BLACK VINYL

Gil Scott-Heron's third album is split down the middle, the first side being a purely musical experience with a full band (including flutist Hubert Laws and drummer Pretty Purdie), the second functioning more as a live rap session with collaborator Brian Jackson on flute and a few friends on percussion. For side one, although he's overly tentative on the ballad "The Middle of Your Day," Scott-Heron excels on the title track and the third song, "The Get Out of the Ghetto Blues," one of his best, best-known performances. The second side is more of an impromptu performance, with Scott-Heron often explaining his tracks by way of introduction ("No Knock" referred to a new police policy whereby knocking was no longer required before entering a house, "And Then He Wrote Meditations" being Scott-Heron's tribute to John Coltrane). His first exploration of pure music-making, Free Will functions as one of Scott-Heron's most visceral performance, displaying a maturing artist who still draws on the raw feeling of his youth. 

A1        Free Will    3:30
A2        The Middle Of Your Day    4:30
A3        The Get Out Of The Ghetto Blues    5:04
A4        Speed Kills    3:15
A5        Did You Hear What They Said?    3:28
Poet Tree    
B1        The King Alfred Plan    2:45
B2        No Knock    2:12
B3        Wiggy    1:38
B4        Ain't No New Thing    4:29
B5        Billy Green Is Dead    1:30
B6        Sex Education: Ghetto Style    0:50
B7        ... And Then He Wrote Meditations    3:14