Friday Funk: Lost Yet Another Legend This Week
Last week’s Friday Funk installment paid tribute to a legend of funk who we lost, and one day later we lost another: Clyde Stubblefield, the man who was James Brown’s drummer and the most sampled beat maker in hip hop history. In Rolling Stone’s tribute to Subblefield, they said the following about the 1970 single ‘Funky Drummer’:
The drum break served as the backbeat for countless hip-hop tracks, ranging from Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” “Bring the Noise” and “Rebel Without a Pause” to N.W.A’s “Fuck tha Police” and Dr. Dre’s “Let Me Ride” to LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out,” Run-D.M.C.’s “Run’s House” and Beastie Boys’ “Shadrach.” Even Ed Sheeran’s “Shirtsleeves” and George Michael’s “Freedom ’90” were among the over 1,000 songs to sample Stubblefield’s beat.
“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,” Stubblefield said of creating the famous drum break. “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.'”
Questlove of the Roots called Stubblefield the funky funkiest drummer of all time, so here’s some Stubblefield selections to help you get your cool back for the weekend:
___
Disclaimer:
-If you like Friday Funk, here’s my Friday Funk playlist on Spotify.
-If you don’t like Friday Funk, please consult my music policy.