Clyde Stubblefield
"The Funky Drummer"
Early Rhythms
Clyde Stubblefield was born in Chattanooga TN on April 18th, 1943 to parents Frank D. and Vena Stubblefield. He was a self taught drummer, who was inspired to pick up playing after seeing other locals play in parades. As a youngster his sense of rhythm was influenced by the industrial sounds of factories and trains around him. He practiced the rhythm patterns he heard, sometimes playing two patterns simultaneously. Years later he said if he could hum a drum pattern, he could play it. He played professionally as a teenager and performed in local bands on Ninth Street such as the Blue Shufflers, Inclines, and Cascades.
The Funky Drummer
In 1965, James Brown saw Stubblefield perform in Macon, Georgia, and asked him to audition. Soon after he joined Brown's band. Stubblefield's recordings with James Brown are considered to be some of the standard-bearers for funk drumming, including the singles "Cold Sweat", "There Was a Time", "I Got the Feelin'", "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", "Ain't It Funky Now", "Mother Popcorn", "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose", "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" and the album Sex Machine. His rhythm pattern on James Brown's "Funky Drummer" is among the world's most sampled musical segments. It has been used for decades by hip-hop groups and rappers such as Public Enemy, Run-DMC, N.W.A, Raekwon, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, and Prince, and has also been used in other genres. Though the sole creator of his patterns, Stubblefield was not credited for the use of the samples.
Clyde Stubblefield Cold Sweat drum loop April 5 1968 Boston Garden
The Legacy
Stubblefield died on February 18, 2017, from kidney failure. He survived cancer in 2000 and coped with kidney disease since 2002. Pop icon Prince, who considered Stubblefield a drumming idol, was a major financial supporter and had paid for about $80,000 of the drummer's health care costs, it was disclosed in 2016 since Stubblefield had no health insurance. Stubblefield was survived by his wife Jody Hannon.