Wealth & Money Quote by Charlie Watts

Watts lands a small act of heresy - “I don’t like drum solos” - then immediately redeems it with a bigger act of reverence. The charm is in the pivot. He’s not performing the rock-drummer ego thing; he’s puncturing it. Drum solos, in his telling, are usually self-indulgent interruptions to the song’s job: groove, shape, restraint. Coming from the Rolling Stones’ famously economical timekeeper, that admission reads like a manifesto.

Then Buddy Rich enters as the exception that proves the rule. Watts isn’t saying, “Rich is technically good.” He’s saying your taste should make room for undeniable force. “At least the once” is doing heavy lifting: one encounter, in the flesh, is enough to recalibrate your standards. It frames Rich less as a preference and more as a cultural fact you’re obligated to witness, like a landmark or a storm.

The subtext is generous gatekeeping. Watts quietly defends a hierarchy of musicianship without sounding snobbish: you can dislike the form, but you can’t dismiss the phenomenon. It also sketches a lineage rock audiences often forget - behind the backbeat is jazz’s ruthless discipline and showmanship. Rich represents the apex of drums as spectacle; Watts represents drums as service. The quote stages their handshake. If even the patron saint of understatement tells you to go, it’s not fandom talking. It’s professional testimony.