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Customer Reviews
Personally, this is not one of my favourite GSH albums but by almost any other standard it is fantastic. Musically, this is something of a transitional album retaining elements of his earlier jazz inflected work but also showing signs of his later, funkier music. I think that this is an effective mix but others may find it a bit of a mish-mash. The album contains one standout track, the anthem 'Johannesburg', his first hit single, but the rest of the album is good too. My personal favourite is the nuclear protest song 'South Carolina (Barnwell)'. There are four 'live' tracks tacked on at the end of the album which while good tracks in their own right seem strangely out of place.
As ever, GSH politics are to the fore and politically this was a very significant album; Gil Scott Heron was one of the first African American musicians to recognise the importance of issues outside of the USA, in particular apartheid in South Africa. When Gil and Brian Jackson finally visited South Africa after the fall of apartheid they were surprised to get no response to the call of 'What's the word?'; nobody had told them that the album had been banned in South Africa.
A very good album but, for me, not the place to start with GSH: try 'Pieces of a Man', 'Winter in America' or the compilation 'The Revolution will not the televised' instead, they are all much better.
Gil hit a nerve with street-inspired poetry and powerful rhythms that presaged rap on tunes like "Whitey on the Moon", "Brother", "The Bottle", and of course, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," which has become not only widely sampled, but even -- undeservedly -- reduced to something of a cliche. "South Africa to South Carolina" displays Gil's and Brian Jackson's lyrical side with ideas and rhythms more subtle than "Johannesburg."
The strong lyricism is best illustrated by "Beginnings" and, especially, the disarming "A Lovely Day," which recalls, for me, the beautiful "Very Precious Time" from the great "Winter in America." Both of the tunes make me think of the "Doonesbury" line in which Mark, the hard-core ideologist, confesses, "Even revolutionaries like chocolate chip cookies." The revolutionary on this album shows his chocolate chip cookie side with "A Lovely Day," a song that this writer turned to often back in the day for solace during dark times.
A bit of a hodge-podge in styles, and in some ways much a product of its times, this album may not be of use for all, but I still consider it a strong piece of work from a very important American artist whose name and contributions to the current scene should be kept alive.
Perhaps the most notable is the ability for the three vocalists-- Scott-Heron, Jackson and Victor Brown, to harmonize together. Two and three part harmonies rise and fall together, with Scott-Heron's baritone, Brown's high tenor, and Jackson somewhere in between blending into a fantastic mix. Below then, Jackson leads the band from the piano, joined by reedman Bilal Sunni Ali, bassist Danny Bowens, drummer Bob Adams and percussionists Charlie Saunders, Barnett Williams, and Adenola. On 'First Minute', it felt like Bownes was the dominant voice, head and shoulders the most unique and sticking out-- now the band works together in a stronger fashion and provides a superb framework, performing ably in jazz, blues, funk and rock forms.
Scott-Heron again tackles a number of topics in various atmospheres, from the then under-documented apartheid in South Africa (the superb funk of "Johannesburg") to toxic waste ("South Carolina"), from optimistic laments ("Beginnings", with an absolutely stunning three part harmony) to a touch of pure hopefulness (the simply fantastic "A Lovely Day").
The reissue augments the recording with a trio of live tracks-- fantastic readings of "South Carolina", "Johannesburg" and "Save the Children" (from "Pieces of a Man", several years earlier) and the anti-apartheid benefit piece "Let Me See Your I.D.", featuring Scott-Heron prominently amid a number of rappers and the trumpet of Miles Davis. The recording is also remastered and sounds fantastic.
This may be the best of Scott-Heron's catalog-- it all came together, the political vibe, the funky jazz aesthetic, they don't really get better than this. Hihgly recommended.
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