Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson – From South Africa to South Carolina

I don’t remember how I first came to hear “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, but Gil Scott-Heron’s bold truth-telling resonated with me immediately. Along with The Last Poets and their subsequent solo acts like Lightnin’ Rod, Gil Scott-Heron helped lay the ground work for rap and hip-hop.

Albums from Gil’s catalog are hard to come by where I live, but I have managed to snag a few over the years – hidden away in way-groovy secondhand stores. I was inspired to pull them back out again while listening to chapter 3 of Chasing The Ghost Of Kerouac, published over at Birds With Broken Wings.

This particular LP – an obvious run on Apartheid in South Africa and the parallels in the southern United States – features the flute and keyboard work of long-time co-conspirator Brian Jackson, whom Gil met during his short stint at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University in 1968.

Gil’s raps were all over the political map, but police repression – especially of black people – was a common theme. You cannot have this kind of consciousness and not have street smarts, and yet, somehow, Gil was pinched for cocaine possession in July 2001. Details of the bust were featured in the Village Voice in an article called Gil Scott-Heron’s Rap, with more details included in this interview.

Like many truth seekers and speakers of his day, Gil has fallen on harder times, pleading guilty to the possession rap because he couldn’t afford a lawyer.

Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson – From South Africa to South Carolina

Side one:

1) Johannesburg – 4:52
2) A Toast To The People – 5:47
3) The Summer Of ‘42 – 4:42
4) Beginnings (The First Minutes Of A New Day) – 6:23

Side two:

5) South Carolina – 3:45
6) Essex – 9:17
7) Fell Together – 4:30
8) A Lovely Day – 3:29

CD reissue bonus tracks:

9) South Carolina (Barnwell) (Live from the No Nukes concert at Madison Square Garden) – 6:29
10) Save The Children (Live from Blues Alley, Washington DC) – 4:23
11) Johannesburg (Live from Gil Scott-Heron: Black Wax) – 11:14
12) Let Me See Your I.D. (from Sun City: Artists Against Apartheid) – 7:30

Personnel:

Gil Scott-Heron – vocals, electric piano
Brian Jackson – vocals, flute, keyboards, synthesizer
Victor Brown – vocals, tambourine, bells
Bilal Sunni Ali – saxophone, flute, harmonica
Danny Bowens – bass
Bob Adams – drums
Charlie Saunders – congas, Chinese drum
Barnett Williams – congas, gambe drums, shekere
Adenola – congas

“Let Me See Your I.D.” performed by Big Youth, Ray Barretto, Brian Jackson, Duke Bootee, Peter Garrett, Grandmaster Melle Mel and Gil Scott-Heron.