This May Runout will be shining a light on one of the 1960s most vibrant bands, a soul outfit from Washington DC, who were a collection of musicians who had been session musicians for Motown, and Otis Redding. The Winstons were 6 members, three white and three black, an inter-racial band which was rare in the 1960s, but the bands' racial mix was, and should, only be a sideline to the magic these musicians created musically.
G.C. Coleman (drummer), Quincy Mattison (guitar), Richard Spencer (singer/sax player), Ray Maritano (sax player), Sonny Peckrol (bass), and keyboardist Phil Tolotta (Keyboard) all found themselves in Washington DC in the late 1960s playing as The Winstons. Coleman had played at Motown, while Spencer & Mattison had played with Otis Redding, but as The Winstons, the band caught their break when they were found by Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions who hired them as the group backing band.
Soon the band had been signed to Mayfield’s Curtom label (1968), and looked to release their first single, unfortunately, the single ‘Need A Replacement’ was largely ignored, and so the band was dropped and moved away from Curtom signing with Metromedia Records (1969). The move led to the creation of a single ‘Color Him Father' which became an instant hit selling over a million copies, and “hitting no. 1 R&B and no. 7 on the US pop 100. Oh, it also won the Grammy for Best R&B song of the year”.
Quick to capitalize on the success of the single ‘Color Him Father’ Metromedia Records got a Winstons album formed and released, it was produced by Don Carroll, (a fellow musician most famous for producing The Winstons album), and the album clearly shows the huge talent these musicians had between themselves.
The album is a collection of original songs and covers which include the stellar ‘Color Him Father’, a cover of Sly & The Family Stone ‘Everyday People’, as well as Sinatra and Joe Butler covers, the album includes a track called ‘Amen Brother’ which was to have a legacy and life beyond The Winstons creation. ‘Amen Brother’ was a funky instrumental from the band which at 1 minute and 25 seconds had what became known as the ‘Amen Break ', it was this break which was to be perhaps The Winstons greatest legacy.
The ‘Amen Break’ was uncovered by a generation of musicians who would use it as a base plate for their music, from 80s hip hop groups like NWA, Mantronix, Eric B & Rakim, 90s drum and bass and jungle artists, trip hip pioneer DJ Shadow, global superstar Jay-Z, and modern artists such as Anderson Paak have all used the ‘Amen Break’ in their music, not to mention numerous others including Oasis, Slipknot, The Prodigy and in TV scores. ‘Amen Brother’ has become the most sampled song in existence standing at 5544 songs currently.
We hope you enjoy this amazing album from a group of stellar musicians who broke up with only one album to their name, but which has a storied history which will continue to influence musicians and music for years to come.
Enjoy.
Stu - RRC
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