AILSA CHANG, HOST:
And finally, today, we wanted to take a moment to remember drummer James Gadson, whose work you might know from plenty of hit records.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EXPRESS YOURSELF")
CHARLES WRIGHT AND THE WATTS 103RD STREET RHYTHM BAND: (Singing) Express yourself, express yourself.
CHANG: Like "Express Yourself," by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band from 1970. Or for a different vibe, this all-time classic by Bill Withers.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LEAN ON ME")
BILL WITHERS: (Singing) Lean on me when you're not strong and I'll be your friend. I'll help you carry on.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
And, of course, there's a certain Gloria Gaynor song which has long been an anthem. But as James Gadson told NPR in 2019, the record company didn't anticipate it'd be a hit.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
JAMES GADSON: On that one, that was the B-side. We just cut it and that was it. We went home. Three weeks later, bam.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WILL SURVIVE")
GLORIA GAYNOR: (Singing) Go on, now, go. Walk out the door.
CHANG: James Gadson died last week at the age of 86. His wife, Barbara, confirmed his passing to Rolling Stone and added, quote, "he was a great husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and one hell of a drummer."
SUMMERS: Gadson was born in 1939 and grew up in Kansas City. But it was after a stint in the Air Force that he moved to Los Angeles and started to make his mark.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "USE ME")
WITHERS: (Singing) Oh, you just keep on using me until you use me up.
SUMMERS: Songs like "Use Me" by Bill Withers established his reputation as a funky yet laid-back drummer.
CHANG: Gadson had a brief effort at a solo career. But he's most remembered as a backing musician on records like "Dancing Machine" by The Jackson 5.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DANCING MACHINE")
THE JACKSON 5: (Singing) Dancing, dancing, dancing. She's a dancing machine. Oh, baby.
CHANG: Or "Got To Be Real," by Cheryl Lynn.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOT TO BE REAL")
CHERYL LYNN: (Singing) Ooh, your love's for real now.
CHANG: And "Love Hangover," by Diana Ross.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE HANGOVER")
DIANA ROSS: (Singing) I've got sweetest hangover I don't want to get over.
SUMMERS: Gadson played on a ton of R&B records and was known for disco work. But for Gadson, funk was bigger than genre.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
GADSON: I think everyone is funky if they get to be heard.
SUMMERS: Here he is with a panel of fellow drummers on the Drum Channel on YouTube. He talks about funk almost more as a result of honesty and artistry.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GADSON: Well, I'll say, hey, James Brown is funky. And then I start hearing other people that didn't play funk music as we would say James Brown would play.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah.
GADSON: You know, I'd hear some rock guys.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah.
GADSON: They funky, you know, the ones that give themselves to be. That's the way I looked at it.
CHANG: His own track record was certainly wide-ranging, not to mention quite long. In more recent decades, he worked with artists like Beck, Harry Styles and D'Angelo.
(SOUNDBITE OF D'ANGELO SONG, "SUGAH DADDY")
SUMMERS: The drummer Questlove of the Roots and "The Tonight Show" paid tribute to James Gadson on social media. Some drummers are soulful, he wrote. Some drummers are funky. But no drummer has impacted the art of breakbeat drummer, danceable drums, like James Gadson. He continued, James Gadson is breakbeats defined.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUGAH DADDY")
D'ANGELO: (Singing) It's just the way she's so raw and uncut. Oh, God. She needs a spanking to shake her up. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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