Gil Scott Heron
 

Can't believe that I could'nt find a thread about Gil Scott Heron!!!
Does anyone here have an interest in this incredible man?
A poet, writer, composer...
His works include; The Revolution Will Not Be Televised/Whitey On The Moon and my favourite, The Bottle.
Any veiws ?

i know he got mentioned by lcd soundsystem in "i'm losing my edge"....can you describe his music?

His music can be described as Jazz/soul, at least with The Bottle.
His early stuff like The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - kinda like Beat Poetry. His Poetry to music earned him the title, The Godfather of Rap and modern rappers today recognise him as such, although Gil Scott Heron would like to see black rappers use their lyrics in a more positive way, which he expresses in his, Message To The Messenger.
His material was political and he also dealt with hard issues such as drug abuse,alcholism and the plight of black Americans.
Check out Whitey On The Moon Adidasss, got a feeling you would be interested!

Gil scott Heron Is a fantastic musician, but I'm not surprised no ones started a thread on him. The Jazz forum is a graveyard on this message board. Feel free to bring it back to life, as there seems to be a slow but steady trickling of jazz buffs coming into this forum lately.

downloaded it....you're right it is beat poetry....great poem though....if only the rapers today would write lyrics like that instead of "i'll take you to the candy shop, i'll let you lick the lollypop, keep going till you hit the spot..."...*sigh*

Thanks for looking it up man.

while we're on the subject of beat poetry, i watched a movie about miguel pinero....also fascinating poems....and a tragic life....

Gil is my favorite and was ahead of his time in the things he educated us about through his form of Rap at that time. I think its another cat you should checkout called Kulwata at http:www.kulwata.com I believe I read some where Gil is his favorite artist. check it out and tell me what you think. NEW SOUND IN BLUES

Tried the thread jrod but could 'nt get past the home page.
Gil is way ahead of his time and in many different ways.
Personally I prefer his jazz/funk/soul stuff. The Bottle being one of my all time favourite tracks by anyone.
Im not a big admirer of rap, but the lyrical content of his "form of rap" can only be described as poetic. Great man.

Free File Hosting Made Simple - MediaFire
Gil Scott and brian jackson-south carilona :D

The Last Poets are very good as well, along the same lines.

Ditto THE BOTTLE-amazing track. THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED was way ahead of it's time.

Whitey on the Moon - 1972!!!

A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell.
(and Whitey's on the moon)
I can't pay no doctor bill.
(but Whitey's on the moon)
Ten years from now I'll be payin' still.
(while Whitey's on the moon)
The man jus' upped my rent las' night.
('cause Whitey's on the moon)
No hot water, no toilets, no lights.
(but Whitey's on the moon)
I wonder why he's uppi' me?
('cause Whitey's on the moon?)
I wuz already payin' 'im fifty a week.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Taxes takin' my whole damn check,
Junkies makin' me a nervous wreck,
The price of food is goin' up,
An' as if all that shit wuzn't enough:
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face an' arm began to swell.
(but Whitey's on the moon)
Was all that money I made las' year
(for Whitey on the moon?)
How come there ain't no money here?
(Hmm! Whitey's on the moon)
Y'know I jus' 'bout had my fill
(of Whitey on the moon)
I think I'll sen' these doctor bills,
Airmail special
(to Whitey on the moon)

/\ That track is pretty good. For better or worse, thats closer to Ginsburg than it is to The Game.

Always preferred Guru,no disrespect to Gil

May you rest in peace.

:( I was sad to hear.

Very sad news.
Highly influential. A true hero of mine. :(

RIP "the black Bob Dylan."

Ooh... I completely missed this... wow.

Sorry to hear he's gone.... :(

This is probably my favourite GSH track (the lyrics are about America under Reagan 30 years ago - but if you ignore the names it could be about America today)....

Gil Scott Heron - B Movie

His advice to today's rappers and the responsibility they have.

Message to the Messengers;



Great man.

I feel even more guilty now that I didn't check out last years critically acclaimed album 'I'm New Here'.

R.I.P

rest in peace gil scott heron

I hope you've checked it out now! It's not as good as some of his older work, obviously, but I think it is great.

I have heard Gil-Scott Heron - "Me and the devil" yesterday. My mind got blown. Ordered most of his albums almost instantly. I admire most of his tunes yet i believe "Me and the devil" is unique compared to rest of his songs (stylewise).

Here is a question:
- How can you define (by genre) "Me and the devil"
- Do you know any tunes, simmilar in style, to "Me and the devil".

blessings 2 brother Gil.. a true blessings he is..

if u don't know the latest, i highly recommend it..

Gil Scott Heron.. "I'm New Here".. <-brilliant piece

truth..

I should have posted this yesterday but it's a good Father's Day tune.

Gil Scott Heron
 

Does anyone else like him. I always new he was a great poet but after getting the revolution will not be teleivsed I discovered he didnt have a bad voice.

I love Gil Scott, he is amazing... that's like asking do I like candy...HELL To THE YEAH!!

Gil Scott Heron is simply legendary. I miss the 70's era of soul, there was just such a wealth of natural talent back then.

I smoked crack with Gil
 

I hadn't heard of Gil Scott until I'm New Here came out, but after hearing that I went and checked out his older material. Definitely ahead of his time, his words echo Langston Hughes' work quite a bit in my opinion. I don't know much of his story, but his voice on New Here can only be the result of a man who's gone through some stuff.
My main reason for adding this is cuz about a month ago I had a wicked vivid dream with Gil Scott in it. It was mostly us roaming around the city looking for old Gil Scott stuff like albums or posters. At the same time we were selling cheap stuff to get money to get crack. All he wanted to do was smoke crack, so we were on a mission. It was interesting. Kinda sad tho really.

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

Rekt

This is probably my favourite Gil Scott Heron song; chock full of ideas, clever lyrics and subtly-executed music: