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Rolling Stones Quotes: Charlie Watts on the Stones’ early shows at the Crawdaddy

“At Richmond we became sort of a cult, in a way. Not because of us, it just happens… There were so many people, and because there was no room to dance they used to invent ridiculous dances. There was no room for Mick to dance onstage and he used to just wiggle his arse, which sort of made… I don’t know, but… it was lovely… I mean the Crawdaddy was like – it was nice to have a dance. It was nice to be there, and the Crawdaddy was always like that. That was really the best time for response of them all. I mean, it got a bit wearing, if you did the same set, and you knew at a certain time everything would explode. And sure enough it always did, and it always ended up in an absolute… gyrating… riot.”

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Back in 1963 the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond was the place to be if you wanted to catch the Rolling Stones in their rawest, most electrifying form. The tiny club, run by Giorgio Gomelsky, had already played a crucial role in launching their career. It was here, in early 1963, that the Stones became the resident band, taking over from the Yardbirds and turning the venue into a hotbed of rhythm and blues energy.

By 1964 the Stones had outgrown the club, but they still returned for a few special performances. At this point, they were well on their way to superstardom—scoring hits, causing riots, and making parents everywhere nervous. But Richmond was home turf, and these shows at the Crawdaddy had an extra spark. Fans packed into the club to see Mick Jagger sneer and strut while Keith Richards and Brian Jones unleashed their bluesy guitar attack, all backed by the steady groove of Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman.

Gomelsky, ever the visionary, had been one of the first to recognize the band’s potential, managing them briefly before Andrew Loog Oldham swooped in and took over. Still, the Crawdaddy remained a legendary part of their early story—a place where they honed their sound and built the kind of buzz that would soon take them to the top of the charts.

Those 1964 shows were among their last at the club, marking the end of an era before they truly became rock and roll giants.

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