ABOUT THIS ITEM

By the late 80s years of substance abuse had left Gil Scott-Heron rotten-toothed and out of it a lot of the time. In 1987 he missed a gig at London's Town & Country Club completely, turning up long after the venue had shut. The T&CC stuck with him though, booking him again in 1988 and hoping for the best. By then he'd gained a new manager, Freddie Cousaert, who had been responsible for turning the career of Marvin Gaye round in the early 80s, getting him off cocaine and back into the studio. Gil might not have stuck to the straight and narrow in the years to come, but he was most in his element at live shows, and for this night he was on top form, running through old favourites like "Home Is Where The Hatred Is", "Save The Children", "Winter In America", "Angel Dust" and "Johannesburg", as well as chatting to the crowd and telling stories between songs.