Brian Jones Letter Recruiting Charlie Watts to The Rolling Stones to Auction

More than six decades after it was written, a handwritten letter from Brian Jones to Charlie Watts in which Jones attempts to recruit the drummer to join the fledgling group that would become The Rolling Stones will go under the hammer for the first time.

Written in June 1962 before the group had adopted The Rolling Stones name and a few weeks before their first performance that July, the letter comes directly from Watts’s sister, having remained in the family for more than 60 years. Accompanied by its original envelope, the letter will appear at Sotheby’s New York’s Rock & Pop sale on December 15, with an estimate of $70,000-$80,000. 

Addressed to “Mr. C. Watts” at his childhood home in Wembley, Jones begins “Dear Charlie, if you consider this letter rather impertinent, please excuse me…” and goes on to enquire about Watts’s involvement with Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, one of the leading groups on London's burgeoning rhythm and blues scene, before making his case for Watts to join his own band.

“We are looking for a good drummer. Already we consider our band far better than Alex’s – we are getting a very tightly-knit sound.”

In a postscript, Jones outlines the band's existing lineup of two guitars, harmonica, piano and drums, noting their intention to eventually introduce a bass guitar, before offering a rather frank assessment of their current drummer: “Our present drummer is atrocious!”

Watts, whose background lay primarily in jazz, was already highly regarded on London's music scene, and initially reluctant to leave Blues Incorporated for an uncertain future with the emerging band. It took another seven months before Watts officially joined The Rolling Stones in January 1963.

The letter will be on public view at Sotheby’s New York from December 2, ahead of its auction.