James Gadson, a prolific drummer who worked closely with Bill Withers and as a member of the widely sampled Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band — and whose playing motored hits like Diana Ross’ “Love Hangover,” Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You” and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” — died Thursday, according to Rolling Stone. He was 86.
Rolling Stone didn’t say where Gadson died or specify a cause but said the drummer’s wife, Barbara, had confirmed the news; she told the magazine that Gadson had experienced a fall recently and undergone surgery.
Described by the Roots’ Questlove as “breakbeats defined,” Gadson was known for a funky, laid-back style best exemplified perhaps by his playing in Withers’ 1972 “Use Me,” in which he seems somehow to keep finding space for an extra beat. Forty years later, Kendrick Lamar borrowed Gadson’s intricate rhythm pattern for “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst,” from the rapper’s 2012 breakthrough album, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.”
In “Love Hangover,” which topped Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1976, Gadson’s drumming anchors a production that moves from lush soul balladry to a frisky disco groove; Gaye and his producer Leon Ware got a similar thump out of the drummer for “I Want You,” which reached No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1976 and was later interpolated by Lamar for his Grammy-winning “The Heart Part 5.”
Among the many other songs from the ‘70s featuring Gadson’s playing are the Jackson 5’s “Dancing Machine,” Cheryl Lynn’s “Got to Be Real,” Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin,’” Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You,” Tavares’ “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel,” Peaches & Herb’s “Shake Your Groove Thing” and Thelma Houston’s “Don’t Leave Me This Way.” In later years he worked with the likes of Beck, D’Angelo, Paul McCartney, Justin Timberlake, Harry Styles and Sturgill Simpson.
Gadson was born June 17, 1939, and grew up in Kansas City. His father was a drummer, and when Gadson and his brother were teenagers they played in a doo-wop group called the Carpets. Gadson moved to Los Angeles in the mid-’60s following a stint in the Air Force and joined the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, led by the singer and guitarist Charles Wright; the group scored hits such as “Do Your Thing” and “Express Yourself,” the latter of which N.W.A would eventually sample for its song of the same name from 1989’s “Straight Outta Compton.”
In the early ’70s, Gadson and several other Watts band members left the group and took up with Withers (who’d already broken out with “Ain’t No Sunshine”) to make his album “Still Bill.” In addition to “Use Me,” the LP spun off the hit single “Lean on Me,” which went to No. 1 and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Gadson backed Withers in 1972 for a concert at Carnegie Hall that was recorded for a classic live album; the record opens with a version of “Use Me” that stretches past the eight-minute mark.
Though Gadson’s crack at a solo career around the same time didn’t pan out, he quickly became an in-demand session drummer, particularly for acts signed to the Motown label, which had just moved to L.A. from its original home of Detroit. He played on Motown records by the Temptations, the Miracles, the 5th Dimension and the Supremes’ Mary Wilson; over the decades that followed, he also worked with Philip Bailey, Anita Baker, Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen, Norah Jones and Lana Del Rey.
On Friday, the jazz guitarist Jeff Parker wrote on Instagram about his experiences playing with Gadson.
“The last time we convened, he noticed me glaring at his drum kit in wonder — I knew that there had to be a LOT of history there,” Parker recalled. “He looked at me and said, ‘Jeff, that’s my disco kit.’ I said, ‘Are those the drums on “Love Hangover”?’ He nodded and said, ‘They’re the drums on a whooooole lot of records.’”
