This one has been a beast. Through inhuman perseverance, our friend and fine Light In The Attic A&R man Pat Thomas brings us this phenomenal comp. Befriending key leaders of the seminal Black Power Movement, digging through Huey Newton’s archives at Stanford University, and spending his life’s fortune on eBay, Pat may have only nearly averted death by A&R, but he has skillfully painted a complicated time period when revolutionaries like Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, and Angela Davis were seen as pop culture icons and musicians like Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, and Bob Dylan were seen as revolutionaries. The disc presents a unique cross-cultural overview where Dylan's 1971 single "George Jackson" sits alongside insanely rare private press 45s and the almighty Gil Scott. Interspersed are selections from the Black Forum label, Motown's early ‘70s Black Power militant imprint featuring SNCC spokesman Stokely Carmichael, poet Amiri Baraka, and Black Panther Party singer/songwriter Elaine Brown. It's safe to say that this is the definitive Black Power aural document. The comp will play as a soundtrack to Pat Thomas's 70,000-word hardcover book of the same name to be released by Fantagraphics in early 2012.