Funky Drummer

"Funky Drummer" is a song recorded by James Brown and The J.B.s. The recording's drum break, a propulsive drumbeat performed by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampled rhythmic breaks^[1] in hip hop and popular music.

The recording

"Funky Drummer" was recorded on November 20, 1969 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and originally released by King Records as a two-part 45 rpm single in March 1970. Despite rising to #20 on the R&B chart and #51 on the pop chart,^[2] it did not receive an album release until the 1986 compilation In the Jungle Groove.

The piece takes the form of an extended vamp, with individual instruments (mostly the tenor saxophones and organ) improvising brief licks on top. Brown's ad-libbed vocals on "Funky Drummer" are sporadic and declamatory, and are mostly concerned with encouraging the other band members.The song is written in the key of D minor, all but the first verse which is in C major.

As in the full-length version of "Cold Sweat" he announces the upcoming drum break, which comes late in the recording, with a request to "give the drummer some." He tells Stubblefield "You don't have to do no soloing, brother, just keep what you got... Don't turn it loose, 'cause it's a mother." Stubblefield's eight-bar unaccompanied "solo", a version of the riff he plays through most of the piece, is the result of Brown's directions; this break beat is the most sampled recording in music.

After the drum break, the band returns to the original vamp.^[3] Brown, apparently impressed with what Stubblefield has produced, seems to name the song on the spot as it continues, and repeats it: "The name of this tune is 'The Funky Drummer', 'The Funky Drummer', 'The Funky Drummer'." The recording ends with a reprise of Stubblefield's solo and a fade-out.

Modern adaptations

The rhythm pattern on "Funky Drummer" is among the world's most sampled musical segments and has backed hip hop for over 25 years. Rediscovered by Hank Shocklee of The Bombsquad whilst they were creating mixes for Public Enemy in the early 1980s, it has since been used by hip-hop groups and rappers including Run-D.M.C., N.W.A, Raekwon, LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys and Boogie Down Productions.^[4]

The Roughlist

Public Enemy - Rebel Without a Pause/Fight The Power(1986)

RUN DMC - Run's House/Beats to The Rhyme

Eric B & Rakim - Lyrics of Fury

Kool G Rap & Polo - It's a Demo

Big Daddy Kane - Mortal Combat

Biz Markie - Spring Again

Ice T - Make It Funky (1987)

NWA - Live Intro/Quiet on the Set (1988)

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Jazzy's Groove(1988)

Planet Hemp - Porcos Fardados

Public Enemy - What What

ultramagentic mc's - move love on the 1 and 2

Serious Tripp - Gotta Keep Movin'

Paris - [[The Devil Made Me Do It (album)|I Call him Mad]

LL CoolJ - Mama Said Knock You Out/The Boomin' System (1990)

2 Live Crew - Coolin' Snap! - Blase Blase (1990)

George Michael - Freedom 90'

Lightnin' Lee & Poppy P - Big Time Chillin'

Jewel T - I Like It Loud

Prince - Pop Life (Unreleaased Remix)

Enigma - Carly's song (Version 1)

Fatboy Slim - The Payback (Final Mixdown)

True Mathematics - For The Lover In You

Ice Cube - Jackin' for Beats

Geto Boys - Mind of a Lunatic

Fine Young Cannibals - I'm Not The Man I Used To Be

Dr. Dre - Let Me Ride

A Tribe Called Quest - Separate/Together

Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Go With The Flow

Bob James - Love Is Where (1997)

Labrinth - Express Yourself (2012)

Theodore Shapiro - Central Intelligence (2016)

Sinéad O'Connor - I Am Stretched on Your Grave (1990)^[5]

Lyrical references

Rappers who sample James Brown's recordings have included references to him, Stubblefield, and the song's title in their lyrics, two examples being LL Cool J in "Boomin' System" ("The girlies, they smile, they see me comin, I'm steady hummin, I got the Funky Drummer drummin") and Public Enemy in "Fight the Power" ("1989 – the number, another summer / Sound of the Funky Drummer...").

The "Funky Drummer" beat was so widely used that it eventually became something of a musical cliché, and performers began referring to it sarcastically. MC Frontalot's song "Good Old Clyde" comments on the widespread appropriation of the "Funky Drummer" beat (while exploiting the beat itself).^[6]^[7] Pop Will Eat Itself's song "Not Now, James, We're Busy" samples Brown's vocal asides from "Funky Drummer" as well as the drum break, weaving them into a commentary on Brown's legal troubles.

Nickname

"The Funky Drummer" is also sometimes used as a nickname for Clyde Stubblefield, who capitalized on the name with his 1997 album Revenge of the Funky Drummer. As a session drummer, Stubblefield received no further compensation for the many samples that were taken from the recording.^[8]

Versions

More than one mix of "Funky Drummer" was made around the time it was recorded, including one with tambourine and another with vocal percussion by Brown and trombonist Fred Wesley; the most commonly heard version of the track lacks these elements, which were apparently overdubbed. In addition to the original version of "Funky Drummer", the album In the Jungle Groove includes a "bonus beat reprise" of the piece. This track, edited by Danny Krivit, consists of a 3-minute loop of the drum break, punctuated only by Brown's sampled vocal interjections and an occasional guitar chord and tambourine hit.

