{"product_id":"free-will","title":"Free Will","description":"\u003cp\u003eReleased in 1971, \u003cstrong\u003eGil Scott-Heron’s\u003c\/strong\u003e second album \u003cem\u003ePieces Of A Man\u003c\/em\u003e is a stone-cold classic and rightly seen as one of the greatest albums of all time. There is a reason why a full album of songs did not appear as a follow-up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBoth producer Bob Thiele and Scott-Heron’s writing partner Brian Jackson had been keen to move forward quickly with song-based material, but Scott-Heron saw himself first and foremost as a writer. A new novel, \u003cem\u003eThe Nigger Factory\u003c\/em\u003e, would be published in 1972 and he also enrolled for writing seminars at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOnce the decision was made to combine poetry and song, sessions were booked for the 2nd and 3rd March 1972. The first session with Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie (drums), Hubert Laws (flute\/piccolo), David Spinozza (guitar), Jerry Jemmott (bass) and Brian Jackson (electric and acoustic piano) recorded the songs with Horace Ott taking care of the arrangements.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe second session was dedicated to poetry, recorded with Scott-Heron, Jackson, Eddie Knowles and Charlie Sanders from their college group Black and Blues. \u003cem\u003eFree Will\u003c\/em\u003e was released in 1972. The song side included the heart-rending Vietnam war commentary of ‘Do You Hear What They Said?’, the propulsive title track and the beautiful ‘The Middle Of Your Day’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe poetry side immerses you in the radical politics of the day via ‘No Knock’ and ‘The King Alfred Plan’, and ends with his heartfelt tribute to John Coltrane ‘...and then he wrote Meditations’. Like \u003cem\u003ePieces Of A Man\u003c\/em\u003e, it is a classic and a cornerstone of any record collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen BGP inherited the honour of looking after the Flying Dutchman legacy we discovered that, as well as being almost unparalleled in his discovery of great talent, Bob Thiele also recorded it immaculately. The label’s master tapes sounded exceptional and when it has come to our reissue series have only ever required the most minimal of EQ before transferring them onto disc.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLP+ - With this in mind Ace have embarked on a series of all analogue re-mastering projects, to bring the listener as close to the sound captured on tape as possible. The first release was \u003cstrong\u003eGil Scott-Heron’s\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003ePieces Of A Man\u003c\/em\u003e which was released early in 2023 and this second outing is \u003cem\u003eFree Will\u003c\/em\u003e. Ace took the original master tape to Frank Merritt at the Carvery who transferred the audio and mastered it before making this new cut himself. We then had it pressed on 180 gram vinyl and the only wish now is that you drop the needle, sit back and go back to 1972 to enjoy \u003cstrong\u003eGil Scott-Heron\u003c\/strong\u003e in his prime.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BGP","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50402310193483,"sku":"2169708","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50402309570891,"sku":"379431","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50402309964107,"sku":"379432","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Free_Will_80b6e5c7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726540304","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/products\/free-will","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}