My first experience of Gil Scott-Heron was B-Movie on NME’s C81 tape, his polemic against Reagan, and many years later found a compilation in a sale (in Our Price, Dover, that’s how long ago it was - both Our Price and Dover have long ceased to be viable concerns), which I’ve loved ever since. So, on hearing that after years of drug and jail problems, there was a new Gil Scott-Heron album out, I rushed to buy it.
I didn’t realise at the time how much of a farewell it was, how ill he was, and how much had gone into making this fit for release. But there’s so much on here that is just wonderful. Much of the spoken word pieces, especially On Coming From A Broken Home, the two parts of which bookend the album, are poignant and moving. The music holds up well, too. Robert Johnson’s Me And The Devil over a bare electronic accompaniment; I’m New Here, part spoken, part sung over an acoustic guitar, the beautiful I’ll Take Care Of You, are all reminders of the strength of Scott-Heron’s delivery. New York Is Killing Me, with its bare percussion backing now looks very prophetic,
4* - it feels like producer Richard Russell had to work hard to get a viable final album out, but the results do Scott-Heron justice.
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