The Rolling Stones

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Here is a brief history of my association with the Rolling Stones.

In July of 1989,  I recieved a phone call from a chap by the name of Chuch Magee. He told me that he was the drum technician for Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones.  I looked at the phone in utter disbelief !  I asked him to repeat himself . He said that he was looking for a vintage Gretsch bass drum . He had  called several drum shops around the country, and a shop in St. Louis had mentioned my name and give him the phone number of my shop.

He was specifically looking for a Gretsch round badge 1960's drum in the 14 x 22 " size. It needed to be finished in a natural clear maple color. Gretsch did make natural finish drumsets,  but these are exceedingly rare!  I told him that I had a Gretsch bass drum from that era in that size. But it would need to be stripped of it's plastic finish,  and painted to match Charlie's drums. I sent the shell down to Ward Wilson, a drum refinisher who used to work at the Atlanta Pro Drumshop in Atlanta, Georgia. He sent the drum back to me a month later, and I took the drum up to Philadelphia . The Stones had rented out the crumbling J.F.K. football stadium to do full scale dresss rehearsal . I was allowed to pass through the security gate, and was brought up on the big stage to meet Charlie and crew.

I feel the need at this time to explain a little bit of history concerning Charlie's maple kit. Prior to 1978, Charlie had been using a Gretsch kit finished in Black Nitron. Charlie loved this kit and did not want to see it damaged by rigorous use on the road. When it came time to do the rehearsals for the "Some Girls" tour of 1978, the Rolling Stones were using the  SIR (Studio Instrument Rental of NYC) rehearsal facilities. A Gretsch set was brought in by one of the younger roadies that worked for SIR since they could not locate a vintage Gretsch kit in their vast inventory. This kit was an original Gretsch maple kit, but it had seen lots of use. There were scratches and cigarette burns all over the drums. The bass drum had extra holes drilled into it, and the tom holders were missing.

Charlie fell in love with this kit. Arrangements were made to purchase the kit from SIR. Along with the three Gretsch maple drums, there was a chrome Ludwig 6 1/2 X 14" Supersensitive model snare drum. This drumset has been used by Charlie ever since then. Some of the drum heads that were on the drums in 1978 are still on the drumset.  

When I met Charlie in 1989, the 14X22" bass drum from his beloved Gretsch Black Nitron kit, was being kept on a drum case behind his main drumset, as a backup. The refinished 14X22" bass drum that I brought to Philadelphia was intended to replace the Black Nitron bass drum. It is still there today. If you were to go behind Charlie's drumset today, you would find my drum perched on a drum case ready for action. Surprisingly, this drum has been used in many Stone's videos. In the video for the song "Rock And A Hard Place" , Charlie can be seen playing this bass drum and a snare drum. In the live video for the "Voodoo Lounge" tour, there is a "unplugged" set, Charlie is playing this bass drum and a snare drum in that set.

When I met Charlie in September of 1989, I brought along a Gretsch Green Sparkle drumset. Sizes were: 14X22" bass drum, 9X13" rack tom, and a matching 5 1/2X14" snare drum. Charlie fell in love with this drumset and asked me if I could have the hardware goldplated for him. I was able to find a plating service in Nashville Tennessee (Advanced Plating) and a month later I sent the completed drums to Charlie. This Green Sparkle drumset was featured in a photospread in the RYTHMN  drum magazine.