FREE WILL

Personnel: Gil Scott-Heron (vocals, spoken vocals); Horace Ott (conductor); Brian Jackson (vocals, flute, acoustic & electric pianos, bells); Hubert Laws (piccolo, flute); David Spinozza (guitar); Gerry Jemmott (bass); Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (drums); Eddie Knowles, Charlie Saunders (congas, bongos, cowbell, agogo). Producer: Bob Thiele. Reissue producer: Ben Young. Recorded at RCA Studios, New York, New York on March 2-3, 1972. Originally released on Flying Dutchman (10153). Includes original liner notes by Gil Scott-Heron and reissue liner notes by Robin D. G. Kelley. Digitally remastered by Michael O. Drexler. This is part of Bluebird's First Editions series. Gil Scott-Heron's third album is split down the middle, the first side being a purely musical experience with a full band (including flutist Hubert Laws and drummer Pretty Purdie), the second functioning more as a live rap session with collaborator Brian Jackson on flute and a few friends on percussion. For side one, although he's overly tentative on the ballad "The Middle of Your Day," Scott-Heron excels on the title track and the third song, "The Get Out of the Ghetto Blues," one of his best, best-known performances. The second side is more of an impromptu performance, with Scott-Heron often explaining his tracks by way of introduction ("No Knock" referred to a new police policy whereby knocking was no longer required before entering a house, "And Then He Wrote Meditations" being Scott-Heron's tribute to John Coltrane). His first exploration of pure music-making, Free Will functions as one of Scott-Heron's most visceral performance, displaying a maturing artist who still draws on the raw feeling of his youth. The Bluebird reissue from 2001 includes eight alternate takes, best being an alternate of the title track. ~ John Bush