Edited by Azizi Powell
In honor of Father's Day, this post showcases the 1969 R&B song "Color Him Father" by The Winstons. Information about The Winstons is also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to The Winstons for their musical legacy. Thanks to all positive fathers throughout the world whether or not they are/have been blood related to those they raised/are raising. Thanks to all who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE WINSTONS AND THE SONG "COLOR IN FATHER"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Winstons
"The Winstons were an American 1960s funk and soul music group, based in Washington, D.C., United States. They are known for their 1969 recording of an EP featuring a song entitled "Color Him Father" on the A-side, and "Amen, Brother" on the B-side. Half-way into "Amen, Brother", there is a drum solo (performed by G.C. Coleman) which would cause the EP to become the most widely sampled record in the history of electronic music. Sampled audio clips of the drum solo became known as the Amen Break, which has been used in thousands of tracks in a large number of musical genres, including drum and bass, hip hop,[1] jungle, big beat, industrial and electronica.[2]
The "Color Him Father" record sold over one million copies, and received a gold record awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America on 24 July 1969. It also won a Grammy Award for the Best Rhythm and Blues Song (1969).[3]
Members
The Winstons line-up included:[3]
Richard Lewis Spencer (tenor saxophone, lead vocals)
Ray Maritano (alto saxophone, backing vocals)
Quincy Mattison (guitar, backing vocals)
Phil Tolotta (organ, co-lead vocals)
Sonny Pekerol, J.Lee Zane (bass guitar, backing vocals)
Gregory C. Coleman (drums, backing vocals)
The Winstons toured as backup for The Impressions.[3]
-snip-
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac for a video about the heavily sampled drum solo in the The Winston's instrumental record "Amen, Brother".
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From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_Him_Father
"Color Him Father" is a song released by funk and soul group The Winstons.
It was released in 1969, and reached number 2 on the R&B charts and number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 that same year. Its composer, Richard Lewis Spencer, won a Grammy Award for Best R&B song in 1970.[1]
"Color Him Father" is one of the best known songs by The Winstons. It was released as a single, and the B-side contained an instrumental track titled "Amen, Brother". "Amen, Brother" contains what has now become one of the most heavily sampled drum breaks in the history of electronic music, especially jungle and breakbeat hardcore. This break has become known as the Amen Break.
"Color Him Father" is an unabashedly sentimental song in which a boy expresses his love for his stepfather, a hardworking and generous man who married his widowed mother, who had seven children, and embraced them as his own after her first husband was "killed in the war." ("She said she thought that she could never love again/And then there he stood with that big, wide grin.") The song's lyrics resonated strongly with the public in 1969, the height of the Vietnam War. The word "color," in the song, means "label" or "call" and follows the 'color' motif set in Barbra Streisand's 1963 release of My Coloring Book. The song served as a major musical inspiration for the 2016 track "Celebrate" by Anderson .Paak.
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LYRICS- COLOR HIM FATHER
(Richard Lewis Spencer)
"Color Him Father"
There's a man at my house he's so big and strong
He goes to work each day, stays all day long
He comes home each night looking tired and beat
He sits down at the dinner table and has a bite to eat
Never a frown always a smile
When he says to me how's my child
I've been studying hard all day in school
Tryin' to understand the golden rule
Think I'll color this man father
I think I'll color him love
Said I'm gonna color him father
I think I'll color the man love, yes I will
He says education is the thing if you wanna compete
Because without it son, life ain't very sweet
I love this man I don't know why
Except I'll need his strength till the day that I die
My mother loves him and I can tell
By the way she looks at him when he holds my little sister Nell
I heard her say just the other day
That if it hadn't been for him she wouldn't have found her way
My real old man he got killed in the war
And she knows she and seven kids couldn't of got very far
She said she thought that she could never love again
And then there he stood with that big wide grin
He married my mother and he took us in
And now we belong to the man with that big wide grin
Think I'll color this man father
I think I'll color him love
Said I'm gonna color him father
Source - http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_winstons/color_him_father.html
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: The Winstons Performing "Color Him Father"
masterconductor, Uploaded on Dec 4, 2009
The Winstons Performing The National Anthem Of Fathers Day"Color Him Father"
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Example #2: Color Him Father
L Williams, Published on May 30, 2012
A video I made in honor of my grandfather, who will truly be missed.....
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Visitor comments are welcome.
Is there any direct history of this song, is it about an actual father? Not that it matters, one doesn’t need to have blood ties to me a Dad or Mom or other. Just curious.
ReplyDeleteHello, Eddie.
DeleteI don't know whether Richard Lewis Spencer, the composer of "Color Him Father" wrote this song based on his step-father.
It would be interesting to confirm whether or not that's the case, but I can't find information online.
I agree with you that a person doesn't have to have blood ties to be someone's mother or father. I know this intuitively and also know this as a step-mother, birth-mother. foster mother, and adoptive mother.
Also, for what it's worth, it just so happens that my birth father's name was Eddie.
Best wishes to you!