I don’t know what it says about me, but most of the music I like comes to me after the fact, long after it was recorded. Sure, I like new stuff as much as the next MOG, but I’m rarely blown away by new records. And I’m no luddite, claiming they don’t make ‘em like they used to . I’m sure it is a aural defect that I have, but I have to live with it, ‘cause it is what it is! I like old records.There are exceptions..I came into music buyinghood during the dawn of the hip hop era, when The Ramones roamed Manhattan, and when Joy Division really broke on through to the other side. After these originals hit my ears, though, my default tendency has always been to listen to something “new†and relate it back to something older. I guess it was the DJ-centric nature of hip-hop that brought the crate digger trait out in me.Very early on in my understanding of hip hop, I was fascinated by how Dj’s and producers used old records to make new ones. After getting all the hip hop records that I liked, I started looking for the samples that launched all those records. As it turns out, they were almost all a little bit before my time, but it was fun to follow the progression back, and see how hip hop really wasn’t all that new, but more of an extension of the American (and by association Cuban and African) music experience.On the lyrical side, I had my early brush with seminal poetry and beats from "The Last Poets":http://mog.com/Cody_B/blog_post/37014 and they led me to Gil Scott-Heron. I was 10 or so years old during Gil’s heyday and I did not have my finger anywhere near the pulse in those days (or for that matter these days), so by the time I got around to hearing him, he had been passed over by most critics and listeners (mid 80’s). I can only imagine the kind of impact he made on folks who heard him as a new voice on the scene. His ten year old records made a bigger impression on me than the majority of “new†stuff I was hearing :Strong words, funky, jazzy ,spiritual music, and a political point of view that fit right in with hip hop’s most rebellious voices. If KRS-One is a teacher, he’s 8th grade history, to Gil’s Harvard professor.There’s nothing quite like the buzz you get hearing something you never heard before for the first time and I suppose that’s why so many Moggers buy so many records, with the hope they’ll get that buzz again. His music wasn’t new to the world when I first heard Gil Scott- Heron, but it was new to me, and despite the topical nature of some of his songs, they resonate (and continue to be relevant) to this day.Most folks are familiar with his early work like The Revolution Will Not be Televised or The Bottle, but Gil continues to make great music to this day. I’m posting from his ’78 record w/Brian Jackson,Secrets and you’ll see something from Reflections (’80) in comments. Also check out a post from "wassonii on Gil’s album Bridges":http://mog.com/wassonii/blog_post/65686 .Peace.
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Comments (20)
I have a small degree of familiarity with this record...with GSH, I sometimes have trouble getting past It's Your World...
Hah, It's Your World is an all time fave, mostly for The Bottle and Home Is Where The Hatred Is, but also for 17th Street and It's Your World. But, then again, I like pretty much all Gil's stuff, so it is relative. Can't go wrong with Mully's pick, Pieces Of A Man.