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Join today<\/a><\/p>\n \n Already a member? \u201cDear Charlie, if you consider this letter impertinent, please excuse me\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n This was the opening line in Brian Jones<\/a>\u2019s bid to poach drummer Charlie Watts<\/a> for the Rolling Stones<\/a>, delivered to \u201cMr C Watts\u201d at his childhood home in Wembley. <\/p>\n The historic handwritten letter, postmarked 3 June 1962, is being auctioned by Watts’s sister after remaining in the family for six decades, with its contents revealed to the public for the very first time. <\/p>\n Band co-founder Jones <\/a>made a strong case for Watts to quit Alexis Korner\u2019s Blues Incorporated and join the ambitious new group<\/a> he\u2019d formed with Keith Richards<\/a> and Mick Jagger<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know at the moment what your relationship with Korner\u2019s band is,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI noticed Nick Nicholls was drumming last night at Ealing. If you are not going to work with Alex in the future, and still want to play R&B, we are looking for a good drummer.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones continued: \u201cAlready we consider our band far better than Alex\u2019s \u2013 we are getting a very tightly-knit sound.\u201d<\/p>\n He told Watts that the band were rehearsing three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays: \u201cAnyway, if you have time, let me know what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n In a \u201cPS\u201d, he added a rundown of the current set-up for the band (\u201dtwo guitars, harp, piano and drums. We are going to use a bass guitar eventually\u201d). <\/p>\n He also delivered a rather scornful assessment of their drummer at the time, whom he branded \u201catrocious!\u201d.<\/p>\n It is unclear who he was referring to: it could have been the Stones\u2019 first drummer, Tony Chapman, who played with them at their live debut at the Marquee Club on 12 July 1962, then left in January when Watts joined. Carlo Little also had brief stints with the Stones in 1962, again before Watts joined.<\/p>\n At the time Jones made his pitch, Watts \u2013 who went on to be regarded as one of the greatest drummers of his generation \u2013 was still working a day job in advertising while playing with Korner\u2019s band, and resisted the Stones\u2019 early attempts to recruit him.<\/p>\n Despite Jones\u2019s plea, it was another seven months before Watts agreed to officially join the Stones in January 1963. He remained with the band for almost six decades until his death in 2021. <\/p>\n Indeed, the band had been so determined to get him on board that they were prepared to sacrifice luxuries like food to be able to afford him: \u201cWe starved ourselves to pay for him!\u201d Keith Richards later recalled in his autobiography, Life. <\/p>\n Watts, for his part, joked in a 1986 interview that he \u201cworked five years\u201d then spent \u201c20 years hanging around\u201d. He died aged 80 in August 2021. <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s so fascinating about this letter is that it shows just how highly regarded Charlie Watts already was at this incredibly early stage,\u201d Craig Inciardi, Sotheby\u2019s music and pop culture specialist, told The Independent.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Rolling Stones band name didn\u2019t yet exist, but Brian Jones clearly understood how important the right drummer would be to the sound they were trying to create.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cThere\u2019s something wonderful about seeing that history unfold in real time, especially knowing that Charlie\u2019s distinctive drumming style would go on to define the band\u2019s sound.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter, which is estimated to fetch between $70,000 to $80,000, will be on public view along with its original envelope at Sotheby\u2019s New York between 2 – 8 December, with online bidding open from 2 – 15 December ahead of its sale on 15 December.<\/p>\n
\n Log in<\/a>\n <\/p>\n![\"Brian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Letter-from-Brian-Jones-Recruiting-Charlie-Watts-to-The-Rolling-Stones.jpg\")
Brian Jones urged Charlie Watts to ditch his current band and join the group who would go on to become the Rolling Stones (Sotheby’s New York)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Letter-from-Brian-Jones-Recruiting-Charlie-Watts-to-The-Rolling-Stones-(2).jpg\")
The letter from a young Brian Jones as he attempted to recruit Charlie Watts to the Rolling Stones (Sotheby’s New York)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Letter-from-Brian-Jones-Recruiting-Charlie-Watts-to-The-Rolling-Stones-(3).jpg\")
The letter along with the envelope it was mailed in, addressed to “Mr C Watts” at his childhood home in Wembley (Sotheby’s New York)<\/p>\n![\"L-R:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-1365367624.jpg\")
L-R: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts (Getty)<\/p>\n