Put James Brown beats in your track with Clyde Stubblefield’s Funky Drummer

The late drummer laid down grooves at Smart Studios for Yurt Rock – and now you can use them royalty-free.

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Clyde Stubblefield

Clyde Stubblefield / Photo by Robin Little/Redferns

Yurt Rock, the sample pack platform, has released Clyde Stubblefield – The Funky Drummer, boasting 236 drum recordings of the late musician, known for his work with James Brown.

The sample pack comes four years after Clyde Stubblefield’s passing, and 20 years after the recordings were first made. The recordings in The Funky Drummer would form the basis of Stubblefield’s album, Clyde Stubblefield: The Original, an album based on his drumming.

Yurt Rock’s sample pack comprises MIDI and audio loops, labelled by BPM, drum and style. They are 100 per cent royalty-free and can be loaded into any DAW, sampler or sequencer, as 24-bit/48kHz WAV files.

The sounds of Clyde Stubblefield – The Funky Drummer are from a 2001 recording session with Leo Sidran at Butch Vig’s Smart Studios. Speaking of the session, Sidran says: “There was no real plan. I asked him to play some of his most memorable beats and he obliged. He had no click, no song form, nothing but Clyde. He played each groove for a few minutes, naturally and instinctively.”

Stubblefield was a drumming legend, whose grooves can be heard on some James Brown records, including the Sex Machine album, Cold Sweat, There Was a Time, I Got the Feelin’, Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud, Ain’t It Funky Now, Mother Popcorn and Give It Up or Turnit a Loose.

He is also the world’s most sampled drummer, with his breaks from James Brown’s Funky Drummer sampled by revered hip-hop artists such as Dr Dre, J Dilla, Beastie Boys. Even Ed Sheeran needed a touch of the Funky Drummer.

Leo Sidran continues: “It’s a rare opportunity for so many who have been inspired by Clyde’s playing to finally come into contact with The Original for their own projects

Clyde left us in 2017, but his groove lives on.”

Clyde Stubblefield – The Funky Drummer is available now at an introductory price of $39, moving up to $49 on 21 April 2021. The late drummer laid down grooves at Smart Studios for Yurt Rock – and now you can use them royalty-free.

Learn more at yurtrock.com.

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