Stephen Fortner Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 Any fans out there? Recently, I was reminded of Heron by the also-excellent work of Michael Franti and Spearhead. I'm a bit surprised that I don't hear more rappers mention him. Surely his spoken-word protest vocals over often deep funk were an important precursor to hip hop. Anyway, now rediscovering and digging... a lot! Stephen Fortner Principal, Fortner Media Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 A rat done bit my sister Nell And whitey's on the moon Her face got puffy and her throat did swell And whitey's on the moon Haven't heard any Heron for a long time. I reckon I'm about due... "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Knutson Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 The revolution will NOT be televised! https://bunny.bandcamp.com/ https://theystolemycrayon.bandcamp.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshananigan Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 The full lyrics for the uninitiated- I forgot to get the date. Imagine a little low-key earthy funk in the background with an angry Black voice pulling the words live from his soul... THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED You will not be able to stay home, brother. You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out. You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip, Skip out for beer during commercials, Because the revolution will not be televised. The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox In 4 parts without commercial interruptions. The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary. The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will not be brought to you by the Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia. The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal. The revolution will not get rid of the nubs. The revolution will not make you look five pounds thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother. There will be no pictures of you and Willie May pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run, or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance. NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32 or report from 29 districts. The revolution will not be televised. There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers in the instant replay. There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers in the instant replay. There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process. There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving For just the proper occasion. Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and women will not care if Dick finally gets down with Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people will be in the street looking for a brighter day. The revolution will not be televised. There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock news and no pictures of hairy armed women liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose. The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb, Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth. The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will not be right back after a message bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people. You will not have to worry about a dove in your bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl. The revolution will not go better with Coke. The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath. The revolution will put you in the driver's seat. The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised, will not be televised, will not be televised. The revolution will be no re-run brothers; The revolution will be live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanhiker Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 One of the best songs about heroin addiction is "Home Is Where The Hatred Is". Our band does an extended version of it that always gets a response, even though it's definitely not a "feel-good" song... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrossmusic Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 Last I heard, maybe a few years back, he was going through some pretty rough changes involving crack, parole violation, and possibly jail time. Hope he's better now. Sly Stone is another who has also been incognito for sometime. Hope he's doing ok as well. The show biz lifestyle can beat an artist up pretty bad sometimes and there are many casualties out there for sure, known and unkown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hard truth Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 He did a song on a recent Blackalicious album. www.oranjproductions.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I I mjrn Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 GSH was (is?) cool but the reason you don't hear a lot of rappers citing him is that he wasn't really popular. Like most pop music figures they rfeerence what was well known. You don't hear much Last Poets sampled & looped, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meccajay Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 Yeah, the Last Poets were mostly featured in a lot of that mid to late eighties black concious hip hop that has gone forgotten these days, and thats a shame. I LOVE Gil Scott! in 1989 I saw him do a version of Space Shuttle in DC at the Carter Baron Theater that I'll never forget!! I've got a DJ friend that has a house full of records. Gotta check him on some Gil Scott. Also check some Lonnie Liston Smith too! TROLL . . . ish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP3 Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 A few guys in DC have been in his band over the years. I'll make a call or two and see if I can find out what Gil's up to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Please do! And maybe if rappers ever got deep, they'd pay him more attention. Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahkter Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Just want to add his track "in the bottle". Super infectious groove, the house dj's play it in their sets over here in NYC, great track... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russrags Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 I got to do an album with Gil and Malcolm Cecil in 1991. Somehow I never ended up with a copy of it, but was very impressed with the whole concept. Malcolm shared a few stories regarding Gil's drug addiction. He felt certain that the government was involved in his addictions in an attempt to shut him up. We used a Bayer Ribbon mic on his vocals. At the time this was my first experience in using a ribbon on vocals. It was a real eye opener hearing the richness of Gil's low voice that came through that mic. Well now I'm going to have to find that CD. Russ http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-russragsdale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Knutson Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Do the Last Poets still release recordings? https://bunny.bandcamp.com/ https://theystolemycrayon.bandcamp.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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