Gil Scott-Heron - Pieces of a Man

Genre: Jazz / Soul

Gil Scott-Heron’s Pieces Of A Man is one of the most important albums in the history of black American music. Although it didn’t set the charts alight, it stands as a masterpiece alongside contemporary works such as Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Curtis Mayfield’s debut LP, Funkadelic's Maggot Brain and Isaac Hayes’ Shaft. All were brilliant in their way, but lyrically Scott-Heron was on a different level from almost every other writer. Pieces Of A Man was contemporary music performed by great jazz players, directed and prompted by Scott-Heron and his collaborator Brian Jackson, who at the time was not yet 20 years

The album features many of Gil's most important early songs including Home Is Where The Hatred Is, Lady Day and John Coltrane and The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Backed by some of New York's finest session musicians including Bernard Purdie, Hubert Laws and Ron Carter, it is one of the great albums of black American music.

The CD version features three bonus titles from Black and Blues, Scott-Heron’s college group, recorded at a short session and promptly forgotten. ‘Toast To The People’ debuted on the Liberation Music comp in 2013. The other two tracks make their first appearance here.

2LP - The album reached its landmark 50th year in 2021 and BGP decided that they would create this special edition to celebrate its incredible sound. The original master tape was taken to Frank Merritt at The Carvery in London, who cut it as a double disc 2 x 45 RPM record, in an all- analogue chain. The original record - especially side two - was long, and serving it up this way allowed the music a greater level of fidelity. The release is packaged in the original album’s gatefold sleeve.