Lester Piggott obituary

One of the greatest British jockeys who won the Derby nine times

All credits here to the Guardian at London

Lester Piggott, who has died aged 86, was regarded by many as the finest jockey ever to ride on British turf. His record in major races is unlikely to be surpassed. No other 20th-century jockey came close to his achievement. In all, he rode 4,493 winners in Britain and more than 850 elsewhere during a career that spanned 47 years, with major successes in France, Ireland, the US, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Wherever he travelled, he was feted in a manner unique for a jockey. However, his career was dogged by controversy, leading to a jail sentence for tax fraud in 1987 and the withdrawal of his OBE.

Born in Wantage, Oxfordshire, Lester came from a horseracing family that stretched back over six generations, including such famous names as John Day, Tom Cannon and Fred Rickaby. His grandfather, Ernie Piggott, was a champion steeplechaser who won the Grand National three times, while his father, Keith, was one of the finest National Hunt jockeys of the pre-second world war era and won the Champion Hurdle in 1939 on African’s Sister. He was later to train a Grand National winner, Ayala, in 1963. Lester’s mother, Iris (nee Rickaby), came from the Rickaby racing dynasty.

The young Lester was always determined to ride on the flat, though he was 5ft 7in, with a natural weight of 10st 7lb (67kg) in the 1950s. His inspiration was the great 19th-century jockey Fred Archer, who starved himself to keep his weight down and used brutal purgatives throughout his career before killing himself at the age of 29. Archer was nicknamed “the Tinman” because of his love of money. Money was also to be one of Piggott’s greatest motivations.

Piggott first sat on a racehorse at the age of seven. On his 12th birthday, he became apprenticed to his father, who was now training at Lambourn, Berkshire. His schooling continued privately, two or three days a week; his first ride came on a horse called The Chase at Salisbury on 7 April 1948. Four months later, he rode his first winner on the same horse at Haydock, carrying 6st 9lb (42kg). Nowadays, no one under the age of 16 is permitted to ride in public.

In 1950 he had already become champion apprentice, but his determined, sometimes reckless riding was beginning to aggravate fellow riders and attract the attention of stewards. His first major punishment followed an altercation with the Australian jockey Scobie Breasley at Newbury in October 1950. Piggott’s mount, Barnacle, was disqualified and, to his great indignation, he was suspended for the rest of the season.

His first mount in the Derby came in 1951 on the temperamental colt Zucchero, which finished unplaced. The following year, he finished second on Gay Time, and in 1954 won the first of his nine Derbys on Never Say Die. Already laconic and introspective, Piggott infuriated the press by commenting that it was “just another race”.

Two weeks later at Royal Ascot, he encountered the first major setback to his career when the stewards arraigned him for reckless riding, following a complaint by Sir Gordon Richards. He was suspended for six months and told that he must leave the guardianship of his father, who was considered a bad influence, and be apprenticed to a Newmarket trainer. It took years for Piggott to get over this deprivation, which, like his jail sentence later in life, he regarded as a waste of time.

By now, two characteristics had surfaced that were to become dominant. One was his alleged meanness, which became legendary, even if many of the stories were apocryphal. A fine example involved a stable lad who looked after a horse on which Piggott had recently won.

“Excuse me, Lester,” he addressed the great man, “could you see your way to dropping me £1 for the winner I ‘did’ you?”
“Uh?” replied Piggott.
“Would you give me £1 for that winner I did you?”
“I can’t hear,” muttered Piggott, “that’s my bad ear.”
The lad moved round to the other side, and now emboldened, shouted: “What about a couple of quid for that winner I did you?”
“Can’t hear,” replied Piggott. “Try the £1 ear again!”

His deafness was evident early in life but became worse as he spent increasing periods of time reducing his weight in saunas and flying in light aircraft from meeting to meeting. It also made him increasingly reclusive to all but his family and close friends.

At the end of his suspension, an opportunity arose that was to reshape his life. When Richards retired because of injury, the leading stable of Noel Murless, at Newmarket, was left without a jockey. After three others – one of them Breasley – had surprisingly turned down the job, Piggott was appointed. It was a partnership that was to thrive for 12 years.

Murless was a determined, dedicated trainer of the old school. He was endlessly patient with his horses and would not allow them to be abused by jockeys. Piggott already had a reputation of being ruthless with the whip. Ground rules were laid down and Piggott treated his new employer with the respect that he demanded.

Over the coming years, both men reached the pinnacles of their professions. Murless became champion trainer in four years out of five between 1957 and 1961, and a further four times subsequently. Piggott, meanwhile, set about establishing his classic record, becoming champion jockey for the first of 11 times in 1960. It was always supposed that increasing weight would eventually destroy his career, but Piggott overcame this by largely giving up eating. He existed on the most stringent diet and was still able to ride at 8st 7lb (54kg) at the end of his career, 35 years later.

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Piggott and Murless’s first great year together was 1957, when Crepello won the 2000 Guineas and Derby, and Carrozza won the Oaks in the Queen’s colours. Many, including Murless and Richards, felt that Piggott’s ride on Carrozza was the greatest of his career. It certainly endeared him to the Queen, and in 1975 he was appointed OBE.

The trainer and jockey enjoyed notable success with Prince Aly Khan’s brilliant grey filly Petite Etoile, but her defeat in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes evoked huge controversy. At the time, Piggott was accused of giving the filly too much ground to make up, but many years later Breasley claimed that he pinned Piggott to the rails to settle an old score. In fact, both versions were greatly exaggerated. The truth was that Petite Etoile failed to stay the distance.

Piggott was perhaps at the height of his powers in 1965, when he rode eight winners at Royal Ascot and cost bookmakers millions of pounds. He was increasingly in demand, notably by the Irish trainer Vincent O’Brien. A conflict arose between his desire to ride for O’Brien and others in big races, and his retainer to ride for Murless. As always, Piggott wanted the best of both worlds, but Murless would not countenance his demands to be “let off” when required. The partnership ended in 1966 and Piggott, soon after, reshaped the future of riding contracts.

Between 1967 and 1974 he rode as a freelance all over Europe, while in 1977 he tied himself to riding for Robert Sangster. Until then, jockeys’ contracts with owners rather than trainers were rare, whereas now they are the norm in the case of wealthy Arab owners. Piggott’s vision earned the top jockeys millions of pounds in the 1980s and 90s.

A side-effect of Piggott’s freelance status was an upsurge in his predatory nature. No jockey was safe on a Derby runner if Piggott was without a fancied ride. His rapacity came to a head when he contrived to secure the mount on Roberto, trained by O’Brien, in 1972, on the grounds that O’Brien’s jockey, Bill Williamson, was unfit following a shoulder injury.

Piggott rode a brilliant race to win in a photo-finish, but opinions were divided over the morality of his engagement, and Williamson never forgave him. Piggott had already ridden two Derby winners for O’Brien in Sir Ivor – “this is a racing machine,” he told O’Brien – and Nijinsky, arguably the two best colts he ever rode. His mastery of the unique Epsom course was famous and his riding of The Minstrel for O’Brien in 1977 became part of Derby lore.

He was less successful in Europe’s richest race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, and it took 17 attempts to secure his first success, on Rheingold in 1973. But on Alleged, trained by O’Brien, he won the great race in 1977 and 1978, showing masterful judgment on both occasions.

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Despite the success they had shared, by 1980 O’Brien and Sangster, his principal patron, had become weary of Piggott’s whimsical ways, personal agenda and excessive financial demands. To Piggott’s chagrin, they ended his contract and employed the much younger Irishman Pat Eddery.

Piggott, predictably, bounced back and secured the position as stable jockey to Henry Cecil, who had been champion trainer in three of the past five years. For Piggott, it meant not only a return to the Warren Place stables at Newmarket, which Cecil had inherited from his father-in-law, Murless, but also a return to being champion jockey for the first time in 10 years.

However, the success of the new team over the next three years led to Piggott’s downfall. A copy of a letter written by Cecil to his owners in 1982 relating to special payments and rewards for Piggott was sold to a Fleet Street newspaper. Its publication led to punishment for Cecil, but also the prosecution of Piggott for tax evasion.

This volcano took five years to erupt. Meanwhile, Piggott split with Cecil in 1984 following a rift with the Wildenstein family, a leading force in French racing, who demanded that other jockeys should ride their horses. Piggott spent what he intended to be his final year as a jockey riding as a freelance, and brought down the curtain at Nottingham on 29 October 1985. He was granted a licence to train under Jockey Club rules and set up his new business at the Eve Lodge Stables, Newmarket, which he had built several years earlier.

Within three months his world was to fall apart. His home was raided by police and Inland Revenue officers, and accounts and documents were seized. He was arrested and charged with making a false statement, and in October 1987 the case came to court at Ipswich.

There were 10 charges, alleging that Piggott had failed to declare income of more than £3m on which he had evaded tax of around £1.7m. He was found guilty and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, a record for tax evasion. He spent his incarceration at Highpoint prison, near Haverhill, less than 20 miles from Newmarket, and was released after 12 months.

While Piggott was in prison, the racing stable was managed by his wife, Susan (nee Armstrong), the daughter of a Newmarket trainer, whom he had married in 1960. She continued to hold the training licence upon his release. Piggott was outwardly unemotional throughout his ordeal, but was bitterly hurt by the withdrawal of his OBE.

For the following two years, he kept a relatively low profile, but in October 1990 he stunned the racing world by applying for a renewal of his jockey’s licence. He resumed riding at Leicester the following week, rode a winner at Chepstow the following day, and within 12 days had ridden one of his greatest races to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Belmont Park, New York, worth $500,000, on Royal Academy, trained by his old ally O’Brien.

His comeback was a rollercoaster lasting a further four seasons, and in 1992 included a 30th classic success on Rodrigo de Triano in the 2000 Guineas. In the spring of 1995, he did not renew his licence and finally, in September of that year, he admitted that his career was at an end.

As Piggott entered his ninth decade there were calls from some in the racing fraternity not only for the restoration of his OBE, but for him to be knighted. Though neither of those things happened, at the 2017 Royal Ascot meeting there was a warm greeting from the Queen which suggested that she had, personally at least, forgiven him.

In 2012, Piggott left the marital home to live with Barbara FitzGerald in Geneva, an arrangement to which his wife gave her public blessing. He is survived by her, by Susan, their daughters, Maureen and Tracy, and his son, Jamie, by his former assistant Anna Ludlow.

 Lester Keith Piggott, jockey, born 5 November 1935; died 29 May 2022

 All Credits hee to the Guardian at London.

Her Majesty The Queen leads her horse in after Lester Piggott rode to victory in the Oaks Stakes.

Queen & Lester Piggott At Derby

EPSOM, UNITED KINGDOM – JUNE 08: Queen Elizabeth II at the Derby with Lester Piggott. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

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IN THE NAME OF GOD. AMEN.

~~

I wear the chain I forged in life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How short the list one could compile of those of whom it can be said that fame and money did not deprave?

IL MIGLIOR FABBRO​

 At Washington, capital city of the terminally self-absorbed, mortal man holds to fleeting, feeble and fallible opinion, God immutable fact.

• • ~~
  • It is my assessment that America is dying inside, being eaten away by the horror of the collapse of the middle orders, the attendant societal and religious values and customs of those orders and the ubiquity of war making for dubious purpose.
  • ~~
  • The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~he ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally.~~The principal need in America today is~~financial and industrial De-Globalization~~to facilitate the promotion of the possibility for the average man to get and keep a good job with good benefits paid by the employer~~as was done not very long ago.~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IL MIGLIOR FABBRO

 

• At Washington, capital city of the terminally self-absorbed, mortal man holds to fleeting, feeble and fallible opinion, God immutable fact.

• 
  • ~~
  • It is my assessment that America is dying inside, being eaten away by the horror of the collapse of the middle orders, the attendant societal and religious values and customs of those orders and the ubiquity of war making for dubious purpose.
  • ~~
  • The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~he ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally.
  ~~The principal need in America today is~~financial and industrial De-Globalization~~to facilitate the promotion of the possibility for the average man to get and keep a good job with good benefits paid by the employer~~as was done not very long ago.~~CIRE PERDUE~~~Bene Nati, Bene Vestiti, Et Mediocriter Docti~~~~~La crema y nata~~~~~Artista de la conquista~~ In sunshine and in shadow~~I hold tight to the Republican view of time and money~~I write night and day~~yet~~while impecunious~~I am vastly overpaid~~in that taking pay to do what I love is unfair~~to my employer~~in a fair system~~under such circumstances~~I should pay him~~not he me~~I am far, far too old a man to be sexually confused~~praise Jesus~~but I am yet young enough to be politically confused~~is anyone not~~in an absolute sense~~I am a Catholic Royalist~~in a practical sense~~I am a Classical Liberal~~a Gaullist~~a Bonapartist~~an American Nationalist  Republican~~in either sense~~my head is soon for the chopping block~~to hasten my interlude with Madame La Guillotine~~I write without fear~and without favor of~any man.  ~~ Finis Origine Pendet…  The escape commences… ~~ September, 1957 ~~ Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic parochial school, called, by anyone of any background, simply: “Chan~al,” a place where, of an autumn day in 1957, school,  for me,  began and ended in the first convening of the first grade in which a tiny nun, one Sister Dom Bosco, appeared before me, just behind the window appearing at far left of this photograph, and piped out this: “I may be small, but so then, is the Atom Bomb.”~~My determination to escape school commenced immediately on hearing about this Atom Bomb business and took 16 dicey and arduous years to finally accomplish.~~~~   Non SibiThe declaration that:“I am here to save mankind,” means that:“I am here to rule mankind.”  The escape continues…  ~~ September, 1966 ~~ The Cathedral Latin School ~~     Finis Origine Pendet  ~~Κύριε ἐλέησον~~Rejoice and Glad!!~~Amen~~ ~The Original Angry Bird~~The Catholic University of America Screaming Red Cardinal Mascot~~  ~~EX LIBRIS~~ ~~   THEOS EK MĒCHANĒS   ~~ 3 October,  Monday,  Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, the 2016th Website: http://johndanielbegg.wordpress.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=tab_pro http://www.facebook.com/JohnDanielBeggPublicAffairs  http://www.tumblr.com/blog/theoldsoldiershome1952http://www.facebook.com/john.begg.33http://www.pinterest.com/johnbegg33/boards/http://independent.academia.edu/johnbegg/Papers?s=nav#addhttp://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/jtdbeggTweets: @jtdbegg http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=hb_tab_pro_top “Jean-Marie Le Pen is a friend. He is dangerous for the political set because he’s the only one who’s sincere. He says out loud what many people think deep down, and what the politicians refrain from saying because they are either too demagogic or too chicken. Le Pen, with all his faults and qualities, is probably the only one who thinks about the interests of France before his own.”~~  Alain Delon~~Actor John Daniel Begg raises cotton.~~In the Old South, the real Southland, we had a charming expression, when asked what an idle man did for a living:~~“Oh, he raises cotton.”~~
• Which meant, he did absolutely nothing at all, as cotton,  “the white gold,” raises herself.CONCEPT OF THE CATHOLIC AND ROYAL ARMY OF AMERICA (CRAA) THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICASeal of The Catholic University of America Motto:~~Deus Lux Mea Est~~Acta Est FabulaThe escape concludes… The Catholic University Of America, Washington, District of Columbia.~~1976, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi. “Who first seduc’d them to that foul revolt? Th’ infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv’d  The Mother of Mankind” ~~ Paradise Lost Book One Verse 35 Our Mr Milton https://johndanielbegg.com/2016/03/09/the-infernal-serpent-he-it-was-whose-guile–stirred-up-with-envy-and-revenge-deceived-the-mother-of-mankindHow short the list one could compile of those of whom it can be said that fame and money did not deprave?  Acta Est Fabula.~~Deus Vult.

Ne plus ultra

Our Ubiquitous Presence

~~

Our Queen

~~

Our Queen now 64 years on

~~

Simply the best President we could ever hope to have.

Regina ~ Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi

For now, I’ll say this–I do think that Francis took a look at his position and thought something like this–I am 77, I have one lung, I am not well–what do I want to do with the years I have left–get all involved in the banking scandal at Vatican Bank–or the problem with homosexual priests–or do I want to go out among the people and live as Jesus lived–after all the Pope represents Jesus here on earth–I have decided to go among the poor and let the enormous bureaucracy take care of the PR problems–this is how I think his mind works–as he was away in South America his whole career, my brother doesn’t know Francis and can’t say much about him but I think Pope recognizes that he–like the American President and the English Crown as we’ve discussed in our notes, Karen, –are symbols–Pope is supposed to be a symbol of Jesus on earth. Queen a symbol of England. Our President a symbol of America.That’s where it gets tough–the Church has had right wing and left wing Popes but all of them have written notes of this sort reminding the rich to care for the poor, reminding the rich that the poor have a right to form guilds and unions and reminding the rich of their Christian charitable obligations–it is Pope’s duty to be a champion of the poor.And, this has always been tough sledding –in Europe the unions were controlled by the communists– whereas in America the unions are controlled by the Mafia–so the Popes have always had a difficult time getting out their message of the need for Christian charity without appearing to be favoring communists or Mafia.As in the earlier question–I would caution Pope Francis to advocate for the employment of the poor at good jobs and train them to be independent rather than appearing to get tied up in some tired social leveling gambit–now that would have been creative for Pope to say–“hey rich guys–employ some poor guys.”That said–it remains to be seen how he develops–but remember this–he was elected King by his fellow Princes of the Church and to that extent he is representative of the majority point of view at Rome–or else he would not have got into office.

I love trees. I talk to them. They are my friends. I’ve never met a mean or uncaring tree.

Finis Origine Pendet

“In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society, but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.”

– Edward Gibbon 1789, The History of The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire

Mr. Gibbon would not have to update his observation much to speak of the world of America today.

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• The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~he ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally.
• ~~The principal need in America today is~~financial and industrial De-Globalization~~to facilitate the promotion of the possibility for the average man to get and keep a good job with good benefits paid by the employer~~as was done not very long ago.~~~~Bene Nati, Bene Vestiti, Et Mediocriter Docti~~~~~La crema y nata~~~~~Artista de la conquista~    ~~In sunshine and in shadow~~I hold tight to the Republican view of time and money~~I write night and day~~yet~~while impecunious~~I am vastly overpaid~~in that taking pay to do what I love is unfair~~to my employer~~in a fair system~~under such circumstances~~I should pay him~~not he me~~I am far, far too old a man to be sexually confused~~praise Jesus~~but I am yet young enough to be politically confused~~is anyone not~~in an absolute sense~~I am a Catholic Royalist~~in a practical sense~~I am a Classical Liberal~~a Gaullist~~a Bonapartist~~an American Nationalist  Republican~~in either sense~~my head is soon for the chopping block~~to hasten my interlude with Madame La Guillotine~~I write without fear~and without favor of~any man~~ ~~ Finis Origine Pendet…  The escape commences… ~~ September, 1957 ~~ Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic parochial school, called, by anyone of any background, simply: “Chan~al,” a place where, of an autumn day in 1957, school,  for me,  began and ended in the first convening of the first grade in which a tiny nun, one Sister Dom Bosco, appeared before me, just behind the window appearing at far left of this photograph, and piped out this: “I may be small, but so then, is the Atom Bomb.”~~My determination to escape school commenced immediately on hearing about this Atom Bomb business and took 16 dicey and arduous years to finally accomplish.~~ ~~ Non Sibi  The escape continues…  ~~ September, 1966 ~~ The Cathedral Latin School ~~  Finis Origine Pendet~   ~~Κύριε ἐλέησον~~Rejoice and Glad!!Amen~~ ~The Original Angry Bird~~The Catholic University of America Screaming Red Cardinal Mascot~~  ~~EX LIBRIS~~ ~~THEOS EK MĒCHANĒS~~ American New Year’s Day, Thursday, January 1st,~~Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, 2015 Website: http://johndanielbegg.wordpress.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=tab_pro http://www.facebook.com/JohnDanielBeggPublicAffairs  http://www.tumblr.com/blog/theoldsoldiershome1952http://www.facebook.com/john.begg.33http://www.pinterest.com/johnbegg33/boards/http://independent.academia.edu/johnbegg/Papers?s=nav#addhttp://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/jtdbeggTweets: @jtdbegg http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=hb_tab_pro_top “Jean-Marie Le Pen is a friend. He is dangerous for the political set because he’s the only one who’s sincere. He says out loud what many people think deep down, and what the politicians refrain from saying because they are either too demagogic or too chicken. Le Pen, with all his faults and qualities, is probably the only one who thinks about the interests of France before his own.”~~ French actor~~Alain Delon
  CONCEPT OF THE CATHOLIC AND ROYAL ARMY OF AMERICA (CRAA)~~The Catholic University of AmericaSeal of The Catholic University of AmericaMotto~~Deus Lux Mea Est~~Acta Est FabulaThe escape concludes…~~The Catholic University Of America, Washington, District of Columbia.~~1976, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi.~~ Acta Est Fabula.~~Deus Vult.~~Our Ubiquitous Presence~~The Queen~~Our Ruler now 63 years on~~Simply the best President we could ever hope to have~~

No room for me?  No fun for you.​

What are we coming to?

​No room for me? 

No fun for you.​

**********************************************IN THE NAME OF GOD. AMEN.

~~I wear the chain I forged in life.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How short the list one could compile of those of whom it can be said that fame and money did not deprave?

IL MIGLIOR FABBRO​

 At Washington, capital city of the terminally self-absorbed, mortal man holds to fleeting, feeble and fallible opinion, God immutable fact.

• • ~~
  • It is my assessment that America is dying inside, being eaten away by the horror of the collapse of the middle orders, the attendant societal and religious values and customs of those orders and the ubiquity of war making for dubious purpose.
  • ~~
  • The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~he ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally.~~The principal need in America today is~~financial and industrial De-Globalization~~to facilitate the promotion of the possibility for the average man to get and keep a good job with good benefits paid by the employer~~as was done not very long ago.~~~~Bene Nati, Bene Vestiti, Et Mediocriter Docti~~~~~La crema y nata~~~~~Artista de la conquista~~In sunshine and in shadow~~I hold tight to the Republican view of time and money~~I write night and day~~yet~~while impecunious~~I am vastly overpaid~~in that taking pay to do what I love is unfair~~to my employer~~in a fair system~~under such circumstances~~I should pay him~~not he me~~I am far, far too old a man to be sexually confused~~praise Jesus~~but I am yet young enough to be politically confused~~is anyone not~~in an absolute sense~~I am a Catholic Royalist~~in a practical sense~~I am a Classical Liberal~~a Gaullist~~a Bonapartist~~an American Nationalist  Republican~~in either sense~~my head is soon for the chopping block~~to hasten my interlude with Madame La Guillotine~~I write without fear~and without favor of~any man. 
  • At Washington, capital city of the terminally self-absorbed, mortal man holds to fleeting, feeble and fallible opinion, God immutable fact.
  • 
    • ~~
    • It is my assessment that America is dying inside, being eaten away by the horror of the collapse of the middle orders, the attendant societal and religious values and customs of those orders and the ubiquity of war making for dubious purpose.
    • ~~
    • The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~he ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally.~~The principal need in America today is~~financial and industrial De-Globalization~~to facilitate the promotion of the possibility for the average man to get and keep a good job with good benefits paid by the employer~~as was done not very long ago.~~CIRE PERDUE~~~Bene Nati, Bene Vestiti, Et Mediocriter Docti~~~~~La crema y nata~~~~~Artista de la conquista~~ In sunshine and in shadow~~I hold tight to the Republican view of time and money~~I write night and day~~yet~~while impecunious~~I am vastly overpaid~~in that taking pay to do what I love is unfair~~to my employer~~in a fair system~~under such circumstances~~I should pay him~~not he me~~I am far, far too old a man to be sexually confused~~praise Jesus~~but I am yet young enough to be politically confused~~is anyone not~~in an absolute sense~~I am a Catholic Royalist~~in a practical sense~~I am a Classical Liberal~~a Gaullist~~a Bonapartist~~an American Nationalist  Republican~~in either sense~~my head is soon for the chopping block~~to hasten my interlude with Madame La Guillotine~~I write without fear~and without favor of~any man.  ~~ Finis Origine Pendet…  The escape commences… ~~ September, 1957 ~~ Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic parochial school, called, by anyone of any background, simply: “Chan~al,” a place where, of an autumn day in 1957, school,  for me,  began and ended in the first convening of the first grade in which a tiny nun, one Sister Dom Bosco, appeared before me, just behind the window appearing at far left of this photograph, and piped out this: “I may be small, but so then, is the Atom Bomb.”~~My determination to escape school commenced immediately on hearing about this Atom Bomb business and took 16 dicey and arduous years to finally accomplish.~~~~   Non SibiThe declaration that:“I am here to save mankind,” means that:“I am here to rule mankind.”  The escape continues…  ~~ September, 1966 ~~ The Cathedral Latin School ~~     Finis Origine Pendet  ~~Κύριε ἐλέησον~~Rejoice and Glad!!~~Amen~~ ~The Original Angry Bird~~The Catholic University of America Screaming Red Cardinal Mascot~~  ~~EX LIBRIS~~ ~~   THEOS EK MĒCHANĒS   ~~ 25th February,  Tuesday,   Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, the 2020th Website: http://johndanielbegg.wordpress.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=tab_pro http://www.facebook.com/JohnDanielBeggPublicAffairs  http://www.tumblr.com/blog/theoldsoldiershome1952http://www.facebook.com/john.begg.33http://www.pinterest.com/johnbegg33/boards/http://independent.academia.edu/johnbegg/Papers?s=nav#addhttp://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/jtdbeggTweets: @jtdbegg http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=hb_tab_pro_top “Jean-Marie Le Pen is a friend. He is dangerous for the political set because he’s the only one who’s sincere. He says out loud what many people think deep down, and what the politicians refrain from saying because they are either too demagogic or too chicken. Le Pen, with all his faults and qualities, is probably the only one who thinks about the interests of France before his own.”~~  Alain Delon~~Actor John Daniel Begg raises cotton.~~In the Old South, the real Southland, we had a charming expression, when asked what an idle man did for a living:~~“Oh, he raises cotton.”~~
  • Which meant, he did absolutely nothing at all, as cotton,  “the white gold,” raises herself.CONCEPT OF THE CATHOLIC AND ROYAL ARMY OF AMERICA (CRAA)THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICASeal of The Catholic University of America Motto:~~Deus Lux Mea Est~~Acta Est FabulaThe escape concludes…The Catholic University Of America, Washington, The Federal District of Columbia.~~1976, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi. 
  • “Who first seduc’d them to that foul revolt? Th’ infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv’d  The Mother of All Mankind” ~~ Paradise Lost Book One Verse 35 Our Mr Milton https://johndanielbegg.com/2016/03/09/the-infernal-serpent-he-it-was-whose-guile–stirred-up-with-envy-and-revenge-deceived-the-mother-of-mankindHow short the list one could compile of those of whom it can be said that fame and money did not deprave?  Acta Est Fabula.~~Deus Vult.Ne plus ultra Our Ubiquitous Presence~~Our QueenOur Queen now 68 years on~~Simply the best President we could ever hope to have.Regina ~ Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi

WAR, SISTER, it’s just a KISS away, just a KISS away.

Benghazi?

You and I talked about this just after Benghazi.

What is the lesson of Benghazi?

The lesson is that a couple of illiterate, bare foot Mohammedan boys with no shirts, likely homeless and hungry, could, in the desert, press buttons on a box and unleash the terror against the Empire, watch the results locally and then watch the Empire at Washington fumble around trying to figure out what happened and how to respond.

The lesson, extended by logic, is that very shortly everybody, you, Carolina–Bebe Juliana, everybody, will have power to raise hell co-equal to the men buried deep in Langley, at Pentagon, Homeland, MI-5, MI-6 etc etc etc.

Universally co-equal power–this is Wikileaks, Snowden, Manning..and many, many unnamed.

Universal, co-equal power to raise hell eternal.

We grew up in a time in which all the power to really raise hell eternal was held closely by a few grey suits at Washington and Moscow.

What is now called Cold War was actually a very efficient, Warm Peace.

We are headed into a time in which co-equal power will be held by everybody.

Everybody.This means for example that, when you and Carolina annoy Julianna at breakfast, she will have the capability to leave the table, go into her room, push some buttons on a box and…blow up the world.

And there will be no way to guard against this happening.

Perhaps there already isn’t any way to guard against it.With that capacity, when it comes soon universal, one morning, somebody’s child, somewhere, will push the buttons that blow up the world.

War, sister, it’s just a kiss away, just a kiss away:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How short the list one could compile of those of whom it can be said that fame and money did not deprave?

• At Washington, capital city of the terminally self-absorbed, mortal man holds to fleeting, feeble and fallible opinion, God immutable fact.
• • ~~
  • It is my assessment that America is dying inside, being eaten away by the horror of the collapse of the middle orders, the attendant societal and religious values and customs of those orders and the ubiquity of war making for dubious purpose.
  • ~~
  • The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~he ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally.
  ~~The principal need in America today is~~financial and industrial De-Globalization~~to facilitate the promotion of the possibility for the average man to get and keep a good job with good benefits paid by the employer~~as was done not very long ago.~~~~Bene Nati, Bene Vestiti, Et Mediocriter Docti~~~~~La crema y nata~~~~~Artista de la conquista~~ In sunshine and in shadow~~I hold tight to the Republican view of time and money~~I write night and day~~yet~~while impecunious~~I am vastly overpaid~~in that taking pay to do what I love is unfair~~to my employer~~in a fair system~~under such circumstances~~I should pay him~~not he me~~I am far, far too old a man to be sexually confused~~praise Jesus~~but I am yet young enough to be politically confused~~is anyone not~~in an absolute sense~~I am a Catholic Royalist~~in a practical sense~~I am a Classical Liberal~~a Gaullist~~a Bonapartist~~an American Nationalist  Republican~~in either sense~~my head is soon for the chopping block~~to hasten my interlude with Madame La Guillotine~~I write without fear~and without favor of~any man.  ~~ Finis Origine Pendet…  The escape commences… ~~ September, 1957 ~~ Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic parochial school, called, by anyone of any background, simply: “Chan~al,” a place where, of an autumn day in 1957, school,  for me,  began and ended in the first convening of the first grade in which a tiny nun, one Sister Dom Bosco, appeared before me, just behind the window appearing at far left of this photograph, and piped out this: “I may be small, but so then, is the Atom Bomb.”~~My determination to escape school commenced immediately on hearing about this Atom Bomb business and took 16 dicey and arduous years to finally accomplish.~~~~   Non Sibi  The escape continues…  ~~ September, 1966 ~~ The Cathedral Latin School ~~     Finis Origine Pendet  ~~Κύριε ἐλέησον~~Rejoice and Glad!!~~Amen~~ ~The Original Angry Bird~~The Catholic University of America Screaming Red Cardinal Mascot~~  ~~EX LIBRIS~~ ~~   THEOS EK MĒCHANĒS   ~~  7 September, The American Labor Day, Monday, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, 2015 Website: http://johndanielbegg.wordpress.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=tab_pro http://www.facebook.com/JohnDanielBeggPublicAffairs  http://www.tumblr.com/blog/theoldsoldiershome1952http://www.facebook.com/john.begg.33http://www.pinterest.com/johnbegg33/boards/http://independent.academia.edu/johnbegg/Papers?s=nav#addhttp://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/jtdbeggTweets: @jtdbegg http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=hb_tab_pro_top“Jean-Marie Le Pen is a friend. He is dangerous for the political set because he’s the only one who’s sincere. He says out loud what many people think deep down, and what the politicians refrain from saying because they are either too demagogic or too chicken. Le Pen, with all his faults and qualities, is probably the only one who thinks about the interests of France before his own.”~~  French actor~~Alain Delon
  CONCEPT OF THE CATHOLIC AND ROYAL ARMY OF AMERICA (CRAA)THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICASeal of The Catholic University of America Motto:~~Deus Lux Mea Est~~Acta Est FabulaThe escape concludes…~~The Catholic University Of America, Washington, District of Columbia.~~1976, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi.~~ Acta Est Fabula.~~Deus Vult.~~Our Ubiquitous Presence~~The Queen~~Our Queen now 63 years on~~Simply the best President we could ever hope to have~~

Things have not changed one bit in Arabia in 25 years but for this: basically–they just have bigger and better bombs today and more people have the bombs–which is truly scary–

I was at the Senate when Hyman Rickover left and addressed the Service and the Senate and when asked the significance of the nuclear Navy, he said

“One day, man will blow himself to bits and some will survive and they will go back to living in caves and that is the significance of the nuclear Navy which I helped to invent.”

He said this years before computer technology had mass reach and miniaturized bombs had mass reach, so you do not have to be a rocket scientist to suss out that some day, sooner, not later, somebody is going to pull the pin on a bomb big enough to return mankind to caveman days.

When people tell me that “we know who has what military technology, I look at them in utter wonderment.

Utter wonderment.

The entire history of technology is that which is exclusive becomes ordinary and that which is closely guarded becomes ubiquitously known. At some point, rather soon, a really big bomb that ends modern life simply has to go off–there is no reasonable alternative option.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~““`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How short the list one could compile of those of whom it can be said that fame and money did not deprave?

• At Washington, capital city of the terminally self-absorbed, mortal man holds to fleeting, feeble and fallible opinion, God immutable fact.
• • ~~
  • It is my assessment that America is dying inside, being eaten away by the horror of the collapse of the middle orders, the attendant societal and religious values and customs of those orders and the ubiquity of war making for dubious purpose.
  • ~~
  • The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~he ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally.
  ~~The principal need in America today is~~financial and industrial De-Globalization~~to facilitate the promotion of the possibility for the average man to get and keep a good job with good benefits paid by the employer~~as was done not very long ago.~~~~Bene Nati, Bene Vestiti, Et Mediocriter Docti~~~~~La crema y nata~~~~~Artista de la conquista~~ In sunshine and in shadow~~I hold tight to the Republican view of time and money~~I write night and day~~yet~~while impecunious~~I am vastly overpaid~~in that taking pay to do what I love is unfair~~to my employer~~in a fair system~~under such circumstances~~I should pay him~~not he me~~I am far, far too old a man to be sexually confused~~praise Jesus~~but I am yet young enough to be politically confused~~is anyone not~~in an absolute sense~~I am a Catholic Royalist~~in a practical sense~~I am a Classical Liberal~~a Gaullist~~a Bonapartist~~an American Nationalist  Republican~~in either sense~~my head is soon for the chopping block~~to hasten my interlude with Madame La Guillotine~~I write without fear~and without favor of~any man.  ~~ Finis Origine Pendet…  The escape commences… ~~ September, 1957 ~~ Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic parochial school, called, by anyone of any background, simply: “Chan~al,” a place where, of an autumn day in 1957, school,  for me,  began and ended in the first convening of the first grade in which a tiny nun, one Sister Dom Bosco, appeared before me, just behind the window appearing at far left of this photograph, and piped out this: “I may be small, but so then, is the Atom Bomb.”~~My determination to escape school commenced immediately on hearing about this Atom Bomb business and took 16 dicey and arduous years to finally accomplish.~~~~   Non Sibi  The escape continues…  ~~ September, 1966 ~~ The Cathedral Latin School ~~     Finis Origine Pendet  ~~Κύριε ἐλέησον~~Rejoice and Glad!!~~Amen~~ ~The Original Angry Bird~~The Catholic University of America Screaming Red Cardinal Mascot~~  ~~EX LIBRIS~~ ~~   THEOS EK MĒCHANĒS   ~~  7 September, The American Labor Day, Monday, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, 2015 Website: http://johndanielbegg.wordpress.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=tab_pro http://www.facebook.com/JohnDanielBeggPublicAffairs  http://www.tumblr.com/blog/theoldsoldiershome1952http://www.facebook.com/john.begg.33http://www.pinterest.com/johnbegg33/boards/http://independent.academia.edu/johnbegg/Papers?s=nav#addhttp://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/jtdbeggTweets: @jtdbegg http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=hb_tab_pro_top“Jean-Marie Le Pen is a friend. He is dangerous for the political set because he’s the only one who’s sincere. He says out loud what many people think deep down, and what the politicians refrain from saying because they are either too demagogic or too chicken. Le Pen, with all his faults and qualities, is probably the only one who thinks about the interests of France before his own.”~~  French actor~~Alain Delon
  CONCEPT OF THE CATHOLIC AND ROYAL ARMY OF AMERICA (CRAA)THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICASeal of The Catholic University of America Motto:~~Deus Lux Mea Est~~Acta Est FabulaThe escape concludes…~~The Catholic University Of America, Washington, District of Columbia.~~1976, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi.~~ Acta Est Fabula.~~Deus Vult.~~Our Ubiquitous Presence~~The Queen~~Our Queen now 63 years on~~Simply the best President we could ever hope to have~~

My Dear Harry and Ramin:I

‘ll split the difference with you and I’ll say that it is very difficult to say just where a society is when one is having the conversation contiguous with events themselves.In no other time in history has man been able to sit and say “Oh, well, we are on the rise, or we are now robust and in full flower, or, Oh, well , we’re, in decline or at the beginning, middle, high middle or end of decline.”Imagine the Romans having such discussions?

Or even the Germans under Hitler or the Russians under Stalin or the Red Chinese under Mao?

Suffice to say that those of us who have decent educations and active minds are in sync to think that America and the West are not, today. in their finest hours.I think to a degree that the very bad hours we are in are driven by our very ability, unprecedented in history, to talk in the present tense about the present time.

To what degree that ability affects outcomes themselves, I couldn’t say except to say that it is a part of the equation, most particularly so with respect to politics.

As to totalitarians, in various forms, they have existed forever and will exist forever. All sorts of guys want to run the world and force other men to bend the knee to them. For a time, some men are very successful despots. Beyond debate, those of us who know Lady History know this: in the end, all the little tin Gods fall down.

All the little tin Gods fail.The only certain consolation Lady History gives us is this certain categorical: the big shots of today are the dried, fallen and forgotten leaves of tomorrow.

Ever, Jack.

WORLD WAR II ON SEPTEMBER 1, 1945, PEOPLE IN THE USA HEARD RADIO NEWS REPORTS ABOUT THE FORMAL SURRENDER OF JAPAN TO ALLIED FORCES ON THE USS MISSOURI BATTLSHIP

How short the list one could compile of those of whom it can be said that fame and money did not deprave?

• At Washington, capital city of the terminally self-absorbed, mortal man holds to fleeting, feeble and fallible opinion, God immutable fact.

• • ~~
  • It is my assessment that America is dying inside, being eaten away by the horror of the collapse of the middle orders, the attendant societal and religious values and customs of those orders and the ubiquity of war making for dubious purpose.
  • ~~
  • The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~he ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally.
  ~~The principal need in America today is~~financial and industrial De-Globalization~~to facilitate the promotion of the possibility for the average man to get and keep a good job with good benefits paid by the employer~~as was done not very long ago.~~~~Bene Nati, Bene Vestiti, Et Mediocriter Docti~~~~~La crema y nata~~~~~Artista de la conquista~~ In sunshine and in shadow~~I hold tight to the Republican view of time and money~~I write night and day~~yet~~while impecunious~~I am vastly overpaid~~in that taking pay to do what I love is unfair~~to my employer~~in a fair system~~under such circumstances~~I should pay him~~not he me~~I am far, far too old a man to be sexually confused~~praise Jesus~~but I am yet young enough to be politically confused~~is anyone not~~in an absolute sense~~I am a Catholic Royalist~~in a practical sense~~I am a Classical Liberal~~a Gaullist~~a Bonapartist~~an American Nationalist  Republican~~in either sense~~my head is soon for the chopping block~~to hasten my interlude with Madame La Guillotine~~I write without fear~and without favor of~any man.  ~~ Finis Origine Pendet…  The escape commences… ~~ September, 1957 ~~ Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic parochial school, called, by anyone of any background, simply: “Chan~al,” a place where, of an autumn day in 1957, school,  for me,  began and ended in the first convening of the first grade in which a tiny nun, one Sister Dom Bosco, appeared before me, just behind the window appearing at far left of this photograph, and piped out this: “I may be small, but so then, is the Atom Bomb.”~~My determination to escape school commenced immediately on hearing about this Atom Bomb business and took 16 dicey and arduous years to finally accomplish.~~~~   Non Sibi  The escape continues…  ~~ September, 1966 ~~ The Cathedral Latin School ~~     Finis Origine Pendet  ~~Κύριε ἐλέησον~~Rejoice and Glad!!~~Amen~~ ~The Original Angry Bird~~The Catholic University of America Screaming Red Cardinal Mascot~~  ~~EX LIBRIS~~ ~~   THEOS EK MĒCHANĒS   ~~  7 September, The American Labor Day, Monday, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, 2015 Website: http://johndanielbegg.wordpress.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=tab_pro http://www.facebook.com/JohnDanielBeggPublicAffairs  http://www.tumblr.com/blog/theoldsoldiershome1952http://www.facebook.com/john.begg.33http://www.pinterest.com/johnbegg33/boards/http://independent.academia.edu/johnbegg/Papers?s=nav#addhttp://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/jtdbeggTweets: @jtdbegg http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=hb_tab_pro_top“Jean-Marie Le Pen is a friend. He is dangerous for the political set because he’s the only one who’s sincere. He says out loud what many people think deep down, and what the politicians refrain from saying because they are either too demagogic or too chicken. Le Pen, with all his faults and qualities, is probably the only one who thinks about the interests of France before his own.”~~  French actor~~Alain Delon
  CONCEPT OF THE CATHOLIC AND ROYAL ARMY OF AMERICA (CRAA)THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICASeal of The Catholic University of America Motto:~~Deus Lux Mea Est~~Acta Est FabulaThe escape concludes…~~The Catholic University Of America, Washington, District of Columbia.~~1976, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi.~~ Acta Est Fabula.~~Deus Vult.~~Our Ubiquitous Presence~~The Queen~~Our Queen now 63 years on~~Simply the best President we could ever hope to have~~

Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English drummer, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death.

Originally trained as a graphic artist, he started playing drums in London’s rhythm and blues clubs, where he met Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards. In January 1963, he joined their fledgling group, the Rolling Stones, as drummer, while doubling as designer of their record sleeves and tour stages. Watts, along with Jagger and Richards, were the only band members to have been featured on all of their studio albums. He cited jazz as a major influence on his drumming style. He toured with his own group, the Charlie Watts Quintet, and appeared in London at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club with the Charlie Watts Tentet.

In 2006, Watts was elected into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame; in the same year, Vanity Fair elected him into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. In the estimation of noted music critic Robert Christgau, Watts was “rock’s greatest drummer.” In 2016, he was ranked 12th on Rolling Stone‘s “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time” list.^[1]

Contents

• 1Early life
• 2Career
• 3Private life and public image
  • 3.1Touring and band relationships
  • 3.2Health
    • 3.2.1Death
• 4Discography
• 5References
• 6External links

Early life[edit]

Watts (centre) with the Rolling Stones in Amsterdam, 1964

Charles Robert Watts was born at University College Hospital in Bloomsbury, London, to Charles Richard Watts, a lorry driver for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and his wife Lillian Charlotte (née Eaves).^[2] He had a sister, Linda.^{[citation needed]}

As a child, Watts lived in Wembley, at 23 Pilgrims Way.^[3] Many of Wembley’s houses had been destroyed by German bombs during World War II; Watts and his family lived in a prefab, as did many in the community.^[3] Watts’s neighbour Dave Green, who lived opposite at 22 Pilgrims Way,^[3] was a childhood friend, and they remained friends; Green became a jazz bass player. Green recalls that as boys, “we discovered 78rpm records. Charlie had more records than I did … We used to go to Charlie’s bedroom and just get these records out.”^[4] Watts’s earliest records were jazz recordings; he remembered owning 78 RPM records of Jelly Roll Morton and Charlie Parker.^[4] Green recalls that Watts also “had the one with Monk and the Johnny Dodge Trio. Charlie was ahead of me in listening and acquisitions.”^[4]

Watts and his family subsequently moved to Kingsbury, where he attended Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School from 1952 to 1956; as a schoolboy, he displayed a talent for art, music, cricket and football.^[5] When he and Green were both about thirteen, Watts became interested in drumming:^[4]

I bought a banjo, and I didn’t like the dots on the neck. So I took the neck off, and at the same time I heard a drummer called Chico Hamilton, who played with Gerry Mulligan, and I wanted to play like that, with brushes. I didn’t have a snare drum, so I put the banjo head on a stand.^[4]

Watts’s parents gave him his first drum kit in 1955, and he practiced drumming along with jazz records he collected.^[6]

After completing secondary school, Watts enrolled at Harrow Art School (now the Harrow campus of the University of Westminster), which he attended until 1960. After leaving art school, he worked as a graphic designer for an advertising company called Charlie Daniels Studios,^[7] and also played drums occasionally with local bands in coffee shops and clubs. He and Green began their musical careers together from 1958 to 1959, playing in a jazz band in Middlesex called the Jo Jones All Stars.^[4] Watts initially found his transition to rhythm and blues puzzling; commenting, “I went into rhythm and blues. When they asked me to play, I didn’t know what it was. I thought it meant Charlie Parker, played slow.^[4]

In 1961, Watts met Alexis Korner, who invited him to join his band, Blues Incorporated.^[8] At that time, Watts was on his way to a sojourn working as a graphic designer in Denmark, but he accepted Korner’s offer when he returned to London in February 1962.^[9] Watts played regularly with Blues Incorporated and maintained a job with another advertising firm of Charles, Hobson and Grey. It was in mid-1962 that Watts first met Brian Jones, Ian “Stu” Stewart, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards, who also frequented the London rhythm and blues clubs, but it was not until January 1963 that Watts finally agreed to join the Rolling Stones.^[10] His first public appearance as a permanent member was at the Ealing Jazz Club on 2 February 1963.^[11]

Career[edit]

Watts during a performance with The Rolling Stones in 2006

Besides his work as a musician, Watts contributed graphic art and comic strips to early Rolling Stones records such as the Between the Buttons record sleeve ^[7] and was responsible for the 1975 tour announcement press conference in New York City. The band surprised the throng of waiting reporters by driving and playing “Brown Sugar” on the back of a flatbed truck in the middle of Manhattan traffic.^{[citation needed]} Watts remembered this was a common way for New Orleans jazz bands to promote upcoming dates. Moreover, with Jagger, he designed the elaborate stages for tours, first contributing to the lotus-shaped design of that 1975 Tour of the Americas, as well as the 1989–1990 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour, the 1997–1998 Bridges to Babylon Tour, the 2002–2003 Licks Tour, and the 2005–2007 A Bigger Bang Tour.^{[citation needed]}

Watts was involved in many activities outside his life as a member of The Rolling Stones. In 1964, he published a cartoon tribute to Charlie Parker entitled Ode to a High Flying Bird. Although he made his name in rock, his personal tastes lay principally in jazz. In the late 1970s, he joined Ian Stewart in the back-to-the-roots boogie-woogie band Rocket 88, which featured many of the UK’s top jazz, rock and R&B musicians. In the 1980s, he toured worldwide with a big band that included such names as Evan Parker, Courtney Pine and Jack Bruce, who was also a member of Rocket 88. In 1991, he organised a jazz quintet as another tribute to Charlie Parker. 1993 saw the release of Warm and Tender, by the Charlie Watts Quintet,^[12] which included vocalist Bernard Fowler. This same group then released Long Ago and Far Away in 1996. Both records included a collection of Great American Songbook standards. After a successful collaboration with Jim Keltner on The Rolling Stones’ Bridges to Babylon, Watts and Keltner released a techno/instrumental album simply titled, Charlie Watts/Jim Keltner Project. Watts stated that even though the tracks bore such names as the “Elvin Suite” in honour of the late Elvin Jones, Max Roach and Roy Haynes, they were not copying their style of drumming, but rather capturing a feeling by those artists. Watts at Scott’s was recorded with his group, “the Charlie Watts Tentet”,^[12] at the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London. In April 2009, he started to perform concerts with the ABC&D of Boogie Woogie together with pianists Axel Zwingenberger and Ben Waters plus his childhood friend Dave Green on bass.^[13]

In 1989, The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the July 2006 issue of Modern Drummer magazine, Watts was voted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame, joining Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Steve Gadd, Buddy Rich and other highly esteemed and influential drummers from the history of rock and jazz.^[14] In the estimation of music critic Robert Christgau, Watts is “rock’s greatest drummer.”^[15]

Private life and public image[edit]

Watts at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival, 2008

On 14 October 1964, Watts married Shirley Ann Shepherd (born 11 September 1938), whom he had met before the band became successful. The couple had one daughter, Seraphina, born in March 1968, who in turn gave birth to Watts’s only grandchild, a girl named Charlotte. Watts’s step-grandson, Dylan, resides in South Boston, Massachusetts.^[16]

Watts was known for his wardrobe: British newspaper The Daily Telegraph named him one of the World’s Best Dressed Men. In 2006, Vanity Fair elected Watts into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.^[17]

Watts lived in Dolton, a rural village in west Devon, where he owned an Arabian horse stud farm with his wife Shirley.^[18] He also owned a percentage of The Rolling Stones’ various corporate entities.^[19]

Touring and band relationships[edit]

Watts expressed a love–hate attitude toward touring.^[20] In a 1996 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said that he had sketched every bed he had slept on while on tour since 1967.^[21]

Watts’s personal life appeared to be substantially quieter than those of his bandmates and many of his rock-and-roll colleagues; onstage, he seemed to furnish a calm and amused counterpoint to his flamboyant bandmates. Ever faithful to his wife Shirley, Watts consistently refused sexual favours from groupies on the road; in Robert Greenfield‘s STP: A Journey Through America with The Rolling Stones, a documentary of the 1972 American Tour, it is noted that when the group was invited to the Playboy Mansion during that tour, Watts took advantage of Hugh Hefner‘s game room instead of frolicking with the women. “I’ve never filled the stereotype of the rock star,” he remarked. “Back in the ’70s, Bill Wyman and I decided to grow beards, and the effort left us exhausted.”^[22]

One anecdote relates that in the mid-1980s, an intoxicated Jagger phoned Watts’s hotel room in the middle of the night, asking, “Where’s my drummer?” Watts reportedly got up, shaved, dressed in a suit, put on a tie and freshly shined shoes, descended the stairs, and punched Jagger in the face, saying: “Don’t ever call me your drummer again. You’re my fucking singer!”^{[23][page needed]}

Health[edit]

In the mid-1980s, Watts’s previously moderate use of alcohol and drugs became problematic. “[They were] my way of dealing with [family problems] …” he said. “I think it was a mid-life crisis. All I know is that I became totally another person around 1983 and came out of it about 1986. I nearly lost my wife and everything over my behaviour”.^[24]

In June 2004, Watts was diagnosed with throat cancer, despite having quit smoking in the late 1980s, and underwent a course of radiotherapy.^[25] The cancer went into remission. “I went into hospital,” he recalled, “and eight months later Mick said, ‘We’re going to do a record. But we’ll only do it when you’re ready.’ They were buggering about, writing songs, and when I was ready I went down and that was it, A Bigger Bang. Then I did a two-year tour. It seems that whenever we stop, I get ill. So maybe I should carry on!”^[26]

On 5 August 2021, it was reported that Watts had elected to sit out the resumption of the U.S. No Filter Tour due to an unspecified medical procedure, and that Steve Jordan would temporarily replace him on drums.^[27]

Death[edit]

Watts died in London on 24 August 2021, at the age of 80.^[28]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~he ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally.
• ~~The principal need in America today is~~financial and industrial De-Globalization~~to facilitate the promotion of the possibility for the average man to get and keep a good job with good benefits paid by the employer~~as was done not very long ago.~~~~Bene Nati, Bene Vestiti, Et Mediocriter Docti~~~~~La crema y nata~~~~~Artista de la conquista~    ~~In sunshine and in shadow~~I hold tight to the Republican view of time and money~~I write night and day~~yet~~while impecunious~~I am vastly overpaid~~in that taking pay to do what I love is unfair~~to my employer~~in a fair system~~under such circumstances~~I should pay him~~not he me~~I am far, far too old a man to be sexually confused~~praise Jesus~~but I am yet young enough to be politically confused~~is anyone not~~in an absolute sense~~I am a Catholic Royalist~~in a practical sense~~I am a Classical Liberal~~a Gaullist~~a Bonapartist~~an American Nationalist  Republican~~in either sense~~my head is soon for the chopping block~~to hasten my interlude with Madame La Guillotine~~I write without fear~and without favor of~any man~~ ~~ Finis Origine Pendet…  The escape commences… ~~ September, 1957 ~~ Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic parochial school, called, by anyone of any background, simply: “Chan~al,” a place where, of an autumn day in 1957, school,  for me,  began and ended in the first convening of the first grade in which a tiny nun, one Sister Dom Bosco, appeared before me, just behind the window appearing at far left of this photograph, and piped out this: “I may be small, but so then, is the Atom Bomb.”~~My determination to escape school commenced immediately on hearing about this Atom Bomb business and took 16 dicey and arduous years to finally accomplish.~~ ~~ Non Sibi  The escape continues…  ~~ September, 1966 ~~ The Cathedral Latin School ~~  Finis Origine Pendet~   ~~Κύριε ἐλέησον~~Rejoice and Glad!!Amen~~ ~The Original Angry Bird~~The Catholic University of America Screaming Red Cardinal Mascot~~  ~~EX LIBRIS~~ ~~THEOS EK MĒCHANĒS~~ American New Year’s Day, Thursday, January 1st,~~Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, 2015 Website: http://johndanielbegg.wordpress.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=tab_pro http://www.facebook.com/JohnDanielBeggPublicAffairs  http://www.tumblr.com/blog/theoldsoldiershome1952http://www.facebook.com/john.begg.33http://www.pinterest.com/johnbegg33/boards/http://independent.academia.edu/johnbegg/Papers?s=nav#addhttp://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/jtdbeggTweets: @jtdbegg http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=hb_tab_pro_top “Jean-Marie Le Pen is a friend. He is dangerous for the political set because he’s the only one who’s sincere. He says out loud what many people think deep down, and what the politicians refrain from saying because they are either too demagogic or too chicken. Le Pen, with all his faults and qualities, is probably the only one who thinks about the interests of France before his own.”~~ French actor~~Alain Delon
  CONCEPT OF THE CATHOLIC AND ROYAL ARMY OF AMERICA (CRAA)~~The Catholic University of AmericaSeal of The Catholic University of AmericaMotto~~Deus Lux Mea Est~~Acta Est FabulaThe escape concludes…~~The Catholic University Of America, Washington, District of Columbia.~~1976, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi.~~ Acta Est Fabula.~~Deus Vult.~~Our Ubiquitous Presence~~The Queen~~Our Ruler now 63 years on~~Simply the best President we could ever hope to have~~

I quote here from the Times of India of this day and I thank that paper for a well done story of the madness now visited on Kabal and the entire sad nation of the Afgan people, now left abandoned by the Americans.

I will contine to quote from The Times of India until noted I here cease to quote.

Taliban fighters raising their flag at the Ghazni provincial governor’s house.

Picture credit (AP)WASHINGTON: American leaders and strategists raged against each other in a bitter blame game over the weekend as US global reputation geo-political equities went up in flames following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.

In scenes evocative of the ignominious US exit from Saigon in 1975, American officials shredded and burned classified documents at the US Embassy in Kabul before they were bundled onto Chinook military helicopters for evacuation, even as Taliban fighters moved into the Afghan capital and the country’s President Ashraf Ghani fled after the Biden administration pulled the plug on his fragile government.
Recrimination, anger, and shame coursed through the US political discourse as President Joe Biden blamed his predecessor Donald Trump for the fiasco, and Trump, in turn, berated Biden and Democrats for what experts said was one of the greatest US intelligence failures ever.
READ ALSOAfghanistan President Ashraf Ghani flees, Taliban set to declare Islamic emirateKabul fell to the Taliban in a swift and seemingly bloodless takeover on Sunday as President Ashraf Ghani took flight to Tajikistan, leaving a small band of political representatives to complete the handover of Afghanistan’s final frontier to the advancing forces that had captured most of the
American military planners had conjectured that Kabul would fall within months, if not weeks. But as it turned out it took just days and hours for the Afghan capital to fall before the Taliban’s lightning advance as they converged on Kabul from all across the country.
Biden himself had said on July 8 that there’s going to be “no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy of the United States from Afghanistan…The Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.” Yet, that is precisely what is happening just 24 hours after US intelligence officials suggested Kabul would be able to withstand Taliban advance for 30 to 90 days.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s gig was up the moment Biden said on Saturday that the onus was on the Afghan government and its military to stem the Taliban advance and US officials indicated the President ordering some 5000 US troops back into Kabul was to help evacuate US government personnel, citizens, and US allies, not to help Afghan forces fight the advancing Taliban.
“When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor—which he invited the Taliban to discuss at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 of 2019—that left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001 and imposed a May 1, 2021 deadline on U.S. Forces. Shortly before he left office, he also drew U.S. Forces down to a bare minimum of 2,500. Therefore, when I became President, I faced a choice—follow through on the deal, with a brief extension to get our Forces and our allies’ Forces out safely, or ramp up our presence and send more American troops to fight once again in another country’s civil conflict,” Biden said in a statement on Saturday, implicitly blaming Trump for the debacle, while explaining that “One more year, or five more years, of U.S. military presence, would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country.”
“I was the fourth President to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan—two Republicans, two Democrats. I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth,” he added.
Trump and his allies pounced on the fiasco to denounce Biden as weak and vacillating, particularly after the US President ordered American troops back into Kabul after withdrawing them days earlier even before US officials and citizens had been fully evacuated.
Discerning analysts saw both Democratic and Republican administrations responsible for the American ignominy. “President Biden bears responsibility for making this decision, but there’s no question President Trump, his administration, Secretary Pompeo, they also bear very significant responsibility for this. They walked down this path of legitimizing the Taliban,” said Liz Cheney, a Republican lawmaker, and daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney.
Some commentators apportioned the blame also to Presidents Obama and Bush, lamenting that the US should have exited Afghanistan soon after it killed Osama bin Laden and should have never gotten into the business of nation-building.

I here cease to quote from the Times of India this day and I thank that paper for this informative article.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IL MIGLIOR FABBRO

 

• At Washington, capital city of the terminally self-absorbed, mortal man holds to fleeting, feeble and fallible opinion, God immutable fact.
• 
  • ~~
  • It is my assessment that America is dying inside, being eaten away by the horror of the collapse of the middle orders, the attendant societal and religious values and customs of those orders and the ubiquity of war making for dubious purpose.
  • ~~
  • The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~he ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally.
  ~~The principal need in America today is~~financial and industrial De-Globalization~~to facilitate the promotion of the possibility for the average man to get and keep a good job with good benefits paid by the employer~~as was done not very long ago.~~~~Bene Nati, Bene Vestiti, Et Mediocriter Docti~~~~~La crema y nata~~~~~Artista de la conquista~~ In sunshine and in shadow~~I hold tight to the Republican view of time and money~~I write night and day~~yet~~while impecunious~~I am vastly overpaid~~in that taking pay to do what I love is unfair~~to my employer~~in a fair system~~under such circumstances~~I should pay him~~not he me~~I am far, far too old a man to be sexually confused~~praise Jesus~~but I am yet young enough to be politically confused~~is anyone not~~in an absolute sense~~I am a Catholic Royalist~~in a practical sense~~I am a Classical Liberal~~a Gaullist~~a Bonapartist~~an American Nationalist  Republican~~in either sense~~my head is soon for the chopping block~~to hasten my interlude with Madame La Guillotine~~I write without fear~and without favor of~any man.  ~~ Finis Origine Pendet…  The escape commences… ~~ September, 1957 ~~ Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic parochial school, called, by anyone of any background, simply: “Chan~al,” a place where, of an autumn day in 1957, school,  for me,  began and ended in the first convening of the first grade in which a tiny nun, one Sister Dom Bosco, appeared before me, just behind the window appearing at far left of this photograph, and piped out this: “I may be small, but so then, is the Atom Bomb.”~~My determination to escape school commenced immediately on hearing about this Atom Bomb business and took 16 dicey and arduous years to finally accomplish.~~~~   Non SibiThe declaration that:“I am here to save mankind,” means that:“I am here to rule mankind.”  The escape continues…  ~~ September, 1966 ~~ The Cathedral Latin School ~~     Finis Origine Pendet  ~~Κύριε ἐλέησον~~Rejoice and Glad!!~~Amen~~ ~The Original Angry Bird~~The Catholic University of America Screaming Red Cardinal Mascot~~  ~~EX LIBRIS~~ ~~   THEOS EK MĒCHANĒS   ~~ 4th of July, The American Independence Day,  Sunday ,  Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, the 2016th Website: http://johndanielbegg.wordpress.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=tab_pro http://www.facebook.com/JohnDanielBeggPublicAffairs  http://www.tumblr.com/blog/theoldsoldiershome1952http://www.facebook.com/john.begg.33http://www.pinterest.com/johnbegg33/boards/http://independent.academia.edu/johnbegg/Papers?s=nav#addhttp://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/jtdbeggTweets: @jtdbegg http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=hb_tab_pro_top “Jean-Marie Le Pen is a friend. He is dangerous for the political set because he’s the only one who’s sincere. He says out loud what many people think deep down, and what the politicians refrain from saying because they are either too demagogic or too chicken. Le Pen, with all his faults and qualities, is probably the only one who thinks about the interests of France before his own.”~~  Alain Delon~~Actor CONCEPT OF THE CATHOLIC AND ROYAL ARMY OF AMERICA (CRAA) THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICASeal of The Catholic University of America Motto:~~Deus Lux Mea Est~~Acta Est FabulaThe escape concludes…The Catholic University Of America, Washington, District of Columbia.~~1976, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi. “Who first seduc’d them to that foul revolt? Th’ infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv’d  The Mother of Mankind” ~~ Paradise Lost Book One Verse 35 Our Mr Milton https://johndanielbegg.com/2016/03/09/the-infernal-serpent-he-it-was-whose-guile–stirred-up-with-envy-and-revenge-deceived-the-mother-of-mankindActa Est Fabula.~~Deus Vult.

Ne plus ultra

~~Our Ubiquitous Presence

~~

Our Queen

~~

Our Queen now 69 years on

~~

Simply the best President we could ever hope to have.