From South Africa to South Carolina (Reis) [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Brian Jackson, Gil Scott-Heron | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 7, 1998)
• Original Release Date: 1976
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Tvt
• ASIN: B000005ZCZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,951 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Gil-Scott Heron pulled few punches on this powerful 1975 release, his second effort with the Midnight Band. The jazz here ("Summer of '42," "Essex") is hard, flint-edged stuff, dipped in funk and Latin percussion. The ballads ("Beginnings," "A Lovely Day") are pretty, and the lyrics (especially on "A Toast to the People") are potent. The Clash's Mick Jones, a fan of Scott-Heron's, once told Rolling Stone that "people would rather dance than fight wars," but "Johannesburg" and the nuclear-power-protesting "South Carolina (Barnwell)" prove you can do both at the same time. Bonus tracks include live versions of the latter as well as the in-your-face anthem "Let Me See Your I.D." from the 1985 Sun City project. --Michael Ruby

Product Description

Digitally remastered edition of this 1975 album from Gil Scott-Heron and his musical partner in crime, Brian Jackson. From South Africa to South Carolina includes the single 'Johannesburg' which brought to our attention the resistance to the apartheid regime in South Africa. This album consolidated Gil Scott-Heron and Bran Jackson as major label artists and gave them an R&B chart single and a wider audience. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not flashy but solid, December 5, 2003

By 

Tyler Smith (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From South Africa to South Carolina (Reis) (Audio CD)

Despite the '70s crowd-pleasing, anti-apartheid anthem, "Johannesburg", this album remains a bit of an obscurity in the discography of Gil Scott-Heron.

Gil hit a nerve with street-inspired poetry and powerful rhythms that presaged rap on tunes like "Whitey on the Moon", "Brother", "The Bottle", and of course, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," which has become not only widely sampled, but even -- undeservedly -- reduced to something of a cliche. "South Africa to South Carolina" displays Gil's and Brian Jackson's lyrical side with ideas and rhythms more subtle than "Johannesburg."

The strong lyricism is best illustrated by "Beginnings" and, especially, the disarming "A Lovely Day," which recalls, for me, the beautiful "Very Precious Time" from the great "Winter in America." Both of the tunes make me think of the "Doonesbury" line in which Mark, the hard-core ideologist, confesses, "Even revolutionaries like chocolate chip cookies." The revolutionary on this album shows his chocolate chip cookie side with "A Lovely Day," a song that this writer turned to often back in the day for solace during dark times.

A bit of a hodge-podge in styles, and in some ways much a product of its times, this album may not be of use for all, but I still consider it a strong piece of work from a very important American artist whose name and contributions to the current scene should be kept alive.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What's the word?, February 15, 2006

By 

Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From South Africa to South Carolina (Reis) (Audio CD)

The mid 1970s was an extraordinary period for Gil Scott-Heron, peaking in my assessment with "From South Africa to South Carolina". Having established his reputation as politically aggressive and relevent on his Flying Dutchman recordings and cooled off on "Winter in America", Scott-Heron and musical partner Brian Jackson assembled "The Midnight Band" for "The First Minute of the New Day". The band stayed intact for "From South Africa to South Carolina", and the strength of familiarity shows.

Perhaps the most notable is the ability for the three vocalists-- Scott-Heron, Jackson and Victor Brown, to harmonize together. Two and three part harmonies rise and fall together, with Scott-Heron's baritone, Brown's high tenor, and Jackson somewhere in between blending into a fantastic mix. Below then, Jackson leads the band from the piano, joined by reedman Bilal Sunni Ali, bassist Danny Bowens, drummer Bob Adams and percussionists Charlie Saunders, Barnett Williams, and Adenola. On 'First Minute', it felt like Bownes was the dominant voice, head and shoulders the most unique and sticking out-- now the band works together in a stronger fashion and provides a superb framework, performing ably in jazz, blues, funk and rock forms.

Scott-Heron again tackles a number of topics in various atmospheres, from the then under-documented apartheid in South Africa (the superb funk of "Johannesburg") to toxic waste ("South Carolina"), from optimistic laments ("Beginnings", with an absolutely stunning three part harmony) to a touch of pure hopefulness (the simply fantastic "A Lovely Day").

The reissue augments the recording with a trio of live tracks-- fantastic readings of "South Carolina", "Johannesburg" and "Save the Children" (from "Pieces of a Man", several years earlier) and the anti-apartheid benefit piece "Let Me See Your I.D.", featuring Scott-Heron prominently amid a number of rappers and the trumpet of Miles Davis. The recording is also remastered and sounds fantastic.

This may be the best of Scott-Heron's catalog-- it all came together, the political vibe, the funky jazz aesthetic, they don't really get better than this. Hihgly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More jazz-oriented than their previous albums, January 1, 2006

By 

John Alapick (Wilkes-Barre, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From South Africa to South Carolina (Reis) (Audio CD)

1976's From South Africa to South Carolina shows Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson continuing to stir the pot musically. There is a heavier jazz influence this time around as Jackson's piano work plays a more prominent role. Whether it's Victor Brown adding his soaring vocals to "A Toast to the People" or Scott-Heron providing his moving baritone on the gentle "A Lovely Day", Jackson always provides the perfect accompaniment. This trend continues on the subdued "Beginnings (The First Minute of a New Day)" and "Fell Together", which both feature Jackson on flute. Although Scott-Heron has no spoken word performance, his political awareness remains intact on the R&B hit "Johannesburg" and the funky "South Carolina (Barnwell)" which attacks the social issues of apartheid and nuclear waste respectively. "Essex" is the most experimental track as it bounces from free form jazz ala John Coltrane to a slow R&B before returning to its original theme and then slowly fading out. The best track here is the hard funk of "Summer of `42", which features great vocal interplay from Scott-Heron and Brown as well as a memorable electric piano line similar to Stevie Wonder's work at the time. The live bonus tracks include a jazzier take on "South Carolina (Barnwell)" from the No Nukes concert featuring great sax work from Bilal Sunni Ali, a spirited performance of "Johannesburg", and a touching version of "Save the Children." The final bonus track, "Let Me See Your ID", complete with its old school rappers and production, has not aged well and sounds out of place. While not as enduring as The First Minute of a New Day or the live album It's Your World, From South Africa to South Carolina is another strong release from Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson.