Bob Thiele of Flying Dutchman Records produced the album, and Scott-Heron was accompanied by Eddie Knowles and Charlie Saunders on conga and David Barnes on percussion and vocals. Scott-Heron began his recording career with the LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox in 1970. Beginning in 1972, Scott-Heron taught literature and creative writing for several years as a full-time lecturer at University of the District of Columbia (then known as Federal City College) in Washington, D.C. His master's thesis was titled Circle of Stone. The Vulture was published by the World Publishing Company in 1970 to positive reviews.Īlthough Scott-Heron never completed his undergraduate degree, he was admitted to the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, where he received an M.A. The Last Poets, a group associated with the Black Arts Movement, performed at Lincoln in 1969 and Abiodun Oyewole of that Harlem group said Scott-Heron asked him after the performance, "Listen, can I start a group like you guys?" Scott-Heron returned to New York City, settling in Chelsea, Manhattan. Scott-Heron was very heavily influenced by the Black Arts Movement (BAM). After about two years at Lincoln, Scott-Heron took a year off to write the novels The Vulture and The Nigger Factory. It was here that Scott-Heron met Brian Jackson, with whom he formed the band Black & Blues. How do you feel? '" This type of intractable boldness would become a hallmark of Scott-Heron's later recordings.Īfter completing his secondary education, Scott-Heron decided to attend Lincoln University in Pennsylvania because Langston Hughes (his most important literary influence) was an alumnus. During his admissions interview at Fieldston, an administrator asked him: "'How would you feel if you see one of your classmates go by in a limousine while you're walking up the hill from the subway?' And said, 'Same way as you. As one of five black students at the prestigious school, Scott-Heron was faced with alienation and a significant socioeconomic gap.
He enrolled at DeWitt Clinton High School, but later transferred to The Fieldston School, after impressing the head of the English department with some of his writings and earning a full scholarship.
When Scott-Heron was 12 years old, his grandmother died and he returned to live with his mother in The Bronx in New York City. Gil's parents separated in his early childhood and he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother, Lillie Scott, in Jackson, Tennessee. His father, Gil Heron, nicknamed "The Black Arrow," was a Jamaican footballer who in the 1950s became the first black man to play for Celtic Football Club in Glasgow, Scotland. His mother, Bobbie Scott, was an opera singer who performed with the Oratorio Society of New York. Gil Scott-Heron was born in Chicago, Illinois. In 2021, Scott-Heron was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a recipient of the Early Influence Award. He also is included in the exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) that officially opened on September 24, 2016, on the National Mall, and in an NMAAHC publication, Dream a World Anew. Scott-Heron received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. A memoir he had been working on for years up to the time of his death, The Last Holiday, was published posthumously in January 2012. Scott-Heron remained active until his death, and in 2010 released his first new album in 16 years, entitled I'm New Here. AllMusic's John Bush called him "one of the most important progenitors of rap music", stating that "his aggressive, no-nonsense street poetry inspired a legion of intelligent rappers while his engaging songwriting skills placed him square in the R&B charts later in his career." His recording work received much critical acclaim, especially for The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. His music, most notably on the albums Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and foreshadowed later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul. His poem " The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", delivered over a jazz-soul beat, is considered a major influence on hip hop music. His own term for himself was "bluesologist", which he defined as "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues". His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. Gilbert Scott-Heron (Ap– ) was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s.