27 April 2015, No. 85, James Brown, ‘Funky Drummer’

“One, two, three, four, get it.” Or maybe soul’s godfather is telling Mr. Stubblefield to “get in here”; I can’t quite tell. And then Clyde solos the drums through the break, keeping a tight grip on the groove but letting his left hand pepper the snare with ghost notes like feathers falling. You’ve heard these drums before, and you’ll hear them again. In the race to be the most-sampled song in history, this one’s a frontrunner, if not the leader of the funky pack. No. 85, James Brown, “Funky Drummer.” Skip to 5:32 to hear the open drum break yet again.