The Last Holiday: A Memoir

by Gil Scott-Heron

"Engrossing and even at times uplifting, Scott-Heron's self-portrait grants us insights into one of the most influential African American musicians of his generation." --Booklist

The stunning memoir of Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Holiday has been praised for bringing back to life one of the most important voices of the last fifty years. The Last Holiday provides a remarkable glimpse into Scott-Heron's life and times, from his humble beginnings to becoming one of the most influential artists of his generation.

The memoir climaxes with a historic concert tour in which Scott-Heron's band opened for Stevie Wonder. The Hotter than July tour traveled cross-country from late 1980 through early 1981, drumming up popular support for the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. King's birthday, January 15, was marked with a massive rally in Washington.

A fitting testament to the achievements of an extraordinary man, The Last Holiday provides a moving portrait of Scott-Heron's relationship with his mother, personal recollections of Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Clive Davis, and other musical figures, and a compelling narrative vehicle for Scott-Heron's insights into the music industry, the civil rights movement, governmental hypocrisy, and our wider place in the world. The Last Holiday confirms Scott-Heron as a fearless truth-teller, a powerful artist, and an inspiring observer of his times.

"Leave it to Scott-Heron to save some of his best for last. This posthumously published memoir is an elegiac culmination to his musical and literary career. He's a real writer, a word man, and it is as wriggling and vital in its way as Bob Dylan's Chronicles: Volume One." --The New York Times

"Even after his death, Scott-Heron continues to mesmerize us in this brilliant and lyrical romp through the fields of his life. . . . [A] captivating memoir." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

Genres: Music, Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Poetry, African American, Autobiography

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 3, 2012

About the author

Gilbert Scott Heron was born in 1949. His mother was a librarian and his father a soccer player from Jamaica. In his youth Heron displayed both sporting prowess and academic ability (he won a place at Pennsylvania Lincoln University, like his role model Langston Hughes, the Harlem Renaissance man). But he quit college after the first year to write his first novel, The Vulture (1970). While Heron was writing this the ferment of black politics and student radicalism was coming to a head, and his second novel The Nigger Factory (1972) reflects these developments.
Heron has been more adventurous in his work as a musician and rapper.

Reviews

[Andre(Read-A-Lot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Gil Scott-Heron for all of my adult life. So, just to have these remembrances of Gil is exhilarating. It is not really a memoir, but more of a look at events and times of his early career. The central event of this book is the tour he did with Stevie Wonder. There is discussion of his childhood, teen years, and the beginning of his musical journey. The missing parts are of his later life, it would have been interesting to hear Gil in his humorous poetic language explain his darker days. However, having said that, the poetic interludes and his use of language in this book highlights why he became such a favorite of people who loved messages in their music. I'm sure a biography of Gil is on the way, but I'm not sure it will surpass this collection of thoughts and writing from the man himself. I was listening to "Winter in America" as I was reading this book and that added to the magic that was Gil Scott-Heron. Kudos to the editors for putting this together. Well done! Readers take advantage and enjoy the journey.

[Philipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don't know who Gil Scott-Heron was, I recommend the following: Go to a party, get drunk, have fun. Then, when you come home, it's 4 am or 5 am, have your post-party melancholy - open the beer you stole when you left, realise that it's already Sunday and you have to go to work or uni again soon, realise that you're alone and lonely, realise that you've grown apart from your family, realise that perhaps you were never that close in the first place, realise that you're incapable of closeness and warmth, realise that you'll die alone. Then put on Scott-Heron's last album, I'm New Here, because it will help.

Despite the lack of mementos and photos from those early years, I can reach down into a barrel, it seems, and bring up scraps of yesterdays once tossed aside like gum wrappers. The raw feelings, like shock or sharp pain, or fear suddenly grabbing your heart, are closest to the top, easiest to reach. They return to me unbidden at times.

