As you would’ve read by now last week saw the passing of Gil Scott-Heron.
Our boss, Richard Russell, obviously spent a lot of time with him over the recording of the ‘I’m New Here’ album and beyond… he posted a fitting tribute here…
Richard’s Tumblr; http://richardxl.tumblr.com/
The last conversation I had with Gil Scott-Heron was on March 19 2011.
He rang me on a Saturday, the day after my birthday, I answered his call whilst browsing in Foyles bookshop in London.
We spoke for an hour. Conversation like this with GIl were a gift.
He was a father figure of sorts to me, and I learnt a huge amount of him.
Gil was not perfect in his own life. But neither is anyone else. And he judged no one.
He had a fierce intelligence, and a way with words which was untouchable; an incredible sense of humour and a gentleness and humanity that was unique to him.
Gil shunned all the trappings of fame and success. He could have had all those things. But he was greater than that.
He seemed wholly uninterested in money.
To my knowledge he never accepted an award. He always wanted everyone else to receive credit for their work.
He is the only artist I’ve ever worked with who requested that the studio engineers photo be given equal prominence to his own on his website.
(Lawson White, who engineered “I’m New Here”, shared many amazing moments with me and Gil.)
Gil meant a massive amount to me, as he did to so many people.
His talent was immense. He was a a master lyricist, singer, orator, and keyboard player.
His spirit was immense. He channeled something that people derived huge benefit from.
He was incredibly generous in how he dealt with me, encouraging me to write and
produce with him and rediscover my own creativity through him.
He never questioned my ability to do these things, even when i did.
I have shared some of the best experiences of my life with Gil, and I feel so priveleged to have known him.
In that last conversation we had, he advised me not to change who I was just because I had the opportunity to.
With that I spent the rest of the day vinyl shopping.
Rest In Peace Gil
