The Resume

(April 18, 1943-February 18, 2017)
Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Drummer with James Brown (1965-71)
Recorded the albums ‘Revenge of the Funky Drummer’ (1997) and ‘The Original’ (2003)

Why he might be annoying:

He was not very disciplined, with Brown’s tour manager, Alan Leeds, noting, ‘If one guy was going to be late for the sound check, it was Clyde.’
He said about his most famous song with Brown, ‘Funky Drummer,’ ‘I didn’t like the song. I still don’t really get off on it.’
After his stint with Brown, instead of taking a lucrative gig as a session musician, he largely dropped out of sight, settling in Madison, Wisconsin, where he became a regular at the city’s downtown clubs.

Why he might not be annoying:

His drum break on Brown’s ‘Funky Drummer’ may be the most heavily sampled piece of music in hip-hop history.
On the rare occasions that the acts sampling the break paid royalties, the money went to Brown as the writer of the song.
Prince was an admirer and donated $90,000 to pay his medical bills after he successfully batted bladder cancer.
He and fellow James Brown drummer John ‘Jabo’ Starks jointly placed at #6 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 64]
• Drummers
• I Died in 2017 (Ranked: 73)
• I Have Bladder Cancer
• I Sampled James Brown's 'Funky Drummer'
• Look at Me, I'm Giving Thumbs Up
• Look at My Drums
• Profiles 38501-38750 (Ranked: 38687)
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 20170218)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying