Hello, today Grooves post which have become somewhat rare here, sorry about that. There is a sad reason for todays posting, that is the untimely death of one of the worlds greatest music -poets Gil Scott Heron age 62. He was in the process of regaining some ground but a trip to Europe in an airline cabin which is always a cocktail of virusses and bacteria proved to be too much for the weakened by HIV elderly man. I remind you of the death earlier this year upon returning from a tiresome Australian tour by a middle aged Trish Keenan who died of pneumonia H1N1.complications upon her return to the UK.
That said Gil Scott Heron was an engaged artist that saw up close a lot of what is wrong on this planet, and he wrote about it in songs, poetry and writing. Someone who could be seen in the same context but a generation on is Michael Franti who doesn't write books but makes movies. Some great albums here to be had and more importantly not just enjoy but learn as well.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Gil Scott-Heron was born in Chicago, Illinois (April 1, 1949) Scott-Heron's Jamaican father, Gil Heron, nicknamed "The Black Arrow", was a soccer player who, in the 1950s, became the first black athlete to play for Glasgow Celtic Football Club in Scotland. Gil's parents separated when he was two and Gil was sent to live with his maternal grandmother, Lillie Scott, in Jackson, Tennessee. When Scott-Heron was 12 years old, his grandmother died and he moved with his mother to The Bronx in New York City.
Scott-Heron attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, it was here that Scott-Heron met Brian Jackson with whom he formed the band Black & Blues. After about two years at Lincoln, Scott-Heron took a year off to write the novels The Vulture and The Nigger Factory. Scott-Heron returned to New York City, settling in Chelsea, Manhattan. The Vulture was published in 1970. Although Scott-Heron never received his undergraduate degree, he received a Master's degree in Creative Writing in 1972 from Johns Hopkins University for his dissertation " Circle of Stone" .
Scott-Heron began his recording career in 1970 with the LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox. he was accompanied by Eddie Knowles and Charlie Saunders on conga and David Barnes on percussion and vocals. The album's 15 tracks dealt with themes such as the superficiality of television and mass consumerism, the hypocrisy of some would-be Black revolutionaries, and white middle-class ignorance of the difficulties faced by inner-city residents. Scott-Heron's 1971 album Pieces of a Man used more conventional song structures than the loose, spoken-word feel of Small Talk. He was joined by Johnny Pate (conductor), Brian Jackson on keyboards, piano, Ron Carter on bass and bass guitar, drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Burt Jones playing electric guitar, and Hubert Laws on flute and saxophone.
1974 saw another LP collaboration with Brian Jackson, the critically acclaimed opus Winter in America, with Bob Adams on drums and Danny Bowens on bass. The album contained Scott-Heron's most cohesive material and featured more of Jackson's creative input than his previous albums had. Winter in America has been regarded by many critics as the two musicians most artistic effort. Another success followed with the hit single "Angel Dust", which he recorded as a single with producer Malcolm Cecil. "Angel Dust" peaked at #15 on the R&B charts in 1978.
Scott-Heron recorded and released only four albums during the 1980s; 1980 and Real Eyes in 1980, Reflections in 1981 and Moving Target in 1982. Ron Holloway on tenor saxophone was added to Gil's ensemble in February 1982. He toured extensively with Scott-Heron and contributed to his next album, Moving Target that same year. Scott-Heron was a frequent critic of President Ronald Reagan and his conservative policies as expressed in his songs B movie and Re-Ron.
Scott-Heron was dropped by Arista Records in 1985 and quit recording, though he continued to tour. The same year he helped compose and sang "Let Me See Your I.D." on the Artists United Against Apartheid album Sun City, In 1993, he signed to TVT Records and released Spirits, an album that included the seminal track "'Message to the Messengers". The first track on the album criticized the rap artists of the day.
In 2001, Scott-Heron was sentenced to one to three years' imprisonment in New York State for possession of cocaine. 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 deal was that the clinic refused to supply Scott-Heron with HIV medication. This story led to the presumption that the artist was HIV positive, subsequently confirmed in a 2008 interview.
He 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 stated in interviews that work was continuing on his new album, which would consist mainly of new versions of some of his classic songs, plus some cover versions of other artists' work. n November 2009, the BBC's Newsnight interviewed Gil Scott-Heron for a feature titled The Legendary Godfather of Rap Returns.
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 was his first studio album in sixteen years. The pair started recording the album in 2007, with the majority of the record being recorded over the last twelve months, the album attracted substantial critical acclaim . Scott-Heron died on the afternoon of May 27, 2011, at St. Luke's Hospital, New York City, after becoming ill upon returning from a European trip (flying really is unhealthy !)
