From Kent Williams Sent Thu, Jul 15th 1999, 15:41
From Kent Williams Sent Thu, Jul 15th 1999, 15:41
On Thu, 15 Jul 1999 xxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx wrote: > > Also another interesting 'Break' snipped.. the guy that actually 'bashed > out' the funky drummer for James Brown never got a penny for his playing > from Brown!. One of the most sampled breaks ever and he never saw a > pennny... nasty! > You're talking about Clyde Stubblefield. He was a regular member of James Brown's band at the time and appeared on several recording dates with James. He was paid a salary as Brown's drummer, and no doubt was paid for performing in the studio. So he was paid at the time of the recording. Stubblefield was not given composition credits, which was not unusual for a drummer at that time. And Brown no doubt received whatever mechanical royalties for his recordings. So no, Clyde Stubblefield doesn't receive ongoing payment for those recordings, since he has no control over them. But at the time of their recording he was paid the customary amount for the work he did. However, Stubblefield will always be known as THE funky drummer. After leaving Brown's band he played on many records, including a much-coveted drum loop CD of his own. He can also be heard occasionally sitting in with John Thulin on the National Public Radio call-in show, "Whad'Ya Know?" James Brown was not known for paying his band members lavishly -- in fact more than once his bands have quit en masse over money issues. But everyone who played with him got lessons in funk to last them a lifetime. Playing in his band, for funk musicians, is what playing for Miles Davis was for jazz musicians. If you go down the list -- Maceo Parker, Pee Wee Ellis, Bootsy Collins, Bobby Byrd, Clyde S -- James Brown's influence on pop music in the last half of the 20th Century is undeniable. So no -- Clyde Stubblefield was never made rich by the Funky Drummer. On the other hand he has a place in music history for what he's described in interviews as "a few hour's work"