6 Charlie Watts Collaborations Beyond the Stones You Didn’t Know

Charlie Watts, the original drummer for the Rolling Stones, was never your typical rock star. While his bandmates were often the center of attention, Watts kept things low-key. He wasn’t flashy, loud, or interested in the limelight.

“I’m very private,” he once said in a 2012 interview with Classic Rock. “I’m not really that interested in talking about me.”

From 1963 until his passing in 2021, Watts was the steady heartbeat of the Rolling Stones. But beyond the stadium tours and classic rock anthems, he also found time to explore music outside the band—collaborating with other big names and even recording 10 jazz albums of his own. Here are six cool projects you might not know he was part of.

1. Leon Russell (1970)
Leon Russell’s debut album was packed with music legends—George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Steve Winwood, and Joe Cocker, to name a few. Watts joined in too, playing drums on the bluesy track “Roll Away the Stone”, along with Stones bassist Bill Wyman.

“I’ve been in a lot of studios and made a lot of records with a lot less talent than that,” Russell told Rolling Stone at the time, “and it was easy.”

2. Feel Your Groove – Ben Sidran (1971)
Ben Sidran, who worked with the Steve Miller Band and later with the Stones, first met Watts in 1969. He picked him up for a studio session and found him listening to Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.
“I said, ‘Man, I’m really happy to hear you listening to Miles, because to tell you the truth, I don’t listen to the Stones very much,'” Sidran later told The Gazette in 2014.

“Charlie said, ‘That’s all right, mate. Neither do we.’ We wound up driving to London and talking about jazz and all the stuff that he loved.”

Watts went on to play drums on “The Blues in England” from Sidran’s debut solo album.

3. The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions (1971)
This blues super-session featured Howlin’ Wolf front and center, backed by Clapton, Winwood, and the Stones’ rhythm section—Watts, Wyman, and pianist Ian Stewart. Recorded in 1970 and released the following year, it was a raw, powerhouse jam session.

4. Rough Mix – Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane (1977)
Pete Townshend of The Who teamed up with Ronnie Lane for this under-the-radar gem. Watts played on two tracks: “My Baby Gives It Away” and “Catmelody.”

“We did two faultless live takes (no overdubs at all) of my song ‘My Baby Gives It Away,'” Townshend later shared. “His technique was obvious immediately… lazy-loose, super-cool. The swing on the track is explosive.”

5. Resurrection – Bobby Womack (1994)
Womack’s comeback album included a stellar lineup, including Watts, Ronnie Wood, and Keith Richards. After Womack passed, the Stones honored him, saying, “Bobby Womack was a huge influence on us. He was a true pioneer of soul and R&B, whose voice and songwriting touched millions.”

6. Fingerprints – Peter Frampton (2006)
Frampton was once considered as a possible replacement for Stones’ guitarist Mick Taylor. That never happened, but years later, Watts and Wyman joined him on “Cornerstones”, a track from Frampton’s Grammy-winning album Fingerprints.