GIL SCOT HERON - FREE WILL

There is a reason why a full album of songs did not appear as a follow-up. Both Thiele and Scott-Heron’s writing partner Brian Jackson had been keen to move forward quickly with song-based material, but Scott-Heron saw himself first and foremost as a writer. A new novel, The N*gger Factory, would be published in 1972 and he also enrolled for writing seminars at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

With this is mind we have embarked on a series of all analogue re-mastering projects, to bring the listener as close to the sound captured on tape as possible. Our first release was Gil Scott-Heron’s “Pieces Of A Man” which was released early in 2023 and this second outing is “Free Will”. We took the original master tape to Frank Merritt at the Carvery who transferred the audio and mastered it before making this new cut himself. We then had it pressed on 180 gram vinyl and our only wish now is that you drop the needle, sit back and go back to 1972 to enjoy Gil Scott-Heron in his prime.

1. Free Will
2. The Middle of the Day
3. The Get Out of the Ghetto Blues
4. Speed Kills
5. Did You Hear What They Said?
6. The King Alfred Plan
7. No Knock
8. Wiggy
9. Ain't No New Thing
10. Billy Green is Dead
11. Sex Education: Ghetto Style
12. ...and Then He Wrote Meditations