Monday, May 12, 2008

Searching for Gil Scott-Heron

One of the treasures I found this weekend in Wolfgang's Vault was a 1977 Bottom Line concert by Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, musical partners for several years in the 1970s.

In terms of being a public presence, Scott-Heron seemed to have dropped off the face of the Earth in recent years. Through Google, I was able to find out that for all practical purposes, he quit recording long ago after he was dropped by Arista Records, although there has been sporadic work since then. Unfortunately, the story is a sad one; there have been drug problems and time spent in jail. But it appears there are some shows on the horizon this summer, and I hope this means that a magnificent career is on its way to getting back on track.

A clip of Scott-Heron singing one of his best-known songs, "The Bottle."

No comments: