of one of the greatest bands to ever play through six decades, his tastes ran more toward jazz, personally. As a graphic designer, he was also responsible for creating many of iconic stages and record jackets for the band. Until he couldn't anymore. At the age of eighty, the rocking stopped. Suggesting that any of the members of the Rolling Stones stomped on the Terra would be a vast understatement. Charlie did. He rocked until he dropped. Watch for the Aloha Charlie Tour coming to your town soon.