One Of The Drummers Who Helped Make James Brown So Funky Is Gone!!

John "Jabo" Starks, the drummer who helped anchor some of James Brown's biggest hits, died last Tuesday, The New York Times reports. He was 79. James Brown Drummer John 'Jabo' Starks: 5 Classic Tracks "Super Bad," "Sex Machine" and other funky landmarks from half of the Godfather of Soul's legendary groove tandem Starks' manager Kathie Williams confirmed his death. She said he'd been in hospice for about a week and was battling leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. Starks played with Brown during the Sixties and Seventies, most notably as part of a percussion duo with Clyde Stubblefield, who died last year. Though Starks and Stubblefield had distinct playing styles, together they created a powerhouse rhythm section that defined funk, and later hip-hop. The duo are among the most sampled drummers of all time. In an interview with Rolling Stone, one of Starks' many acolytes, Roots drummer Questlove, described the dynamic between Starks and Stubblefield, saying, "Starks was the Beatles to Clyde's Stones. A clean shuffle drummer to Clyde's free-jazz left hand."

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