On Friday night I watched a recording of a documentary about Gil Scott-Heron's classic 1971 album "Pieces Of A Dream" on Sky Arts Classic Albums series which is what has inspired this post.
Recommended watching if it comes on again or you can find it on catch
up.
Scott-Heron died in 2011 but the documentary has footage of him not only
performing but also interviews. The main 'actor' of the documentary is
Brian Jackson who often gets overlooked. He met Scott-Heron at Lincoln
University and they formed the group Black & Blues with Victor Brown
and recorded a single "Chains" c/w "A Toast To The People" for Flying
Dutchman but I don't believe it was released (but has been in 2019 by BGP)
and these two, and another track "Peace", is included on Ace Records 2014
reissue of "Pieces Of A Man".
There were some giants of jazz performing on the album. Ron Carter (a
member of Miles Davis' group in the 60s) on bass, Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie
on drums and Hubert Laws on flute and sax along with Burt Jones on guitar
supporting Brian Jackson on keys and of course Scott-Heron all conducted
by Johnny Pate who worked with Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions for
many years in 60s/70s.
As well as a song that inspired generations of rappers, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", the album includes a few tracks that have been played on the UK modern
soul/rare groove scene for decades "Lady Day And John Coltrane", "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" (later covered by Esther Phillips in 1971 on her "From A Whisper To A Scream" album and as a single) and "When You Are Who You Are".
He is of course best known in Northern Soul circles for his classic "The Bottle" recorded a few years later in 1974 on Strata-East. "Uno, Dos .. Uno,
Dos, Tres Cuatro..."! The video below was produced in 1998 as part of CD
re-issue of "Winter In America" on TVT Records.
Revisiting the album many years after last listening to it was a treat so
I thought it well worth sharing.
The album is still available in all formats digital, CD and vinyl on
Amazon.
As a footnote I discovered that Gil Scott-Heron is the latest inductee
into the
Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, inducted on 31 Oct 2021 in the 'early influencer' category.
I've also included a 50 minute documentary below "Who Is Gil Scott-Heron"
recorded not long after his death in 2011 by XL Recordings who he had
recorded his last album "I'm Here Now" for (which I'm sure I've
posted before).
In addition, if you've got nothing better to do on a wet Sunday
afternoon, there is a very good documentary covering his whole career recorded in Feb this year which includes clips of many of his
songs.
Click icons below for further information or to connect with the
artist.
| Rating: | 9 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Soul Jazz |
| Format: | Classic Album |
| Media: | Digital |
| Label: | Flying Dutchman |
| Cat No: | FD 10143 |
| Date: | 1971 |
| Value: |
£60-£165 (NB a NM copy sold on Discogs for £163 in Sep 2021) |
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