It’s time to partially close down the blog for the period over Christmas and New Year. This time around I’m going to put up a re-posting from times gone by, and I’ll try my best to have all of them feature musicians whose appearances have been infrequent.
This dates from 6 April 2016. The title reflects it was part of a short-lived series on 10″ singles that sit in the cupboard here at Villain Towers.
MY SMALL BUNDLE OF TEN INCHERS (2)
Gil Scott-Heron (1 April 1949 – 27 May 2011) started out as a novelist, but from 1970 onwards became better known as a poet and musician thanks to a body of work which addressed much of what was wrong in modern society, particularly in his home country of America. His long time collaborator was Brian Jackson, a multi-talented musician and arranger. Scott-Heron and Jackson were unflinching in their approach, caring little for any criticism thrown at them that they were artists and musicians who had no concept of the ‘ghetto’ life they often wrote and sang about. They didn’t care much for mainstream success and acceptance, happy enough to write music and lyrics that would attack the most conservative values of America, knowing that the vast majority of radio stations and TV producers would shy away from giving them an airing.
The protest singing and poetry was well received in many parts of Europe. His songs and poems highlighted the dangers being posed by politicians who were moving ever further to the right, seeking out all sorts of enemies to fight with and all for the purpose of currying favour with an electorate stoked up by a frenzied media. It was a message that struck a chord with many.
He achieved most fame in the 80s as a vocal opponent of Ronald Reagan and the apartheid system, and the 10″ EP I have is a 1985 release to promote a Best Of compilation. Three of its songs are from the mid 70s, while the other – a superb attack on Reaganomics – was recorded in 1981.
mp3 : Gil Scott-Heron – Winter In America
mp3 : Gil Scott-Heron – Johannesburg
mp3 : Gil Scott-Heron – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
mp3 : Gil Scott-Heron – “B” Movie
The 90s and first decade of the 21st Century were far from kind to Gil Scott Heron. There were thirteen studio albums released between 1970 and 1984, but only one more would appear before 2010 albeit some compilations and live recordings kept his name known, aided too by just about every rapper who burst onto the scene mentioning Gil Scott-Heron as being a huge influence.
He had developed serious issues with drug addiction that led to him spending time in jail. Having been released in 2007, he dedicated himself to performing, writing and recording again, culminating in the release in 2010 of I’m New Here, an extraordinary but very short album (28 minutes spread over 15 tracks) full of intensely personal and reflective lyrics that one UK critic described as ‘Massive Attack jamming with Robert Johnson and Allen Ginsberg.’
A remix version of the album, We’re New Here was released in February 2011, featuring production by English musician Jamie xx, who reworked material from the original album to great effect. But just as many were again paying attention to Gil Scott-Heron, he died just a few months later at the age of 62. The cause of death has never been revealed, but the man himself in interviews on his release from prison had confirmed he was HIV-positive and that his health hadn’t been great.
A further album of stripped down music from the I’m New Here session was made available in limited release for Record Store Day in 2014, and then given a full release on 1 April 2015 on what would have been his 66th birthday. His life has been remembered too with the making and release of ‘Who Is Gil Scott Heron?‘, from the UK film makers Iain Forsyth and Jayne Pollard, whose previous work included the Nick Cave drama/documentary 20,000 Days on Earth.
Many of the tributes and obituaries at the time of his death used the words tortured genius. For once, they were being applied properly.
This is the last day of the archival material. The blog returns to normal as from tomorrow.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
I’m surprised you passed on the opportunity to remind everyone that Gil Scott-Heron’s dad played for Celtic in the 1950s, the first black player to do so in fact, nicknamed ‘the Black Arrow’. I saw GSH at Clouds in Edinburgh sometime in the early-mid 1980s, a matter on which the otherwise definitive Edinburgh Gig Archive is strangely silent, so I am unable to tell you exactly when it was. B-Movie was most of what I knew about him then, but I recall a pretty groovy gig, featuring a monster version of the aforementioned Reagan takedown. “Well, the first thing I want to say is: Mandate my ass!”
Agree with Fraser.As a Scot you are contractually obliged to mention this,
I saw him at The Tunnel in Glasgow around then Same tour perhaps?
Bit of a blogging coincidence today… https://baggingarea.blogspot.com/2024/01/forty-minutes-of-xx.html
There was definitely a Gil Scott-Heron gig at the Queens Hall in Edinburgh and I am sure he played the Caird Hall in Dundee on the same tour. I am going to say 1985 or 1986.
Yes, I’ve found details of he Queens Hall gig, but I’m sure it wasn’t there that I saw him. Kick off time for that one was 10pm as well, which was unusual and I think I’d remember. Mysterious.