Unsung: Gil scott-heron

[glencro]

Had no idea that this was scheduled to come on but here's the full episode http://tvone.tv/shows/unsung/video/unsung--full-episode--gil-scott-heron.html

[Ryon6]

It was a great episode too. Forgot he was married to Brenda Sykes. Remember seeing him walking the streets in DC back in the 80s. A great talent. Thinking about checking out his back catalogue, especially 'Winter in America'.

The revolution will NOT be televised .......

[timmyfunk]

It's just so unfortunate that when you remove all of the commercials, they only dedicate roughly 35 minutes to a person's career. That is trifling.

[soulster]

Half of his catalog is out of print. Sony needs to get the rights to all of it and reissue them in a nice box, perhaps.

[splanky]

It's just so unfortunate that when you remove all of the commercials, they only dedicate roughly 35 minutes to a person's career. That is trifling.

Very true, Tim, still I'm still glad they finally got back to featuring an artist with some real depth. I have to set aside some time to watch this today. Got chores to take care of first...

[GrtGzu]

Yup..."he was groovin'".........

Gee, I remember when we had "Angel dust" blastin' from the dorm windows back in '76-77...and I remember hearing "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" when I was around 10 or 11...Powerful stuff.....

But watching this made me think about Sly Stone and the road he wound up going down....[[btw, he's not coming to the Ball - only the Family Stone band)..

Oh, and Clive Davis was a jerk...He shoulda let him do this thing.....ass...

[timmyfunk]

In many respects, he is the quintessential seventies Black artist. None of this albums have been certified gold or platinum and he's never so much as smelled a crossover hit. Hell, none of his Flying Dutchman releases charted as well. Yet, he developed a strong cult following within the hood.

[soulster]

[QUOTE]

Gee, I remember when we had "Angel dust" blastin' from the dorm windows back in '76-77...

The album and that single were released in 1978. I remember. I had it on an 8-track tape. I was in the 10th grade. I was also jamming to Earth, Wind & Fire and Parliament/Fnkafelic at the time.


Oh, and Clive Davis was a jerk...He shoulda let him do this thing.....ass...

Clive Davis was an astute A&R man. He knew who to sign. he may not have understood the music, but he got the talent. That is why he signed people like Gil Scott-Heron and Ray Parker, Jr. to his label, and Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago when he was at CBS beforehand.

But, Davis is also a businessman. He was always looking for sales, and that was the downfall. The mandate for a more commercial sound hurt many of his labels' artists over time. he just didn't know when to back off, but that's record people, for you. Imagine what would have happened if Whitney Houston had come to him in 1988 and told him that she wanted artistic control! You remember the public mess he had with Kelly Clarkson a few years ago? He insulted her when she requested that she have artistic control, and he basically told him to stick it where he might like it and recorded the album she wanted anyway. He was wrong because the album she wanted was successful.

[GrtGzu]

[QUOTE=soulster;213548][QUOTE=GrtGzu;213406]

The album and that single were released in 1978. I remember. I had it on an 8-track tape. I was in the 10th grade. I was also jamming to Earth, Wind & Fire and Parliament/Fnkafelic at the time.

Then I must be older than I thought, LOL! I stand corrected! All I know is "we wuz groovin" on it...

[nysister]

I didn't see the show yet but look forward to watching it. I got a chance to see Gil and Brian Jackson at the Village Gate in NYC. The brother had folks standing on top of the tables chanting "What's the Word, Johannsburg." His live shows were quite an experience.

[nosey]

I'm blasting The Bottle on youtube. Remember that summer so well..........