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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jim Connelly's
Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letter From New Orleans
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005
Monday, January 2, 2006
Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Year In Review
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Truth About America
Monday, September 5, 2005
Tryin' To Wash Us Away
Monday, August 1, 2005
A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts
Monday, July 18, 2005
Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005
Monday, April 4, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now
Friday, April 1, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
Friday, March 25, 2005
Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House
Monday, March 21, 2005
Day Three At SXSW
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors
Monday, February 14, 2005
Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004
Friday, January 14, 2005
Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 10, 2005
Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004
Friday, January 7, 2005
Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 3, 2005
Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004
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Thursday, July 12, 2001
It Breaks Your Heart
Neumu's Michael Goldberg writes: The visionary
poet/musician/activist Gil Scott-Heron is apparently in a bad way,
and it makes me feel sad. Scott-Heron was in court the other day
agreeing to enter a drug treatment program rather than go to
prison. But that's not the sad part. The sad part is that Scott-Heron
continues to deny that he has a drug problem. "Most of the people who
comment, I've never smoked a joint with," he told the Times.
He says he pleaded guilty to felony possession of cocaine so he could
fulfill touring commitments. "I had to say what I had to say to go
where I needed to go," he said. I have no idea if Scott-Heron has a
drug problem. The New York Times seems to believe he does.
"His body, if nothing else, would seem to give him away," wrote Amy
Waldman. "His cheeks are sunken, many of his teeth gone, his physique
emaciated, his deep rumbling voice sometimes slurring into
unintelligibility." His half-brother Denis Heron said, "I guess we
were hoping he would hit bottom, and we could jump in. But he's a
survivor. He's learned how to hover right above crashing." I've seen
drugs fuck up a lot of musicians over the years. Drugs destroyed Rick
James, who at one point in time was an amazing performer and
recording artist. Street Songs is a classic funk/soul album.
But freebasing led him to jail, and though he's since cleaned up, his
moment as an artist connecting with the times is probably past. Drugs
messed up Jerry Garcia and George Clinton and Sly Stone and Brian
Wilson and Keith Richards and Arthur Lee. But what I want to know is,
before the drugs messed them up, did they help those artists and many
others to create the music that we love so much? Alcohol and drugs
certainly fueled some of the great Rolling Stones recordings. Brian
Wilson was high during the making of his masterpiece, Pet
Sounds, and Rick James was smoking pot and snorting coke during
the Street Songs sessions. There were plenty of drugs in the
English, New York and L.A. punk scenes of the '70s and early '80s
— scenes that produced lots of great music — and the same
was true of Seattle in the late '80s and early '90s. There is no
formula that guarantees great art. Is it possible to separate
whatever was going on in terms of drugs and/or alcohol and the
sessions that produced great albums by Hendrix, The Doors and The
Stooges? Or the work of Nick Cave, the New York Dolls and Nirvana? I
really don't know the answer. I do know that, over time, whatever
inspiration the drugs may have provided fades, and those who continue
to use became a shell of who they once were. I know that it's been a
long time since Gil Scott-Heron made a new album, and longer still
since he's recorded work that's made me sit up and pay attention.
Perhaps that's just the way things would have gone, drugs or no
drugs. All the same, reading about him in the Times, my heart
felt heavy. Remember, this is the man who wrote "The Revolution Will
Not Be Televised." It breaks your heart, it really does.
Note: The "Captured" section of Neumu, featuring one of my
photographs each week, is now live. We've also added the refined
"44.1 kHz" album review archive to Neumu. Just use the "Archival"
link at the far right of the nav bar at the top of every page to
reach it. There are currently over 170 reviews in the archive, and
we're adding new reviews daily. Don't forget that you need to use
Explorer to properly experience Neumu.
The InsiderOne Daily
Report appears weekdays at 9 AM PST, except when it doesn't.
by Michael Goldberg
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