Together throughout the 1970s, Scott-Heron and Jackson made music that reflected the turbulence, uncertainty and increasing pessimism of the times, merging the soul and jazz traditions and drawing on an oral poetry tradition that reached back to the blues and forward to hip-hop. The music sounded by turns angry, defiant and regretful while Scott-Heron's lyrics possessed a satirical edge that set them apart
Gil Scott-Heron - The Best Of ('84 267mb)
01 The Revolution Will Not Be Televised 3:05
02 The Bottle 3:58
03 Winter In America 6:09
04 Johannesburg 4:47
05 Ain't No Such Thing As Superman 4:13
06 Re-Ron 6:42
07 Shut'Um Down 5:12
08 Angel Dust 4:10
09 "B" Movie 6:51
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Michael Franti was born in Oakland, California to an Irish-German-French mother and an African-American and Native American father. However, his mother made an adoption plan for him because she was afraid her family would not accept him. He was adopted by Carole Wisti and Charles Franti, a Finnish American couple from Oakland. He graduated from the University of San Francisco. During his time he learnt how to tell a story on paper, and soon he was writing poetry. He purchased a bass at a pawn shop and started creating music inspired by Hip Hop, Punk, and Reggae. Franti began his music career in 1986 as part of the industrial punk band The Beatnigs. The band included dancer and percussionist Rono Tse; they released an acclaimed self-titled LP and an EP Television on Alternative Tentacles records.
His next project, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy was an industrial hip-hop band, active during the early 1990s. The band was formed in 1990 by Michael Franti and Rono Tse, who had been in the Beatnigs, and introduced the work of guitarist Charlie Hunter. The band's name was derived in part from the phrase "The Disposable Heroes of Hypocrisy", used in some Socialist literature. They were somewhat reminiscent of Gil Scott-Heron due to the vocal styles of Franti and the up-front political messages in the music.
Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury, received critical and underground acclaim upon its release in 1992, but was never commercially successful. Franti's lyrics address a wide range of issues, from Mass Media bias and abuse on to racial equality and Homophobia. Among their contemporaries, the band had strong artistic, political, and personal ties to both Meat Beat Manifesto and Consolidated. The recording of the album was co-produced by Consolidated's Mark Pistel, and prolific Meat Beat Manifesto frontman Jack Dangers assisted with mixing.
In 1994, Franti formed a new band called Spearhead with a few studio musicians, including mainstay Carl Young, and announced the dissolution of Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Their first release, Home, in September 1994, was a departure from the politically charged rap of the Disposable Heroes and drew more from funk and soul music. Their follow up album Chocolate Supa Highway was released in March 1997, with several changes in band members between releases. This album featured a return to hip hop elements and a pronounced reggae influence. Afterwards they left their label to create their own record label, Boo Boo Wax. Since Capitol Records owned the rights to the name "Spearhead", subsequent albums were all released as "Michael Franti & Spearhead."
Michael Franti & Spearhead released Stay Human in 2000 under their own label Boo Boo Wax in alignment with indie music label Six Degrees Records. The album's central theme was the unjust nature of the death penalty and other major themes included mass media monopolization, the prison-industrial complex and corporate globalization. Everyone Deserves Music was released in 2003. Franti composed many of the songs from his guitar and continues to synthesize his eclectic influences. In a departure from the industrial sounds of the Beatnigs and Disposable Heroes, and the minimalism of early Spearhead, Franti's affirming lyrics are now set to swelling rock chords, while keeping a world-wise groove nodding towards reggae, dancehall, bossa nova, Afrobeat, and funk.
On July 25, 2006, Michael Franti & Spearhead released Yell Fire!, inspired by Franti's trip to Israel, Baghdad, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. In an effort to share his experiences from his trip and to explore the human cost of war, Franti produced a movie entitled I Know I'm Not Alone, using the songs from his album Yell Fire! as a soundtrack. The album All Rebel Rockers was released on September 9, 2008 and was largely recorded in Jamaica at the Anchor studio in St Andrew. The band worked with ubiquitous rhythm team Sly and Robbie and featured multi-talented vocalist Cherine Anderson on the set which entered the Billboard 200 pop chart in September at number 38.
Michael Franti started the recording process for his latest album, The Sound of Sunshine in Jamaica but then continued to mix tracks and record in Bali before choosing to bring a portable studio on the road. He continued to record on the road and then test his ideas in front of live audiences to see if they liked it before going back and revamping it the next day. A quiet organic proces in line with his barefoot and vegan lifestyle.
Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy - Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury (404mb)
01 Satanic Reverses 4:45
02 Famous And Dandy (Like Amos 'N' Andy) 6:34
03 Television, The Drug Of The Nation 6:38
04 Language Of Violence 6:15
05 The Winter Of The Long Hot Summer 7:59
06 Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury 3:47
07 Everyday Life Has Become A Health Risk 4:54
08 INS Greencard A-19 191 500 1:36
09 Socio-Genetic Experiment 4:19
10 Music And Politics 4:01
11 Financial Leprosy 5:30
12 California Über Alles 4:13
13 Water Pistol Man 5:55
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
That said Gil Scott Heron was an engaged artist that saw up close a lot of what is wrong on this planet, and he wrote about it in songs, poetry and writing. Someone who could be seen in the same context but a generation on is Michael Franti who doesn't write books but makes movies. Some great albums here to be had and more importantly not just enjoy but learn as well.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Gil Scott-Heron was born in Chicago, Illinois (April 1, 1949) Scott-Heron's Jamaican father, Gil Heron, nicknamed "The Black Arrow", was a soccer player who, in the 1950s, became the first black athlete to play for Glasgow Celtic Football Club in Scotland. Gil's parents separated when he was two and Gil was sent to live with his maternal grandmother, Lillie Scott, in Jackson, Tennessee. When Scott-Heron was 12 years old, his grandmother died and he moved with his mother to The Bronx in New York City.
Scott-Heron attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, it was here that Scott-Heron met Brian Jackson with whom he formed the band Black & Blues. After about two years at Lincoln, Scott-Heron took a year off to write the novels The Vulture and The Nigger Factory. Scott-Heron returned to New York City, settling in Chelsea, Manhattan. The Vulture was published in 1970. Although Scott-Heron never received his undergraduate degree, he received a Master's degree in Creative Writing in 1972 from Johns Hopkins University for his dissertation " Circle of Stone" .
Scott-Heron began his recording career in 1970 with the LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox. he was accompanied by Eddie Knowles and Charlie Saunders on conga and David Barnes on percussion and vocals. The album's 15 tracks dealt with themes such as the superficiality of television and mass consumerism, the hypocrisy of some would-be Black revolutionaries, and white middle-class ignorance of the difficulties faced by inner-city residents. Scott-Heron's 1971 album Pieces of a Man used more conventional song structures than the loose, spoken-word feel of Small Talk. He was joined by Johnny Pate (conductor), Brian Jackson on keyboards, piano, Ron Carter on bass and bass guitar, drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Burt Jones playing electric guitar, and Hubert Laws on flute and saxophone.
1974 saw another LP collaboration with Brian Jackson, the critically acclaimed opus Winter in America, with Bob Adams on drums and Danny Bowens on bass. The album contained Scott-Heron's most cohesive material and featured more of Jackson's creative input than his previous albums had. Winter in America has been regarded by many critics as the two musicians most artistic effort. Another success followed with the hit single "Angel Dust", which he recorded as a single with producer Malcolm Cecil. "Angel Dust" peaked at #15 on the R&B charts in 1978.
Scott-Heron recorded and released only four albums during the 1980s; 1980 and Real Eyes in 1980, Reflections in 1981 and Moving Target in 1982. Ron Holloway on tenor saxophone was added to Gil's ensemble in February 1982. He toured extensively with Scott-Heron and contributed to his next album, Moving Target that same year. Scott-Heron was a frequent critic of President Ronald Reagan and his conservative policies as expressed in his songs B movie and Re-Ron.
Scott-Heron was dropped by Arista Records in 1985 and quit recording, though he continued to tour. The same year he helped compose and sang "Let Me See Your I.D." on the Artists United Against Apartheid album Sun City, In 1993, he signed to TVT Records and released Spirits, an album that included the seminal track "'Message to the Messengers". The first track on the album criticized the rap artists of the day.
In 2001, Scott-Heron was sentenced to one to three years' imprisonment in New York State for possession of cocaine. 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 deal was that the clinic refused to supply Scott-Heron with HIV medication. This story led to the presumption that the artist was HIV positive, subsequently confirmed in a 2008 interview.
He 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 stated in interviews that work was continuing on his new album, which would consist mainly of new versions of some of his classic songs, plus some cover versions of other artists' work. n November 2009, the BBC's Newsnight interviewed Gil Scott-Heron for a feature titled The Legendary Godfather of Rap Returns.
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 was his first studio album in sixteen years. The pair started recording the album in 2007, with the majority of the record being recorded over the last twelve months, the album attracted substantial critical acclaim . Scott-Heron died on the afternoon of May 27, 2011, at St. Luke's Hospital, New York City, after becoming ill upon returning from a European trip (flying really is unhealthy !)
