Secrets (Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson album)

Secrets is a 1978 studio album by American vocalist Gil Scott-Heron and keyboardist Brian Jackson.

Secrets
Studio album by
Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson
ReleasedSeptember 1978
RecordedApril–June 1978
StudioTonto, Santa Monica, California[1]
GenreJazz, disco, dance
Length37:38
LabelArista
ProducerGil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson
Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson chronology
Bridges
(1977)		 Secrets
(1978)		 1980
(1980)

Release and reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Christgau's Record GuideB+[2]

Secrets was released in September 1978 by Arista Records[3] and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard magazine's jazz chart on September 9.[4] According to Arista executive Clive Davis, the album was Scott-Heron's first since 1975's The First Minute of a New Day to reach the top 100 of Billboard's top albums chart, while the single "Angel Dust" nearly became a hit.[5]

Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1979, Robert Christgau lamented the lack of hooks on songs such as "Third World Revolution" but appreciated "Show Bizness"'s "tribulations-of-stardom" theme and "educational refrain". His main point of praise was for Scott-Heron's political flair, writing that he "stokes the protest-music flame more generously than any son of Woody, and in sheer agitprop terms 'Angel Dust,' one of those black-radio hits that somehow never crossed over, is his triumph--haunting music of genuine political usefulness."[6] People magazine appreciated the record's jazz sounds from Jackson and the Midnight Band, while calling Secrets "another angry, robust collection of song-poems, this time exploring injustice, drug addiction and revolution".[7] Tristan Bath of The Quietus later said it departed from the jazz chords, faint keyboard, and Afrocentric themes of Scott-Heron and Jackson's previous recordings together in favor of "disco and futurist dance music tropes".[8] Colin Larkin gave the album three out of five stars in his Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music (2002).[9] AllMusic assigned it three-and-a-half stars on its website and three stars in the print All Music Guide to Soul, but omitted a review in both instances.[3][10]

The album track "Better Days Ahead" was later reworked and released on Scott-Heron's 2014 posthumous compilation Nothing New.[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gil Scott-Heron, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Angel Dust" 4:13
2."Madison Avenue"Scott-Heron, Brenda Morocco, Brian Jackson3:06
3."Cane" 3:31
4."Third World Revolution"Scott-Heron, Jackson4:22
5."Better Days Ahead" 3:28
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Three Miles Down"Scott-Heron, Jackson4:18
7."Angola, Louisiana" 5:32
8."Show Bizness" 2:48
9."A Prayer For Everybody / To Be Free"Jackson6:20
Total length:37:38

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[1]

  • Gil Scott-Heron – production, vocals, rhythm piano (tracks 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8)
  • Brian Jackson – production, flute, piano, keyboard bass (synthesizer), TONTO synthesizer, drums (tracks 3 and 4)
  • Malcolm Cecil – associate producer, production assistance, engineering, and mixing
  • Lenny Peterzell – production assistance, engineering, and mixing
  • Barnett "The Doctor" Williams – congas, Batá drums, assorted percussion
  • Leon Williams – tenor saxophone (tracks 4 and 9)
  • Harvey Mason – drums (tracks 2, 6, 7, and 8)
  • Greg Phillinganes – electric piano, Polymoog synthesizer, TONTO synthesizer
  • Alvin Taylor – drums (track 1)
  • Ralph Penland – drums (tracks 5 and 9)
  • Julia Waters – backing vocals
  • Marti McCall – backing vocals
  • Maxine Waters Waddell – backing vocals
Technical
  • Donn Davenport – art direction
  • Trevor Brown – photography

Charts
Chart (1978–79) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200[12] 61
U.S. Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[13] 11
U.S. Top Soul Albums (Billboard)[14] 45

References
  1. Secrets (vinyl LP liner notes). Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson. Arista Records. 1978. AB 4189.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. "Secrets - Brian Jackson,Gil Scott-Heron". AllMusic. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  4. Anon. (September 2, 1978). "Jazz". Billboard. p. 50. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  5. Davis, Clive (2013). "Gil Scott-Heron and Ghostbusters". The Soundtrack of My Life. Simon & Schuster. p. 255. ISBN 978-1476714790. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  6. Christgau, Robert (January 29, 1979). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  7. "Picks and Pans Review: Secrets". People. October 16, 1978. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  8. Bath, Tristan (November 26, 2014). "Cold Comfort: Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson's Winter In America". The Quietus. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  9. Larkin, Colin (2002). "Gil Scott-Heron". The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 389. ISBN 1852279478.
  10. Bogdanov, Vladimir; Bush, John; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas, eds. (2003). "Gil Scott-Heron". All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 604. ISBN 0879307447.
  11. Carroll, Jim (April 17, 2015). "Gil Scott-Heron: Nothing New". The Irish Times. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  12. "Gil Scott-Heron - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  13. Anon. (September 23, 1978). "Jazz". p. 62. Retrieved January 28, 2017. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  14. Anon. (February 17, 1979). "Billboard Soul LPs". Billboard. p. 59. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
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