Gil Scott-Heron initially recorded “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” for his 1970 live album, Small Talk at 125th and Lennox. Heron performed the poem about the realness of revolution before a studio audience with nothing but congas and bongos. The poem was a response to The Last Poet’s “When The Revolution Comes,” which talks about seeing revolution on television. Both artists wanted to convey the seriousness and collateral damage of the hardest societal shift and Heron did so with the verve of a jazzman. Heron recorded “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” again for his first proper album, Pieces of a Man, released in 1971. This version included drumming legend Bernard Purdie, Hubert Laws on flute, bass giant Ron Carter, Burt Jones on guitar and the beginning of a long collaborative relationship with Brian Jackson on piano. The album did better commercially than Small Talk but it did not start to make an impact until 1973, when it entered the Top Jazz Albums chart. Critics mostly ignored it save for Rolling Stone and Vince Aletti but the music was important because of Heron’s political observations and the soulful mixing of blues and jazz, all of which was a harbinger of rap music.
RCA reissued Pieces of a Man on compact disc in 1993. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” has been sampled by Common, N.E.R.D., Black Star, Queen Latifah, Travis Scott, and Big K.R.I.T. Kendrick Lamar referenced the song during his 2025 Super Bowl LIX Halftime show. Awake NY has collaborated with the Gil Scott-Heron estate for a second time to create a capsule inspired by his image and music. The 10th anniversary edition of Heron’s last album, I’m New Here, was released in February 2025.
