Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American
soul and
jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a
spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s, and for his collaborative works with musician
Brian Jackson. His collaborative efforts with Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both
rapping and
melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. His own term for himself was "bluesologist",which he defined as "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues".The music of his albums, most notably
Pieces of a Man and
Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as
hip hop and
neo soul.
(April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011)
Scott-Heron's recording work has received much critical acclaim, especially for one of his most well-known compositions "
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". His poetic style has been influential upon every generation of hip hop since his popularity began.
[7] In addition to being widely considered an influence in today's music, Scott-Heron remained active until his death, and in 2010 released his first new album in 16 years, entitled
I'm New Here.
Early years
Gil Scott-Heron was born in
Chicago, Illinois.
[4] His mother, Bobbie Scott-Heron, sang with the New York Oratorio Society. Scott-Heron's
Jamaican father,
Gil Heron, nicknamed "The Black Arrow", was a soccer player who, in the 1950s, became the first black athlete to play for
Glasgow Celtic Football Club in Scotland. Gil's parents separated when he was two
[8] and Gil was sent to live with his maternal grandmother, Lillie Scott, in
Jackson, Tennessee.
[9] When Scott-Heron was 12 years old, his grandmother died and he went to live with his mother in
The Bronx in New York City, where he enrolled in
DeWitt Clinton High School.
[8] He later transferred to
The Fieldston School[4] after one of his teachers, a Fieldston graduate, showed one of his writings to the head of the English department at Fieldston and he was granted a full scholarship.
[8]
Scott-Heron attended
Lincoln University in
Pennsylvania, as it was the college chosen by his biggest influence
Langston Hughes. It was here that Scott-Heron met
Brian Jackson with whom he formed the band Black & Blues. After about two years at Lincoln, Scott-Heron took a year off to write the novels
The Vulture and
The Nigger Factory.
[10] The Last Poets performed at Lincoln in 1969 and
Abiodun Oyewole of that Harlem group said Scott-Heron asked him after the performance, "Listen, can I start a group like you guys?"
[8] Scott-Heron returned to New York City, settling in
Chelsea, Manhattan.
The Vulture was published in 1970 and well received. Although Scott-Heron never received his
undergraduate degree, he received a Master's degree in Creative Writing in 1972 from
Johns Hopkins University. His 1972 masters
thesis was titled
Circle of stone.
[11]
Recording career
Scott-Heron began his recording career in 1970 with the
LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox.
Bob Thiele of
Flying Dutchman Records produced the album, and Scott-Heron was accompanied by Eddie Knowles and Charlie Saunders on
conga and
David Barnes on percussion and vocals. The album's 15 tracks dealt with themes such as the superficiality of television and mass consumerism, the hypocrisy of some would-be Black revolutionaries, and white middle-class ignorance of the difficulties faced by inner-city residents. In the liner notes, Scott-Heron acknowledged as influences
Richie Havens,
John Coltrane,
Otis Redding,
Jose Feliciano,
Billie Holiday,
Langston Hughes,
Malcolm X,
Huey Newton,
Nina Simone, and the pianist who would become his long-time collaborator,
Brian Jackson.
Scott-Heron's 1971 album
Pieces of a Man used more conventional song structures than the loose,
spoken-word feel of
Small Talk. He was joined by Johnny Pate (conductor),
Brian Jackson on keyboards, piano,
Ron Carter on
bass and bass guitar, drummer
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Burt Jones playing electric guitar, and
Hubert Laws on
flute and saxophone, with Thiele producing again. Scott-Heron's third album,
Free Will, was released in 1972. Jackson, Purdie, Laws, Knowles, and Saunders all returned to play on
Free Will and were joined by
Jerry Jemmott playing
bass,
David Spinozza on guitar, and Horace Ott (arranger and conductor). Carter later said about Scott-Heron's voice, "He wasn’t a great singer, but, with that voice, if he had whispered it would have been dynamic. It was a voice like you would have for Shakespeare.”
[8]
1974 saw another LP collaboration with Brian Jackson, the critically acclaimed opus
Winter in America, with
Bob Adams on drums and Danny Bowens on bass. The album contained Scott-Heron's most cohesive material and featured more of Jackson's creative input than his previous albums had.
