After completing my previous blog post about an obscure source of hip hop samples, I just learned of the death of Clyde Stubblefield, the original "funky drummer" and the source of what is probably the most popular -- almost to the point of cliche -- hip hop sample.
"Funky Drummer" is a non-LP single released in 1970 by James Brown. At 7+ minutes, the song itself was split over the A- and B-sides but it really should be heard as one song. Then skip to about 5:34 in the track: it might not be the first breakbeat, but it's probably the most sampled. Even when the breakbeats are from other songs, they pretty much all owe a debt to the Wilhelm scream of hip hop: "Funky Drummer" and Clyde Stubblefield.
In the immortal words of James Brown, "give the drummer some!"
James Brown - "Funky Drummer" (break at ~5:34)
Final score: 10/10
Saturday, February 18, 2017
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