Customer Reviews

Winter in America (Reis)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gil Scott-Heron turned out during the '70s what may be the best body of overlooked work of the era. "Winter in America" followed the excellent "Pieces of a Man" and at least equaled the quality of that album.

"Winter in America" kicks off with what was to become one of Gil's best-known and most often played tunes, "The Bottle." The tune exemplifies the power of his work. He captures life in vivid, poetic images, and he joins the lyrics to street rhythms, in this case, Latin flavored. His often overlooked partner, Brian Jackson, contributes a fine, jazz flute solo.

There are, of course, politics aplenty in "Winter." The title tune itself is a dirge, a prediction of America's failure, which hasn't occurred, of course, if you take Gil literally. His goal -- and Brian's -- was never to predict a Marxist revolution, but to point out the inherent contradictions in a society that celebrates wealth at the same time that it turns a blind eye to the dispossessed and forgotten. And "H2OGate Blues" is one of the best commentaries on the disastrous second term of Tricky Dick Nixon that I've ever heard.

Lest one think that "Winter in America" is a purely political album, however, one should remember that Gil was also capable of penning and singing unabashedly romantic tunes like "A Very Precious Time." If there is any male who remembers anything at all about being 19 years old in the 1970s and can resist lyrics like "Was there a touch of spring?/And did she have a pink dress on?/And when she smiled her shyest smile/Couldn't you almost touch the warmth?" -- well, I guess we need to check that guy's pulse.

Great album -- toughness and tenderness from one of our best-kept secrets.

I first saw Gil Scott-Heron when I was 16 at the Oakland Coliseum. What an inspiration to a white girl in the 70's. I loved him ever since. Such fabulous lyrics, with great music, and quite direct and blunt in his social commentary. Gil Scott-Heron has always had and will continue to have an incredible "voice" in all senses of the word. The Bottle, Peace Go With You Brother, and H2O Gate Blues were great for us brought up in the 60's and 70's. What I would still like is to see his great album "Secrets" re-released on CD.

Gil Scott-Heron was an innovator who combined, jazz, funk and soul sounds over which he spoke/sung messages of protest and outrage at the condition of Black America. His delivery is a forerunner of rapping. His music is heavily sampled by hip hoppers and his afro-centric attitude has a strong foothold in the hip hop community. For Winter In America he combines with pianist Brian Jackson for another set of songs of social commentary. While some of his lyrics are clearly dated, the song's power and fury are enduring. "The Bottle" is a stinging, open-ended question to the problem of alcohol abuse among urban blacks. This problem lingers today as there still are liquor stores on every corner in the ghettos. Mr. Heron's music can be shocking, but it forces you think.

Gil Scott-Heron puts the lie to the notion that there's something joyless or antihumanistic about political art. His voice --bluesy and hip, rich as molasses, and sexy as hell-- croons and barks with the righteous anger of a front-line revolutionary soldier, as well as the visionary tenderness of a prophet who truly believes that the "first minute of a new day" is really a-dawning.

The music, even in this relatively low-key setting, is funky enough to galvanize any feet on the planet, yet imbued with a spiritual power (as well as an iron determination to seek and reveal truth) that both soothes the soul and strengthens the resolve of the listener to carry on. And the "H2OGATE Blues" remains a jubilant celebration of brotherhood, solidarity, and good fellowship (am I the only one who thinks the fellows might have been passing around a bit of herbal inspiration as they riffed and belly-laughed their way through this inspired blast of street poetry?), as well as an evergreen social and political commentary.

The "young warrior" Bobby Smith was blessed to have men like Gil and Brian Jackson around when he was growing up -- even in today's world of shattered dreams and compromised faith, music like this gives one reason to hope.

Winter in America would be the first album that Gil Scott-Heron would release in which collaborator Brian Jackson was given equal billing. Up to this point, Scott-Heron was best known for his social commentary on the injustices and inequality that existed during the time as well as the biting tone in which he delivered his message. Even jazzier tracks like "Freewill" showed his anger at the forefront. However, Winter in America shows a new found maturity in Scott-Heron's work. With Jackson's impeccable piano work leading the way, Scott-Heron's songs carry a very introspective tone throughout the release. With this newfound maturity also comes a quantum leap in Scott-Heron's vocals as the choppy, occasionally off-key vocal performances of his previous releases would be a thing of the past from here on out.

The album starts with "Peace Go With You Brother", which with its dark tone, would make you believe that this is a prelude of things to come. However, the next track "Rivers of My Fathers" is an outstanding ballad that sets the tone for the rest of the album. Led by one of Scott-Heron's most impressive vocal performances and Jackson's improvisational yet melodic piano work, it is one of their finest compositions. "A Very Precious Time", "Song for Bobby Smith", and "Your Daddy Loves You" are all tender piano ballads that continue the album's introspective tone. The upbeat "Back Home" is one of the best tracks here, sounding like one of those memorable theme songs that opened a lot of the sitcoms back in the day. "The Bottle" is one of his most enduring tracks and certainly one of his funkiest. While it shows Scott-Heron using his gift of intelligently observing the social problems of the day that politicians pretended didn't exist, in this case alcoholism among the black population in the inner cities, his anger is reined in, making his message more effective. However, Scott-Heron's angry and accurate observations of the Watergate scandal on "H20gate Blues" show that the fire still burns. The remastered version contains several bonus tracks, including stellar live versions of "Your Daddy Loves You" and "The Bottle/Guan Guanco" as well as a live version of the timeless "Winter in America", which in its original form wouldn't be released until his next album The First Minute of a New Day. All told, Winter in America shows a softer side of Gil Scott-Heron while not abandoning his roots or his message.

