Jabo Starks
John "Jabo" Starks | |
---|---|
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Drums |
Years active | 1955–2018 |
John Henry "Jabo" Starks (
Life and career
Starks was born in
In 1959, Starks joined
In 1965, Starks joined James Brown's band. From 1965 to 1970, the band had two drummers, Starks and Clyde Stubblefield.[7] Starks came primarily from a blues background whereas Stubblefield from a soul and jazz background.[12] They each performed solo on songs that fit their style. The two "created the grooves on many of Brown's biggest hits, and laid the foundation for modern funk drumming in the process."[7][3] In 1970, the band went through a major transformation with Stubblefield leaving the group in late 1970.[13] Starks continued performing with the reconfigured band which became known as The J.B.'s. Band members included bassist Bootsy Collins and rhythm guitarist Catfish Collins who along with Starks formed the rhythm section. The band also included trombonist Fred Wesley.[10][14] Starks toured and recorded with Brown until 1976.[5] Starks' recordings during his eleven-year association with Brown include "The Payback", "Sex Machine", "Soul Power", "Super Bad", "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing", "Doing It to Death", "Papa Don't Take No Mess", "Licking Stick – Licking Stick".[10][15] He also backed artists produced or managed by Brown, most notably Lyn Collins and Bobby Byrd, as well as the independent works released by The J.B.'s.[3]
Often uncredited, Starks and Stubblefield rank as two of the most
Starks left Brown's band in mid-1970s and joined blues artist
Starks and Stubblefield remained friends. In 1999, they performed on The J.B.'s album Bring the Funk on Down.[6] The duo went on to release original music as the Funkmasters.[4] They released the album Find the Groove in 2001 and the album Come Get Summa This in 2006.[18][19] They released an instructional video titled Soul of the Funky Drummers.[20] In 2007, the duo joined Bootsy Collins for the first tribute concert in memory of James Brown and performed on the soundtrack for the movie Superbad.[21][4]
In his later years Starks lived in Mobile, Alabama.[11] From the mid-1990s onward, when not touring or recording, he performed five nights a week at the Picolo Restaurant and Red Bar in Grayton Beach, Florida, and on Sundays he played drums at his church in Mobile. He performed until March 2018. He said over the years he learned little tricks to help him maintain his drumming skills.[5][3]
He died on May 1, 2018, at his home in Mobile, Alabama, at the age of 80[1] from leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. He was survived by his wife Naomi Taplin Starks, a daughter, a son, and two grandchildren.[4]
Recognition
In 2013, Starks and Stubblefield received the Yamaha Legacy Award.
Bassist Bootsy Collins called Starks the steady rock that he built his bass grooves on while with James Brown.[3] Trombonist Fred Wesley called Starks his favorite drummer and said "I could just lose myself in that 'stop your heart' groove and just blow free.”[10] According to The Pacemakers drummer Frank "Kash" Waddy, Starks was a disciplined player and his "forte was to play very clean, very straight ahead."[6]
According to drummer-journalist
Quotations
In a 1995 interview with WGBH, Starks said: "I'm not trying to outplay anybody else. The only thing I want to do is keep that heartbeat going as they call it, (...) the bass player or the guitar player or the horn player could do whatever he wants to do because he knows that that solid foundation is back there behind him."[14][6]
In a 2015 interview with Mobile Bay Magazine, Starks said, "When I'm playing music (...) there ain't nobody in the world higher than I am."[5]
Selected discography
Credits adapted in part from AllMusic and Discogs.[23][24]
With The Funkmasters as co-leader
- Find the Groove (Funkmasters, 2001)
- Come Get Summa This (Funkmasters, 2006)
With Bobby Bland
- Two Steps from the Blues (Duke, 1961)
- Here's the Man! (Duke, 1962)
- Call on Me/That's the Way Love Is (Duke, 1963)
- Ain't Nothing You Can Do (Duke, 1964)
With Bobby Byrd
- Live at the Garden (King, 1967)
- Live at the Apollo, Volume II (King, 1968)
With Lyn Collins
- Think (About It) (People, 1972)
With
- Lucille Talks Back (ABC, 1975)
- King Size(ABC, 1977)
With The J.B.'s
- Food for Thought (People, 1972)
- Doing It to Death (People, 1973)
- Damn Right I Am Somebody (People, 1974)
- Bring the Funk on Down (P-Vine,1999)
- Lakeshore, 2007)
With Fred Wesley
With Johnny J. Blair
- Fire (CJAM Productions, 2000)
Instructional videos
- Soul of the Funky Drummers (1999)
Notes
- ^ Sources vary as to his year of birth. According to his obituary, published by Mobile Register, Starks was born on October 26, 1937; The New York Times gives 1938.
References
- ^ a b "John Henry Jab'o Starks 1937 – 2018 Obituary". Mobile Register. May 5, 2018. Archived from the original on July 23, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-7866-7303-2. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
- ^ from the original on August 4, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Daniel E. Slotnik (May 1, 2018). "Jabo Starks, Drummer for James Brown, Dies at 79". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Breck Pappas (September 9, 2015). "The Amazing Life of Jabo Starks". Mobile Bay magazine. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f Harrison Smith (May 2, 2018). "Jab'o Starks, drummer who kept the beat for James Brown, dies at 79". washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on May 8, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "The Original Funky Drummers on Life With James Brown". NPR Music. January 5, 2015. Archived from the original on January 31, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ ISBN 9781604739206. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ "Mobile County Training School". schoolinsites.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g Jim Payne (October 2018). "In Memoriam, John 'Jabo' Starks: 1938–2018". Modern Drummer magazine. Archived from the original on October 14, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ a b "John 'Jabo' Starks Biography". Drummerworld. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ JD Nash (May 3, 2018). "James Brown Drummer John 'Jabo' Starks Dead at 79". americanbluesscene.com. Archived from the original on October 14, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ Ben Sisario (March 29, 2011). "Questlove on Clyde Stubblefield". charmicarmicat.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2019. Note: see footnotes.
- ^ a b Elizabeth Deane (producer) (September 1995). "Rock and Roll; Make it Funky; Interview with Jabo Starks [Part 1 of 2] – time 10:48". WGBH-TV. Archived from the original on October 14, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ Gil Kaufman (May 2, 2018). "James Brown Drummer John 'Jabo' Starks Dies at 79". billboard.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ Christian Bryant (May 4, 2018). "Late Drummer John 'Jabo' Starks Laid a Foundation for Popular Music". newsy.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ "The Interview: John 'Jabo' Starks". FOX10 News – WALA channel, youtube.com. November 14, 2013. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
After that I went with B.B. King for six years.
- ^ "Allmusic: Funkmasters - Find the Groove". Allmusic.com. 2001. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ "Allmusic: Funkmasters - Come Get Summa This". Allmusic.com. May 17, 2006. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ASIN B0002IQM70.
- from the original on July 8, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ "Yamaha Honors Funky Drummers Starks And Stubblefield". usa.yamaha.com. December 12, 2013. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ "AllMusic: John Starks – credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
- ^ "Discogs: Bobby Bland – The Anthology, album credits". Discogs. Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
- ^ "Funk For Your Ass (A Tribute To The Godfather Of Soul)". Discogs.com. May 28, 2008. Archived from the original on February 10, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2018.(Fred Wesley featuring Jab'o Starks & Clyde Stubblefield with Bootsy Collins)
External links
- Interview with Jabo Starks, Part 1 and Part 2, at WGBH Open Vault
- The Interview: John "Jabo" Stark on YouTube by WALA-TV
- John "Jabo" Starks: "Superbad", Drum transcript at Modern Drummer
- Jabo Starks at IMDb