Brian Jones’s letter asking Charlie Watts to join Rolling Stones to be auctioned

A handwritten letter by Brian Jones in which he tried to recruit drummer Charlie Watts to the Rolling Stones could sell for 80,000 dollars (£60,162) at auction.Widely regarded as one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time, the Rolling Stones were founded by Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Jones in the 1960s, with Watts and Bill Wyman later joining the line-up.A previously unseen letter, addressed to Watts at his childhood home in Wembley, offers an insight into the origins of the chart-topping group more than six decades later.The letter was written in June 1962, just weeks before the band’s first live performance in July that year, and addressed to “Mr C Watts”.(left to right) Brian Jones, Sir Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards and Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, pictured in 1968 (PA)PA Archive“Dear Charlie, if you consider this letter rather impertinent, please excuse me,” Jones wrote in the introduction, before making his case for Watts to leave Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated and join his band.In the letter, Jones inquires about Watts’s involvement with his R&B group and boasts that his own group is “far better”, as he makes his case for a “good drummer”.He added: “Our present drummer is atrocious.”Jones also detailed the band’s existing line-up of two guitars, harmonica, piano and drums, and noted their intention to eventually introduce a bass guitar.Watts officially joined the Rolling Stones in January 1963, around seven months after the letter was written.The letter has remained in Watts’s family for more than 60 years and has been provided to Sotheby’s by the late drummer’s sister.It will be revealed to the public for the first time on December 2 at Sotheby’s in New York, where it will be displayed alongside its original envelope.The letter will then head under the hammer, and is expected to sell for between 70,000 and 80,000 dollars (£52,662-£60,162).xThe online auction will be open for bidding from December 2 until December 15.Craig Inciardi, Sotheby’s music and pop culture specialist, said: “Few documents bring us as close to the formation of a legendary band as this letter.Read More“Written just weeks before the Rolling Stones’ first performance and months before Charlie Watts officially joined the group, it captures the excitement and ambition of a band on the cusp of history.“It is an extraordinary first-hand record of Brian Jones’s determination to recruit the drummer whose distinctive sound would help define the Rolling Stones for nearly six decades.”The Rolling Stones have achieved eight UK number one singles and 14 UK number one albums in their six-decade career, and have been lauded for their longevity as they continue to produce new music.Watts rose to fame in the best-selling group, and remained their drummer until he died aged 80 in August 2021 following complications from an emergency medical procedure.Jones left the Rolling Stones in June 1969 after almost seven years with the band.He died less than a month later aged 27, having been found drowned in his swimming pool.