Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces of a Man (2LP, 45rpm) [BGP]

Why you'll love it

This 50th anniversary 2LP set runs at 45 RPM and was cut in an all-analogue chain by Frank Merritt at The Carvery in London. It holds the band version of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" and "Lady Day and John Coltrane."

This edition

• 2LP set
• Cut at 45 RPM
• 180g vinyl
• 50th anniversary edition
• All-analogue cut by Frank Merritt at The Carvery
• Gatefold jacket
• Remastered
• Stereo mix
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Gil Scott-Heron arrived in music as a poet and novelist; he had published a book of poems and a novel, The Vulture, by 1970. On his first studio album he did something braver for a poet: he sang. Producer Bob Thiele, who had worked with Louis Armstrong and John Coltrane, cut it at RCA Studios in New York on April 19 and 20, 1971.

It was the start of his long partnership with Brian Jackson, who co-wrote most of the album and plays piano, with Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on drums and Ron Carter anchoring the bottom end. The opening "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" gets a full-band treatment here, "Lady Day and John Coltrane" swings with joy, and "Home Is Where the Hatred Is," the title track and "I Think I'll Call It Morning" show a singer with real ache in his voice. "The Prisoner" closes it on a long, searching note.

Critics now hear its mix of soul, jazz-funk and proto-rap in the roots of hip hop. The revolution, we're told, will not be televised; it does, however, sound terrific at 45 RPM.

Also at Kops: more Gil Scott-Heron on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On Flying Dutchman / BGP (cat# XXQLP2 094), a reissue of the 1971 album.