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Rodney Brown, Pioneering ‘Funky Broadway’ Drummer, Dead at 78
Rodney Brown, drummer on Dyke & the Blazers' 1967 hit "Funky Broadway," has died.
“‘Funky Broadway’ started the funk beat that was heard around the world,” says Lucius Parr, a veteran Phoenix guitarist whose ’70s band, the Soul Keepers, featured Brown on drums. Pickett’s version had the effect of desegregating the word, but tragically, the Blazers were never able to fully capitalize on the song’s success: Frontman Arlester “Dyke” Christian was shot to death in Phoenix in 1971. Christian convened a new version of the Blazers, which at one point included James Gadson, a prolific session drummer who appeared on songs by the Jackson 5, Paul McCartney, Herbie Hancock, Bill Withers and many others.
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