Retro Reviews: Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces Of A Man

 I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. This is a lesser-known album.

Gil Scott Heron – Pieces Of A Man (1971)

***1/2

Producer: Bob Thiele

Musicians: Gil Scott Herson, Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Brian Johnson, Burt Jones, Bernard Purdie, Johnny Pate

Songs and Music: Lady Day and John Coltrane, When You Are Who Are, Home Is Where The Hatred Is, The Needles Eye, I Think I’ll Call It Morning, Or Down You Fall, Save The Children, The Prisoner, Pieces Of A Man, A Sign Of The Ages, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Reviewed By Matthew Anthony Allair

    Gil Scott-Heron is a new major figure, who had already put out a live album, but this is his first proper studio album, a fusion between soul and jazz, but what is notable are two figures, producer Bob Thiele, a long-time associate of John Coltrane duri8ng his later years, and esteemed player bassist Ron Carter. The associations are a great endorsement of this figure, Gil must doing something right to get this attention. There had been one prior album last year, the small venue live A New Black Poet / Small Talk at 125^th and Lenox ,but that album comprised spoken word performances with percussion, and sprinkled with a few piano and percussion vocals near the very end of the disc. That album, seemed very much targeted at the African American market, was a frank, and confrontational piece, that had some very insightful moments. The dedication to vocals with the album seems to aim for cross over appeal, at the very least with the soul market.

    There’s a directness to his lyrical ability that reminds me of another recent peer Sixto Rodriguez, these are difficult times as we edge away from the last decade, there’s a lot of soul searching that is needed and a youth culture that already feels like promises were broken. This is all very prescient for the African American community whom have been watching their heroes be cut down, or imprisoned. You can’t really ignore that truth. There has been a lot of cultural hijacking of African American music, and I suspect Mr. Heron understands this. I can appreciate the importance of Evis Presley, but I don’t respect him. Not in the way I respect Chuck Berry, Little Richard, or Fats Dominoe, much of blues, jazz and soul was hijacked from white musicians, and the machinery behind them, yet I don’t fault white musicians who give credit where credit it due. Perhaps, cultural hijacking isn’t the best, or more academic word, perhaps a phrase such as cultural appropriation, nevertheless, hearing Mr. Heron reminds me of what has been lost at the start of the decade, even with the good intentions of the music industry. Which is why these first two albums feel so important, and such a bellwether for where we are at. 

    The opener “Lady Day and John Coltrane” has a good jazz soul infused groove, the song seems to be about when there’s absence of heroes, when there no spiritual bijous, no one can find their bearings, there’s a malaise. With the bright and jaunty pop of “When You Are Who You Are” is just about being yourself and a playful vocal from Mr. Heron. The lyrically somber “Home Is Where The Hatred Is” has another mid-tempo groove and more excellent guitar work. The secret weapon of this project might just be Brian Jackspon and Burt Jones, the interplay between them remains excellent. Yet Mr. Heron is no slough either as a guitar player. “The Needle’s Eye” is built on a vamp with several chords, but it takes a broader view and hope considering urban sprawl and conditions, yet perhaps we just have to break out of the self-imposed prisons most accept. 

    “I Think I’ll Call It Morning” sounds like a commitment to break out of depression or an affirmation. “Or Down You Fall” is a bossa nova flavored and flute excursion that seems like another warning, to whom I don’t know, or affirmation. “Save The Children” is another Latin beat that is about his awareness of the failure to protect the innocent. “The Prisoner” opens with sound effects and  abstract cellos, a song that seems less about physical incarceration and being situationally trapped, a very dramatic piano drives this but the vocal isn’t as strong - In spite of the message. 

    The title track has some rich Piano work, a self-reflective work that reveals more layers than the listener would assume, this is about as reflective as some of Joni Mitchell’s work. The lovely “A Sign Of The Ages” almost as a resignation to it. The closer “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is more developed and refined from the prior live performance. A spoken piece about media and entertainment saturation, about television programs that are there to distract and a new media that hardly matches the reality of most people’s daily lives and surroundings. The soul groove and jazz flute give this some extra color. The main complaint about the album is it could have used a few more spoken pieces as his delivery is excellent, but this was probably designed for a broader appeal. 

    Gil Scott-Heron is an important figure that might be a few steps ahead of everyone else. Some people would see this album as combative - I see it as observational and honest.