What do you think of this fact?
You’ve almost certainly heard it, probably in lots of different songs, without knowing its name. It’s called the Amen break, and it’s only about six seconds long.
The B-side nobody saw coming
In 1969, the funk and soul band The Winstons released a track called “Amen Brother” as a B-side. In the middle sits a short drum solo played by drummer Gregory C. Coleman. Back then, nobody thought of it as a big moment.
Then hip hop producers started looping drum breaks from old records. According to Cambridge Audio, the Amen break was already common on hip hop records in the early 1980s. Later it was used by Oasis, The Prodigy, David Bowie and N.W.A, among others, NME lists. The sample database WhoSampled estimates nearly 1,900 uses, NME reports, while Cambridge Audio speaks of thousands. Mixmag calls it one of the most sampled pieces of music in history.
Paid after 46 years
The awkward part: the band reportedly made nothing from all that sampling. According to Cambridge Audio, The Winstons received no royalties for it for a long time, and Mixmag writes that Coleman never received any. Richard L. Spencer, the band’s frontman, had arranged the track and holds its copyright.
So British DJs Martyn Webster and Steve Theobald started a fundraiser to give something back. It raised about 24,000 pounds, and Spencer got the cheque, 46 years after the song came out.
Bonus fact: According to NME, the fundraiser’s original goal was just 1,000 pounds.
Six seconds of drumming shaped music, and in the end the fans had to pass the hat for the band.