How would we ever get over...?
2007-12-13 by Tommy SqueakerGil Scott Heron – We Almost Lost Detroit
Digging around on youtube the other day, I came across a clip of our man Kenny Dixon Jr playing this at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2000. Gil Scott Heron is obviously something of a hero for KDJ as he samples him on one of his classics; the monologue at the start of Amerika is from Bicentennial Blues. The rather beautiful dubbed out twinkly organ on the featured tune appears in a Moodymann produced Norma Jean Bell cut that I’ll get round to popping up here soon but given my current posting rate, don’t go holding your breath.
I saw Gil Scott Heron when I was back at college in the early 90s. He spent most of the show on his own with his keyboard and it was captivating stuff indeed. There was a lot of shouting “play The Bottle!” – he obliged right at the end – but his formidable poetic talent was apparent throughout. We Almost Lost Detroit from 1977 refers to an accident at a nuclear facility, but it’s poignant when you see shots of parts of the city stagnating and puts me in mind of the words of UR supremo Mike Banks on the state of his hometown. It’s its grand musical legacy that allows it to stand tall in the world, no thanks to the politicians I daresay. How glad are we that we didn’t lose it?
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Comments 
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i rock this track all the time when i play funk and soul sets, it's one of my favorite GSH tracks up there with "the revolution will not be televised", "the klan", etc.
Beautiful, beautiful stuff.
Beautiful, beautiful stuff.
Great tune. A Dilla Donut too. Obviously a Detroit favourite.
Great tune. A Dilla Donut too. Obviously a Detroit favourite.
one of the greatest tracks ever written