Undiscovered

pretty cool
6 seconds that changed the world

Amen !!! That is history!!!
Thanks 4 sharing bro!!!

Only few would imagine that, back in 1969, a quintessential chapter on the history of the Breakbeats would be accomplished. Recorded as an instrumental funk masterpiece of a Gospel classic, "Amen, Brother" had a very unique drum performance by Gregory Cylvester Coleman which became the main reference for countless productions since then, from Hip Hop to Jungle, Drum n' Bass, and other forms of Breakbeats.

The funny part of the story is that "Amen, Brother" was the B-side of The Winstons' 7 inch release. As an ironic result, it would be acclaimed by the audiences and considered no less than quintessential, being later included on ‘Ultimate Breaks And Beats’ compilation (1986) by Louis Flores. “Amen, Brother”’s notoriety would then cross the Atlantic and reach Europe as well, causing a devastating impact on the Breaks fans there, witnessed by the hardcore, jungle and drum n’ bass producers in general that lived that period.

More than largely sampled since then by different generations, “Amen, Brother” achieved an unparallel status of Breakbeats Standard; among the tracks that sampled its drum solo, at least three different periods, from the eighties Hip Hop to the early nineties and more recently mid to end nineties Breakbeats.

As for Hip Hop, Salt-N-Pepa - "I Desire" (1986), Mantronix – “King Of The Beats” (1988), 2 Live Crew – “Feel Alright Yall’” (1988), 3rd Bass - "Wordz of Wisdom" (1989), Heavy D on "Flexin'" (1989) and “Let It Flow” (1989), Movement Ex - "KK Punani" (1990), Scarface - "Born Killer" (1991), Schoolly D - "How a Black Man Feels" (1991), Eric B and Rakim - "Casualties of War" (1992), Maestro Fresh Wes - "Bring it On" (1992), Lifers Group - "Jack U. Back (So You Wanna Be a Gangsta)" (1993), Nice & Smooth - "Dope Not Hype" (1994), NWA - "Straight Outta Compton" (1998) are only some that made use of Gregory Cylvester Coleman’s drum solo.

The rave era in Europe also got classics that sampled “Amen, Brother”: first of all on the heart of the American scene with the obscure Sucess-N-Effect – Roll It Up (Remix) (Bass Kickin Beats) from 1989, accelerating and isolating the Amen Break on a new kind of music (which would become the landmark for the Hardcore Techno, then Jungle & Drum n’ Bass); Frankie Bones from Brooklyn, New York sampled it on his Bonesbreaks Vol. 5 – “Janet’s Revenge” (1990); on the other side of the Atlantic, Carl Cox did the same with the rare promo “Let The Bass Kick” (1991); Germany also got the Honors with the powerful Breakbeats drop on Westbam - “The Roof Is On Fire (RAP Machine Mix)” (1990). On a more House mood, Deee-Lite on "Come On In, The Dreams Are Fine" (1992) didn’t let escape the chance of using the Amen Breaks as well.

It was this English Hardcore, Jungle & Drum n’ Bass era the one that (except for Hip Hop) made the most heavy use of ‘Amen Break’: Renegade – “Terrorist” (1994), Heavyweight - "Oh Gosh" (1995), but also the fantastic LTJ Bukem – “Music” (1993), Dillinja - "The Angels Fell" (1995), J. Majik on "Your Sound" (1995) and "Arabian Nights" (1995), Lemon D – “This Is L.A.” (1995), Funky Technicians - "Airtight" (1996), Goldie - "Chico: Death of a Rock Star" (1998), Level Vibes - "Beauty & the Beast" (1998), Roni Size - "Brown Paper Bag" (1998) are just some of the acts that made use on this essentially English scene – an evidence of how far did “Amen, Brother” go in Europe (and specially U.K.);

The more complex form of Breakbeats such as Aphex Twin on "Boy/Girl Song" (1996) also included samples from the classic from The Winstons; Broken Beats as well with Amon Tobin - "Nightlife" (1998) and the multi-talented 4 Hero on “Escape That” (1999) which got remixes from Kirk Degiorgio, Ian Grant and Ron Trent. Even crossover styles included the standard Breaks solo, like on Atari Teenage Riot - "Burn Berlin Burn", a fact that would give “Amen, Brother” a very unique reputation. The owner of the copyrights, Richard L. Spencer would never imagine the consequences of his composition back in the end sixties.