Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters

Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters is both a gonzo rush--capturing the bristling energy of the Rolling Stones and the times in which they lived--and a wide-eyed reflection on why the Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Band in the World needed the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll drummer.

Mike Edison is the former editor and publisher of High Times magazine. His books include the celebrated memoir I Have Fun Everywhere I Go, the sprawling social history of sex on the newsstand, Dirty! Dirty! Dirty! and the deliciously filthy political satire Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie. Edison is also a noted musician who spent much of the 1980s and 90s seeing the world from behind a drum set, opening for bands as diverse as Sonic Youth, Sound Garden, and the Ramones. He has written extensive liner notes for, among others, Iggy Pop, and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and has contributed to numerous magazines and websites, including Huffington Post, the Daily Beast, the New York Observer, Spin (writing about the Rolling Stones), Interview, and New York Press, for which he covered classical music and professional wrestling. He speaks frequently on free speech, sex, drugs, and the American counterculture. Edison lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.