He began recording in 1970 with the LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox with the assistance of Bob Thiele Flying Dutchman Records, co-writer Brian Jackson, Hubert Laws, Bernard Purdie (who later recorded "Delights of the Garden" with The Last Poets), Charlie Saunders, Eddie Knowles, Ron Carter and Bert Jones, all jazz musicians (see 1970 in music). The album included the aggressive diatribe against white-owned corporate media and middle-class America's ignorance of the problems of inner cities in songs such as Whitey On The Moon.
The 1971 Pieces of a Man used more conventional song structures than the loose, spoken word feel of his first, though he didn't reach the charts until 1975 with "Johannesburg". His biggest hit was 1978's "The Bottle", produced by Heron and longtime partner Brian Jackson, which peaked at #15 on the R&B charts (see 1978 in music).
In 2001, Gil Scott-Heron was sentenced to one to three years' imprisonment in New York State for possession of cocaine. While out of jail in 2002, he appeared on the Blazing Arrow album by Blackalicious. He was released on parole in 2003. On July 5, 2006, Scott-Heron was sentenced to two to four years in a New York State prison for violating a plea deal on a drug-possession charge by leaving a drug rehabilitation center. Scott-Heron's sentence was to run until July 13, 2009. He was paroled on May 23, 2007. The reason given for the violation of his plea was that the clinic refused to supply Scott-Heron with HIV medication. This story led to the presumption that the artist is HIV positive.
After his release, Scott-Heron began performing live again, starting with a show at SOBs in New York on September 13, 2007. On stage, he stated that he and his musicians were working on a new album and that he had resumed writing a book titled The Last Holiday, previously on long-term hiatus, about Stevie Wonder and his successful attempt to have the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. declared a federally recognized holiday in the United States.
He was arrested October 10, 2007, the day before a scheduled (but ultimately cancelled) second SOBs performance, on felony possession of cocaine charges. However, he has continued to make live appearances at various US venues during the course of 2008 and 2009, including further appearances at SOBs in New York. He has also stated in interviews that work is continuing on his new album, which will consist mainly of new versions of some of his classic songs plus some cover versions of other artists' work.
Having originally planned to publish The Last Holiday in 2003, before it was put on hold, Canongate Books now tentatively intend to issue it in January, 2011. The book was due to be previewed via a website set to be launched on April 1, 2009, but this did not appear.
Mark T. Watson, a student of Scott-Heron's work, dedicated a collection of poetry to Gil titled Ordinary Guy that contained a foreword by Jalal Mansur Nuriddin of The Last Poets. The book was published in the UK in 2004 by Fore-Word Press Ltd. Scott-Heron recorded one of the poems in Watson's book Black & Blue due for release in 2008 as part of the album Rhythms of the Diaspora by Malik & the OG's on the record label CPR Recordings.
Gil Scott-Heron released his new album I'm New Here on independent label XL Recordings on February 9, 2010. Produced by XL label owner Richard Russell, 'I'm New Here' is Scott-Heron's first album in thirteen years.The pair started recording the album in 2007, with the majority of the record being recorded over the last twelve months with engineer Lawson White at Clinton Studios in New York. In 2009, a new Gil Scott-Heron website, www.gilscottheron.net , was launched with a brand new track 'Where Did The Night Go' made available as a free download from the site.
In 2011, Scott-Heron released "We're New Here" a remix album which was a collaboration with Jamie xx, a member of the British indie band The xx. Scott-Heron died in New York City on May 27, 2011.
Plastic Pattern People
Gil Scott-Heron Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just to reach, and touch, the half notes floating
Worlds spinning orbit quicker than 9/8ths Dave Brubeck
We come now, frantically searching for Thomas Moore, rainbow villages
Up on suddenly, Charlie Mingus and our man Abdul Malik
to add bass, to a bottomless pit of insecurity
You may be plastic because you never meditate
Add on Alice Coltrane and her cosmic strains
Still no vocal on blue black horizons
Your plasticity is tested by a formless assault
The sun can answer questions in tune, to all your sacrifices
But why would our new jazz age give us no more mind expanding puzzles?
Enter John
Blow from under, always, and never, so that the morning, the sun
may scream of brain bending saxophones
The third world arrives, with Yusef Lateef, and Pharaoh Saunders
With oboes straining to touch the core of your unknown soul
Ravi Shankar comes, with strings attached, prepared to stabilize your seventh sense
Your black rhythm
Up and down a silly ladder run the notes, without the words
Words are important for the mind, but the notes are for the soul
Miles Davis, So what
Cannonball, Fiddler, Mercy
Dexter Gordon, One Flight Up
Donald Byrd, playing Cristo, but what about words?
Would you like to survive on sadness? Call on Ella and Jose Happiness
Drift with Smokey, Bill Medley, Bobby Taylor, and Otis Redding.
Soul music where frustrations are washed by drums, Nina and Miriam
Congo, Mongo, Beat me, senseless, bongo, Tonto
Flash through dream worlds of STP and LSD
Speed kills and sometimes musics call, is frustrated
And the black man is confused
Our speed is our life pace, much too fast, not good
I beg you to escape, and live, and hear all of the real
Until a call comes for you to cry elsewhere
We must all cry, but tell me
Must our tears be white?