In 1973, after having established his reputation with three recordings on the Flying Dutchman label, Gil Scott-Heron moved on, to a recording for Strata East and to a different sound. Having honed his spoken word craft and an electric jazz vibe, evolution brought him to a minimalist approach. With sparse accompaniment (Scott-Heron or co-conspirator Brian Jackson on keys, Jackson occasionally on flute, and on five tracks, bassist Danny Bowens and drummer Bob Adams) and unnervingly strong compositions, "Winter in America" is a dark reflection on what Scott-Heron saw as the state of the country, that the seasons had past and winter had descended (he would alter compose a piece of this title, but at the point this was recorded, he had no intention of it).

If only Gil Scott-Heron would record music to reflect the current season our country had fallen in, I think sometimes we need it.

But this was over thirty years ago, and the music is beautiful-- some of it is dark, reflections on hope for unity ("Peace Go With You, Brother"), the horror of alcohol addiction (the unnervingly direct "The Bottle"), and the firmly tongue-in-cheek "H2OGate Blues" ("Watergate"). But there's a strong sense of nostalgia, of first loves ("A Very Precious Time", "Back Home"), and of hope for children (the stunningly beautiful "Song for Bobby Smith", "Your Daddy Loves You") that keep the mood shifting and make it easy to maintain interest in the record. Musically, its a lot of bluesy stuff, even the upbeat material has a sense of the blues to it, but it works well.

The TVT reissue cleans the sound nicely and augments the releae with a handful of bonus tracks-- an alternate of "Song for Bobby Smith", a live take of the title track (a great bluesy song that wouldn't've been out of place on the record), a great live take of "Your Daddy Loves You" and an extended and powerful take of "The Bottle" filled with hope, even in its darkness. These really do serve to nicely compliment the album.

Its not going to be for everyone, the production's kind of odd and the vocals sometimes feel jaggid because of this, but the music here is fantastic, and it is really a superb and powerful record. Recommended.

This is a bleak, cynical, scared cry for help, a document of one of the strangest and most deeply unsettling periods in American history. Released in 1974, after Vietnam, Watergate, economic decay, and agonizing racial tensions had effectively strangled the optimism of the 60s, Winter In America is a bleakly poetic masterpiece. Heron's lyrics reveal the fears, nightmares, and tentative hopes of a wounded decade with bottomless poignancy, while Brian Jackson's minimalist soul-jazz backing is as ethereal as it is tense. The result is brilliantly conceived, flawlessly executed, endlessly evocative album.

One of Winter In America's most impressive aspects is that despite its timely themes, it has aged incredibly well. Heron's musings are, for the most part, universal. And even when they refer to specific incidents, the man's emotion still resonates. Meanwhile, Jackson's soulful explorations sound just lain wonderful, no matter what decade you were born in.

In other words, this album is stuffed with great songs. "Peace Go With You Brother" (which is briefly reprised at the end) is a mournful cry for black unity, while "Song For Bobby Smith" and "Your Daddy Loves You" are timeless odes to innocence and the healing power of love (and they're not even remotely sappy!). "A Very Precious Time" is a gorgeous, almost otherworldly tale of nostalgia, while "Rivers Of My Fathers" is a dreamy soul-jazz epic. "Back Home" is slightly more upbeat, and reinforced by a swirling rush of melody. "The Bottle" is a stirring anti-alcoholism anthem, set to a bare-bones jazz funk melody. "H20 Gate Blues" is perhaps the album's angriest and most spine-tingling moment: over a raw, minimal backing, Heron bemoans the fate of post-Nixon America, hurling poisoned darts at corrupt politicians, greedy business men, and apathetic citizens with equal parts black hearted humor, poetic virtuosity, and sheer outrage.

This, my friends, is one of the great unheralded albums of the 70s. You really oughtta get it.

While I didn't give it five stars, I still think this is one of the better cds I've heard. The bottle is the funkiest track, period. I just bought it, being a fan of Donald Byrd, Roy Ayers, and Bobby Humphrey, and it hasn't disapointed. The man's voice is crazy, and his poetry on watergate blues is flawless. A must own for fans of this type of music. People who don't like this music just haven't heard it or givin it a chance.

It is great to see some of the older GS-H recordings become available. This is a great cd a must for any Gil Scott-Heron fan. Or any music lover with a social conscience. Wish "Bridges" was available on CD!

Gil Scott-Heron comes hard&correct on this disc.together with Brian Jackson the music on here is un-stopable.Gil's voice never lets up.The Music Is Funk&Jazz combined.song for Bobby Smith is a Jam as are The Bottle&Peace go with you Brother.nothing In Rap Today comes close to his Honesty.nothing in music today Hits you with this Kind of force.this Brother is Long Over due for his Props.His VOice is badly Needed more than ever.the Power of His Lyrics always hit Home. true Genius.