To celebrate this funky day, we’re focusing on Clyde Stubblefield: the original Funky Drummer. One of the most sampled drum beats in history was recorded on this day, November 20, back in 1969 at King Studios in Cincinnati USA.The song was James Brown’s Funky Drummer, and the beat was laid down by the legendary Clyde Stubblefield, a self-taught drummer who worked with Brown from 1965 to 1971.
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from the album In the Jungle Groove ·Copyright: Writer(s): James Brown Lyrics Terms of Use
The Top Ten Most Loved Pop Tracks In April
Come back, cover
Shades, good god
It's a raid
Shades, good god
It's a raid
Cut off the lights
And call the law
Cut off the lights
And call the law
And call the law
Cut off the lights
And call the law
Standing over there
The devil's on his way
The devil's on his way
![James James](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125682709/299942215.jpg)
Call the law
Call the law
The devil's on his way
Call the law
The devil's on his way
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Bring on the juice
Bring on the juice
Bring on the juice
Bring on the juice
Make me sweat
Bring on the juice
Bring on the juice
Bring on the juice
Make me sweat
Still good
It's still good
Still good
It's still good
It's still good
Still good
It's still good
Turn over
Turn over
Turn over
Turn over
Turn over
Take me in the chain
Take me in the chain
Take me in the chain
Take me in the chain
Take me in the chain
Tall women
Is all i need
Tall women
Is what i want
Is all i need
Tall women
Is what i want
One more time
I wanna give the drummer
Some of this funky soul
We got here
I wanna give the drummer
Some of this funky soul
We got here
You don't have to do
No song, brother
Just keep what you got
Don't turn it loose
Cause it's a mother
No song, brother
Just keep what you got
Don't turn it loose
Cause it's a mother
When i count to four
I want everybody to lay off
Let the drummer go
When i count to four
I want you to come back in
I want everybody to lay off
Let the drummer go
When i count to four
I want you to come back in
I got to holler
I said it's in my feet
Feels so sweet
It's in my shake, good god
About to work me to death
I said it's in my feet
Feels so sweet
It's in my shake, good god
About to work me to death
It's in my shake
About to work me to death
It's in my shake
I'm about to blow
I'm about to blow
About to work me to death
It's in my shake
I'm about to blow
I'm about to blow
One, two, three, four
Get it
Get it
Ain't it funky
Ain't it funky
Ain't it funky
Ain't it funky
One, two, three, four
Ain't it funky
Ain't it funky
Ain't it funky
One, two, three, four
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If James Brown is the architect of Hip-Hop, then drummer Clyde Stubblefield may very be his builder. The man Questlove calls “The Funkiest Drummer of All Time” has died today (February 18). He was 73 years old, and passed away from kidney failure. Clyde was an integral part of James Brown’s backing band, creating the sounds in the years (1965-1971) that Hip-Hop’s godfathers such as Grandmaster Flash spun at the seminal parties.
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Stubblefield, who was a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, made 1970’s “The Funky Drummer,” one of the most-sampled jams of all time. Songs such as LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out,”Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power,”N.W.A.’s “Fuck Tha Police,” and Beastie Boys’ “Shadrach” integrated those drums sounds.
Clyde also led the rhythms on records like “Sex Machine,”“Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud,”“Cold Sweat” during his tenure with the self-proclaimed “Hardest Working Man In Show Business.”
Before joining Brown, he was a drummer for Otis Redding. Under Brown, Stubblefield did not receive publishing for his contributions to those albums. The pair’s relationship was contentious, per reports. Brown famously fined his musicians for on-stage errors and mishaps, including Clyde. He joined John “Jabo” Starks in Brown’s legendary band. While many Hip-Hop producers and historians mentioned the man’s name, he never received royalties for most of his most sought-out works.
In the early 2000s, Hip-Hop producer/MC/DJ Edan made a mixtape, Sound of the Funky Drummer, that cataloged and blended a history of Rap records integrating the sample.
“All the drum patterns I played with [James] Brown was my own, he never told me how to play or what to play,” Stubblefield told SF Weekly in a 2012 interview, as reported by Rolling Stone. “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.”
One 1968 Boston concert that showcases Clyde’s gifts:
He released albums well into the 2000s, including The Original. Beyond Brown, Clyde Stubblefield and Jabo Starks formed The Funkmasters band in the 1990s.
For more than 45 years, Clyde Stubblefield called Madison, Wisconsin his home.
Just this week, keyboardist/producer/vocalist Walter “Junie” Morrison of Parliament-Funkadelic and the Ohio Players died. Last weekend, Jazz veteran Al Jarreau passed away. Two weekends ago, producer/arranger David Axelrod also died. The sonic backbones of Hip-Hop are leaving us at an alarming rate.
Ambrosia For Heads extends condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Clyde Stubblefield, “The Funky Drummer.” The beat of Hip-Hop is forever changed because of your rhythms, abilities, and funkiness.