Thursday, June 11, 2009

Gil Scott-Heron - "Live at Berkeley" (1978)




"The Bottle" excerpt

I joined the DIME network to see what I could bring across to the blogosphere, and the first score is this wonderful show (in FLAC and MP3) from Mr Gil Scott-Heron in Berkeley, California in 1978. Thanks to Scott for pointing me at it.

This comes from an FM broadcast. An MP3 recording of it was posted at Sounds From the Edge of the Universe earlier this year by Miles from Birds With Broken Wings.

Essentially we've got the same band - minus one percussionist - that I wrote about in the 1977 Bottom Line show post. Six months after that, it's a pretty similar tracklist, but they're playing with formats and structures a little more. Allan Barnes' synthesiser lines are coming more to the fore, but without sacrificing Brian Jackson's jazzy rhodes tones.


"Home is Where The Hatred Is" excerpt

Gil characteristically opens with local issues, attacking recent cuts to the Afro-American Studies program at Berkeley, seamlessly swinging between polemic and poetry in a spoken piece called "Them Other Niggers". This leads straight into "The Spirit of the Drum", with Gil leading call-and-response vocals with the band, most of whom are on percussion.

From there on it's all-out latin, funk and jazz with not a moment of filler. 73 minutes of joy, hope you like this one!

Tracklist

01. Intro
02. Gil's Opening Speech
03. The Spirit of the Drum
04. Hello Sunday, Hello Road
05. 95-South (All of the Places We've Been)
06. Racetrack in France
07. We Almost Lost Detroit
08. Home is Where the Hatred Is
09. Band Introductions
10. Song of the Wind (aka Blow Wind Blow)
11. Band Introductions / The Bottle
12. Johannesburg

The Midnight Band

Gil Scott-Heron (Vocals, Guitar, and possibly Piano)
Brian Jackson (Keyboards, Flute)
Allan Barnes (Saxophone, Synthesizer)
Delbert Taylor (Piano, Trumpet, Congas, Flugelhorn, Vocals)
Barnett Williams (Congas, Percussion)
Siggie Dillard (Bass)
Reggie Brisbane (Drums)

Also at 'Never Enough Rhodes'

Gil Scott-Heron - "Live at the Bottom Line" (1977)
Gil Scott-Heron - "Live at the Village Gate" (1976)


Source

SBD or FM Broadcast (my guess is SBD to FM)
CD-R > EAC > WAV > foobar2000 > FLAC(level 5)
Upped at DIME by bootfreak82

Download WAV - MP3 

at

28 comments:

  1. ishJune 11, 2009 at 12:48 AM

    Thanks Simon. I keep going back to the one you posted before so I'm looking forward to this one.

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  2. the jazzstronautJune 11, 2009 at 2:30 AM

    Gonna grab this later...
    Cheers Simon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Camtronic4000June 11, 2009 at 2:45 AM

    great blog. thanks for this, can't wait to give it a listen. love "we almost lost detroit". i've recently started putting mixes up over at http://ochmonek.wordpress.com/mixes if you want to check them out. working on a tappan zee mix at the moment.

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  4. vesperJune 11, 2009 at 5:19 AM

    I was just on Dime and grabbed the Live at the Village Gate 1976, it's an incredible recording too!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. GoofyJune 11, 2009 at 7:04 AM

    Thanks Simon. Scott-Heron has always been an unread page for me. Now I don't have any excuses left.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Simon666June 11, 2009 at 8:36 AM

    Think we're in sync Vesper, was just listening to that as well :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. RevolutionaryBumJune 11, 2009 at 9:21 AM

    Hi there, First off Thanks for your time and efforts here, it's a great library of music !!! I'm also a late comer to actually delving into Mr. Scott-Heron's music & words. I've known of him for many years but life has it's own strange timing so it's not until recently that I've been drawn to investigate and to feel his sounds more adeptly... Thank You for that opportunity !

    ReplyDelete
  8. Simon666June 11, 2009 at 4:52 PM

    Thanks for comments guys.

