Charlie Watts at Kingsbury Library

 Guest post by local historian Philip Grant

 

It’s five months since “Wembley Matters” reported that a bust of the Rolling Stones drummer, Charlie Watts, had been presented to Brent Council. There was speculation about where it should be put on display. Well now, and for at least the next few months, you can see it at Kingsbury Library (“click” here for details of the library).

 

Charlie grew up in a pre-fab home on the Pilgrims Way estate in southern Kingsbury, a fact he confirmed to me when I contacted him (at his rather different estate in Devon) when I was helping Brent Archives with its “Pre-fabs Project” in 2011.

 

 

Charlie went to school at Fryent Juniors in Church Lane, then on to the newly-opened Tylers Croft Boys Secondary School (now the Lower School for Kingsbury High School) on the north side of Roe Green Park. The school has a reminder of his time there, as a skilled student artist, who at 15 went on to progress his studies at Harrow Art School. A trip to London Zoo was the inspiration for Charlie’s painting on tiles, which still hangs on a wall in the school.

 

 

The small Brent Museum and Archives display at Kingsbury Library also includes photographs of the Rolling Stones when they performed a concert at the Kilburn State cinema in November 1963. So, if you want to pay your respects to the “Wembley Whammer” (Mick Jagger’s nickname for Charlie), or are just interested in this piece of our local musical history, Kingsbury Library is the place to visit!

 

 

Philip Grant.

Bust of Charlie Watts of Wembley presented to Brent Council. Where should it be displayed?

 

Charlie Watts centre (Brent Archives)

Charlie Watts lived in a prefab in Pilgrims Way, on the edge of Fryent Country Park, and local legend says his mother bundled him off to fields behind the estate to practise on his drums. The prefabs  were demolished to make way for the present estate on which I live so there is no obvious house for a blue plaque - but one is richly reserved.  Philip Grant has written about Charlie's Wembley connections HERE.

 

 The bronze bust of Charlies Watts

 

Meanwhile Brent Council has received a bust of Charlie and is looking for a suitable home:

 

Charlie Watts mega-fans presented a bronze bust of the late Rolling Stones drummer to Brent Council on Friday 1 July.Stones icon Charlie Watts grew up in Wembley and was fondly known as the “Wembley Whammer”. After he passed away in August 2021, fans thought it fitting to honour him in his hometown. 

 

Sculpted by artist Sissy Piana, the bust was donated to Brent Council at a small ceremony attended by The Mayor of Brent, former Mayor of Brent Lia Colacicco, Founder of the Rolling Stones fansite SHIDOBEE with STONESDOUG, Doug Potash and organiser and commissioner of the artwork, Richard Jozefiak.

 

Cllr Abdi Aden, Mayor of Brent said:

 

We are delighted to be entrusted with this wonderful sculpture that pays homage to iconic drummer Charlie Watts. Rolling Stones fans across the world, have worked tirelessly to pay their respects and we at Brent Council are pleased to play our part in honouring his legacy.

 

The Rolling Stones have strong roots in Brent, with Watts growing up in Wembley and the Rolling Stones performing in Wembley as far back as 1982. This bronze bust acts as another addition to the deep cultural impact the band has had in Brent as well as the rich musical history of our borough.

 

Founder of Rolling Stone fansite SHIDOBEE with STONESDOUG, Doug Potash sad:

 

With Charlie Watts gone, many of our members wanted to find a way that we could honour him. I was approached by SHIDOOB Richard Jozefiak with an idea; he had contacted sculptor Sissy Piana about creating a bronze bust of Charlie and proposed that we raise the funds and find the proper place for it to be displayed. 

 

When I announced this, donations immediately poured in and everyone was thrilled that they were part of having this bust of the Wembley Whammer created and given a place for it to be honoured thanks to the Brent Council.

 

Discussion are underway about where to display the bronze bust.

 

Philip Grant has provided the photograph below to accompany his comment  on this blog post.

 

 Charlies Watts playing with the Jo Jones Seven in the late 1950s