DJ History: The drums that last forever
Little did G.C. Coleman know that his 5-second drum solo was going to spawn and influence multiple genres of music over the following forty years. In this first edition of DJ History, we are going to roll back the clock, open up DJ class and explore the mysteries of the Amen break, which has became a pivotal part of the dance music landscape.
G.C. Coleman was the drummer for funk and soul outfit The Winstons’. In 1969 they released the single “Color Him Father,” which won the band a Grammy and broad critical acclaim. However, It was the B-side to the hit named “Amen, Brother” that would lead to the future evolution of dance music for decades to come. “Amen, Brother” was a quickly recorded B-side for The Winstons’ debut single.
“We just needed a B-Side in a hurry. I probably rushed the tempo and everything”,
Said Coleman during a 1998 interview. This sample, simply referred to now as the Amen breakbeat (or break), first became popular amongst underground hip-hop DJs of the mid to late 70’s and then again in the mid to late 80’s with the new-found affordability and availability of drum machines and samplers. With this new technology it became easy to extend a break for as long as the producer wanted without having to cut back and forth between two copies of the same song.
THE NEXT GENERATION
Although it’s known for its early use in N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton,” it is believed to have been first dismembered and reprogrammed by 2 Live Crew in their 1987 track “Feel Alright Yall.” However, this was only the beginning. By 1990 U.K. rave culture was exploding, and it was this same deconstruction of the Winstons’ breakbeat that became a staple of what we now know as jungle or drum & bass. The limits of this sample were further pushed to breaking point with the sounds of I.D.M. (Intelligent Dance Music) including Squarepusher’s“Come on My Selector,” Aphex Twin’s “Come to Daddy” and Jega’s “Pitbull”. Although first sampled and re-appropriated illegally, the Amen now gained a quasi-public domain status due to the lack of legal action.
When mentioned to G.C. Coleman years later that his drum solo had precipitated so many styles, he was shocked. Coleman simply replied, “oh don’t tell me that stuff…I’m gonna get a big head.” Unfortunately Coleman passed away in ’06. However, his contributions to music will not go unnoticed, and to that I say, “Amen, Brother”
December 11th, 2009 at 11:20 am Quote
i was just talking about this to somebody the other day. every dj should know were the msic they play started. great article.
December 11th, 2009 at 11:26 am Quote
I Just got schooled!
December 11th, 2009 at 12:07 pm Quote
Awesome. Next up: Clyde Stubblefield?
I have to complain about the term “Intelligent Dance Music” though. I always hated that term — should other dance music be called SDM (Stupid Dance Music)? Some jackass journalist coined “Intelligent Jungle” back in the day too … gag.
December 11th, 2009 at 12:14 pm Quote
LOL this was my post on the NI forums… great video I must say
December 11th, 2009 at 12:20 pm Quote
Ahh that last quote in the video by the judge is absouloutley fucking brilliant
December 11th, 2009 at 12:41 pm Quote
Great post djfreshstep! Can’t believe I’ve lived this long without that youtube video in my life. I have a lot of passion for good breaks, I’ve got some truly awful vinyl in my collection just for that sick break.
++
Man its such a shame modern pop music doesn’t have the same quality of drumming early pop music from the late 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Funny to think the 80’s and the dawn of the electronic era commercially saw the end to amazing drummers, but at the same time spawned the underground breaks revolution.
December 11th, 2009 at 12:48 pm Quote
Another insanely sampled song is of course Funky Drummer By James Brown. The list goes on and on with sampling artists of the drums
December 11th, 2009 at 1:20 pm Quote
That video, asked many good questions about the current state of copy right laws. and the artistic benefit of circumventing them.
also discussed here:
http://www.djtechtools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9218&highlight=purchase
excellent read. I look forward to more articles like this.
December 11th, 2009 at 2:19 pm Quote
thts why a real knowledgable dj never discredits hip hop. Dj who tlk bad about hip hop are stupid. Oakenfold original music was hip hop. If it wasnt for hip hop, dance music would not be here. And iam a big dance junkie. I always like my taste of Hip hop
December 11th, 2009 at 3:00 pm Quote
Awesome Post! Can’t wait for the next one!
December 11th, 2009 at 3:04 pm Quote
Have a article on the “Loudness War”!
December 11th, 2009 at 3:34 pm Quote
OOOH.
man this vid is so old, you can see the brothers grey hair.
Nevertheless it`s about a milestone in modern music production.
So enjoy all You Funky Drummers ;-)
d.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:04 pm Quote
Oh no! another post about the amen break! we all know that already!
December 11th, 2009 at 8:31 pm Quote
Wow, this post is a good dj history lesson, very good post.. the video explains all about the importance of that old sample..
December 11th, 2009 at 10:01 pm Quote
Great Video, Great Post. Still one of my fav. sample/break.
Look forward to future posts.
Cheers
Coz
December 12th, 2009 at 3:43 am Quote
*****!
December 12th, 2009 at 10:18 am Quote
Yeah! Nice one DJTT.
I cant help but here someone saying, “You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge.”
December 12th, 2009 at 1:02 pm Quote
contents rolling downhill… This is becoming a beginner/buy me site.
December 12th, 2009 at 1:10 pm Quote
Awesome post. I almost stopped listening to the vid after about 8 mins., but I am glad I didn’t. This was quite informative and hopefully everyone who has been posting comments understood the thesis of this recording: culture and innovation can only move forward and grow when it is free to borrow and not be stifled.
