RIP Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011)

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RIP Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011)

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2kidzdoc
May 29, 2011, 9:04 pm

Thanks for creating this thread, Mark. I've been really bummed out all weekend after I learned of his passing on Saturday morning. I've been listening to his album "The Pieces of a Man" yesterday and today, especially The Prisoner and Save the Children. Other favorites of mine are Middle of Your Day, Did You Hear What They Said?, and The Bottle (all hyperlinks go to YouTube videos of these songs).

Yesterday I downloaded The Vulture and The Nigger Factory onto my Kindle, and I'll read these two novels over the next couple of weeks.

Here are links to a few obituaries of and tributes to GSH:

Gil Scott-Heron, Voice of Black Culture, Dies at 62 (New York Times)

Gil Scott-Heron obituary (Guardian)

Gil Scott-Heron's Scornful Brilliance (The New Yorker)

Founding Father Of Rap, Gil Scott-Heron, Dead (NPR)

3markwinston
May 30, 2011, 3:49 am

I first became aware of Gil Scott-Heron about fifteen years ago. His glory days were before my time, unfortunately, but I have admired his artistic depth for as long as I have known of his work. The world has lost a very significant and unique talent.

I learned of his passing from my wife, who woke me up at 5 AM to tell me, and I've been listening to his stuff for most of the weekend. One of the links I posted was to his song "Re-Ron," which spoke out against Reagan's reelection in 1984, and that song is damned hard to find these days.

4jewell100
May 31, 2011, 5:33 pm

Greatings. I forgot I signed up for this group. On Brother Gil.... I was not aware of the fact that he was a published author. I also downloaded The Vulture/The Nigger Factory and am looking forward to reading them. Thanks for the links. Will be coming back to this page often.

5gautherbelle
Jun 9, 2011, 2:32 pm

In the 1970s I saw Gil Scott-Heron at a club in Nashville called The Exit In (you went in the backdoor). I especially remember "A Racetrack in France."

6markwinston
Jun 11, 2011, 3:00 am

You were very fortunate, gautherbelle. I wish I could have, too.