Winter in America has been regarded by many critics as the two musicians' most artistic effort.
[12][13] The following year, Scott-Heron and Jackson also released
Midnight Band: The First Minute of a New Day. A live album,
It's Your World, followed in 1976 and a recording of spoken poetry,
The Mind of Gil Scott-Heron, was released in 1979. In the July 1976 Bicentennial issue of
Playboy Scott-Heron was profiled; the accompanying artwork shows Scott-Heron singing or speaking into a microphone as it melts from the heat of his words.
[citation needed] Another hit success followed with the hit single "Angel Dust", which he recorded as a single with producer
Malcolm Cecil. "Angel Dust" peaked at No.15 on the
R&B charts in 1978.
In 1979, Scott-Heron played at the
No Nukes concerts at
Madison Square Garden. The concerts were organized by
Musicians United for Safe Energy to protest the use of
nuclear energy following the
Three Mile Island accident. Scott-Heron's song "We Almost Lost Detroit", written about a previous accident at a
nuclear power plant, was included in the
No Nukes album of concert highlights. (
We Almost Lost Detroit is the title of a book about the accident by
John G. Fuller.) Scott-Heron was a frequent critic of President
Ronald Reagan and his conservative policies.
[14]
Scott-Heron recorded and released only four albums during the 1980s;
1980 and
Real Eyes in 1980,
Reflections in 1981 and
Moving Target in 1982.
Ron Holloway on
tenor saxophone was added to Gil's ensemble in February 1982. He toured extensively with Scott-Heron and contributed to his next album,
Moving Target that same year. His tenor is prominently featured on the songs "Fast Lane" and "Black History/The World". Holloway continued with Scott-Heron until the summer of 1989, when he left to join
Dizzy Gillespie. Several years later, Scott-Heron would make cameo appearances on two of Ron Holloway's CD's;
Scorcher (1996) and
Groove Update (1998), both on the Fantasy/Milestone label.
[15]
Scott-Heron was dropped by
Arista Records in 1985 and quit recording, though he continued to tour. The same year he helped compose and sang "Let Me See Your I.D." on the
Artists United Against Apartheid album
Sun City, containing the famous line, "The first time I heard there was trouble in the Middle East, I thought they were talking about Pittsburgh." The song compares racial tensions in the US with those in apartheid-era South Africa, implying that the US was not too far ahead in race relations. In 1993, he signed to
TVT Records and released
Spirits, an album that included the seminal track "'Message to the Messengers". The first track on the album criticized the rap artists of the day. Scott-Heron is known in many circles as "the Godfather of
rap"
[16][17] and is widely considered to be one of the genre's founding fathers. Given the political consciousness that lies at the foundation of his work, he can also be called a founder of
political rap.
Message to the Messengers was a plea for the new generation of rappers to speak for change rather than perpetuate the current social situation, and to be more articulate and artistic.
Later years
"Gil Scott-Heron released poems as songs, recorded songs that were based on his earliest poems and writings, wrote novels and became a hero to many for his music, activism and his anger. There is always the anger – an often beautiful, passionate anger. An often awkward anger. A very soulful anger. And often it is a very sad anger. But it is the pervasive mood, theme and feeling within his work – and around his work, hovering, piercing, occasionally weighing down; often lifting the work up, helping to place it in your face. And for all the preaching and warning signs in his work, the last two decades of Gil Scott-Heron's life to date have seen him succumb to the pressures and demons he has so often warned others about."
In 2001, Scott-Heron was sentenced to one to three years' imprisonment in New York State for possession of
cocaine. While out of jail in 2002, he appeared on the
Blazing Arrow album by
Blackalicious. He was released on
parole in 2003. On July 5, 2006, Scott-Heron was sentenced to two to four years in a
New York State prison for violating a plea deal on a drug-possession charge by leaving a
drug rehabilitation center. Scott-Heron's sentence was to run until July 13, 2009. He was paroled on May 23, 2007.
[20] The reason given for the violation of his plea deal was that the clinic refused to supply Scott-Heron with HIV medication. This story led to the presumption that the artist was
HIV positive, subsequently confirmed in a 2008 interview.
