Tribute to Rolling Stones founding member recording tonight at King Eddy
Ben Waters came to play with the Rolling Stones almost accidentally, through his obsession with the boogie-woogie style of piano played by one of the band's founding members, Ian Stewart.
Jagger, Richards, Watts and the rest later kind of came with the package.
"I was so obsessed with him (Stewart) I started copying not just his piano playing ... I started siting the same way on the piano," Waters said of his early days.
He'd hammer away 12 or more hours a day learning the raucous old blues style that Stewart brought to the Stones early days.
Waters is playing Thursday night at the King Eddy, recording tracks for the re-issue of his Stewart tribute album "Boogie 4 Stu."
The album will also feature recently-recorded tracks with the surviving members of the Rolling Stones and Water's 21-year-old son Tommy.
Stewart was the man behind the Rolling Stones mobile studio that now lives at the National Music Centre at Studio Bell, which will be used to record parts of the show.
"To come to this studio was the first time I came in (Wednesday) and I got shivers up my spine - he was in here recording all those things," said Waters.
The truck was used to record tracks such as Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry", Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" and much of Led Zeppelin IV which features Ian Stewart playing piano on the track "Rock and Roll."
Behind the board will be long time engineer Mick Mckenna, a veteran of countless hours in what is known in some circles as "rock's Sistine Chapel".
The show starts at 8 p.m. at the King Eddy Hotel and tickets are available at the door.
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