Famously-sampled Drummer Clyde Stubblefield Dies of Kidney Failure at 73
After a decade-long battle with kidney-related issues, famed drummer Clyde Stubblefield passed away on Saturday morning in Madison, Wisconsin. Stubblefield was born in April 1943 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and found early inspiration for rhythms and raucous energy from the industrial soundtrack of the factories and trains surrounding his home. Stubblefield began drumming professionally as a teenager, spending the early 1960s touring and working with artists like Eddie Kirkland and Otis Redding. It was with James Brown that Stubblefield came to public fame, recording a string of songs and hits with Brown and his band in the ‘60s and ‘70s including “Cold Sweat” and “I’ve Got the Feeling,” but it’s that sweet 20 or so seconds on the song “Funky Drummer,” that throttled Stubblefield into music immortality. His beat is one of the most frequently-sampled of all time, employed by artists ranging from Nas, Dr. Dre, and Public Enemy to George Michael and Ed Sheeran. Outside of his infamous sample, Stubblefield was loved and respected by generations of musicians, and upon his death, his wife recanted to AP the time Price footed a $90,000 medical bill for Stubblefield upon hearing the drummer was suffering from bladder cancer. Throughout his life, Stubblefield saw little royalties from any of his work, which is still more than he says he ever expected to make from them, which is nothing. Clyde Stubblefield was 73.
Unconfirmed Mick Jagger Autobiography Surfaces Moves like Jagger
Writer John Blake penned an essay published in UK’s the Spectator over the weekend alleging his ownership of an unpublished autobiography written by Mick Jagger. The Rolling Stones singer has said for many decades that he has no plans to ever write a tell-all, so the news of this 75,000 or so word book is a bit astonishing. Blake says the autobiography was penned decades ago, implying that if in fact this tell-all exists, and if it is written by Mick Jagger, he apparently doesn’t remember writing it. Blake alleges the book came into his possession through a mutual friend three years ago, but the New York Times has been unable to verify the authenticity of the book with Jagger’s manager.
