Clyde Stubblefield

The life and legacy of one of the most influential drummers in history

During his lifetime Clyde Stubblefield changed the rhythms and sound of music.

During his lifetime Clyde Stubblefield changed the rhythms and sound of music. Finding his start in the segregated city and musical streets of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Stubblefield became the underappreciated source of the funk rhythm that powered the legendary success of James Brown. After six years of playing with the Godfather of Soul, however, Stubblefield had had enough. In 1970, Stubblefield settled down in Madison, Wisconsin, where he could be found playing funk, jazz, R&B, blues, rock and roll, Tex-Mex, and country music for almost anyone who asked. There he found a welcoming and appreciative community of musicians and admirers for the final forty-six years of his life. It was in Madison where Steinberg first met Clyde, befriended him, and asked to write the story of how Stubblefield became the most sampled drummer of all time and how the rhythms of the funky drummer emerged as the foundational sound of hip-hop—despite minimal recognition and compensation.