Gil Scott Heron Appreciation.
Cosmo
9,768 Posts
I've been a very big fan of Gil for many years now. That's the wrong way of putting it. His music was pretty much the music of my teenage and early adult years. He is the voice of the city, he is the voice of the everyman, the voice of struggle and desparation, he is the voice of my youth, the voice of the tragedy of the game. This post speaks to me on so many levels I cannot begin to tell you.He came and performed at the Chestnut Cabaret back in the early 90s if I remember correctly, and I was too young to go. Around this time me and my man Espo would always be kicking it up West Philly, and whenever someone who we wanted to see played at CC we would post up on the side door that was outside, but next to the stage, with 40s and listen. Around this time, Steve was the vocalist for a band called Groovy Monster and he did a blistering version of "Home Is Where The Hatred Is." I started DJing at the same time, and this is kind of the climate that forged the type of DJ that I am. The word was out that Gil was messed up on "that stuff" but it didn't really phase me, I always thought of it as ironic that the man who wrote "The Bottle" and "The Get Out Of The Ghetto Blues" would have fallen victim to the scourge of drugs and alcohol. I remember the one and only time I acctually SAW him perform, it was at the Arts Bank in Philly back in 1994. I went by myself because nobody would accompany me, way too cool for school. It was supporting his great and criminally slept on "Spirits" album. I was waiting outside, smoking, and the word was that he had not shown up. People started getting restless and, right as I started to walk in, a yellow cab pulled up on HE got out of the back. A giant. A giant of a man. I was in awe. I was in his shadow. Everyone outside was just humbled. He was huge, taking these long strides towards the side door, decked out in a dashiki, cowboy hat and boots. It was obvious that he had just come from copping, but it didn't matter. HE was here, and he put on an amazing performance that night, with him on keys and vocals, he backing band tight as all hell with the new and old material.Honestly, I'm still in awe. I am not worthy to even speak about him. I'm not worthy to write about him. I'm just not worthy, I'm still just standing in his shadow. We all are.
Gil Scott Heron "Home Is Where The Hatred Is"
And here's an amazing cover version, just to show you how good of a songwriter he is. I opened up my WMFU set with this song this past Friday.
Esther Phillips] "Home Is Where The Hatred Is"
Gil Scott Heron "Home Is Where The Hatred Is"
And here's an amazing cover version, just to show you how good of a songwriter he is. I opened up my WMFU set with this song this past Friday.
Esther Phillips] "Home Is Where The Hatred Is"
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true story. one time i was playing the bottle 12" at a club in DC and this drunk as fuck girl came up with a crispy $50 shoved it at me and said, "please, please take this off and play anything else, i am about to have an aneurysm". i admit, i was broke as fuck at the time and thought about it and then i thought...what would Gil do?
Such a powerful song...
A JUNKIE WALKING THROUGH THE TWILIGHT,
I`M ON MY WAY HOME.
I LEFT THREE DAYS AGO
BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW
I`M GONE.
HOME IS WHERE THE HATRED IS,
HOME IS FILLED WITH PAIN,
AND IT MIGHT NOT BE SUCH A BAD IDEA
IF I NEVER, NEVER WENT HOME AGAIN.
STAND AS FAR AWAY FROM ME AS YOU CAN,
AND ASK ME WHY.
HANG ON TO YOUR ROSARY BEADS,
CLOSE YOUR EYES TO WATCH ME DIE.
YOU KEEP SAYIN`,
`KICK IT!
QUIT IT!
KICK IT!
QUIT IT!
KICK IT!
QUIT IT!`
GOD, BUT DID YOU EVER TRY
TO TURN YOUR SICK SOUL
INSIDE OUT
SO THAT THE WORLD
CAN WATCH YOU DIE.
HOME IS WHERE I LIVE
INSIDE MY WHITE POWER DREAMS,
HOME WAS ONCE AN EMPTY VACUUM
THAT`S FILLED NOW
WITH MY SILENT SCREAMS.
HOME IS WHERE THE NEEDLE MARKS
TRY TO HEAR MY BROKEN HEART,
AND IT MIGHT NOT BE SUCH A BAD IDEA
IF I NEVER, NEVER WENT HOME AGAIN.
HOME AGAIN,
Thanks for that.
Unfortunately I have to take a late pass with Scott-Heron---got into him a few years ago. Pieces of a Man is such a great album, this one I keep on my headphones quite a bit. Love his voice.
If you want to know a song that GETS ME EVERY TIME, I will tell you.
Gil Scott-Heron "Pieces Of A Man"
No pun intended, but this song tears me to shreds every time I listen to it. Like right now, I'm beside myself.
i read an interview with esther, where she was talking about her first meeting w/ gil. she was saying since she was a junkie... she just knew he had to be one too, from his music/ words.
dude is the man.
i saw the thunder and heard the lightning- thats that shit.
