Gil Scott-Heron, Poet And Musician, Has Died

Tricky Kid · **Joined:** 23 Sep 2007 **Posts:** 8297

Gil Scott-Heron, Poet And Musician, Has Died

May 27, 2011
by Daoud Tyler-Ameen
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011 ... n-has-died

Gil Scott-Heron died Friday afternoon in New York, his book publisher reported. He was 62. The influential poet and musician is often credited with being one of the progenitors of hip-hop, and is best known for the spoken-word piece "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."

Scott-Heron was born in Chicago in 1949. He spent his early years in Jackson, Tenn., attended high school in The Bronx, and spent time at Pennsylvania's Lincoln University before settling in Manhattan. His recording career began in 1970 with the album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, which featured the first version of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." The track has since been referenced and parodied extensively in pop culture.

Scott-Heron continued to record through the 1970s and early '80s, before taking a lengthy hiatus. He briefly returned to the studio for 1994's Spirits. That album featured the track "Message to the Messengers," in which Scott-Heron cautions the hip-hop generation that arose in his absence to use its newfound power responsibly. He has been cited as a key influence by many in the hip-hop community — such as rapper-producer Kanye West, who closed his platinum-selling 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy with a track built around a sample of Scott-Heron's voice.

Scott-Heron struggled publicly with substance abuse in the 2000s, and spent the early part of the decade in and out of jail on drug possession charges. He began performing again after his release in 2007, and in 2010 released a new album, I'm New Here, to widespread critical acclaim.

luelyron · 07 Dec 2007

Thanks, I've been turning people on to G.S.H. for a while now, none less so than today. His words are history running wild with hot blood.

Linda · **Posted:** Sat May 28, 2011 9:19 am

Quote:

XL Recordings boss/producer: 'Gil Scott-Heron had immense talent and spirit'

Richard Russell, the producer of Gil Scott-Heron's final studio album, has paid tribute to the musician after his death yesterday (May 27).

Russell, who helmed the sessions for 2010's 'I'm New Here' as well as releasing it on his label, XL Recordings, said Scott-Heron had "immense" talent and spirit.

Writing a blog post at Richardxl.tumblr.com, Russell revealed that he last spoke to Scott-Heron two months ago and claimed he was a "father figure of sorts to me".

Read moreGil Scott-Heron dies aged 62Album review: Gil Scott-Heron - 'I'm New Here'Album Review: Gil Scott-Heron And Jamie XX - We’re New Here (XL)

"He had a fierce intelligence, and a way with words which was untouchable; an incredible sense of humour and a gentleness and humanity that was unique to him," Russell wrote.

"Gil was not perfect in his own life. But neither is anyone else. And he judged no one," he continued.

A host of artists have paid tribute to Scott-Heron since news broke of his death earlier today (28), including Talib Kweli and Public Enemy's Chuck D, who revealed he was working on new material with the spoken word legend.

Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers has also recounted details of the first and only time he spoke to Scott-Heron in a blog post on his website, NileRodgers.com.

"To my surprise he knew who I was. In a matter of minutes we were on a nice wavelength," said Rodgers, who recently announced he was cancer free after battling an aggressive form of the disease. "I send my heartfelt condolences to his family and may he rest in peace."

http://www.nme.com/news/gil-scott-heron/56950

Linda · **Posted:** Sun May 29, 2011 7:41 pm

Quote:

Eminem, Radiohead, Snoop Dogg pay tribute to Gil Scott-Heron

Eminem, Radiohead, Snoop Dogg and Cee Lo Green have paid tribute to Gil Scott-Heron, who died on Friday (May 27).

The influential musician and poet, who was 62, passed away in a New York hospital after falling ill following a recent trip to Europe. The cause of his death is still unclear.

Writing on his Twitter page, Eminem said that Scott-Heron "influenced all of hip-hop".

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke also paid his own unique tribute, posting a list of nine tracks, some of which feature Scott-Heron, on the band's official Dead Air Space blog.

Snoop Dogg tweeted that the spoken-word legend was "1 of tha greats", while Wu Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah wrote on his Twitter page: "Salute Mr. Gil Scott-Heron for his wisdom and poetry! May he Rest in Paradise."

Cee Lo Green described Scott-Heron as a "God", while rapper Michael Franti told BBC News that his talent was his ability to "make us think about the world in a different way."

Shortly after news of the death broke yesterday (28), XL Recordings boss Richard Russell - who produced Scott-Heron's final studio album 'I'm New Here' - revealed his thoughts and memories on his blog. He said that the musician had "immense" talent and spirit.

Meanwhile, Public Enemy's Chuck D revealed that he had recently been working on new material with Scott-Heron, while New York rapper Talib Kweli and Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers also paid their own tributes.

http://www.nme.com/news/gil-scott-heron/56960

Lawrence Talbot · 31 Jan 2007

Hate to hear this. I've been listening to Gil Scott-Heron since the mid-'70s and was thrilled at his recent comeback. Fortunately he left an excellent catalog of material that will, no doubt, introduce his music to future generations RIP GS-H.

Roxanne Marciniak · **Joined:** 22 Oct 2006 **Posts:** 408

In the late 70's I ran into one of his former managers. We were sitting in a bar talking music in general and he mentioned he just came back from New York and asked if I ever heard of G S H and I said I did. We went to his house and he had a bunch of awards and contracts and albums sitting on shelves with his and Gil's names on them. He was interesting and very knowledgable, I just wasn't a fan of S-H.

Rick A · 23 Jul 2006

The dude was a cool guy. He was very influencial decades back. I respected even though I do not have much music in my collection on him. Sad for him to go so young at 62. May he RIP!

Charles · 19 Dec 2007

Hate to say.....I saw him live once a few years ago (at BB Kings, New York), and it ranks as one of the worst concerts I've ever seen. He was an hour late, rambled on for 20+ minutes, then played 6 songs and that was it. Probably a bad night with his addictions, but I was hesitant to ever see him live again afterwards.

I only have Small Talk at 125th and Lenox (1st record, all readings) and Winter In America (which I guess is his most well known) and really like both...I should look into more.

RIP-GSH

Tricky Kid · **Joined:** 23 Sep 2007 **Posts:** 8297

http://www.egotripland.com/gil-scott-he ... #more-3593

Quote:

Last year a friend of mine at XL Records asked me to put together a short mix to help promote Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here album. I was instructed to include a handful of classic Gil tracks along with some of the hip-hop records that sampled them, as well as songs from the new album. In addition I was given some interview snippets with Gil in which he discussed his life and career to try to work in wherever possible.

My end goal – besides integrating all the disparate elements as smoothly as possible – was to capture the stark, somber beauty of I’m New Here – a challenge because the album was so uniquely a piece of its own, an emotional open wound sonically unlike anything he’d recorded before. But I thought it came out well.

As it so happened the mix wound up getting lost in the sauce in the run-up to I’m New Here‘s release. With yesterday’s heart-breaking news of Gil Scott-Heron’s passing, I thought I’d post it up here to share, a brief homage to this legendary artist/activist/thinker, and his brilliant final project. I hope you enjoy it.

Linda · **Posted:** Fri Jun 03, 2011 10:36 pm

Quote:

Kanye West performs at Gil Scott-Heron’s funeral

The funeral of influential musician and poet Gil Scott-Heron took place in New York yesterday (June 2) and ended with a performance from Kanye West.

The service, which was held in Harlem's Riverside Church, was closed by West, who performed a rendition of his track 'Lost In The World', which contains a sample from Heron's poem 'Comment #1'. The track featured on his 2010 album 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which also contained a series of other samples from Scott-Heron.

According to Billboard, the funeral also saw a performance of Heron's 'Better Days Ahead' and 'The Bottle' from the rapper's long standing backing singers.

As well as West, Grammy winning record producer Malcolm Cecil, Last Poets members Abiodun Oyewole and Scott-Heron's wife Brenda Sykes and daughter Gia Scott-Heron were also in attendance.

The rapper passed away last Friday (May 27), falling ill after returning from a trip to Europe. He released 15 studio albums over a 31 year career, the most recent of which, 'I'm New Here', was released in 2010.

http://www.nme.com/news/kanye-west/57060

Dr. Chris Evil · 26 Jul 2006

Not familiar with his work, but I have heard the name.

We can never have too many poets and musicians around.

Gil Scott-Heron, Poet And Musician, Has Died

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