His earlier music is more angry, political, funk/jazz/proto-hip-hop, there's a good chance you've listened to his 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised', either sampled in a song or the original. This autobiography here is a series of autobiographical essays, loosely connected, of which the majority is set in the 70s and 80s. As the afterword says, Scott-Heron initially started to write this because he was annoyed how little credit Stevie Wonder got for Wonder's fight to have Martin Luther King's birthday recognised as a public holiday, a fight in which Gil Scott-Heron was frequently involved. From there it branched out - since this book is posthumously compiled and released, there was a lot of earlier and later material that could be added together - and it became a quasi-autobiography.

'Quasi' because some of the essays/chapters jump by ten years, and often I had no clue what he was talking about as the essay's focus wasn't 'what was I doing in my life' but 'what was happening on the day X happened', for example, 'what was it like touring with Stevie Wonder, the day John Lennon was killed' (that's a whole chapter). That approach turns the book into a pastiche, if you're here to learn more about the man's life, chances are that you won't be helped. For that it's too impressionistic, too much essay, too little chronological

Personally, I loved the beginning much more than the end - where he described his upbringing, his family:

Love was not an active verb in my family or in my life. There were few demonstrations, few hugs and embraces, and few declarations among us about love. I was a full-grown adult who had been married, a father, and divorced before I consciously put “I love you” into conversations with my mother, before I made sure I got a hug from her and gave her a big hug each time we met. I can’t remember ever hearing “I love you” pass between the generations of Scotts that preceded me. Or recall with any clarity hearing those words from them to me or being inspired to say those words to them. Yet I can’t imagine there being more warmth and laughter shared with genuine empathy and respect and consideration and . . . but not affection. Our codes and slang

and you learn how tremendously driven the man must have been when he was young - going to a private school on a scholarship, running odd jobs on the weekends and the nights to survive, then going to a famous university, only to drop out after a year to write a novel with no money or financial family support - then to actually finish that novel, get it to his dream publisher, have $2000 dollars advance 1960s money offered (!), then to walk away because the publisher wanted to change too much. Could you have done that in your early 20s? I couldn't.

Recommended for: people into Gil Scott-Heron or 70s/80s African-American music scene, people who come from broken homes

Bonus quote!

All I can say is that if the truth is important to you, understand that most things of value have to be worked for, sought out, thought about, and brought about after effort worthy of the great value it will add to your life. It will come at a great price. The time and sweat invested in that pursuit may cost you in hours and days you cannot use in other directions. It may cost you relationships that you would give almost anything else to develop, with someone who cannot stand to come in second to anything. The passion with which you commit yourself to something intangible may well turn away the very support that could sustain you.

[Will Hermes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great musician, poet, cultural voice. Wish he was still around to do a book tour.

[Todd N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought at City Lights Bookstore (motto: We have no humor section!) as a reward for surviving yet another week on Earth.

I am a big fan of Gil Scott-Heron. When July 20th rolls around each year, I confess that my thoughts are more A rat done bit my sister, Nell than That's one small step for man. I may not have a red, black and green liberation jumpsuit that I have been saving for just the proper occasion, but I will occasionally refer to one. Winter In America with Brian Jackson is near the top of my top 10 albums list.

I was excited when I read that his memoir about touring with Stevie Wonder was released, but I wasn't sure what reading it would be like

Listening to some of Mr. Scott-Heron's most famous work like Re-Ron and The Revolution Won't Be Televised is sort of like being heckled by a comedian: I'm laughing along with the fun, while at the same time I'm uncomfortable having the spotlight directly on me. I sense frustration but not malice behind the humor and the verbal play. (Sort of like one of Jello Biafra's spoken word tapes, only with humor, talent, musicianship, a sense of language, and something to say.)

Some of his songs, like "Home Is Where The Hatred Is," "The Bottle," and "Your Daddy Loves You," dispense with the humor and cut straight into a core of loneliness and addiction to a point much deeper than race.

This is a wildly uneven book, assembled from scraps of writing from different periods of his life and from different points of view. The editor has a weird little section at the end saying basically, "Hey, we did what we can."

I would still recommend reading it because it provides a lot of insights about an important American poet and musician, even though you will have to dig for them. I really liked the section about his decision to take a leave of absence after his first year of college to write a novel. It's as good a description of the creative impulse and it effect on personal relationships as you are going to find this side of Lives Of The Great Composers.

It's interesting that Mr. Scott-Heron and my dad both had their childhood homes bulldozed to make way for a freeway bypass. I propose that America give medals, a tax break, and possibly a parade for anyone who's childhood home is now a freeway. At the very least they should be part of a longitudinal sociological study. It's about as definitive a marker of class as you are going to find in America.

My main disappointment with this book is that there are only a few chapters about him touring with Stevie Wonder. Most people don't know this, but in 1980/1981 Stevie Wonder went on a 16 week tour campaigning for a national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King, culminating in a rally in Washington D.C. on his birthday. Gil Scott-Heron was only supposed to join the tour for a few weeks, but he joined permanently when Bob Marley got the cancer.

I was very happy for the candid view of Stevie Wonder in this book -- jokester, genius, activist, and I wish there could have been more. "Scientists are still trying to work out his chord changes," I once heard Berry Gordy say in an interview about Stevie.

He is a personal hero of mine, and I admire the way he used his influence and energy to help create a national holiday. And in the early days of Reagan, no less. (This is one of the meanings of the title, "The Last Holiday," by the way.)

The connection between Gil Scott-Heron and Stevie Wonder seems obvious to me now, though I may not have made it before reading this book.

Stevie is not generally known for being an activist these days, but now that I think about it even a glancing acquaintance with his work puts him much closer to The Last Poets and Mr. Scott-Heron. For example, check out his album Talking Book. As Superstition, his biggest radio hit, is fading out a new song called Big Brother fades in almost like a coda. Sample lyric: You killed all our leaders. I don't even have to do nothing to you. You'll cause your own country to fall. After hearing that, the lyrics to Superstition suddenly take on a different meaning. When you believe in things that you don't understand you will suffer, indeed.

So check this book out of the library and feel free to skip around. Some parts are overwritten, and some parts are like being lectured by a black Bukowski, only much wittier, at the end of a long day spent drinking, but it is ultimately an important document of late 60's through late 80's soul music.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I damn near cried when Gil Scott died.
I was channel surfing on the radio when I caught the tail end of one of his songs. I was surprised that he was on the radio and I was pleased, but when they followed with another Gil Scott song I knew that he had passed. Sure enough the Dj dedicated the hour to the Late Great Gil Scott Heron. I have been anticipating this book since he mentioned it at a concert he gave a couple of years ago. He said that he was working on a book about Stevie Wonder and his bid to make the MLK holiday. I was pleasantly surprise to find out that it is a memoir. Overall this was a peek into his life as an artist but it was obviously written at a distance, as if to keep his personal life personal, which I respect.

[Joost · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the scenarios that Gil sketched of his growing up and going to college in different parts of the US, which gave an interesting view of the US collegelife from the 70s onward, from an afro-american point of view. However a significant part of the book was about recording, rehearsing and touring with the Midnight Band and The Amnesia Express as supportive act for Stevie Wonder’s Hotter Than July tour, which could not grasp me as much as the first part did. The encounters with other artists (among which Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley) and the dynamics between Gil, Brian Jackson, and their band members kept the story going. Gil’s view and effort for the Black Power movement in the 70s, 80s and 90s were refreshing to read since I have only read them before through his fiction novels. In addition most of the Black Power movement is written through Stevie Wonder’s efforts and his admiration for Martin Luther King.
The sometimes complex and dreary writing in the second half of the book made me doubt between 3 and 4 stars. If you’re a fan of Gil Scott-Heron however, this is an absolute must read and no doubt the story is going to get you carried away.

[jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

before his death in 2011, the great gil scott-heron was enjoying somewhat of a resurgence in popularity and success. his 2010 album, i'm new here (his first in 16 years), was released to wide acclaim from fans and critics alike, and both of his novels, 1970's the vulture and 1972's the nigger factory, were about to find there way back into print. as a new generation of listeners were discovering the poet/musician/protorapper's nearly two dozen albums, scott-heron emerged from a tumultuous decade marked by drugs and prison.

scott-heron began writing some form of the last holiday in the 90s, originally about his 1980-81 tour opening in support of stevie wonder and wonder's ongoing efforts to have martin luther king jr's birthday recognized as a national holiday. cannongate books, scott-heron's longtime uk publisher, was set to publish the book in 2003, but it never came to fruition. around the same time, scott-heron began reworking the book as a first-person narrative, keeping the stevie wonder/mlk material, but expanding it in an autobiographical vein more inclusive of his childhood and early career.

scott-heron's memoir begins with his early years in jackson, tennessee and his experiences with the racism one would expect out of the 1950's south. upon his move to the bronx just prior to his teenage years, his life appeared on the cusp of a trajectory that would lead to his success as both musician and writer. as he chronicles some of the more important events of his young life, it is evident that scott-heron, despite some adversity, was both creative and ambitious. he reflects on his time at college (as an undergrad and graduate student), especially when he, with the aid of his fellow students, closed down the campus in response to inadequate health care facilities that contributed to the deaths of at least two students.

at times, the writing in the last holiday is strong and characteristic of the talent he had displayed previously in his novels, poetry, and songs, yet elsewhere it reads as hurried and sometimes uninspired. when scott-heron allows his prose to flow, however, marked by his trademark alliteration and rhythmic incorporation of verse, his writing often shines. when describing his love and admiration for stevie wonder (whom affectionately referred to him as "aries"), it is apparent that scott-heron held him in great regard and respected his work deeply.

the last holiday, in its final form, is a somewhat disjointed memoir, full of anecdotes sometimes seemingly chosen at random. scott-heron omits almost entirely any insight into the last twenty years of his life, save for a brief chapter dealing with the passing of his mother (and the subsequent realizations he came to about his lifelong troubles dealing with love and intimacy). nowhere does he mention his problems with crack cocaine, his resulting imprisonments, or his hiv diagnosis. little insight is offered into the personal struggles that scott-heron presumably battled and often overcame. a bit more self-reflection or introspection would have perhaps revealed a side of him inaccessible from his music alone. omissions aside, the last holiday is an illuminating book about one of our greatest and most influential artists.

sociology and every other inexact approximate science of odds and oddly negative prognostication be damned. those sciences of vague, uneven basis and potential seemed to have been discovered to generalize and generally discourage humankind from being the kind of humans they could really be.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apparently, GSH had been writing this memoir off and on for the last twenty years or so. It covers sections of his life and is far from linear. If there is a focal point to The Last Holiday it's his involvement with Stevie Wonder in trying to get Congress to establish MLK Day in the early 80's. For me, the reflections on his childhood in Tennessee and New York up to the point he started making music full-time was the most interesting. It's very touching to read his portrayal of the maternal grandmother that raised him until he was 12. She was a black woman who did not put up with racist, white bull shit, even in the midst of the oppressive mid-century rural South. Also, I knew that he had a strong educational background (he won full academic scholarships to both his high school and college based on his writing talents), but when you add up the fact(s) that he had published three books (two novels, one poetry collection) and was teaching graduate-level English by the time he was 24 - all before he'd even thought of being a full-time musician - his achievements become that much more impressive.

The way this memoir was written is very disjointed at times, but strangely it gave The Last Holiday a certain emotional depth that, in a way, filled the void left by huge gaps in the story of his life that were left out. I got the impression that this is what GSH felt that his fans needed to know and that anything extra would have been just that. Some of the briefest fragments of his life were among my favorites. The interactions he had with his mother were both touching and sad. She criticized him freely throughout his entire life, and while he appreciated her honesty, he admits - in a crushingly eloquent and somber self-reflection that closes the book - that he never felt that he received true love from her, and consequently, never knew how to love others in the relationships he held in life. Knowing what we know now, that he died from complications related to AIDS and that he struggled with drug addiction in the latter half of his life, this search for acceptance and self-worth takes on a greater resonance.