Obviously, the vid pays much tribute to the wonderful Winston’s break, but that is an underlying example of how this 6 second break from the past has been used to produce new forms of music and genres. With copyright laws designed as they are now, this probably would not have been possible, or at the very least would have taken much longer to innovate the sounds into the modern music that has become popular today.
You can take that message to what DJTechtools has been advocating over the years about having open source hardware, such as the polished VCI-100. As past articles indicate, a trend is developing where platforms are designing hardware that can only be used with built-in software, limiting creative potential and expansion. Of course, the business models of the companies is to make money first, and their competitive nature might one day make products more affordable, but they also seem to ignore what many of the controllerists really want and need to create new ways of playing music and performing.
December 12th, 2009 at 1:42 pm Quote
what the hell is this anonymous talking about. this article great for all level of DJ’s, Musicians, and what ever else. next time you you have an issue with an article or it’s contents at least grow a pair and put your name on it. keep it up djtt. love the articles.
December 12th, 2009 at 2:47 pm Quote
In my opinion if you don’t know the amen origin you are A) a Beginner or B) someone who lives in a cave.
This article is just repackaged common knowledge that has been beat with the “check this out stick” over and over again since the internets conception. A browse thru of OLD DJ mags and dj e-mags will reveal quite a few versions of this article from the 90’s or earlier. Writers Trainspot too.
This article is like when The Simpsons chop old clips together for “a classic clip show” and call it new episode, instead of putting forth the effort required for new content. Its lame.
December 12th, 2009 at 4:19 pm Quote
Nothing wrong with having “beginner” articles on the blog. Good article, Djfreshstep! Please proofread though…
December 12th, 2009 at 7:38 pm Quote
Great read!
Respect
December 12th, 2009 at 10:14 pm Quote
A lot of it was “stupid” to me, mainly when people had the mindset that only hard techno was good, or hard drum and bass was the only good kind. Those tracks had less shelf life and classic appeal. The “intelligent ones” have long life and meaning beyond the dance floor and the pill popping snotty youth who only like the hard and nasty stuff.
I can listen to a 15 year old track from Good Looking Records and still find my imaginiation and mood tickled by it. Then I can put on an old Renegade Hardware track and the only thing that comes to mind is “Oh this sure was “hard” a long time ago.
Even industrial dance music went through that same thing, until Nine Inch Nails came along with Pretty Hate Machine and softened up the vocals. I remember people hating that at first.
I have produced “intelligent jungle” for a long time and all I got from everyone in the scene was always “Oh that’s only good for sleeping or tripping on the floor to. It needs to be hard to be good.” Blah blah blah.
December 13th, 2009 at 12:01 am Quote
You need to also remember that this is also an educational website for new and expert DJ’s, producers, etc. If you haven’t realized that yet then you obviously don’t get the point of djtt.
December 13th, 2009 at 12:34 pm Quote
While its easy to assume that everyone knows important historical references like this one, please remember that a huge group of people are just now discovering djing through controllers. This new group has no knowledge of where djing came from and must be taught the importance of dj culture. We at Dj TechTools feel its our responsibility to educate and help advance the skills of this new generation of djs so the craft is not diluted.
That does not mean we will be dumbing down the content of this site. Once a week, generally on a friday, we try to post something that is lighter and more accessible. Then on mondays and wed. we normally post our more formative and in depth articles that are aimed at the more advanced readers.
Hope that makes sense, any feedback is of course always welcome.
December 13th, 2009 at 2:06 pm Quote
All DJTT is doing here is trying to educate people, no need to hate on the article. This is probably the same guy who would rip someone apart for not knowing the significance of the “Amen Break”, yet complians about it being posted. Your lack of leaving a name goes a long way in showing the kind of coward you are.
Keep the info coming DJTT
December 13th, 2009 at 6:44 pm Quote
The first recognized use in UK Hardcore, which would later become Jungle, DnB, and Happy Hardcore, was the track We Are IE by Lenny De Ice.
Also just my opinion, but I honestly believe guys like Remarc, Marvellous Cain and Dj Crystl programmed amen better than any IDM guy who mostly just processed the break through effects rather than actually re-programming it.
December 13th, 2009 at 9:25 pm Quote
Umm… No, we “all” don’t know this already. I’ve been deejaying for last two decades and even though I knew the break itself, I had no idea what it was called or where it originated from before this posting (of course, it must be admitted, I had never stopped to even think about it that much).
On my opinion, it is a bit of “nice-to-know”-stuff…
December 14th, 2009 at 12:39 am Quote
I saw this movie a couple of years ago… Blew my mind. It’s just so informative about something that’s so well known. Describing it to it’s core. Loved it. It would be great if someone made a documentary series to describe spesific genres and how they came about. :)
December 14th, 2009 at 12:44 am Quote
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5IJjBvSFyU&feature=fvw
December 14th, 2009 at 3:26 am Quote
What’s wrong with caves?
December 14th, 2009 at 11:49 am Quote
The Amen MADE me who I am.
December 15th, 2009 at 12:00 pm Quote
You sure it wasn’t Jack?
December 15th, 2009 at 3:31 pm Quote
This is fantastic!
I’ve seen the video before but it’s great to know so much more info about the Amen. Think about if it wasn’t around to sample? What would happen to Drum and Bass? Hell, what would happen to almost most modern music?
December 16th, 2009 at 4:22 pm Quote
awesome .. also nicely bridges two of my main areas of interest .. music and programming.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:59 am Quote
Really informative, thank-you
April 30th, 2010 at 4:19 am Quote
Amen!! What if they’d have a cent for every time it’s played!!!