Together throughout the 1970s, Scott-Heron and Jackson made music that reflected the turbulence, uncertainty and increasing pessimism of the times, merging the soul and jazz traditions and drawing on an oral poetry tradition that reached back to the blues and forward to hip-hop. The music sounded by turns angry, defiant and regretful while Scott-Heron's lyrics possessed a satirical edge that set them apart
Gil Scott-Heron - The Best Of ('84 267mb)
01 The Revolution Will Not Be Televised 3:05
02 The Bottle 3:58
03 Winter In America 6:09
04 Johannesburg 4:47
05 Ain't No Such Thing As Superman 4:13
06 Re-Ron 6:42
07 Shut'Um Down 5:12
08 Angel Dust 4:10
09 "B" Movie 6:51
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Michael Franti was born in Oakland, California to an Irish-German-French mother and an African-American and Native American father. However, his mother made an adoption plan for him because she was afraid her family would not accept him. He was adopted by Carole Wisti and Charles Franti, a Finnish American couple from Oakland. He graduated from the University of San Francisco. During his time he learnt how to tell a story on paper, and soon he was writing poetry. He purchased a bass at a pawn shop and started creating music inspired by Hip Hop, Punk, and Reggae. Franti began his music career in 1986 as part of the industrial punk band The Beatnigs. The band included dancer and percussionist Rono Tse; they released an acclaimed self-titled LP and an EP Television on Alternative Tentacles records.
His next project, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy was an industrial hip-hop band, active during the early 1990s. The band was formed in 1990 by Michael Franti and Rono Tse, who had been in the Beatnigs, and introduced the work of guitarist Charlie Hunter. The band's name was derived in part from the phrase "The Disposable Heroes of Hypocrisy", used in some Socialist literature. They were somewhat reminiscent of Gil Scott-Heron due to the vocal styles of Franti and the up-front political messages in the music.
Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury, received critical and underground acclaim upon its release in 1992, but was never commercially successful. Franti's lyrics address a wide range of issues, from Mass Media bias and abuse on to racial equality and Homophobia. Among their contemporaries, the band had strong artistic, political, and personal ties to both Meat Beat Manifesto and Consolidated. The recording of the album was co-produced by Consolidated's Mark Pistel, and prolific Meat Beat Manifesto frontman Jack Dangers assisted with mixing.
In 1994, Franti formed a new band called Spearhead with a few studio musicians, including mainstay Carl Young, and announced the dissolution of Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Their first release, Home, in September 1994, was a departure from the politically charged rap of the Disposable Heroes and drew more from funk and soul music. Their follow up album Chocolate Supa Highway was released in March 1997, with several changes in band members between releases. This album featured a return to hip hop elements and a pronounced reggae influence. Afterwards they left their label to create their own record label, Boo Boo Wax. Since Capitol Records owned the rights to the name "Spearhead", subsequent albums were all released as "Michael Franti & Spearhead."
Michael Franti & Spearhead released Stay Human in 2000 under their own label Boo Boo Wax in alignment with indie music label Six Degrees Records. The album's central theme was the unjust nature of the death penalty and other major themes included mass media monopolization, the prison-industrial complex and corporate globalization. Everyone Deserves Music was released in 2003. Franti composed many of the songs from his guitar and continues to synthesize his eclectic influences. In a departure from the industrial sounds of the Beatnigs and Disposable Heroes, and the minimalism of early Spearhead, Franti's affirming lyrics are now set to swelling rock chords, while keeping a world-wise groove nodding towards reggae, dancehall, bossa nova, Afrobeat, and funk.
On July 25, 2006, Michael Franti & Spearhead released Yell Fire!, inspired by Franti's trip to Israel, Baghdad, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. In an effort to share his experiences from his trip and to explore the human cost of war, Franti produced a movie entitled I Know I'm Not Alone, using the songs from his album Yell Fire! as a soundtrack. The album All Rebel Rockers was released on September 9, 2008 and was largely recorded in Jamaica at the Anchor studio in St Andrew. The band worked with ubiquitous rhythm team Sly and Robbie and featured multi-talented vocalist Cherine Anderson on the set which entered the Billboard 200 pop chart in September at number 38.
Michael Franti started the recording process for his latest album, The Sound of Sunshine in Jamaica but then continued to mix tracks and record in Bali before choosing to bring a portable studio on the road. He continued to record on the road and then test his ideas in front of live audiences to see if they liked it before going back and revamping it the next day. A quiet organic proces in line with his barefoot and vegan lifestyle.
Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy - Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury (404mb)
01 Satanic Reverses 4:45
02 Famous And Dandy (Like Amos 'N' Andy) 6:34
03 Television, The Drug Of The Nation 6:38
04 Language Of Violence 6:15
05 The Winter Of The Long Hot Summer 7:59
06 Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury 3:47
07 Everyday Life Has Become A Health Risk 4:54
08 INS Greencard A-19 191 500 1:36
09 Socio-Genetic Experiment 4:19
10 Music And Politics 4:01
11 Financial Leprosy 5:30
12 California Über Alles 4:13
13 Water Pistol Man 5:55
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Any chance to upload Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy? Had it a long time ago... Thanks Rho!!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks Rho!!!
ReplyDelete