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Funky Drummer

Published February 25th, 2008 in Uncategorized

“Funky Drummer” (also known as “The Funky Drummer“) is a funk song recorded by James Brown and his band. The recording’s drum solo, performed by drummer Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampled rhythmic breaks in hip hop and drum and bass music. By some accounts “Funky Drummer” is the single most sampled recording ever.James Brown - the world’s most sampled recording artist is back!. (2006, July 14). WebWire. Retrieved February 13, 2007

Contents


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, 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, which is why it is sometimes considered an instrumental rather than a song.

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,” because “it’s a mother.” And indeed Stubblefield’s eight-bar unaccompanied “solo” is simply a continuation of the same riff he plays through most of the piece.

After the drum break, the band returns to the original vamp. 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.


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. Releases of the track on CD range in length from 5:34 to 9:13.

In addition to the original version of “Funky Drummer”, the In The Jungle Groove album 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.


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
  • Jimmy Nolen - guitar
  • Alphonso “Country” Kellum - guitar
  • Charles Sherrell - bass
  • Clyde Stubblefield - drums

Produced by James Brown


Uses of the drum break

The “Funky Drummer” break has been used in literally hundreds of hip hop recordings, including famous tracks by Public Enemy, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, A Tribe Called Quest and Big Daddy Kane. Its use was especially prolific during the 1980s before unlicensed sampling became illegal. Rapper and producer Edan’s mixtape “Sound of the Funky Drummer” features only tracks which use the “Funky Drummer” beat. Public Enemy, X-Clan, and the Beastie Boys have all merged “Funky Drummer” with the descending guitar riff of Black Flag’s “Rise Above”.

Many pop recordings outside the hip-hop genre have also sampled the “Funky Drummer” break, including Sinead O’Connor’s song “I Am Stretched On Your Grave”, Amon Tobin’s “The Sighting” from the album Adventures in Foam, George Michael’s “Waiting For That Day (You Can’t Always Get What You Want)”, and Sublime’s cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Scarlet Begonias”. A variation of the “Funky Drummer” rhythm was used in Shep Pettibone’s mix of Madonna’s “Justify My Love”.

In some recordings the “Funky Drummer” beat is mechanically slowed down or sped up. Other recordings do not sample the original recording of the “Funky Drummer” break, but a re-recording of the same beat by a studio drummer.


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”).

MC Frontalot’s song “Good Old Clyde” comments on the widespread appropriation of the “Funky Drummer” beat (while exploiting the beat itself).http://frontalot.com/index.php/content.php?page=lyrics&lyricid=13

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.James Brown, Clyde Stubblefield and the Madison Area Music Awards. (2007, January 4). Isthmus. Retrieved February 13, 2007. He currently resides in Madison, Wisconsin.


Citations


References

  • Leeds, Alan M., and Harry Weinger (1991). Star Time: Song by Song. In Star Time (pp. 46-53) [CD liner notes]. London: Polydor Records.
  • White, Cliff (1991). Discography. In Star Time (pp. 54-59) [CD liner notes]. London: Polydor Records.


See also

  • Amen break
  • Think (About It)
  • Funky President


External links

  • All Music Guide song review of “Funky Drummer”
  • List Of Songs That Sample “Funky Drummer”
  • Website of local Cincinnati Drummer Joe Jahnigen featuring the original recording of “Funky Drummer”, a transcription, and his own version of the beat
  • xspf playlist of the original Funky Drummer track as well as other popular tracks that are based on the break

References

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