Living Legend Tries to Make A Living
By BEN SISARIO
Aside from musicians, record collectors and D.J.גs, the name Clyde Stubblefield does not make many ears perk up. But no matter who you are, you probably know his drumming.
If youגve heard Public Enemyגs גBring the Noiseג or גFight the Power,ג you know his drumming. If youגve heard LL Cool Jגs גMama Said Knock You Out,ג or any number of songs by Prince, the Beastie Boys, N.W.A., Run-D.M.C., Sinead OגConnor or even Kenny G., you definitely know his drumming, even though Mr. Stubblefield wasnגt in the studio for the recording of any of them.
That is because he was the featured player on גFunky Drummer,ג a 1970 single by James Brown whose 20-second drum solo has become, by most counts, the most sampled of all beats. Itגs been used hundreds of times, becoming part of hip-hopגs DNA, and in the late 1980s and early ג90s it was the go-to sample for anyone looking to borrow some of hip-hopגs sass (hence Kenny G.).
Yet Mr. Stubblefieldגs name almost fell through the cracks of history. The early rappers almost never gave credit or paid for the sample, and if they did, acknowledgement (and any royalties) went to Brown, who is listed as the songwriter.
גAll my life Iגve been wondering about my money,ג Mr. Stubblefield, now 67 and still drumming, says with a chuckle.
A new project tries to capture at least some royalties for him. Mr. Stubblefield was interviewed for גCopyright Criminals,ג a documentary by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod about the gray areas of music copyright law, and for a special גFunky Drummer Editionג DVD of the film released on Tuesday, Mr. Stubblefield recorded a set of ready-to-sample beats. By filling out a basic licensing form, anyone willing to pay royalties of 15 percent on any commercial sales ג and give credit ג can borrow the sound of one of the architects of modern percussion.
גThere have been faster, and there have been stronger, but Clyde Stubblefield has a marksmanגs left hand unlike any drummer in the 20th century,ג said Ahmir Thompson, a k a Questlove of the Roots, who was to play גFight the Powerג with him and Public Enemyגs Chuck D. on NBCגs גLate Night With Jimmy Fallonג on Tuesday. גIt is he who defined funk music.ג
Born in Chattanooga, Tenn., Mr. Stubblefield was first inspired by the industrial rhythms of the factories and trains around him, and he got his start playing with regional bands. One day in 1965 Brown saw him at a club in Macon, Ga., and hired him on the spot. Through 1971 Mr. Stubblefield was one of Brownגs principal drummers, and on songs like גCold Sweatג and גMother Popcornג he perfected a light-touch style filled with the off-kilter syncopations sometimes called ghost notes.
גHis softest notes defined a generation,ג Mr. Thompson added.
גWe just played what we wanted to play on a song,ג Mr. Stubblefield said in a telephone interview last week, referring to himself and his fellow Brown drummer John Starks, better known as Jabo. (Brown died in 2006.) גWe just put down what we think it should be. Nobody directs me.ג
You might expect Mr. Stubblefield, who has appeared on some of the greatest drum recordings in history, to have gone on to fame, or at least to a lucrative career playing sessions. But for the last 40 years he has happily remained in Madison, Wis., playing gigs there with his own group and, since the early 1990s, playing on the public radio show גMichael Feldmanגs WhadגYa Know?ג
Alan Leeds, whose time as Brownגs tour director overlapped with Mr. Stubblefieldגs period in the band, remembers him as a gifted but not terribly ambitious musician. גHe was a fun guy,ג Mr. Leeds said. גBut if one guy was going to be late for the sound check, it was Clyde.ג
The technology and conventions of sampling ג isolating a musical snippet from one recording and reusing it for another ג also kept him from greater recognition. גFunky Drummerג didnגt appear on an album until 1986, when it was on גIn the Jungle Groove,ג a Brown collection that was heavily picked over by the new generation of sampler-producers.
The lack of recognition has bothered Mr. Stubblefield more than the lack of royalties, he said, although that stings too.
גPeople use my drum patterns on a lot of these songs,ג he said. גThey never gave me credit, never paid me. It didnגt bug me or disturb me, but I think itגs disrespectful not to pay people for what they use.ג
In 2002 Mr. Stubblefield had a tumor in his kidney removed, and now he suffers from end-stage renal disease. He qualifies for Medicare but has no additional health insurance.
The גFunky Drummer Editionג of גCopyright Criminalsג includes Mr. Stubblefieldגs beats both on vinyl and as electronic files, and in addition to any licensing, he also gets a small royalty from the DVD, said Mr. McLeod, an associate professor of communications at the University of Iowa. As in his days with Brown, Mr. Stubblefield was also paid a fee for the recording session.
גBreaksג albums with ready-made beats are nothing new in hip-hop. By his reckoning, Mr. Stubblefield has done four or five such collections, but not all of those have paid him his royalties either.
גThey sent us royalty papers, but no checks,ג he said of one such album made for a Japanese company.
For Mr. Stubblefield, lack of credit is not only an issue with D.J.גs and producers sampling his beats. It was also a bone of contention with Brown, who was famous for running a tight ship ג he fined his musicians for missing a beat or having scuffed shoes ג and also for not giving his musicians more credit.
גA lot of people should have gotten a lot of credit from James Brown,ג Mr. Stubblefield said, גbut he only talked about himself. He may call your name on a song or something, but thatגs it.ג
This raises the question of whether Mr. Stubblefield is himself violating any of Brownגs copyrights by recording beats in the style of those original recordings in Brownגs band. Mr. McLeod dismissed that suggestion, saying that the beats are not identical, and that the original copyright registration forms for Brownגs songs mention melody and lyrics but not rhythm.
And besides, Mr. McLeod added, what youגre getting is simply a great drummer doing his thing.
גThis differs from buying a sample pack for GarageBand,ג he said, referring to Appleגs home-recording program, גbecause you know that what you are listening to and what you are sampling is the genius labor of this incredible musician. Itגs Clyde Stubblefield.ג
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/arts/ ... ml?_r=1&hp