Rolling Stones Drummer Charlie Watts’ Copy of ‘The Great Gatsby’ Could Sell for £300,000 at Auction
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Charlie Watts created the consistent beat for the Rolling Stones as the band’s drummer on every album by the group since 1964, but his first love was jazz.
That passion, alongside a zeal for modern literature, will be on display in a two-part auction at Christie’s of rare-edition books and jazz memorabilia that is expected to fetch more than £2.5 million (US$3.2 million). Watts died in August 2021 at age 80.
Among 500 items to be offered in a live sale on Sept. 28 in London, and in an online sale running from Sept. 15-29, is a copy F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, inscribed to MGM screenwriter Harold Goldman as “the original Gatsby,” for an estimate between £200,000 and £300,000. Set in the Roaring ’20s, the novel captures the jazz age of the time.
Watts began collecting jazz memorabilia when he was in his teens, Dave Green, a childhood friend and jazz musician, said in a news release. The collection “reflects his enduring love of the music and the musicians who made it,” Green said.
Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd. 2023
Among the memorabilia are items Watts collected related to saxophonist Charlie Parker, including his Associated Musicians Membership card, contracts for Parker’s Alto Break sessions, and a pair of awards from Down Beat magazine in 1952 that are expected to achieve up to £15,000.
Watts pursued jazz even through his career as the Stones’ drummer, joining his bandmate Ian Stewart, a keyboardist, in the “boogie-woogie” band Rocket 88 in the 1970s. The Charlie Watts Big Band performed globally in the 1980s and in 1993, he released a jazz album, Warm & Tender, with the Charlie Watts Quintet.
Watts’ music collection also includes an annotated score of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, estimated to achieve up to £15,000, and two scores by Irving Berlin. Songs from Top Hat and Songs from Follow the Fleet by Berlin are inscribed to Ginger Rogers, and are estimated to achieve between £4,000 and £6,000.
Other top literature lots include rare editions of books by Agatha Christie, George Orwell, Arthur Conan Doyle, and James Joyce. Christie’s The Thirteen Problems carries an estimate between £40,000 and £60,000.
The range of items will give many Watts fans a chance at owning something the legendary drummer once collected, as prices range as low as £800.
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Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
