Doubledown Note: I have my own list of the most important breaks of all time. Just about all of Crateking's list would also appear on my list, and I have a few other gems I think are important as well.
I have DJed a show only once: "The Best Breaks of All Time - The Original Tunes" where I played the full versions of the songs where these classic breaks came from. My show took place at Coffee and Pajamas at Sunset Jazz Club in Second Life. I would love to perform my selections and this DJ show again sometime. I wonder who is interested in having me perform this show?
From Wikipedia:
The "Amen break" was a brief drum solo performed in 1969 by Gregory Sylvester "G. C." Coleman.
The "Amen Break", "Amen", or imitations thereof, are frequently used as sampleddrumloops in hip hop, jungle, breakcore and drum and bass music. It is 5.20 seconds long and consists of four bars of the drum-solo sampled from the song "Amen, Brother" as performed by the 1960s funk and soul outfit The Winstons. The song is an up-tempo instrumental rendition of an older gospel music classic. The Winstons' version was released as a B-side of the 45RPM7-inch vinyl single "Color Him Father" in 1969 on Metromedia (MMS-117), and is currently available on several compilations and on a 12-inch vinyl re-release together with other songs by The Winstons.
The Amen Break was used extensively in early hiphop and sample-based music, and became the basis for drum-and-bass and jungle music - "a six-second clip that spawned several entire subcultures"
