CLASSIC ALBUM: Gil Scott-Heron – Pieces of a Man

An absolute jewel from ’71, Gil Scott-Heron’s Pieces of a Man. Scott-Heron’s first studio album proper chronicles the poverty, desperation, addiction and neglect of ghetto-life backed by a top-draw band led by collaborator and co-songwriter Brian Jackson. While renowned for the political proto-rap of the iconic track The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Pieces of a Man is so much more.

The album is a weighty portrait of reality in the shape of a vocal jazz-funk hybrid resulting in one of the strongest and influential records of its kind. Scott-Heron’s supreme skill as an artist lies in his lyrical and emotive prowess and he rarely, if ever, pulls lyrical punches when presenting his personal reflections and observations of his environment and situation. Thus the album’s relentless realism can be particularly affecting, exemplified in the exquisite title track and Home Is Where The Hatred Is. However the flashes of sunshine that cut through the desperation on tracks such Lady Day & John Coltrane and When You Are Who You Are are all the more powerful for their rareness.