I bought the "Black Wax" docu recently on recommendation from a strutter (I think it was troubleman), and to anyone who hasn't seen it: please to acquire or watch any which way. Very necessary.
acctually i support his whole catalog...
listenin to We Almost Lost Detroit
thanks for the Home Is Where The Hatred Is cover!
there's another song off that album...i can't remember the name. i think he's singing about office slavery (or something to that effect) and at a certain point he drops this line "...can't nobody see, can't nobody see...:" in that gil scott heron kind of way, and it just stops me everytime. one of those rare moments where the entire song comes together and breaks down, and hit's you in that certain way that music does. don't know if that makes sense (it does to me), but anyway, yeah, Gil Scott Heron is definitely to be apprecited. Haven't checked out much 80s stuff. should I?
I remember Moving Target having one strong track.
I think his political messages were too overt in the 80s, though, unlike his earlier albums where he was able to get the point across in a creative way.
Please to excuse the snotty english interviewer.. Wonderful interview with Gil.
In fact, his picture has adorned my Desktop for a month now. Courtesy of Byroglyphics.
- spidey
...but what did you do?
Come on. I took the $50 and copped. Then melted on my couch to Winter in America.
Yeah, he should have let that shit go. Things were just fucking great in the 80s.
Golden shower era trickle down. Drink a cup of Gatorade and call me.
I know. I just hate when black people wear that shit on their sleeve.
i see nothing wrong with the music or the message...matter of fact, that is the only other hit SINGLE (besides 1975's "Johannesburg") that GSH had. i think both were the only songs of his to make the top 40 soul charts. i used to hear this bumping from black radio stations all the time.
(strangely enough, WLS - at one time THE big Top 40 white station in Chicago - had this song on their playlist for a MINUTE, before they let it die.)
If you zoom in with your Bladeruuner softwware, you will see the hog moss confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
great interview. thanks for posting this.
i just want to say that all this hypocrisy talk is nonsense. the reason songs like "the bottle" and "home is where the hatred is" are so potent is because they are coming from a man who knows what he's talking about...
writing a song about cocaine when you've never done a line in your life... now that would be hypocritical. his songs never said, "don't do this" or "i've never done this".. they're just putting things out there the way they are... the audience is invited to draw their own conclusions.
anyway, just look at the interview and listen to the man himself. despite his troubles, which is what everybody wants to focus on, the man is extremely sharp and insightful.
I have seen Gil twice(would have been 3 but that time he ditched,and the sight of Brian Jackson and the rest of his band just sitting at the bar waiting for him at Blues Alley in DC was heartbreaking). The first time he had Brian Jackson in tow as well as some serious percussionist and it was a beautiful night. He was in great form(although the physical difference between him and Jackson is startling---Jackson looks like a health nut and barely looks like he is beyond 35--sadly Gil looks his age and a healthy dose more). Magical. The next time was after his prison stay, and it was very much what AI's friend described....a few noticable shakes and a slight lisp due to lost teeth, but it all melted away the minute he began playing. Even his monologues were funny, and scathingly on point. But you could tell that it was all for the moment, and the weight of his life would soon be back on him.
I hope he can get better, I am sure in times like these he woul have plenty to say if he could find his way to it.
I actually thought the interviewer brought out the truth from him. Not just get some sugar-coated answers for T.V.
Listening to Winter in America right now....
That Esther Phillips joint was one of my favs on Paul Nice's mix.
I have most of his output but the stuff with Brian Jackson involved is musically stronger IMHO. Nothing beats that version of HIWTHI on "It's Your World". The solos are next level. I think I know those parts note-for-note. I definitely spent a few days just listening to Bilal's sax solo over and over. The end is, as I think I mentioned last time, used for MAW's "Moonshine".
"They don't really love you, brother."
I've seen Gil 3 or 4 times, but never with Brian Jackson. Nobody has rocked the Rhodes like that, despite the modern bands always being tight. Robbie Gordon on bass was/is good value, I don't know if he's still in the band. But some show started 2 hours late. Like the taxi story, people had left and yes, he was probably copping. Frustrating.
Re: "Can't believe he succumbed to drugs after penning those tunes" - Can folks not see dude was in too deep before he wrote them? I am amazed he's still alive. I don't think I could bear to see him again, even with Brian. I've seen that interview before and I detected no snot either. It might be just our accents that are always interpreted as snotty?
i kinda get what you mean, but to be fair, the 80's made a lot of artists in all fields respond the same way, that is to say not so subtlely... it wasn't the 70's, yunno?