Gospel drummers and the music of the Late James Brown........

[BigFoot_BigThumb]

Greetings to my fellow LGM'ers.  Lately I have been listening to a lot of James Brown.  I have always been a fan of his, but I have really been studying the music more than ever.  One of his former drummers Clyde Stubblefield, is on of my main influences.  He took drumming to a whole new level back in the day.  But James' music overall was ahead of it's time in my opinion.  Most of today's hip-hop came from the James Brown sound via samples.

The point I'm going for is that James Brown came with it and his band came with it.  I was listening to him live yesterday, and the drums were just driving hard in the back.  I mean driving.  An unmovable, locked-down groove was going.  I was bobbing my head like crazy.  I feel all drummers should study the music of James Brown.  I feel it will make you a better musician.  Take a listen and see if I'm not telling the truth. 

I found this old clip.  I hope this is not inappropiate.  Just listen to how the beat is steady and driving. No "chops" needed.  Just an accent here and there as needed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfm8yUPJ71U

[BigFoot_BigThumb]

Here's a couple of more......I'm just amazed how he would call for a riff in the middle of a song and you had to be on it.  If you missed a note or a cue playing for James, you got fined.  It cost you money.  You had to be tight playing for James.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DAfBZbz3tI&mode=related&search=

This was less than two months before he died.  He doesn't look well, but he shows us why he is still the Godfather.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2uo9RQXUN0&NR=1

[j_kay]

Nice, crisp drumming - although it does not correlate with the 'G' in LGM, it does correlate with the importance of applying a disciplined approach to drumming, which can be applied to any genre.

I appreciate that post, BF_BT!