Steve Jordan, the late-Charlie Watts' replacement, broke his silence to Vanity Fair about taking over the drum chair for the Rolling Stones.
Jordan, Keith Richards' collaborator and drummer in his X-Pensive Winos solo band — is also known for his work on the original Saturday Night Live, the Blues Brothers, the Late Night with David Letterman Band, along with sessions with the Stones, and co-writing their 1989 Steel Wheels track, “Almost Hear You Sigh.”
He explained that filling in for Watts — a close friend for decades — is both difficult and easy in many ways: “It’s very natural. But, y'know, I’ve been listening to these records since I was eight years old. Some of those 'fills' or whatever are embedded in my DNA. I can’t listen to the song without playing the exact fill that Charlie played, because that’s part of how you breathe, y'know? People equate hooks to guitar lines or vocal melodies. But there are hooks in drums, too. And Charlie played a lot of hooks. And if you don’t play the hooks, then you’re not playing the song. So it’s imperative that I quote and play these hooks.”