Gil Scott-Heron

Gil Scott-Heron's aggressive, no-nonsense street poetry inspired a legion of intelligent rappers while his engaging song-writing skills placed him square in the R&B charts later in his career. Born in Chicago, Scott-Heron spent most of his high-school years in the Bronx, where he learned firsthand many of the experiences which later made up his song-writing material. He completed his first volume of poetry at the age of 13. After publishing a novel called ‘The Vulture’ in 1968, Scott-Heron applied to Pennsylvania's Lincoln University. Though he spent less than one year there, it was enough time to meet Brian Jackson, a similarly minded musician who would later become a crucial collaborator and integral part of Scott-Heron's band. Given a bit of exposure, Scott-Heron met up with Bob Thiele and was encouraged to begin a music career, reading selections from his book of poetry – ‘Small Talk at 125th & Lennox’ – while Thiele recorded a collective of jazz and funk musicians – including bassist Ron Carter, drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Hubert Laws on flute and alto saxophone, and percussionists Eddie Knowles and Charlie Saunders. Scott-Heron also recruited Jackson to play on the record as pianist. Most important on the album was ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ an aggressive polemic against the major media and white America's ignorance of increasingly deteriorating conditions in the inner cities. Scott-Heron's second LP, 1971's ‘Pieces of a Man’, expanded his range, featuring songs such as the title track and ‘Lady Day and John Coltrane’. ‘The Bottle’ became Scott-Heron's biggest hit yet, peaking at number 15 on the R&B charts, though he still made no waves on pop charts. Producer Nile Rodgers of Chic also helped on production during the 1980s, when Scott-Heron's political attack grew even more fervent with a new target, President Ronald Reagan. (Several singles, including the R&B hits ‘B Movie’ and ‘Re-Ron’, were specifically directed at the President's conservative policies.) By 1985, however, Scott-Heron was dropped by Arista, just after the release of ‘The Best of Gil Scott-Heron’. Though he continued to tour around the world, Scott-Heron chose to discontinue recording. He did return, however, in 1993 with a contract for TVT Records and the album ‘Spirits’.