the process." In 1970, the band went through a major transformation with Stubblefield leaving the group in late 1970. Starks continued performing with the reconfigured band which became known as The J.B.'s. Band members included bassist Bootsy Collins and rhythm guitarist Catfish Collins who along with Starks formed the rhythm section. The band also included trombonist Fred Wesley. Starks toured and recorded with Brown until 1976. Starks' recordings during his eleven-year association with Brown include "The Payback", "Sex Machine", "Soul Power", "Super Bad", "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing", "Doing It to Death", "Papa Don't Take No Mess", "Licking Stick – Licking Stick". He also backed artists produced or managed by Brown, most notably Lyn Collins and Bobby Byrd, as well as the independent works released by The J.B.'s. Often uncredited, Starks and Stubblefield rank as two of the most sampled drummers on contemporary hip hop and R&B recordings. Starks’ drum patterns have been sampled by LL Cool J, Kendrick Lamar, The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, Black Eyed Peas, Kool Moe Dee, Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, Total and others. About the lack of recognition he said "the least they could do is say where they got [the samples] from." Starks left Brown's band in mid-1970s and joined blues artist B.B. King. Starks was well versed in blues music in his early career. In regard to his transition from uptempo funk to laid-back blues, he said "to me, everything stems from playing the blues anyway." He toured and recorded with King for six years. His recordings with King include the albums Lucille Talks Back and King Size. Starks and Stubblefield remained friends. In 1999, they performed on The J.B.'s album Bring the Funk on Down. The duo went on to release original music as the Funkmasters. They released the album Find the Groove in 2001 and the album Come Get Summa This in 2006. They released an instructional video titled Soul of the Funky Drummers. In 2007, the duo joined Bootsy Collins for the first tribute concert in memory of James Brown and performed on the soundtrack for the movie Superbad. In his later years Starks lived in Mobile, Alabama. From the mid-1990s onward, when not touring or recording, he performed five nights a week at the Picolo Restaurant and Red Bar in Grayton Beach, Florida, and on Sundays he played drums at his church in Mobile. He performed