It was an early eighties Channel 4 TV documentary which kindled my interest in Gil Scott-Heron. I could never say that I was an avid fan, but over the years I built up a collection of three or four albums and a couple of singles. As a middle class Celt living in well-to-do Cheshire and then well-healed Surrey, I was never his target audience and I could never boast a bond with his work. But backgrounds aside, there was no doubting the man's genius - I am sure that a few strands of the American political monochromatic spectrum will no doubt disagree.
The original Best Of.. album was released in 1984 as a vehicle for the Re-Ron single, but it wasn't until 1986 when The Bottle single was a huge floor filler at the rare groove nightclubs of my student days, did I pick up a copy. I have never been one for the instant gratification of greatest hits compilations, and the RCA/Arista sleeve did seem to portray Heron and a smooth and smoochy soul artist. It horrified me to find that The Bottle as listed on the sleeve was in fact a live version, and they had chopped five minutes off my other favourite track B-Movie.
My vinyl copy is long gone, so with thanks to a local charity shop, here is the CD version with a few key adjustments. I have replace The Bottle with the proper studio version (from 1974's Winter In America album) and the abridged B-Movie has been dumped for the full 12 minute opus. Best Of compilations are purely subjective, so I have added a few "bonus" tracks that I believe better represents the variety of Heron's work. Many refer to him as the godfather of rap,whether you see him as a genuine soul-man, a militant, a poet, a drugged up jazz player, or even just a thorn in the side of the political classes - his musical legacy is immense. Gil Scott Heron died in 2011, he did live to see a black president in The Whitehouse, but I don't think we ever found out what he made of Obama, but I am sure he would have much to say about the way the chattering (tea drinking) classes on America's right are trying to undermine him.
Inspired by an album released on Arista Records (206 618) in 1984, and ripped to high quality lossless FLAC audio.
01. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised02. The Bottle
03. Winter In America
04. Johannesburg
05. Ain't No Such Thing As Superman
06. Re-Ron
07. Shut 'Em Down
08. Angel Dust
09. 'B' Movie
10. Washington D.C.
11. H20gate Blues
12. Fast Lane
13. Lady Day And John Coltrane
14. Your Daddy Loves You (For Gia Louise)
15. A Legend In His Own Mind
