Pieces of a Man (Double Gatefold LP)

 
Pieces of a Man (Double Gatefold LP) cover
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Gil Scott-Heron
Pieces of a Man (Double Gatefold LP)

[ BGP / 2 LP ]

Release Date: Wednesday 7 December 2022

Should this item be out of stock at the time of your order, we would expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 5 business days.

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. It was a landmark album with it's bold, poetic lyrical content allied to progressive and melodic music, and it saw producer Bob Thiele help Gil and his musical partner Brian Jackson paint the picture they needed to get their message across.

Thiele put Gil and Brian together with Ron Carter, Hubert Laws and Bernard Purdie, giving them the musical heft they wanted. For many years the focus was on 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised', which was included in the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2014, but this focus sometimes overshadowed the heights which Gil reached throughout the album. Today 'Home Is Where The Hatred Is' and 'Lady Day And John Coltrane' are also considered standards, whilst the album's title track is a prescient and heart-breaking warning about the way in which big business dehumanises it's workers.

The album reached it's landmark 50th year in 2021 and we decided that we would create this special edition to celebrate it's 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.

Tracks:

1. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
2. Save the Children
3. Lady Day and John Coltrane
4. Home Is Where the Hatred Is
5. When You Are Who You Are
6. I Think I'll Call It Morning
7. Pieces of a Man
8. A Sign of the Ages
9. Or Down You Fall
10. The Needle's Eye
11. The Prisoner