GIL SCOTT-HERON "HOME IS WHERE THE HATRED IS/THE BOTTLE LIVE"
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Description
Two of Gil Scott-Heron’s finest songs in their superior live renditions reissued on 12” here. While some of music’s best & brightest were busy watering down their social & political edge in search of greater success, Gil Scott-Heron just couldn’t seem to let go of the radical consciousness fostered by the tumultuous 1960’s. His music---adamant & directly confrontational---accumulated ever-masterful social & political perceptiveness as the dark clouds of post-civil-rights-era dissolution & increased repression continued on throughout the 1970’s. And while his own life seemed to head further down this dark path of frustration & despondency, it was his own deeply trying on-off struggle with addiction that lent his already personal songs a first hand, weathered wisdom. It was this familiarity that pushed his music from objective social description to timeless subjective immediacy, far more personally involved than the abstract theorizing of so many radicals of the time, and in this sense infinitely more effective. All this brilliant wit & unparalleled sense of humor & irony in the face of such despair was effortlessly encapsulated in the mind-blowing music of Scott-Heron & band co-leader Brian Jackson’s breathtaking, unique and original up-tempo jazz-funk. “The Bottle” & “Home Is Where The Hatred Is” are two of the best examples of his disco-friendly social realism, snapshots into the heart & soul of urban plight & desperation…it is in their live renditions that their true character is really seen & heard, the musical talent of the band fully revealed, and the spontaneous creativity and intellect of Scott-Heron on full display. Obviously his music was always created for & meant to be heard in a live setting as direct engagements with the audience in a participatory dialogue that went both ways and always stayed totally current with the most pressing issues of the time. But despite all the sorrow that shines through his songs, there’s still a hopefulness & joy that accompanies it, gives hope to listeners & and reaffirms the great rewards of creative process & expression that made all of his work so worthwhile, then and now.
| Tracklisting | |
| SIDE A | |
| 1. Home Is Where The Hatred Is (Live Version) | |
| SIDE B | |
| 1. The Bottle (Live Version) | |
| Artist | Title |
| GIL SCOTT-HERON | WINTER IN AMERICA/THE BOTTLE LIVE |
| Label | Cat.# |
| STRATA EAST | AL-5001 |
| Year | Format |
| 2009 | 12" |
| Additional Info. | |
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