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*Story-Telling Through Song & Music* Nov 20, 2008
I was blown away by the words of Gil Scott-Heron on Small Talk at 125th and Lenox and PIECES OF A MAN is no different.
Taking his soul stirring words and composing them against a fusion of jazz and funk music, Scott-Heron takes his poems and turns them into songs that will make you groove and move and think. And they still pack that powerful punch of his messages on life.
And although he might not have been the best male vocalist of his time, Gil Scott-Heron has a voice that is sincere and pleasant enough, and his passion pushes past any limits his vocal range might exhibit. But he sounds good to me.
"The Revolution..." gets a slight make-over with the added instrumentation but it's still basically a rap song and still exquisite.
Some other standouts are "Home Is Where The Hatred Is," an uptempo jam about how, for some people, home is not where the heart is. And two uptempo ballads "Save The Children" and "I Think I'll Call It Morning," which is about finding the happiness in life despite your surroundings.
A strong album throughout, though. There's only a small fold out with a paragraph from Scott-Heron from 1971 (album release date) and a two b&w photos. There's another "remastered" edition that I just saw here on Amazon Pieces of a Man, but I'm not sure if that one is any different than this version. Had I known there was a newer release, I might have purchased it because PIECES OF A MAN is definitely a keeper!
 A Review Aug 07, 2008
Great music overall. However Gill's vocal range is quite limited, but his lyrics make up for them.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Pick Up The Pieces Jun 11, 2008
This is a superb CD that has only improved with age. Backed by a truly stellar ensemble including Brian Jackson, Ron Carter, "Pretty" Purdie, Burt Jones, and Hubert Laws - poet, composer, and singer Gil Scott-Heron showcases all his talents - in a diverse array of settings. If you're not sold after the first four songs - well - perhaps you'll enjoy Pat Boone's new box set, "A Musical Tribute To Turn-Of-The-Century Plantation Life."
Scott-Heron is consistently smart and with-it, yet, he is emotionally clear, brave, and open. Scott-Heron understands that songwriting requires deceptive simplicity, and he manages this nearly impossible trick effortlessly. There is beauty and feeling in every track, but there is also raw emotion - this is inspiring music. Songs like Save The Children, Lady Day And John Coltrane, Home Is Where The Hatred Is, and Pieces Of A Man, go straight to the heart. Scott-Heron is no Marvin Gaye (who is?) but his voice is a wonderful, expressive instrument and he applies powerful feeling to the words he crafted.
The album was marginalized because few people made it past the fabulous first track, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. While a few of the references have become obscure, this splendidly idiosyncratic track has lost none of its bite, wit, and irony. This is poet Scott-Heron in full flower - and don't think he's just another angry black guy - his intelligence is such that he casts his jaundiced eye at all 360 degrees of the circle. The comparison between this brilliant, minor masterpiece and what is referred to as "rap" or "hip/hop" is as inevitable as it is depressing. Put this work up against the best example of rap you can find and it's easy to see how terribly wrong things have gone.
Scott-Heron is courageous enough to hope, to wear his heart on his sleeve, and to create real beauty despite his acute awareness of life's cruelty; perhaps it is only the "prisoners" who must labor so hard. That he chose "Yes" when he might so easily have chosen "No" is a gift to us all.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Best of EARLY GIL... Apr 09, 2007
Although yes... Gil is probably better known to the acid Jazz generation for his funkier Midnight Band/Amnesia Express sounds a few years later, the truth is, Gil Scott Heron was a POET/ACTIVIST/STREET PERFORMER/ SONGWRITER first and "singer" second... though he did all of them well, I think as an unapologetic poet with something to say, this 1971 recording represents the ESSENCE of Gil. (- - Later albums were much "funkier" and "jazzy" in the "Roy Ayers"/flying dutchman 70's sense of the word and were just as politically aware, but I think this album features Gil the social/political troubador at his rawest.)
Naturally, the best known tune here is "THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED" (actually it was... saw it on CNN, and the sponsor was WHITE people... not sure about the white lightening, but I heard a report about a white Tornado.) That said... though REVOLUTION may be the best known of his tunes, listen to this album and you'll hear that he wasn't just an angry millitant. Gil has and had a lot of things to say to a lot of people about a lot of things... and over the years has never watered ANYTHING down. My favorites include HOME IS WHERE THE HATERED IS and LADY DAY, both musically driving, yet lyrically potent.
Featuring tunes about everything from revolution, personal aspiration, uniqueness, individuality, being for real, pain, hope and struggle, the album also features a near legendary Jazz ensemble... yet in a rare twist of fate, its actually GIL's lyrical story telling that puts them all in their place. -- Backing musicians include Ron Carter, Hubert Laws and Bernard Purdie - - however, Gil at all times is more than just a "front" or new type of Jazz singer - - he's really in a league of his own - - as an example, his voice definitely fits in with his music's roots, rhythms and influences, but his strong political messages make him almost like a new type of folk singer - - only one who played Fender Rhodes and had the baddest Afro, Jean Jackets and rhythm section in the world.
All in all, I've been listening to these tunes since I was a young teen, and they've never worn off.
As for "funky" Gil, I really wish BRIDGES would get re-issued and IT'S YOUR WORLD is high on my list --
(In addition, back in the 70's Esther Phillips recorded a mean version of HOME IS WHERE THE HATERED is!)
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Completely satisfied, Excellent condition. Apr 04, 2007
I am completely satisfied.
The product is excellent.
Thanks,
Larry4Good
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