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RIP Clyde Stubblefield. The long-time James Brown drummer, who became the most sampled percussionist in hip-hop history, has sadly passed away aged 73 due to kidney failure.
His rhythm pattern on the 1970 hit 'Funky Drummer' is said to be the most sampled in hip-hop history with the likes of Run DMC, Raekwon, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, and N.W.A all using it. It has been used in a number of other genres too and Prince considered him one of his drumming idols. The influence it has had is a staggering achievement.
Whilst he was playing with James Brown from 1965 to 1971, he played on the Godfather of Funk's most memorable tracks including 'Cold Sweat,' 'Ain't It Funky Now,' 'I Got the Feelin' and Brown's classic LP Cold Sweat and Sex Machine.
Stubblefield deserved songwriting royalties but never got them. "All my life I've been wondering about my money," Stubblefield said in a 2011 New York Times interview.
Of coming up with 'Funky Drummer', he said: "We were sitting up in the studio, getting ready for a session, and I guess when I got set up I just started playing a pattern. Started playing something. The bassline came in and the guitar came in and we just had a rhythm going, and if Brown liked it, I just said, 'Well, I'll put something with it.'"
"All the drum patterns I played with Brown was my own; he never told me how to play or what to play," Stubblefield told SF Weekly in 2012. "I just played my own patterns, and the hip-hoppers and whatever, the people that used the material probably paid him, maybe. But we got nothing. I got none of it. It was all my drum product."
Stubblefield was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1943 also played for Otis Redding in the early 60s before joining James Brown.
Whilst in James Brown's group he played alongside John "Jabo" Starks and together they helped write the definition of funk music.
When Stubblefield left Brown's band, he and Starks reunited to form the Funkmasters, resulting in a pair of albums and he released some solo albums including 1997's Revenge of the Funk Drummer.
Considering he was never paid properly for his contribution to music when he was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2001 he didn't have health insurance to pay for the treatment and, according to Billboard, philanthropic Prince stepped up to save his life and pay the $80,000 dollar medical bills.
Meanwhile, the legendary Bootsy Collins has paid tribute via Twitter:
We lost another Pillar Stone that held up the Foundation of Funk. Mr.Clyde Stubblefield has left our frequency. I... https://t.co/JV2JVfRJkn
— Bootsy Collins (@Bootsy_Collins) February 18, 2017
