| features in: Album Chart of 1976 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1970s |
Now firmly settled in to their new home at Arista, this set gains a whole point on its predecesor, “The First Minute Of A New Day”, benefitting from being less fussy, less busy. My favoured cut is the mid-tempo groover “Johannesburg”, which, in a measured fashion (he's maturing!), stares down apartheid: “Well, I hate it when the blood starts flowin', but I'm glad to see resistance growin'.” Wide awake, Scott-Heron is on-point way before it was fashionable to be so. The first warm ripples of the morning sun close side one via “Beginnings (The First Minutes Of A New Day)”; the body may be temporarily relaxed but the struggle lies ahead. Ain't that a universal and personal truth! The albums politically themed title is realised on “South Carolina”, an anti-nuclear protest song, urging folks to wake up and smell the coffee: “I heard they’re building a factory down in South Carolina, With a death potential that’s uncontrolled by government designers, It would house atomic waste and be a constant reminder, That they got a great big timebomb ticking in South Carolina, Said whatever happened to the protests and the rage? Whatever happened to the voices of the sane? Whatever happened to the people who gave a damn? Didn’t they just apply to dying in the jungle of Vietnam?” Wow. “They got no respect for human life in South Carolina.” He jabs like a champ. Respect.
The Jukebox Rebel
23–Mar–2011
| Tracklist |
| A1 | [04:52]  Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson - Johannesburg (Gil Scott-Heron) Disco / Funk |
| A2 | [05:47]  Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson - A Toast To The People (Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson) R n B |
| A3 | [04:42]  Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson - The Summer Of ‘42 (Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson) Disco / Funk |
| A4 | [06:23]  Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson - Beginnings (The First Minutes Of A New Day) (Gil Scott-Heron) R n B |
| B1 | [03:45]  Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson - South Carolina (Gil Scott-Heron) R n B |
| B2 | [09:17]  Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson - Essex (Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson, Victor Brown, Bilal Sunni Ali, Danny Bowens, Bob Adams, Charlie Saunders, Barnett Williams, Adenola) Jazz |
| B3 | [04:30] Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson - Fell Together (Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson) R n B |
| B4 | [03:29]  Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson - A Lovely Day (Gil Scott-Heron) R n B |
