Gil Scott-Heron

Gil Scott-Heron (born April 1, 1949) is a poet and musician, known primarily for his late 1960s and early 1970s work as a spoken word performer, associated with African American militant activists. One of his poems, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised[?]", is fairly well-known in the United States.

Scott-Heron was born in Chicago but spent his early childhood in Tennesseee[?], then moving to the Bronx for most of his high school career. After spending a year in college in Pennsylvania, he released his first novel, The Vulture[?], which was very well-received. He began recording in 1970 with the LP Small Talk at 125th & Lennox[?] with the assistance of Bob Theile[?], co-writer Brian Jackson[?], Hubert Laws, Bernard Purdie[?], Charlie Saunders[?], Eddie Knowles[?], Ron Carter and Bert Jones[?] jazz musicians (see 1970 in music). The album included the aggressive diatribe against white-owned corporate media and middle-class America's ignorance of the problems of inner cities. 1971's Pieces of a Man[?] used more conventional song structures than the loose spoken word[?] feel of his first, though he didn't reach the charts until 1975 with "Johannesburg". His biggest hit was 1978's "The Bottle", produced by Heron and longtime partner Brian Jackson[?], which peaked at #15 on the R&B charts (see 1978 in music).

During the 1980s, Scott-Heron continued recording, frequently attacking then-President Ronald Reagan and his conservative policies. He was dropped by Arista[?] in 1985 (see 1985 in music), and quit recording, though he continued to tour. In 1993, he signed to TVT Records[?] and released Spirits[?] (see 1993 in music).