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 Most
people will recognize Spike Nealy as the percussionist with the
late James Brown for nearly two decades. During that tenure, Spike
tastefully augmented James Brown's high-energy performance and music,
and matched nearly every one of Brown's moves with his playing.
A veteran of the Montgomery Symphony (of Alabama), Spike Nealy can
work
the crowd like no other. Employing an expansive setup including
timbales, congas, bongos, toys, nine cymbals, and even timpani, he
ensures that, as he puts it, "if a blind person came to one of
James'
shows, he would enjoy what he heard. And, if a deaf person came, he
would still enjoy seeing me do it. I color the music and I color the
show."
A drummer since he was a toddler in Atlanta, Spike switched to
percussion around 1985, at the height of the drum machine era,
discovering that he could "warm" robotic sequenced tracks
with
percussion. "A recording might just need a little triangle, or
a clave,
to sell a million copies," he adds. "That's why everything
LP makes
comes in different sizes."
Although Spike's gig with James Brown ended upon the singer's passing,
Spike's still very busy on the scene and is still in high-demand. It
is undoubtedly his musicality that will ensure his career far into
the
future.
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