Gil Scott-Heron (Gil Scott-Heron) - All about the musician

Today, few people remember the formerly famous American poet, writer и philosopher Gil Scott-Heron. However, it's hard to overstate the fact impactthe impact he had on several generations musicians. Scott-Heron has been called one of the the progenitors of rapgenius. jazz artist и fighter for justice. How did this legendary singer live and why is his memory preserved in the hearts of many?

Biography

Gil Scott-Heron was born in April. 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. His mother Bobby Scott was famous opera singerand the father Gil Heron was a Jamaican footballerwho in the 1950s became the first black man to play for Scottish club Celtic. Gil's parents divorcedwhen he was just a child. So he spent his entire childhood at the house grandmothers Scott Lilly in Jackson, Tennessee. She was activist for civil rights, and also had a passion for music. Her impact the boy was indelible: she bought him first piano from a local undertaker and introduced him to the work of a jazz poet. Langston Hugheswhose work was reflected in all of Gil's later work. He remembered his grandmother fondly in the track "Coming from a Broken Home" from his 2010 debut album "I'm New Here".

At Scott-Heron High School, Scott-Heron faced daily racial discrimination - there were only three black kids in the class. He conveyed these experiences in his first volume unpublished poetry when he was only 12 years old. After his grandmother's death, he moved to New York City, where he began living with his mother. Initially, they stayed at the Bronxwhere Gil became witness the dire conditions of African-American life.

While attending school in New York, Scott-Heron was exposed to the works of another leading black writer Leroy Jonesknown as Amiri Baraka. In the Bronx, the Bronx is a precocious writing talent boy was recognised as an English teacher, and Gil was recommended for a place at Fieldston. From there he obtained a place at at Lincoln University.Pennsylvania, where Scott-Heron met the musician. Brian Jacksonwith whom I've created a group "Black & Blues". Jackson would later be an indispensable member of Gil's band and a loyal friend. In his second year of university, in 1968, Scott-Heron. dropped outto write your first detective novel titled "Vulture."set in the ghetto. When it was published two years later, Gil decided to write down record of the same name.

Although Scott-Heron never completed his studies, he was accepted to the seminars in literature at Johns Hopkins University, where in 1972 he received a master's degree and started teach literature at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington. At the same time, Gil continued to make music.

Creative success

At lincoln university, Gil meets Bob Thiele and decides to conquer show business. He reads excerpts from his book of poems "Small Talk at 125th & Lennox." with musical accompaniment by Bob Thiel and other jazz musicians, including bassist Ron Carter. The most important track was the composition "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."in which the young musician raises the issues terrible living conditions in the cities, social inequalities and injustice to the black population. His second record "Pieces of a Man" was released in 1971. The highlight of the album was the track "Lady Day and John Coltrane"in which the musician's manner of performance was more like a traditional one.

After that, Scott-Heron records "Winter in America." for the label "Strata-East Records". Later he begins to collaborate with "Arista Records". His tracks were ranked 29th place on the R&B charts in 1975. The success of his first two albums released for Arista Records was also credited to Brian Jacksonco-writer of both records and a talented musician. However, Jackson is leaving the label in 1978 and leaves Scott-Heron in the capable hands of a producer Malcolm Cecil. Gil records a single with him "The Bottle", which achieves incredible popularity, reaching number 15 on the R&B charts.

In the 1980s, Scott-Heron began to raise poignant political issues in his art. His subsequent singles, including the R&B hits "B Movie." и "Re-Ron."were directed against the conservative policies of President Ronald Reagan and criticised his re-election campaign.

However, in 1985, Scott-Heron sacked from Arista Records, and he's stops recording tracks, although he continues to give concerts. In the same year, he participates in the recording of the single "Let Me See Your I.D."which will include his famous line:

"When I first heard there was trouble in the Middle East, I thought they were talking about Pittsburgh (a city in the United States)."

Singer compares U.S. government policies with race relations in South Africa, raises the discrimination issue by the colour of his skin. In 1993, he released an album "Spirits."whose first track contains criticism rap artists of the time. Scott Heron is known as "the godfather of rap." and is considered one of the founders of this genre.

Prison, drugs and recent albums

In 2001, Scott-Heron was imprisoned for storage of illegal substances. It was released a year later, and in 2003, the BBC began filming it documentary film about the musician. However, Gil has once again found the same substances, and he ended up back in prison for six months.

5 July 2006 Scott-Heron was sentenced to four years in the New York State Penitentiary and sent to rehabilitation centre for addicts. Gil was only able to leave after couple of months. Sentenced to incarceration until 2009, Scott-Heron was on parole released in May 2007.

After his release, the artiste performed in restaurants and nightclubs in New York City, worked on new albums and resumed book writing "The Last Weekend.". In 2007, he signed contract labelled "XL Recordings.".

Gil collaborated with the company until early 2011, when the acclaimed album was released "I'm New Here" and his remix "We're New Here". That same year, Scott-Heron passed away in a New York hospital just after returning from a concert in Europe. At the time, he was 62 years old.

Scott-Heron's work has had an impact. tremendous impact on writers and musicians ranging from indie rockers to rappers. His work originated new musical genressuch as hip-hop and neo-soul. Scott-Heron's tracks remain today popular and inspire a lot of people to start a career in music.