THE LASTING LEGACY OF A 2 BAR DRUM LOOP

THE LASTING LEGACY OF A 2 BAR DRUM LOOP

Here's the most famous 2bar drum break of all time.

Strung together in this video as a long sequence of only some of groups that sampled it.

Pretty interesting stuff, eh?

It was played by James Beck Gordon, then a well known drummer who played on many of the albums we all know. Here, he is featured on the Incredible Bongo Band’s rendition of “Apache” in 1973.

It has since became a foundational hip-hop sample used in more than 750 songs.

However, Gordon was often referred to as "tormented" by the anyone who knew him.

Abusive and diagnosed with schizophrenia, he spent the rest of his life in prison after he murdered his own mother - bludgeoning her with a hammer and stabbing her multiple times.

Does that make you feel any differently about his drumming?

The untold stories of creators and the process of creation and the effects it has on a person is often tines overlooked. In this case, James Gordon was a bad apple from the beginning. Or so it appears.

He died in his prison cell just a few months ago. Alone. It makes me wonder... 2 things..

1. who collected on all of his royalties?

2. being in prison for so long, was he even aware of the contribution he made to music? How big of an impact he had on the birth of a brand new genre of music that is still prevalent today?

Hmmmm...