Gil Scott-Heron was one of those rare artists who defies category; poet, novelist, jazz musician, criminal and revolutionary could describe various phases of his life and career. Having stepped into the spotlight in 1970 with his percussion-heavy debut LP Small Talk at 125th & Lenox, Gil toured, wrote, recorded and smoked his way through four decades in the business while rarely treating it like a business. At one point, he even wrote a poem as an apology for not showing up to a meeting with execs at TVT records.
I’m sad to admit I was less surprised to hear of his demise than I was of his new album with Richard XL last year but, if
nothing else, that should tell you something about his troubled yet remarkable life. I hope the following playlist will offer an overview of both his diverse career and his influence; the music of
his fellow artists tells us as much about Gil Scott-Heron’s legacy as his own work.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – Gil Scott-Heron
Sometimes it’s best to start at the start and, in Gil Scott-Heron’s case, track one, side one of his debut LP is the perfect introduction. ‘The Revolution Will Not Be
Televised’ cemented Scott-Heron’s reputation as both the voice of a generation and the godfather of rap. Though by no means the first proto-rap release, ‘Revolution’ would
go on (in its later, fuller form) to become the most iconic record of its ilk.
Small Talk’s percussion-heavy production and street corner setting ow much to its lesser known predecessors, such as Watts Prophets’ The Black Voices or Leroi Jones’s Black & Beautiful, but it was listening to Gil which led me to seek out these records. I was an aspiring percussionist and part-time poet when I first heard Small Talk, so Gil’s cantata de conga was bound to fascinate, and though it’s not his most accessible release, it remains my favourite.
Who’ll Pay Reparations on My Soul – Gil Scott-Heron
Despite Small Talk being largely percussion- and poetry-led, there are a couple of tracks in which Gil turns his hand to the piano, giving us a glimpse of the socially conscious soul that
would help propel him into the mainstream in years to come. After hearing about his death on Saturday, I dug this out to drop in a rhythm and blues set that night. The response was rousing.
Pieces of a Man – Gil Scott-Heron
The title track from his sophomore set Pieces of a Man sees Gil at his most heartfelt, as he croons compassionately over
a delicate jazz backdrop. The album expanded on the stripped back sonics of Street Talk with a who’s who of jazz and soul session players, including legends Bernard Purdie and Ron
Carter, aiding and abetting Scott-Heron’s main musical conspirator, Brian Jackson. ‘Revolution’ gets a colourful makeover but it’s ‘Pieces of a Man’ that always
has me ready to rewind.
Headless Heroes – Eugene McDaniels
People often ask me why I’m amazed that Gil Scott-Heron had such a flourishing career. The answer could be an essay in itself, but I think Eugene McDaniel’s (almost) thwarted vocation
sufficiently sums up why. Ditching his R&B roots, McDaniels took up the mantle of the agit-soul and proto-rap laid down by Scott-Heron and co., releasing a brace of albums that irritated the
government to such a degree that Nixon’s chief of staff, Harry Haldeman, demanded Atlantic records remove him from their roster. With that in mind, I find it incredible that Scott-Heron got
away with addressing the issues that he did, for which we should all be grateful.
The Bottle – Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson
Supposedly, Scott-Heron made the label move from Flying Dutchman to Strata-East because producer / label boss Bob Thiele refused to give Brian Jackson equal billing. More fool him: the Winter
in America LP offered up a surprise dance floor hit in ‘The Bottle’. A sadly prophetic poem considering Gil’s later addictions, lyrically ‘The Bottle’ was by no
means your usual upbeat disco fare and yet managed to climb the charts, leading to Scott-Heron’s response to its success: ‘Pop music doesn’t necessarily have to be
shit.’
