Secrets (Gil Scott-Heron album)

Secrets
Studio album by Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson
Released September 1978
Recorded April–June 1978
Studio Tonto, Santa Monica, California[1]
Genre Jazz, protest music
Length 37:38
Label Arista
Producer Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson
Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson chronology
Bridges
(1977)Bridges1977		 Secrets
(1978)		 1980
(1980)19801980

Secrets is a 1978 studio album by American vocalist Gil Scott-Heron and keyboardist Brian Jackson.

Release and reception

Secrets was released in September 1978 by Arista Records[2] and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard magazine's jazz chart on September 9.[3] According to Arista executive Clive Davis, the album was Scott-Heron's first since 1975's The First Minute of a New Day to reach the top 100 of Billboard's top albums chart, while the single "Angel Dust" nearly became a hit.[4]

In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave Secrets a "B+" and lamented the lack of hooks on songs such as "Third World Revolution", but appreciated "Show Bizness"'s "tribulations-of-stardom" theme and "educational refrain". His main point of praise was for Scott-Heron's political flair, writing that he "stokes the protest-music flame more generously than any son of Woody, and in sheer agitprop terms 'Angel Dust,' one of those black-radio hits that somehow never crossed over, is his triumph--haunting music of genuine political usefulness."[5] People magazine appreciated the record's jazz sounds from Jackson and the Midnight Band, while calling Secrets "another angry, robust collection of song-poems, this time exploring injustice, drug addiction and revolution".[6] Colin Larkin gave the album three out of five stars in his Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music (2002),[7] while AllMusic's album entry assigned it three-and-a-half stars.[2]

The album track "Better Days Ahead" was later reworked and released on Scott-Heron's 2014 posthumous compilation Nothing New.[8]

Track listing

All tracks written by Gil Scott-Heron, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Angel Dust" 4:13
2."Madison Avenue"Scott-Heron, Brenda Morocco, Brian Jackson3:06
3."Cane" 3:31
4."Third World Revolution"Scott-Heron, Jackson4:22
5."Better Days Ahead" 3:28
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Three Miles Down"Scott-Heron, Jackson4:18
7."Angola, Louisiana" 5:32
8."Show Bizness" 2:48
9."A Prayer For Everybody / To Be Free"Jackson6:20
Total length:37:38

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[1]

  • Gil Scott-Heron – production, vocals, rhythm piano (tracks 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8)
  • Brian Jackson – production, flute, piano, keyboard bass (synthesizer), TONTO synthesizer, drums (tracks 3 and 4)
  • Malcolm Cecil – associate producer, production assistance, engineering, and mixing
  • Lenny Peterzell – production assistance, engineering, and mixing
  • Barnett "The Doctor" Williams – congas, Batá drums, assorted percussion
  • Leon Williams – tenor saxophone (tracks 4 and 9)
  • Harvey Mason – drums (tracks 2, 6, 7, and 8)
  • Greg Phillinganes – electric piano, Polymoog synthesizer, TONTO synthesizer
  • Alvin Taylor – drums (track 1)
  • Ralph Penland – drums (tracks 5 and 9)
  • Julia Waters – backing vocals
  • Marti McCall – backing vocals
  • Maxine Waters Waddell – backing vocals
Technical
  • Donn Davenport – art direction
  • Trevor Brown – photography

Charts

Chart (1978–79) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200[9] 61
U.S. Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[10] 11
U.S. Top Soul Albums (Billboard)[11] 45

References

  1. 1 2 Secrets (vinyl LP liner notes). Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson. Arista Records. 1978. AB 4189.
  2. 1 2 "Secrets - Brian Jackson,Gil Scott-Heron". AllMusic. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  3. ↑ Anon. (September 2, 1978). "Jazz". Billboard. p. 50. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  4. ↑ Davis, Clive (2013). "Gil Scott-Heron and Ghostbusters". The Soundtrack of My Life. Simon & Schuster. p. 255. ISBN 1476714797. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert (January 29, 1979). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Picks and Pans Review: Secrets". People. October 16, 1978. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  7. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2002). "Gil Scott-Heron". The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 389. ISBN 1852279478.
  8. ↑ Carroll, Jim (April 17, 2015). "Gil Scott-Heron: Nothing New". The Irish Times. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Gil Scott-Heron - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  10. ↑ Anon. (September 23, 1978). "Jazz". p. 62. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  11. ↑ Anon. (February 17, 1979). "Billboard Soul LPs". Billboard. p. 59. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
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