I Think I'll Call It Mourning

[Nishlord]

Heaven: He's New There

[Renart]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" and "Whitey on the Moon" are perpetual favorites around the Renart household.

I love the way he combined angry militancy with biting humor. He was too young to leave us.

R.I.P.

[Incandenza]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

Peace Go With You, Brother

The last I thought of him before tonight was reading the profile of him in the New Yorker last August. I thought it was depressing, but he seemed to be happy with where he was at. Hopefully he had peace in his life at the end.

[Sam]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

From how most of his last decade has seemed to go, he's better off out of life. I always thought it was especially tragic that he succumbed to just the kind of addictions he was railing against in 'The Bottle'. One of my underrated favourites - by which I mean, he was one of the artists I'd always list as among my top few, but forget just how much I really liked them until I listened to them after a period of not doing.

RIP Gil.

Inca posted a link to 'The Bottle' on Facebook, and this is what I wrote on it, before I saw the headline linked to from another friend on my homepage (i.e. not knowing he'd died):

'One of the highlights of my many alcohol-free student Saturday nights at Manchester's premier funk night was the DJ dropping this at around 2:30am. Generally, him and me would be the only two sober people on the dancefloor, so even those who knew the words and were singing along would be unaware of the irony of doing so when drunk...'

[ad hoc]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

Winter in America

One of my first and longest lasting musical heroes.

[The Purple Cow]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

Me too.

This is one of those deaths that's just very hard to get my head around, it's going to be a while before this fully sinks in. I feel like I've lost a personal friend.

So many of my musical heroes have died. The rest of you - Bobby, Shuggie, Winston - please take very good care of yourselves.

[G-Man]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

Brilliant thread title.

The interplay of Gil and Brian Jackson's flute was amazing. I love the moment when Gil introduces Brian's solos in The Bottle and in Winter In America (calling him by his nickname, Stick). Sadly, they did not remain friends, mildly put.

Top 10

1. The Needle's Eye
2. Winter In America
3. The Revolution Will Not Be Televsed
4. Johannesburg
5. Your Daddy Loves You
6. H20 Blues (or Whitey On The Moon)
7. New York City
8. Hello Sunday, Hello Road
9. Pieces Of A Man
10. We Almost Lost Detroit

[diggedy derek]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

From how most of his last decade has seemed to go, he's better off out of life.

You say that, but his album from last year was good. Imperfect, sloppy as shit at times, but impossible to not be moved by.

[Mumpo]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

Weird; I've heard three Scott-Heron tracks on the radio this week, which is as many as I can ever remember hearing previously.

The best: "New York Is Killing Me"

[Jah Womble]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

Yep, good thread title.

RIP, Gil. I've often called upon 'Lady Day and John Coltrane' to help me make it through the day...

[MsD]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

Lady Day and John Coltrane is my fave trouble soothing song, too.
Otherwise, The Bottle was a Mud Club staple in the 80s, and The Revolution ... well, as a friend just remarked on FB, the wonderful Disposable Heroes based their act on that song.

I got to see him play twice, once at a festival and once at Ronnie Scotts (I think) .

Very sad, many of his songs did have that warmth, emotional openness and intimacy that made him feel like a friend, it's true. At the same time, he was very, very smart, witty and right on the money with pieces like Whitey's on the Moon. A great, truly great talent.

[Bored Of Education]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

I wasn't a fan but was interested to learn that his dad was the first black Celtic player who only died himself 3 years ago.

[Commodore]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

Gil senior's legend far outweighs his contribution (in terms of actual first team appearances) as a Celtic player. Splendid picture though.

Just listened to Pieces of A Man, perhaps one of those masterpieces that was overlooked as it coincided with a maelstrom of classic recordings from black artists. GSH was hard to pigeon-hole musically, hence his respect as an artist that will surely escalate now he's gone.

Sad, sad day.

[E10 Rifle]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

I saw him more than a decade ago at the Jazz Cafe in Camden, and to be honest I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did. It was one of those classic 'wrecked artist' gigs, at which his between-song patter and demeanour was a dribbling tramp-like mess, but the actual musical performance was fucking awesome. He was superb that night. RIP

[TheFourMarys]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

In 1600 I was a darkie
And until 1865 a slave
In 1900 I was a nigger
Or at least that was my name

In 1960 I was a negro
Then Brother Malcolm came along
Yes, but some nigger shot Malcolm down
Though the bitter truth still lives on

Now I am a black man
And though I still go second class
Whereas once I wanted the white man's love
Now he can kiss my ass

Bought "Small Talk..." on a whim shortly after I'd 'discovered' the Last Poets in my late student days around 1996. Best 3 quid ever spent in Fopp (or possibly a bargain bin).

The passion, seething anger, wit, poetry, vitality (the "fierce urgency of now", if you will) hit me like little had since I stumbled across BBC Def II's broadcast of Public Enemy's Nation Of Millions London Invasion Tour, one innocent Thursday afternoon in 1987.

The whole "Godfather Of Hip Hop" thing, while certainly not untrue, is too lazy a title to do justice to his spectrum of talents. He was as unclassifiable as Nina Simone in that he could speak the truth in any musical language he chose.

Ignoring the fact it was all coming together some five years before my birth, and as a middle class white boy tourist I probably wouldn't have got anywhere near the Harlem parks that were their meeting places, I think more than any other 'scene' in modern musical history, I'd have liked to have experienced the New York of Keorapetse "Willie" Kgositsile, The Last Poets and Gil-Scott Heron.

Peace, love and respect, Gil. Rest easy.

[sw2borshch]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

I just saw this news on another site, and felt much more shocked than I probably should have. Awful news.

RIP.

[adams house cat]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

What a dreadful loss. He played a large part in a pimply kid from the Meadows learning about the other America, the America rarely seen on TV and in the movies. He was an educator as well.

RIP.

[G-Man]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

Excellent piece by a member of our parish. Don't read the comments section; it's wank education middle-class suburb style.

[Sam]

I Think I'll Call It Mourning

diggedy derek wrote:

From how most of his last decade has seemed to go, he's better off out of life.

You say that, but his album from last year was good. Imperfect, sloppy as shit at times, but impossible to not be moved by.

I still haven't heard it, but in any case it wasn't his music I was talking about.