Essential: Gilles Peterson’s Clyde Stubblefield tribute mix
Half an hour of the drummer's breaks and the tracks inspired by them
James Brown’s one-time drummer Clyde Stubblefield passed away on February 18, leaving behind a legacy of extensively-sampled beats.
Having played on classics like ‘Cold Sweat’ and ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’ and also legendary album ‘Sex Machine’, it’s 1970 single ‘Funky Drummer’ that had the most impact.
The drum break has reportedly been sampled on over 1300 songs and is a staple in hip-hop, used in N.W.A’s ‘Fuck Tha Police’, Run DMC’s ‘Run’s House’ and three of Public Enemy’s biggest hits ‘Fight the Power,’ ‘Bring the Noise’ and ‘Rebel Without a Pause’.
Radio personality and general music aficianado Gilles Peterson has recorded a tribute mix of Stubblefield’s most well known breaks, splicing in the tunes that sampled them and quotes from the legendary drummer. Listen to it below.
Louis Anderson-Rich is Mixmag’s Digital Intern. Follow him on Twitter
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