Drummer John “Jabo” Starks, who played on many of James Brown’s hits, died on May 1, 2018 at age 79.

For much of the time he was with Brown, Starks played alongside drummer Clyde Stubblefield. Both drummers played on such Brown songs as “I Got the Feelin’,” “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud” and “Cold Sweat.” Starks drummed on “Get Up I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine,” “Super Bad” and “The Payback.” Many of those drumbeats have been sampled by such hip-hop artists as L. L. Cool J, Kendrick Lamar, A Tribe Called Quest, the Roots, the Black Eyed Peas, and Kool Moe Dee.

Starks was born in Jackson, Ala., on Oct. 26, 1938. He grew up listening to gospel and blues and became interested in drums after seeing a marching band in a Mardi Gras parade. He was mostly self-taught, and after graduating from high school he started playing with such blues artists as John Lee Hooker, Smiley Lewis, Howlin’ Wolf, and Big Mama Thornton.

Starks joined Bobby “Blue” Bland’s band in 1959 and played on some of his hits, including “Turn On Your Love Light,” “I Pity the Fool,” and “That’s the Way Love Is.” He joined Brown’s band in 1965 and stayed with him until the mid-1970s, when he began touring and recording with B. B. King.