I never met Charlie or any other of the Rolling Stones but I feel fortunate as I was able to indirectly help put a rare WFL drum Charlie owned back to original shape. Charlie acquired a late 30’s WFL twin snare drum that had off-set lugs and the type of strainers that often broke at the tip. Charlie’s drum had one broken strainer and his tech, Don McAulay was looking to find a replacement strainer
Read moreCharlie Watts :-(
When I received my first snare drum in the sixth grade I played along to the 45 rpm single record of “Satisfaction” incessantly. I still, to this day, think it is the best rock and roll drum track ever recorded…and it’s nothing but quarter notes on the snare drum and bass drum! Unrelenting, pile driving, perfect timing, tempo like a metronome, simple quarter notes. It’s so simple that you wait in anticipation of a little variation -expecting him to break face. But NO.
Read moreFrom Editor George Lawrence
I have written a short piece in this issue about Charlie Watts and how he inspired and influenced me. A friend of mine, Jim Basile, said “Charlie Watts was the Mel Lewis of Rock. I can give no higher compliment. For those of you familiar with Mel Lewis, you'll understand completely. For those of you unfamiliar with Mel, you NEED to be.”
Read moreDon Mcaulay sells items from Gene Krupa's drum collection.
“Hey George. Hope you and yours are doing well. I was prepared to approach drum magazines and other publications about this historic discovery that I found for my boss, Charlie Watts in which he gave me a portion of the items as my commission. I have decided to sell some of these pieces. But the same week I finished the website the entire world went straight into lockdown.. So I’ve been waiting until the time seems right, which seems like a month from now? Would you like to show this story on NSMD? Ideally I want to present this in all the appropriate magazines at the same time so the word gets out all at once and every collector has the opportunity to purchase. check it out!”
Read moreWhat I did on my summer vacation
I finally realized one of my biggest dreams to have my picture giving Ringo a snare drum just like my Father did in the mid 60's when he presented Ringo with his gold plated Ludwig as a thank you for playing Ludwig ...what an honor and emotional event for me. I will never forget it......Thank you Ringo.!!
Read more