National Nitwit

Whittaker (far left)in 1964 with the Rolling Stones on the set of Top Beat

(London) British musician and sometime member of the Rolling Stones Trevor Whittaker died today of pneumonia. The unofficial "Eighth Stone" was 64 years of age.

Whittaker was active in the London rhythm and blues music scene that spwaned the Stones and many other sixties rock acts. A multi-instrumentalist, Whittaker occasionally filled in for members on tour, and performed on a number of Stones recordings.

"He always chose the songs he wanted to play on," Keith Richards remembered. "He chose. And if he didn’t like a song, he would just up and walk away from it, saying 'I’m not playing this, it’s got Japanese chords and shit in it.' Trev was a regular stickler about these things."

Whittaker in an undated picture

Piano player Ian Stewart is often credited as being the "sixth Stone," while multi-instrumentalist Nicky Hopkins garnered the label "seventh Stone." Whittaker - less known than his unofficial compatriots - often "carried the water" for the Stones, said Richards.

"That guy," recalled Richards, “had the biggest damned heart that I’ve ever known. A guy that hangs around a band, does everything they ask, and then gets kicked out of it, and then says, 'I'll drive the bus' or 'I'll get the fucking coffee.' I don’t think it was ever obvious but he was the best of us all. He made the fucking band what it was and still is."

Labels: Rolling Stones, Trevor Whittaker