Released versions

Part 1 – 2:35
Part 2 – 2:55
Parts 1 & 2 (first appeared on Foundations of Funk – A Brand New Bag: 1965–1969) – 5:34
Full version (appears on In the Jungle Groove) – 9:13
Tambourine Mix (appears on Soul Pride: The Instrumentals – 1960–1969) – 9:13
Bonus Beat Reprise (appears on In the Jungle Groove) – 2:56

Personnel

James Brown – vocals, organ

with the James Brown Orchestra:

Richard "Kush" Griffith – trumpet
Joe Davis – trumpet
Fred Wesley – trombone
Maceo Parker – tenor saxophone
Eldee Williams – tenor saxophone
St. Clair Pinckney – baritone saxophone
Jimmy Nolen – guitar
Alphonso "Country" Kellum – guitar
Charles Sherrell – bass
Clyde Stubblefield – drums^[9]

Chart positions

Chart (1970)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100	51
US Billboard R&B	20

References

↑ Kun, Josh: "What Is an MC If He Can't Rap to Banda? Making Music in Nuevo L.A." American Quarterly (American Studies Assn) (Baltimore, MD) (56:3) Sep 2004, 741-758. (2004)
↑ White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In Star Time (pp. 54–59) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
↑ Collins, Sam. "Funky Drummer". Iomusic News. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
↑ Dana Scott (February 25, 2017). "Chuck D Reflects on Clyde Stubblefield's Impact as Hip Hop's Most Sampled Drummer". hiphopdx.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
↑ "Sinéad O'Connor's 'I Am Stretched on Your Grave' - Discover the Sample Source". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
↑ MC Frontalot :: Lyric :: Good Old Clyde
↑ Justin A. Williams (2015). The Cambridge Companion to Hip-Hop. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge University Press. p. 229. ISBN 9781107037465. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
↑ James Brown, Clyde Stubblefield and the Madison Area Music Awards. (2007, January 4). Isthmus. Retrieved February 13, 2007.
↑ Leeds, Alan, and Harry Weinger (1991). "Star Time: Song by Song". In Star Time (pp. 46–53) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.

External links

James Brown singles

Billboard charting singles (R&B and Pop)

1950s

1956	"Please, Please, Please"
1958	"Try Me"
1959	"I Want You So Bad"

1960s

1960	"I'll Go Crazy" "Think" "You've Got the Power" "This Old Heart" "The Bells"
1961	"Bewildered" "I Don't Mind" "Baby, You're Right" "Just You and Me, Darling" "Lost Someone"
1962	"Night Train" "Shout and Shimmy" "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." "Three Hearts in a Tangle" "I've Got Money"
1963	"Like a Baby" "Every Beat of My Heart" "Prisoner of Love" "These Foolish Things" "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered"
1964	"Oh Baby Don't You Weep" "Please, Please, Please" "Caldonia" "The Things That I Used to Do" "Out of Sight" "Have Mercy Baby"
1965	"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" "Try Me" "I Got You (I Feel Good)"
1966	"Lost Someone" "I'll Go Crazy" "Ain't That a Groove" "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" "Money Won't Change You" "Don't Be a Drop-Out" "Sweet Little Baby Boy"
1967	"Bring It Up" "Kansas City" "Think" "Let Yourself Go" "Cold Sweat" "Get It Together" "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)" "There Was a Time"
1968	"You've Got to Change Your Mind" "I Got the Feelin'" "Licking Stick – Licking Stick" "America Is My Home" "I Guess I'll Have to Cry, Cry, Cry" "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" "Goodbye My Love" "Tit for Tat (Ain't No Taking Back)"
1969	"Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" "Soul Pride" "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I'll Get It Myself)" "The Popcorn" "Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)" "Lowdown Popcorn" "World" "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn" "Ain't It Funky Now"

1970s

1970	"It's a New Day" "Funky Drummer" "Brother Rapp" "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" "Super Bad" "Santa Claus Is Definitely Here to Stay" "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved"
1971	"Spinning Wheel" "Soul Power" "I Cried" "Escape-ism" "Hot Pants" "Make It Funky" "I'm a Greedy Man"
1972	"Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" "King Heroin" "There It Is" "Honky Tonk" "Get on the Good Foot" "I Got a Bag of My Own" "What My Baby Needs Now Is a Little More Lovin'"
1973	"I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Want to Dance)" "Down and Out in New York City" "Think" "Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" "Stoned to the Bone"
1974	"The Payback" "My Thang" "Papa Don't Take No Mess" "Funky President (People It's Bad)" "Coldblooded"
1975	"Reality" "Sex Machine" "Hustle!!! (Dead on It)" "Superbad, Superslick" "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)"
1976	"(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" "Get Up Offa That Thing" "I Refuse to Lose" "Bodyheat"
1977	"Kiss in 77" "Give Me Some Skin" "If You Don't Give a Doggone About It"
1978	"Eyesight" "The Spank" "For Goodness Sakes, Look at Those Cakes"
1979	"It's Too Funky in Here" "Star Generation"

1980s

1980	"Regrets" "Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)"
1981	"Stay with Me"
1983	"The Night Time Is the Right Time (To Be With the One That You Love)"
1984	"Unity"
1985	"Living in America"
1986	"Gravity"
1987	"How Do You Stop"
1988	"I'm Real" "Static"
1989	"Gimme Your Love"

1990s

1991	"(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On"
1993	"Can't Get Any Harder"

UK-only
charting
singles

"Hey America" (1970)
"Bring It On...Bring It On" (1983)
"Froggy Mix" (1985)
"She's the One" (1988)
"The Payback Mix" (1988)
"I Got You (I Feel Good) [James Brown v. Dakeyne]" (1992)
"Funk on Ah Roll" (1999)

Notable
productions

"The Grunt" (1970)
"Gimme Some More" (1971)
"I Know You Got Soul" (1971)
"Pass the Peas" (1972)
"Think (About It)" (1972)
"Doing It to Death" (1973)
"Soul Power 74" (1973)

Other
songs

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