Small Talk at 125th and Lenox
1970 live album by Gil Scott-Heron
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A New Black Poet – Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, also known simply as Small Talk at 125th and Lenox,[5] is a live album and the first release of recording artist Gil Scott-Heron, released in 1970 on Flying Dutchman Records.[6] Recording sessions for the album were originally said to have taken place live at a New York nightclub located on the corner of 125th Street and Lenox Avenue,[5] but liner notes included in the 2012 box set The Revolution Begins: The Flying Dutchman Masters, Scott-Heron himself insists that a small audience was brought to "the studio" and seated on "folding chairs".[7] By the time of the recordings, Scott-Heron had published a volume of poetry and his first novel, The Vulture.[8] Well received by music critics, who found Scott-Heron's material imaginative,[2][4] Small Talk at 125th and Lenox has been described as "a volcanic upheaval of intellectualism and social critique" by AllMusic editor John Bush.[1]
| Small Talk at 125th and Lenox | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 1970 | |||
| Venue | 125th & Lenox Nightclub (New York, New York) | |||
| Genre | Jazz poetry, proto-rap, spoken word | |||
| Length | 44:01 | |||
| Label | Flying Dutchman/RCA FD-10143 | |||
| Producer | Bob Thiele | |||
| Gil Scott-Heron chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
 2001 reissue cover | ||||
Track listing
All tracks are written by Gil Scott-Heron.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Introduction/The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" | 3:17 |
| 2. | "Omen" | 1:45 |
| 3. | "Brother" | 2:35 |
| 4. | "Comment #1" | 4:26 |
| 5. | "Small Talk at 125th & Lenox" | 1:20 |
| 6. | "The Subject Was Faggots" | 3:10 |
| 7. | "Evolution (And Flashback)" | 3:20 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Plastic Pattern People" | 2:50 |
| 2. | "Whitey on the Moon" | 1:57 |
| 3. | "The Vulture" | 2:00 |
| 4. | "Enough" | 8:37 |
| 5. | "Paint It Black" | 0:30 |
| 6. | "Who'll Pay Reparations on My Soul?" | 4:20 |
| 7. | "Everyday" | 4:20 |
- "Who'll Pay Reparations on My Soul?" runs at 5:14 on CD reissue.[5]
Personnel
- David Barnes – percussion, vocals
- Charlie Saunders, Eddie Knowles – congas
- Gil Scott-Heron – guitar, piano, vocals
- Technical
- Charles Stewart – cover art
- Bob Thiele – producer
Legacy
"Comment #1" is prominently sampled in the songs "Lost in the World" and “Who Will Survive In America” from Kanye West’s fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010).
Leon Bridges performed a new rendition of "Whitey on the Moon" in the 2018 Damien Chazelle film First Man, which was also included on the film's soundtrack album.[9]