Be – The Last Poets with Bernard Purdie
The Last Poets’ career mirrored Gil Scott-Heron’s in many ways. They released their debut LP in 1970, bounced from label to label and worked with a handful of the same musicians, in
this case enlisting drummer Bernard Purdie as a featured artist. The major difference lies in their image as a united front, their militancy often underlining Gil’s own fragility as an
individual. I didn’t think it’d be right to put this playlist together without a nod to Gil’s fellow proto-rappers, so here’s my favourite moment from the Delights of the Garden LP.
Washington DC – Gil Scott-Heron
By the 1980s, Brian Jackson had moved on and Gil had a new set of musical conspirators, but lyrically he remained as defiant and pragmatic as ever. The same brand of street jazz and funk was still
there but nods to the burgeoning rap scene and even a dash of dub started to infiltrate his sets. ‘Washington DC’ is a rare groove sing-rap in which Scott-Heron’s stanzas follow
the bass riff as he ironically expounds the merits of ‘the nation’s capital’ despite its economic and social dichotomy.
Television the Drug of the Nation – Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
Gil Scott-Heron’s style has influenced many hip hop artists. He has been sampled by everyone from Master Ace in the 1980s to Kanye West today and lyrically militant rappers like Chuck D owe
much to the Scott-Heron aesthetic. However, no one captured his intentions or mirrored his intonation quite as successfully as Michael Franti on 1992’s ‘Television the Drug of the
Nation’. Soon after hearing this record I penned my poem ‘The Television Will Not Be Revolutionised’, which was really quite rubbish. This, on the other hand, is quite the
opposite.
Message to the Messengers – Gil Scott-Heron
Speaking of rappers, Gil wrote a track with a new generation of artists in mind for the opening of his Spirits LP from 1994. Essentially a list of points for current MCs, Gil’s
message was both damning and encouraging, urging rappers to ditch their disrespectful lyrics but remember to ‘keep the nerve’. Oddly, the rest of the album veers away from the sparse
electronic intro, delving deep into his jazz funk past.
Free Mumia – KRS-One
One MC who successfully straddled the fence between Scott-Heron’s reality raps and hip hop stardom was Boogie Down Productions main man KRS-One, who recorded his own version of ‘The
Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ for a Nike commercial and received a barrage of flak from purists claiming it was disrespectful and the work of a sell out. In turn, he pointed out that the
money earned went into funding his Temple of Hip Hop project helping to build a forward thinking hip hop community.
Here he raises awareness for another revolutionary, Mumia Abu Jamal, whose dedication to countercultural groups such as the Black Panthers and John Africa’s MOVE organisation (not to mention his pioneering of revolutionary jazz, soul and poetry on his Philadelphia-based radio show) brought a death sentence that has loomed over him for three decades.
What About You? (In The World Today) – Co Real Artists
This was made back in 1974 but its re-release in 2002 seems more relevant to this piece. It would have been hard to imagine in the proto-rap days that rappers would one day command six figure
deals, with lyrical content expressing the antithesis of everything the pioneering artists of the ‘70s had worked for. Amazingly, in the midst of these polished R&B productions dominating
the airwaves came Stone Throw Record’s re-release of the Californian arts co-op Co Real’s ‘What About You’. Its message messed up the more discerning dance floors of the
decade.
New York is Killing Me – Gil Scott-Heron
After an extended hiatus peppered with best of compilations, live LPs and jail time, Gil returned to the studio for his first official studio album in 16 years, an album which would sadly turn out
to be his last. I’m New Here is far from an easy listen but the nature of Gil Scott-Heron’s art was often
that of endurance over enjoyment, as great art often should be. Listening to his withered growl it’s hard not to assume he knew this would be his final offering; whether that was the case or
not, his death renders ‘New York is Killing Me’ even more poignant than it seemed on its release.
On Coming From a Broken Home (Part 2) – Gil Scott-Heron
As we opened with track one from Scott-Heron’s first LP, it seems fitting that we should bow out with the final track from his last. I’ll let this one speak for itself.
You can listen to the playlist on Spotify HERE
DJ Wrongtom is a East London DJ and record producer
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