free will

• A reissue of Gil Scott-Heron’s 1972 album taken from the original master tapes and additionally featuring alternate takes of all but one of the album tracks as bonus material. It is released in a digipak with in-depth notes.
• The album is special as one side consists of songs – all but one written with Brian Jackson – and the flipside is of poetry. Both forms showcase the political and the personal, in a way where even the time-specific lyrics transcend their era.
• Gil and Brian are backed an all-star band consisting of Bernard Purdie, Gerry Jemmott, Hubert Laws and David Spinozza. These help bring out the pathos in the achingly sad ‘Did You Hear What They Say’ – one of Gil’s finest pieces of writing.
• Gil’s final album for Flying Dutchman, it capped a hugely creative period for him when he wrote many of his best-remembered songs.

Track Listing:

SIDE ONE

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?

SIDE TWO

1. THE KING ALFRED PLAN
2. NO KNOCK
3. WIGGY
4. AIN’T NO NEW THING
5. BILLY GREEN IS DEAD
6. SEX EDUCATION: GHETTO STYLE
7. ….AND THEN HE WROTE MEDITATIONS