In Plastic Pattern People, Gil Scott-Heron delves into a narrative of the world in the sixties, using music as a symbol of the era. The lyrics hint at the psychedelic culture of the time, where people used drugs to experience reality in an alternative way. The first stanza indicates how drugs allowed one to see the world in a hypertextual manner, where even the movement of objects appeared slower. The introduction of jazz icons like Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus, and Abdul Malik, exemplify how jazz was an escape from the reality of the time. Jazz music was a way to add life to a society that was suffocated by anxiety and fear.
The second stanza touches upon the concept of plasticity, referring to people who are rigid, lacking fluidity, and being mechanical. Scott-Heron mentions how such people did not reflect on their existence or perceive the universe from a different angle. The lines "Still no vocal on blue-black horizons," are an indictment of those who choose to remain voiceless in the face of injustice, racism, and inequality. The third stanza invites us to experience jazz in a new way, to enter a new realm of music. Scott-Heron mentions the third world and Yusef Lateef, the Pharaoh Sanders, and Ravi Shankar. These names are an invitation to a new musical journey, one that is open to new experiences.
Plastic Pattern People is a reflection on the sixties, a time of political unrest and cultural revolution, but it is also an invitation to look inside ourselves and question the world that we live in. Scott-Heron uses music to break the monotony of society, to expose humanity's rigidness and invite us to a life of freedom and expression.
Line by Line Meaning
Glad to get high and see the slow motion world
I feel pleased when I am high, and I perceive the world moving more slowly.
Just to reach, and touch, the half notes floating
I wish to touch the floating half notes with my hands.
Worlds spinning orbit quicker than 9/8ths Dave Brubeck
The universe is moving at a quicker pace than that of 9/8ths, as per Dave Brubeck.
We come now, frantically searching for Thomas Moore, rainbow villages
We are in a state of chaos, searching for Thomas Moore and rainbow villages.
Up on suddenly, Charlie Mingus and our man Abdul Malik
Charlie Mingus and Abdul Malik come up abruptly.
to add bass, to a bottomless pit of insecurity
They add bass to an insecure, bottomless pit.
You may be plastic because you never meditate
You may be artificial because you never meditate.
about the bottom of glasses, The third side of your universe
Contemplate the bottom of glasses, and the third perspective of your universe.
Add on Alice Coltrane and her cosmic strains
Include Alice Coltrane and her cosmic strains.
Still no vocal on blue black horizons
However, there are no vocals on the blue-black horizons.
Your plasticity is tested by a formless assault
Your fake nature is challenged by an abstract attack.
The sun can answer questions in tune, to all your sacrifices
The sun can answer any question in melody related to your sacrifices.
But why would our new jazz age give us no more mind expanding puzzles?
Why doesn't the new jazz age offer more puzzles for mental expansion?
Enter John
John enters the scene.
Blow from under, always, and never, so that the morning, the sun
The saxophones must be played from beneath, continuously and intermittently, so that the morning and sun can hear them.
may scream of brain bending saxophones
The morning and sun must exclaim the saxophones' significance.
The third world arrives, with Yusef Lateef, and Pharaoh Saunders
The third world appears, with Yusef Lateef and Pharaoh Saunders.
With oboes straining to touch the core of your unknown soul
The oboes attempt to reach the depths of your unknown soul.
Ravi Shankar comes, with strings attached, prepared to stabilize your seventh sense
Ravi Shankar arrives with strings, to stabilize your seventh sense.
Your black rhythm
Your unique rhythm.
Up and down a silly ladder run the notes, without the words
The notes run up and down a pointless ladder, without words.
Words are important for the mind, but the notes are for the soul
Words are important for the mind, while notes are for the soul.
Miles Davis, So what
Miles Davis, 'So what.'
Cannonball, Fiddler, Mercy
Cannonball, Fiddler, Mercy.
Dexter Gordon, One Flight Up
Dexter Gordon, 'One Flight Up.'
Donald Byrd, playing Cristo, but what about words?
Donald Byrd plays Cristo, but what about words?
Would you like to survive on sadness? Call on Ella and Jose Happiness
Do you wish to subsist on sorrow? Refer to Ella and Jose Happiness.
Drift with Smokey, Bill Medley, Bobby Taylor, and Otis Redding.
Drift alongside Smokey, Bill Medley, Bobby Taylor, and Otis Redding.
Soul music where frustrations are washed by drums, Nina and Miriam
Soul music that taps away your frustrations via drums, Nina, and Miriam.
Congo, Mongo, Beat me, senseless, bongo, Tonto
Congo, Mongo, beats me senseless, bongo, Tonto.
Flash through dream worlds of STP and LSD
Travel through fantasy lands aided by STP and LSD.
Speed kills and sometimes musics call, is frustrated
Speed can be fatal, and the call of music is agitated.
And the black man is confused
The black man is bewildered.
Our speed is our life pace, much too fast, not good
Our life pace is too fast, which is not a good thing.
I beg you to escape, and live, and hear all of the real
I implore you to escape, experience all of the genuine, and live.
Until a call comes for you to cry elsewhere
Until you are expected to cry elsewhere.
We must all cry, but tell me
We are all obligated to cry, yet I ask you,
Must our tears be white?
Do our tears have to be white?
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: GIL SCOTT HERON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tika Is alive_in_da_ville
wow!!
OrbitingOneneSS
Small talk was a whole different universe back then, than what it means these days.
jorayx
Thanks for this post family.