Pencil Storm is going to endeavor to get someone much more qualified than an acoustic guitar player to write something about the death of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, but we wanted to get something up quick to mourn the passing of one of the True Legends of Rock & Roll.

I’ve been watching The Rolling Stones since before my Pencil Storm compadres Colin Gawel, JCE & Jeremy Porter WERE BORN. It would have been either the Ed Sullivan Show or possibly The Hollywood Palace that I first laid eyes on the Stones. I’ve gotta admit: it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. Charlie, Mick, Keith, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman were still knockin’ out covers of what I thought of as “50’s songs” (Chuck Berry’s “Come On,” Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” Muddy Water’s “I Just Wanna Make Love To You”) when I first saw them. Truthfully, I liked The Dave Clark 5 a lot better back then. However, once Mick & Keith started knockin’ out supoerlative original after superlative original - both singles AND album tracks - Everything Changed. In the intervening 57 years I’m betting my percentage of Stones songs to Dave Clark 5 tunes listened to would be 95% Stones, 5% DC5.

Anyway, I’m not gonna belabor any points here today, I’m just gonna post five videos: that first Hollywood Palace performance and my four favorite Charlie Watts drum performances on record.

And I’m also gonna say out loud what all of you out there in Rock & Roll Land are thinkin’: How did Keith Richards POSSIBLY outlive Charlie Watts?

Rest in peace, Charlie, we will miss you.

I fully realize there are probably a hundred live videos that feature Charlie Watts better than these five, but they’re my favorite drum performances.

My favorite rock & roll drummer of all time - as anybody who knows me well will tell you - was The Who’s Keith Moon, but goddamn, Charlie Watts was a close fucking second. Rounding out the Top Five: Max Weinberg (Bruce Springsteen), Topper Headon (The Clash), Stan Lynch (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers).