Another great gone, this time its Charlie Watts

Some drummers have said. What makes you a great drummer is what you dont play.

Charlie didn’t have to be "perfect", or technically advanced. In fact, if he was he would sound out of place in a band with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. Like the often-denigrated Ringo Starr, he was the right drummer for the group. As was Keith Moon for The Who. It is their trademark style that made their band’s what they were. At least Led Zeppelin realized Bonham couldn’t be replaced, and called it a day, as The Who should have. IMO.

My tastes run in a different direction: Roger Hawkins (Muscle Shoals studio drummer in The Swampers. The actor they got to play him in the new movie about Aretha Franklin---Respect---looks just like him. Keltner said in a Modern Drummer interview that he wished he played more like Hawkins. A FANTASTIC drummer!), Jim Gordon (Delaney & Bonnie, Derek & The Dominos, Clapton’s solo debut, All Things Must Pass, Traffic---along with Roger Hawkins, Spector productions. I acquired one of his Camco sets after he was sent up the river for killing his mother with a hammer. Beat her to death with it.), Levon Helm, D.J. Fontana (you had better know who he is ;-), Harry Stinson (Marty Stuart’s drummer in his band The Fabulous Superlatives, also a great harmony singer.), Kenny Buttrey (Dylan, Neil’s Harvest.), Buddy Harman (Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline, The Everly Brothers, Elvis, Brenda Lee, Tammy Wynette. That’s him on "Stand By Your Man", his drumming the epitome of taste, economy, subtlety, and most importantly musicality. As various Jazz greats have said: The notes you don’t play are as important as those you do.), Jim Christie (Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakam.), a lot of others most of ya’ll have never heard of.

I like drummers who "play the song". Those who listen for what a song needs, and play THAT, rather than what they think will impress other drummers. You know---gratuitous displays of empty technique. Musically inappropriate over-playing, way too busy. Drummers are generally kinda stupid (ever heard Carmine Appice speak? Oy.), present company and those named above excluded.

One of my favorite musician stories is the one told me by Evan Johns, who worked off-and-on with guitar virtuoso Danny Gatton (nicknamed The Humbler by Vince Gill.). It goes as follows:

Danny, speaking to his new drummer after the first set of his maiden live gig: "Hey, ya know all that fancy sh*t you play?"

The drummer: "Yeah."

Danny: "Don’t."

When Exile came out reviewers (generally letdown after the Sticky Fingers studio precision) commented how Charlie was the glue that held it together. They were right, and eventually came around to how great the other playing was also. 
He was a capable of metronomic rhythm but played around with the timing enough to keep the songs interesting (the two-beat tap on a cymbal at the end of Dead Flowers is a great example of his stylish virtuosity).
He will be missed.

bdp24, Yes, there's certainly no problem with sounding idiosyncratic where it applies to rock/pop/jazz, etc.. Playing in a rock band isn't like singing a Bach Aria. And the impromptu nature of 'Exile On Main Street'  gives it a charm not found on any of their other studio albums. Additionally, I always appreciated the chemistry between Nicky Hopkins and the band.