Gil Scott-Heron

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Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American soul and jazz poet, guitarist, and author best known for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s.

Scott-Heron's collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson included a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul, as well as lyrical material on current social and political issues of the time.

His own word for himself, "bluesologist," he characterized as "a scientist who is worried about the origins of the blues, inspired and foreshadowed later African-American music styles like hip hop and neo soul.

Many believe Scott-Heron to be the first rapper/MC ever.

His recording work was lauded, particularly one of his best-known compositions, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" (acclaim).

"His ardent, no-nonsense street poetry inspired a legion of hip hipsters," AllMusic's John Bush said, while his engaging songwriting abilities put him in the R&B charts later in his career. "Scott-Heron remained active until his death, and his first new album in 16 years, titled I'm New Here," he said in 2010.

The Last Holiday, a memoir that he had been working on for years up to the time of his death, was published posthumously in January 2012.

In 2012, Scott-Heron received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

He is also included in the exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), which opened on September 24, 2016, on the National Mall, and in a NMAAHC publication, Dream a New World Anew.

Early years

Gil Scott-Heron was born in Chicago, Illinois. Bobbie Scott, his mother, appeared with the Oratorio Society of New York. Gil Heron, a Jamaican footballer who in the 1950s became the first black man to play for Celtic F.C. In Glasgow, United Kingdom, a woman was arrested. Gil's parents divorced in his youth, and he was sent to live in Jackson, Tennessee, with his maternal grandmother, Lillie Scott. When Scott-Heron was 12 years old, his grandmother died and he returned to live with his mother in The Bronx in New York City. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School but later moved to The Fieldston School after impressing the head of the English department with some of his writings and receiving a full scholarship. Scott-Heron, one of five Black students at the prestigious academy, was confronted with alienation and a substantial socioeconomic gap. An administrator at Fieldston asked: "How will you feel if one of your classmates is driving by in a limousine when you're walking up the hill from the subway?" And [he] said, 'Same way as you.' Some people can't afford no limousine.

How do you feel?'"

Scott-Heron's later recordings would feature this kind of intractable boldness.

After completing his secondary education, Scott-Heron decided to enroll in Lincoln University in Pennsylvania because Langston Hughes (his most prominent literary influence) was an alumnus. Scott-Heron met Brian Jackson, with whom he formed the band Black & Blues, here. Scott-Heron, a Lincoln writer, took a year off to write The Vulture and The Nigger Factory. The Black Arts Movement had a major influence on Scott-Heron (BAM). The Last Poets, a group associated with the Black Arts Movement in Lincoln, performed at Lincoln in 1969, but Scott-Heron of the Harlem group said after the show, "Listen, can I start a group like you guys?" Scott-Heron returned to New York City, settling in Chelsea, Manhattan. The Vulture was published by the World Publishing Company in 1970 to rave reviews.

Although Scott-Heron did not complete his undergraduate degree, he was accepted to the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, where he earned his M.A. In 1972, a researcher began writing in experimental fiction. Circle of Stone was his master's thesis. Scott-Heron taught literature and creative writing for several years at University of the District of Columbia (also known as Federal City College) in Washington, D.C., while still enjoying his music career beginning in 1972.

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Recording career

Scott-Heron began his recording career with the LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox in 1970. Flying Dutchman Records' Bob Thiele produced the album, and Scott-Heron was accompanied by Eddie Knowles and Charlie Saunders on conga, and David Barnes on vocals and percussion. The album's 14 tracks dealt with topics including the superficiality of television and mass consumerism, the hypocrisy of some would-be black revolutionaries, and the confusion faced by inner-city residents. Scott-Heron acknowledged as influences Richie Havens, John Coltrane, Otis Redding, Jose Feliciano, Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Nina Simone, and long-time collaborator Brian Jackson.

Pieces of a Man by Scott-Heron used more traditional song structures than his album Pieces of a Man's loose, spoken-word feel of Small Talk. With Thiele releasing new music, he was joined by Jackson, Johnny Pate on bass and bass guitar, drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Burt Jones on electric guitar, and Hubert Laws on flute and saxophone. Free Will, Scott Heron's third album, was released in 1972. Jackson, Purdie, Fines, Knowles, and Saunders all returned to play on Free Will, with Jerry Jemmott, guitar, David Spinozza, and conductor Horace Ott. "He wasn't a great singer," Carter said of Scott-Heron's voice, but with that voice, it might have been exciting." It was like a voice like Shakespeare's.

With Bob Adams on drums and Danny Bowens on bass, he recorded another collaboration with Brian Jackson, Winter in America. Many commentators have characterized winter in America as the two musicians' best artistic effort. Midnight Band, Scott-Heron and Jackson's First Minute of a New Day, was released the following year. In 1975, he released "Johannesburg," a rousing cry for the end of apartheid in South Africa. In 1983, the song would be re-issued in 12"-single form, as well as "Waiting for the Axe to Fall" and "B-movie."

It's Your World, a live album, was followed in 1976 by a collection of spoken poetry, The Mind of Gil Scott-Heron, a collection of spoken poetry, was released in 1978. "Angel Dust," a hit song with producer Malcolm Cecil, was another hit single. "Angel Dust" reached its high point at No. 1. In 1978, R&B's top 15 were ranked at 15.

Scott-Heron appeared at the No Nukes concerts at Madison Square Garden in 1979. Following the Three Mile Island fire, Musicians United for Safe Energy's United for Safe Energy's concert was arranged to protest the use of nuclear energy. "We Almost Lost Detroit" by Scott Heron was included in the No Nukes album of concert highlights. It related to a recent nuclear power plant fire as well as the name of a John G. Fuller book. Scott-Heron was a regular critic of President Ronald Reagan and his conservative policies.

During the 1980s, Scott-Heron recorded and released four albums: 1980, Real Eyes (1980), and Moving Target (1982). Ron Holloway came to the ensemble in February 1982 to play tenor saxophone. He toured extensively with Scott-Heron and contributed to his new album, Moving Target the same year. His tenor accompaniment is a popular feature of the songs "Fast Lane" and "Black History/The World." Holloway continued with Scott-Heron until 1989, when he left to join Dizzy Gillespie. Scott-Heron will appear on two of Ron Holloway's CDs, Scorcher (1996) and Groove Update (1998), both on the Fantasy/Milestone label.

Scott-Heron was dropped by Arista Records in 1985 and stopped performing, but the singer went on tour. He aided in the creation and performance of "Let Me See Your I.D." in the same year. The Artists United Against Apartheid album Sun City featured the following line: "It's 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 United States with those in apartheid-era South Africa, implying that the United States was not too far ahead of race relations. He signed to TVT Records and released Spirits, an album that also included the seminal track "Message to the Messengers." The first track on the album mocked the day's rap artists. Scott-Heron is widely regarded as "the Godfather of rap" in several circles, and he is widely believed to have been one of the genre's founding fathers. Given the political convictions that underpins his work, he can also be described as a source of political rap. The new generation of rappers was encouraged to speak out rather than perpetuate the present social situation, as well as being more articulate and artistic. In an interview, he spoke about hip hop in the 1990s: he said he said in an interview: he wrote about hip hop in the 1990s: in an interview:

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