    Guess what ....
    Just posted ANOTHER Gil Scott-Heron live show, this time the one that Vesper referred to - Live at the Village Gate in NYC in 1976. Come get it here

    ReplyDelete
  9. WallofsoundJune 12, 2009 at 5:09 AM

    Many thanks, Simon. I've been a GS-H fan for over 35 years now, but I never came across these particular live shows. They are great recording quality, and even greater musical quality. This was GS-H at his peak. These are going to have to be on rotation for the weekend.

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  10. displayJune 13, 2009 at 4:16 PM

    Thanks a million, Simon.

    ReplyDelete
  11. tjaptjapJune 14, 2009 at 7:25 PM

    Huge thanks 4 the Gil Scott Heron posts

    ReplyDelete
  12. bassoJuly 1, 2009 at 7:38 PM

    Great posts. Thanks so much.
    Seen him live in the late 90s. he was superstoned when entered the stage and everybody thought: wtf is going to happen and then the old man blew all of us away... never forget.....

    ReplyDelete
  13. AndyJuly 3, 2009 at 8:52 PM

    Thanks Simon,top stuff.Don't forget to check out my show on George Jazz.

    ReplyDelete
  14. UnknownJuly 14, 2009 at 6:13 AM

    You continue to shock and amaze with the stuff you bring to the table.

    ReplyDelete
  15. jw_naturalJuly 29, 2009 at 10:11 PM

    A brief note of Thanx for the many hours it takes to produce this wonderful site! I truly appreciate the music you make available.

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnonymousDecember 14, 2009 at 12:15 AM

    Thank you, very very very nice! Greetings, Tom

    ReplyDelete
  17. Simon666February 13, 2010 at 1:02 AM

    Cross-promotion ! Here you go - Gil Scott-Heron – “Live at Glastonbury” (1986)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Simon666February 17, 2010 at 9:46 PM

    And another Gil bootleg! Gil Scott-Heron – “Live In Bremen” (1983) Come get it …

    ReplyDelete
  19. trakbuvFebruary 21, 2010 at 9:33 PM

    This looks a hottie - many of my favourites in one show. Many thanks for the offering.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Simon666February 21, 2010 at 10:07 PM

    hey trakbuv, thanks for all the comments, good to see you here :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. okraAugust 12, 2010 at 1:16 AM

    I was fortunate to see GSH, back in the day... great show - so sorry that he struggled with his demons. We can certainly use his words today!

    Check out his latest, "I'm New Here" .

    ReplyDelete
  22. AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 8:27 AM

    Gil Scott-Heron - 92-08-02 Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO.rar

    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=65WGTA9W

    ReplyDelete
  23. TMATFebruary 7, 2011 at 5:34 AM

    Thanks for the rip! This is music that I work out to!

    ReplyDelete
  24. LADY ELIXMay 3, 2011 at 7:10 AM

    Great stuff. Also have a GSH birthday tribute mix. Check it out when you get a chance. Its on whosthatladymusicshow.blogspot.com

    Peace be with you!

    Lady E

    http://whosthatladymusicshow.blogspot.com/2011/04/lady-elix-presents-sign-of-ox-gil-scott.html

    ReplyDelete
  25. Simon666May 5, 2011 at 7:13 PM

    Thanks Lady Elix, I'll come check it out :)
    And thanks to all other commenters.

    ReplyDelete
  26. troodsAugust 2, 2011 at 5:27 PM

    And in flac too. Simon, you are The Man! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  27. duggDecember 4, 2011 at 7:41 AM

    Wow- what an absolutely amazing blog you have created here- a true treasury of music. i can't imagine how many hours you've put into this, but it's nice to see how many appreciators have taken the time to let you know...
    when i was a kid, GSH's music thrilled me and scared me- now i have a nephew who's getting into him, and shows like these will help him see another side of GSH's amazing skills.

    ...and it's with artists like these that the caring of curators like you and the sharing of music like this will help the work of great artists like GSH live on...

    respect!
    d

    ReplyDelete
  28. AnonymousJuly 4, 2020 at 3:22 AM

    lost this a while back so nice to see it still up here - many thanks for that, for all the other wonderful stuff you've put up over the years also.
    hope you, and anyone else reading this, are safe and well.
    cheers,
    s.

    ReplyDelete