[21][22][23]
After his release, Scott-Heron began performing live again, starting with a show at "SOB's" restaurant and nightclub in New York on September 13, 2007. On stage, he stated that he and his musicians were working on a new album and that he had resumed writing a book titled
The Last Holiday, previously on long-term hiatus, about
Stevie Wonder and his successful attempt to have the birthday of
Martin Luther King Jr. declared a federally recognized holiday in the United States.
On October 10, 2007, the day before a scheduled (but ultimately cancelled) second SOB's performance, he was arrested on felony possession of cocaine charges. He continued to make live appearances at various US venues during the course of 2008 and 2009, including further appearances at SOBs in New York. He stated in interviews that work was continuing on his new album, which would consist mainly of new versions of some of his classic songs, plus some cover versions of other artists' work. Having originally planned to publish
The Last Holiday in 2003, before it was put on hold, Canongate Books now tentatively intend to issue it in January 2011. The book was due to be previewed via a website set to be launched on April 1, 2009, but this did not appear.
Mark T. Watson, a student of Scott-Heron's work, dedicated a collection of poetry to Scott-Heron titled
Ordinary Guy that contained a foreword by
Jalal Mansur Nuriddin of The Last Poets. The book was published in the UK in 2004 by
Fore-Word Press Ltd. Scott-Heron recorded one of the poems in Watson's book
Black & Blue due for release in 2008 as part of the album
Rhythms of the Diaspora by Malik & the OG's on the record label CPR Recordings.
[citation needed]
In April 2009 on
BBC Radio Four, poet
Lemn Sissay presented a half-hour documentary on Gil Scott-Heron entitled
Pieces of a Man.
[24] Having interviewed Gil Scott-Heron in New York a month earlier,
Pieces of a Man was the first UK announcement from Gil of his forthcoming album and return to form. In November 2009, the BBC's
Newsnight interviewed Gil Scott-Heron for a feature titled
The Legendary Godfather of Rap Returns.
[25] In 2009, a new Gil Scott-Heron website, gilscottheron.net, was launched with a brand new track "Where Did The Night Go" made available as a free download from the site.
Scott-Heron released his new album
I'm New Here on independent label
XL Recordings on February 9, 2010. Produced by XL label owner Richard Russell,
I'm New Here is Scott-Heron's first studio album in sixteen years. The pair started recording the album in 2007, with the majority of the record being recorded over the last twelve months with engineer Lawson White at Clinton Studios in New York. The album attracted substantial critical acclaim with
The Guardian newspaper's Jude Rogers declaring it one of the next decade's best records.
[26]
The first single from the album was "Me And The Devil", which was released on February 22, 2010. It was debuted by
BBC Radio 1's
Zane Lowe as his "Hottest Record In The World", along with other specialist DJs such as
Gilles Peterson and
Benji B. The album's remix,
We're New Here, was released in 2011, featuring reworking by English music producer
Jamie xx of material from the original album.
[27] It was also very well-received by music critics.
[28]
In 2010 he was due to play a gig in
Tel Aviv, but this attracted criticism from Palestinian groups who stated "Your performance in Israel would be the equivalent to having performed in Sun City during South Africa’s apartheid era... We hope that you will not play apartheid Israel." In response, he cancelled the gig.
[29]
Death
Scott-Heron died on the afternoon of May 27, 2011, at
St. Luke's Hospital, New York City, after becoming ill upon returning from a European trip.
[1][30] Scott-Heron had confirmed previous press speculation about his health, when he disclosed in a 2008
New York Magazine interview, that he had been HIV-positive for several years, and that he had been previously hospitalized for
pneumonia.
[23] The cause of Scott-Heron's death has yet to be announced.
He is survived by his son Rumal Rackley from his relationship with
Lurma Rackley,
[31] daughter Gia Scott-Heron from his marriage to
Brenda Sykes;
[30] and daughters Raquiyah Kelly Heron
[32] and Chegianna Newton.
[31][33] He is also survived by his sister, Gayle and a brother, Denis Heron, who once managed Scott-Heron;
[34] an uncle, Roy Heron;
[35] and by nephew Terrance Kelly, an actor and rapper who performs as
Mr. Cheeks and who was a member of the
Lost Boyz.
