Episode Details

James Gadson, a self-taught drummer from Kansas City, passed away at 86. Known as one of the most recorded in R&B history, he shaped soul, funk, and R&B for over six decades with his signature grooves on countless hits. Starting young in Kansas City nightclubs, he backed up legends like Otis Redding and Sam Cooke before heading west. There, he joined the Watts one-oh-three rd Street Rhythm Band, landed Motown sessions, and drummed on tracks like the Jackson Fives Dancing Machine, Bill Withers Lean on Me, and Gloria Gaynors I Will Survive. Tributes poured in from the music world, with Questlove calling him the king of breakbeats, Ray Parker Junior saying he changed everything, and Flea noting his joyful legacy. Gadson kept creating right up to his final years, even playing on Harry Styles Fine Line and getting sampled by modern stars. His beats will keep pulsing through our playlists forever, a true KC export who redefined the pocket for generations.

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