Winter in America

This was mostly incredibly boring. It was talk singing over piano noodling. The two songs where there was actually structure and other instruments were fine but nothing special. Watergate blues was interesting, it made me realize the US has been through shitty stuff before and came out okay, so it gave me hope for the future.

3.5? sometimes sounds uneven rather than varied, but grows in strength as it goes. jackson’s key/piano playing is great throughout, although i prefer the second half with the fuller band. hits its stride with “the bottle.”

gil’s poetry also improves in the second half, both in his ability to surprise and the acquisition of a sense of humor. although i get that funny wasn’t necessarily what he wanted in an exploration of black life in america. his rhythmic timing isn’t exactly dead on, but i think that's part of his thing.

replace a few names in h2ogate blues and dedicate it to jd vance rather than spiro agnew, and it’s perfect for 2025. even better that it’s live. lively, clever, sharp, true.

the flute also pipes up around halfway, flits in and out, and is more than welcome to hang out.

feels a bit heavy handed at times, but it’s good. it could grow into a 4 or higher.

A great album. Socially conscious, bold, great lyrics and flow. It just needed a tad bit more variety. Watergate blues was awesome. 4/5

Maybe it was the version I listened to, but the production is absolutely abysmal on the electric piano on the first track. The vibration of it and its constant changes in volume made the song positively unlistenable and I almost stopped the album entirely. However, I persisted and found some really great (parts of) Jazz/R&B crossover gems. Nevertheless, not one of the songs came even remotely close to justifying its length, with many tracks ending with two or three minutes of repetition. Additionally, the slow jams were less jammy and more drifty, leaving me frustrated – as did this album as a whole, because it has a lot potential.

Addendum: H2Ogate was a beautiful take-down of Nixon.

2.0/5.0: Disappointing

interesting music with a lot of lyrical substance. that said, the beat poetry thing doesn't really work for me and the songs were too long to stay fresh over the entire duration

Some solid songs here.

Whelp. H2Ogate Blues hit pretty hard. Isn’t it disheartening that it’s 50 years later and we’re in the exact. same. thing?

I listened to this at some point last year. I like it then, but liked it more now.

I really liked the first (and last) track. Serious headphone jam with the vibrato emulating channel panning on the keys. I really enjoy this musically, especially the more upbeat jams. But too often it slows down, and there I find the vocals a little over the top. The blues tune goes hard though, loved that track.

Halfway through track 1, I decided that I would not like this album, I thought this is just Jazz and not for me like many other jazz albums on this challenge. I was wrong. as the album went on it grew and I grew to enjoy it.

This album has far more to it than just jazz. it is funky and groovy with some great instrumentals and meaningful lyrics and songs. In summary the album is not one that I would run to put on again, but I enjoyed it none the less.

Favourite song:
Least favourite:
Album artwork: Good cover

There is some great stuff here and some things that just kind of meandered along. Nice album with something for a variety of tastes.

The only thing from Gil Scott-Heron I had listened to prior to this is Pieces Of A Man which is a fantastic record that I hope shows up later. His voice is really great. The piano and bass work here are both great. Major credit to Brian Jackson. His political lyrics are really hard hitting and are still relevant today especially on H2Ogate Blues. My favorite songs were Rivers Of My Fathers, Back Home, The Bottle, and Your Daddy Loves You.

It’s fun to listen to him call out all the political criminals on “H2Ogate Blues”, but apart from that this was a loooong listen for me. Doesn’t help that I can’t stand the flute and struggle with jazz appreciation. I would have given it one star but that song, which is way towards the end, bumps it up to two.

If these did not get added to the great american song book, they should have been. Plus one of the more compelling political slam poems I've heard. And what a wonderful voice.

Despite lacking anything as iconic as “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” or “Whitey on the Moon” this record is far more musical and even given Heron’s obvious vocal limitations, this is just oozing soul.

THIS is how you do spoken word. Talk about meaningful topics. No one wants to hear your singer-songwriter self loathing and relationship issues.

Like a melding of blues, jazz, and soul. Interesting to listen to, as Gil is a poet, but also one of those genres that you really have to be in the right mindset to enjoy fully. Let's just say it didn't catch me on one of those days. I really hate flute music, and it was featured heavily here, along with really strange song structure (as is the norm with jazz), and not great vocals. Overall kinda boring.

Favourite songs: The Bottle, Winter in America, Back Home

Least favourite songs: Song for Bobby Smith

3/5

Not on any music feed but a reviewer kindly posted a link to a YouTube version. This was a great mix of music and poetry and brought me back to those dark days of Watergate. Others have said this is not his best work so I will explore further.

Faktisk fed nok! Rimelig politisk! Skod regering de har sig, der i USA.. Også i 1974.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5.

I just thought this album felt really encapsulating to me – it had some lulls early on, but I never really felt bored, I just felt like I was always waiting for the instrumentation to take another step up. They kinda broke down that expectation over time, and I think after getting a bit of energy with Back Home and The Bottle, the rest of the album was gliding for me in terms of the soundscape, the vocals, and ultimately, the comforting feel of the album.

I really think the last 5 tracks (not counting the reprise of Peace go with You, Brother at the end) are just that damn good – Song for Bobby Smith and Your Daddy Loves You, in particular, gave me the same feeling as say, watching Mr. Rogers or Bob Ross. They just felt reassuring in an authentic way that isn’t often recorded in music, in part because there’s no swirling bombastic instrumental behind them, which helped a lot. H2Ogate Blues is a great critique of the politics of the era, and it’s wild how well I think it’s aged into 2024, especially with the damn Reagan diss about a decade early.

I’m just kinda grumpy that this isn’t on streaming, because I’d add every song here if I could. Regardless, it’s a really nice 44 minutes, and I kinda just found a bit of bliss in it. I enjoyed the hell out of it, and I feel good with a 5. It definitely feels like it should be on this list.

I would have enjoyed more tracks like H2Ogate Blues