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- Verified Buyer
While it might be hard to call the artist who gave the world "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" underrated or under-appreciated, it is true he never achieved the kind of stardom a songwriter of his stature might ordinarily expect. But then there was never anything ordinary about GSH, a product of both the pre-Civil Rights era Deep South & New York, an intellectual with a background in literature who turned his prodigious talents to music. Musically, GSH drew on a number of sources, jazz, funk, R&B, and even a little rock when called for, creating a fusion sound that was uniquely his own. Lyrically, few songwriters this side of Bob Dylan at his best can even hold a candle to him. GSH had the eye for the telling detail of a journalist, the understanding of character of a psychologist, the perspective of a sociologist/political scientist, the ability for compact storytelling of a short-story writer, and most importantly, the urgent vision and moral urgency of a Hebrew Testament prophet. Put it all together, and, as Love his music.I was beautifulAhh,Ono, dos... ono, dos, tres, qatro.....got to love the intro of "The Bottle". I bought the album "Winter In America" the same day I heard "The Bottle" blasted on KSOL-SF. The Vietnam war was over but Prez Nixon had lost more than the war and his mind. Gil put his own political twist on the subject in H2Ogate Blues. Of course, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Lady Day and John Coltrane are two of my favs from " The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" album. What was missin' from this great line up is Gil and Brian's "1980" album pieces where Gil picked up where he left off in "W in A" ,bringin' the polical times of the early '80s to the forefront.So pick that one up if you if don't already have it. Then there's alot of reggae like Storm Music and No Exit, where Gil gets into Racial profilin' of the '90s and 2000s. Gil show his softer social feelings in "Pieces of Man and Did You Hear What You Said?", both from WinA. All the best. All straight no chase.I miss Girl's insightful commentaries on relevant social/political issues. His presence would have made the last two decades much more interesting!He somehow fell under my radar for years and I missed out on listening to some great songs.This album brought back memories of a time when music meant a lot and political assessment was done with great words and music.GreatBought this after hearing "the revolution will not be televised" on a TV documentary about rock poets. The rest of this album matches up to the standard of that track , while giving a good overview of Heron's musical vocabularyGreat music - beats and intelligence lyrics - can’t tell if this is more jazz funk or soul but isdedinitelybyheborecirsor of rap but with intelligence and beat not anger.This is a superb collection featuring GSH's finest work from the early 70's to the late 80's! Revolution, bottle, lady day and h20gate blues. The collection is 80 minutes a pure class from the jazzy pieces of a man to the soulful croon of Blue collar. Underrated and misunderstood this guy could work four genres and be cool,and at home on each one! Legend!Father of rap - poet - political commentator - well labels don't matter when the basics are so good, I'd forgotten how good these songs are, not just the obvious ones but 'pieces of a man' for example. 'home is where the hatred is' and all the rest. I've bought it three times more for friends. You won't go wrong with this.Memories of Ronnie Scott’s , good times