[32]
In response,
Public Enemy's
Chuck D stated "RIP GSH...and we do what we do and how we do because of you." on his Twitter account.
[36] His UK publisher, Jamie Byng, called him "one of the most inspiring people I've ever met".
[30] On hearing of the death, R&B singer
Usher stated "I just learned of the loss of a very important poet...R.I.P., Gil Scott-Heron. The revolution will be live!!".
[37] Richard Russel, who produced Scott-Heron's final studio album, called him a "father figure of sorts to me".
[38] Eminem stated that "He influenced all of hip-hop".
[39] Lupe Fiasco wrote a poem about him and posted it on his website.
[40] Scott-Heron's memorial service was held at
Riverside Church in New York City on June 2, 2011, where in tribute to Scott-Heron, Kanye West performed "Lost in the World"
[41] and "Who Will Survive in America",
[42] songs from his last album,
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
[41] "Who Will Survive in America" was co-written by Scott-Heron.
[43]
Influence
The music of Scott-Heron's work during the 1970s influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as
hip hop and
neo soul. He has been described by music writers as "the godfather of rap" and "the black
Bob Dylan".
[44] Chicago Tribune writer
Greg Kot comments on Scott-Heron's collaborative work with Jackson, "Together they crafted jazz-influenced soul and funk that brought new depth and political consciousness to ‘70s music alongside
Marvin Gaye and
Stevie Wonder. In classic albums such as '
Winter in America' and '
From South Africa to South Carolina,' Scott-Heron took the news of the day and transformed it into social commentary, wicked satire, and
proto-rap anthems. He updated his dispatches from the front lines of the inner city on tour, improvising lyrics with an improvisational daring that matched the jazz-soul swirl of the music".
[2] Of Scott-Heron's influence on hip hop, Kot writes that he "presag[ed] hip-hop and infus[ed] soul and jazz with poetry, humor and pointed political commentary".
[2] Ben Sisario of
The New York Times writes that "He preferred to call himself a "bluesologist," drawing on the traditions of blues, jazz and Harlem renaissance poetics".
[4] Tris McCall of
The Star-Ledger writes that "The arrangements on Gil Scott-Heron's early recordings were consistent with the conventions of jazz poetry – the movement that sought to bring the spontaneity of live performance to the reading of verse".
[45] On his influence, a music writer later noted that "Scott-Heron's unique proto-rap style influenced a generation of hip-hop artists".
[7] The Washington Post wrote that "Scott-Heron's work presaged not only conscious rap and poetry slams, but also acid jazz, particularly during his rewarding collaboration with composer-keyboardist-flutist Brian Jackson in the mid- and late '70s."
[46] The Observer's Sean O'Hagan discussed the significance of Scott-Heron's music with Brian Jackson, stating:
Together throughout the 1970s, Scott-Heron and Jackson made music that reflected the turbulence, uncertainty and increasing pessimism of the times, merging the soul and jazz traditions and drawing on an
oral poetry tradition that reached back to the blues and forward to hip-hop. The music sounded by turns angry, defiant and regretful while Scott-Heron's lyrics possessed a satirical edge that set them apart from the militant soul of contemporaries such as
Marvin Gaye and
Curtis Mayfield.
[44]—Sean O'Hagan
Will Layman of
PopMatters writes of the significance of Scott-Heron's early musical work, "In the early 1970s, Gil Scott-Heron popped onto the scene as a soul poet with jazz leanings; not just another
Bill Withers, but a political voice with a poet’s skill. His spoken-voice work had punch and topicality. 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' and 'Johannesburg' were calls to action:
Stokely Carmichael if he’d had the groove of
Ray Charles. '
The Bottle' was a poignant story of the streets:
Richard Wright as sung by a husky-voiced Marvin Gaye. To paraphrase
Chuck D, Gil Scott-Heron’s music was a kind of
CNN for black neighborhoods, prefiguring hip-hop by several years. It grew from
the Last Poets, but it also had the funky swing of
Horace Silver or
Herbie Hancock—or
Otis Redding.
Pieces of a Man and
Winter in America (collaborations with Brian Jackson) were classics beyond category".
[47] Scott-Heron's influence over hip-hop is primarily exemplified by his definitive single "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," sentiments from which have been explored by various rappers, including
Aesop Rock,
Talib Kweli and
Common. In addition to his vocal style, Scott-Heron's indirect contributions to rap music extend to his and co-producer Brian Jackson's compositions, which have been sampled by various hip-hop artists. "We Almost Lost Detroit" has been sampled by
Brand Nubian member
Grand Puba ("Keep On"),
Native Tongues duo
Black Star ("Brown Skin Lady"), and underground notable
MF DOOM ("Camphor").
[48] Scott-Heron's 1980 song "A Legend in His Own Mind" was sampled on
Mos Def's "Mr. Nigga".
[49] The opening lyrics from his 1978 recording "Angel Dust" were appropriated by rapper
RBX on the 1996 song "Blunt Time" by
Dr. Dre.
[50] CeCe Peniston's 2000 song "
My Boo" samples Scott-Heron's 1974 recording "
The Bottle".
[51]
Among the most notable is rapper/producer
Kanye West, who has sampled Scott-Heron and Jackson's "Home is Where the Hatred Is" and "We Almost Lost Detroit" for his song "My Way Home" and the single "The People," respectively, both of which are collaborative efforts between West and Common.
[52] Scott-Heron, in turn, has acknowledged West's contributions, sampling the latter's 2007 single "Flashing Lights" on his latest album, 2010's
I'm New Here.
[53] Scott-Heron admitted ambivalence about his association with rap, remarking in 2010 in an interview for the
Daily Swarm, "I don't know if I can take the blame for it", referring to rap music. He preferred the moniker of "bluesologist". Referring to reviews of his last album and references to him as the "godfather of rap", he said, "It’s something that’s aimed at the kids." He added, "I have kids, so I listen to it. But I would not say it’s aimed at me. I listen to the jazz station.”
[4]
Discography
Studio albums
Year | Album | Label |
1970 | | |
1971 | | Flying Dutchman Records |
1972 | | Flying Dutchman Records |
1974 | | |
1975 | | |
1976 | | Arista Records |
1976 | | Arista Records |
1977 | Bridges | Arista Records |
1978 | Secrets | Arista Records |
1980 | 1980 | Arista Records |
1980 | Real Eyes | Arista Records |
1981 | Reflections | Arista Records |
1982 | Moving Target | Arista Records |
1994 | Spirits | |
2010 | | |
Live albums
Year | Album | Label |
1976 | | Arista Records |
1990 | Tales of Gil Scott-Heron and His Amnesia Express | Castle Music UK/Peak Top Records |
1994 | Minister of Information: Live | Peak Top Records |
2004 | The Best Of Gil Scott-Heron Live | Intersound |
2004 | Tour De Force | Phantom Sound & Vision |
2004 | Save The Children | Delta Music |
2004 | Winter In America, Summer In Europe | Pickwick |
2005 | Greatest Hits Live | Intersound |
2008 | Live At The Town & Country 1988 | Acadia / Evangeline Records |
Compilations
Year | Album | Label |
1974 | | Flying Dutchman |
1979 | | Arista Records |
1984 | | Arista Records |
1988 | The Revolution Will Not Be Televised | |
1990 | Glory: The Gil Scott-Heron Collection | Arista Records |
1998 | The Gil Scott-Heron Collection Sampler: 1974–1975 | TVT Records |
1998 | Ghetto Style | Camden Records |
1999 | Evolution and Flashback: The Very Best of Gil Scott-Heron | |
2005 | Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson – Messages (Anthology) | Soul Brother Records |
2006 | The Best of Gil Scott-Heron | Sony/BMG |
2010 | Storm Music (The Best of Gil Scott-Heron) | Phantom Sound & Vision |
Bibliography
Year | Title | ISBN |
1970 | The Vulture | 0862415284 |
1970 | Small Talk at 125th and Lenox |
|
1972 | The Nigger Factory | 0862415276 |
1990 | So Far, So Good | 0883781336 |
2001 | Now and Then: The Poems of Gil Scott-Heron | 086241900X |
2003 | The Last Holiday (unpublished) | 1841953415 |
Filmography
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