Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson
Bicentennial Blues
1976 · Arista AL 5001 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson
- Title
- Bicentennial Blues
- Release
- It's Your World
- Year
- 1976
- Label
- Arista # AL 5001
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Songwriter
- Gil Scott-Heron
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Soul · Funk
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
The song "Bicentennial Blues" referred to Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon's National Security Advisor (1969-1974) and Secretary of State (1973/74), and the various wars in which he took part in the decision making. He received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Vietnam War. Kissinger remained the Secretary of State under Henry Kissinger, until the 1976 election.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: It got by Henry Kissinger / The international godfather of peace / A piece of Vietnam / A piece of Laos / A piece of Angola / A piece of Cuba / A blues quartet / And America got the blues
About the artist
Duo of poet-singer Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011) and keyboardist-flutist Brian Jackson (b. 1952, Brooklyn, New York); they met and began collaborating at Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, around 1969-70, recording together through 1980. [Source: Wikipedia] Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011), born in Chicago, but mainly based in New York, is well-known as a soul and jazz artist with cutting edge political and social spoken-word recordings, particularly on issues to do with the treatment of African-Americans. He often collaborated with Brian Jackson. Several of these spoken-word tracks referenced the…