His life story, or what we are privy to, is truly a unique glimpse at a young, politically, emotionally, and especially intellectually aware young black man who would not, could not be manipulated into being anything else. His best music alone should ensure that he's a household name, but the fact that he didn't play the game (particularly in Nixon/Ford/Reagan white society) will probably guarantee that this will never happen. I still remember going to see him solo on a whim at the theater at the end of my alley in 2009. Though obviously very sick, he still brought the goods and maintained the charisma that oozes out of his prose. He was a true Renaissance man and his shoes cannot be filled.

[Phil Overeem · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointment. While the first half's a four-star book, when the narrative arrives at GSH's musical career, it spirals downward. Like other similarly-disappointing memoirs (Nile Rodgers', for instance), there's virtually NOTHING on the inspiration and process that leads to "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," "Home is Where the Hatred Is" (it's already been written and is being covered by Esther Phillips when we first hear of it), "Winter in America"--if you're still reading this, you know the list goes on. Also, Gil's prose style strains at puns and other wordplay rather awkwardly and makes the reading rough going in patches. I've read that the book was cobbled together from manuscripts Gil left behind, and, unfortunately, that's what it reads like.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth star is not because the book merits four stars; it doesn't. That last star is simply because this was the last thing Gil Scott-Heron left us, unfinished though it is, and also as a token of respect for his immeasurably great body of work in both words & music. That work has meant a great deal to me since I was just a kid, and also (probably even more) to my long-time friend, sometime chess opponent, jazz LP trading partner, role model and "adopted big brother" Larry Gamble, who was listening to 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' on his car stereo, on a sunny late spring day in downtown Detroit, when I first met him roughly 25 years ago. If Gil Scott-Heron had lived to finish this book, it would no doubt merit 40 stars rather than four...

[Loring Wirbel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even knowing what a powerful wordsmith Scott-Heron was, it was a pleasant surprise and a bit of a relief to discover how readable this memoir is, given the years Scott-Heron spent facing the challenges of drugs, a stroke, and HIV. Yes, much of it was written during his more lucid years, and yes, Tim Mohr and Jamie Byng played a big role in giving the book a coherent flow. Still, many of the book's strengths belong to Gil and Gil alone.

For one thing, Scott-Heron's encyclopedic political knowledge could have made this book a manifesto, but instead we have a personal narrative, one in which he assumes the reader knows and agrees with his political positions. It is all the more stronger for not focusing on global topics, but on his own life and relationships. The stories of growing up in Jackson, Tenn., and the educational choices his mother steered him into are intriguing.

While Scott-Heron never had a weak ego, his ambitions and self-glorifications were tempered by the fact that he never had a grand plan for success, like so many musicians and celebrities. He made ad-hoc intuitive decisions that seemed to lead in the right direction, yet even by his third album, he still envisioned himself moving more into academia than music. I admire the public figure that operates by intuition and auto-pilot, more than the one who sets out life goals as a script to be acted, whether successfully or full of errors. Occasionally, this spontaneity could lead to Scott-Heron running roughshod over others, which he gently hints at in certain passages, without being specific - but it shows that he could be self-critical when he chose to do so.

The publisher mentions that the intent of the book was to center on Stevie Wonder's 1981 campaign to have Martin Luther King's birthday declared a national holiday, and we can accept that at face value. Scott-Heron provides many interesting anecdotes of the tour, including the surprising admission that the death of John Lennon affected him as much or more than MLK's death, something that led to moments of confusion as to how he interpreted the "color line."

There are many silences in this book following the Stevie Wonder rally and the inauguration of Ronald Reagan. Other than his stroke in 1990 and his mother's death in 1999, we hear little about how Scott Heron coped with his own jail sentences and his worsening health due to HIV complications. To fill in the blanks, it is useful to read Brian Jackson's post-mortem eulogy in JazzTimes, which hints that the 1980 split between Scott-Heron and Jackson was due to Scott-Heron's growing tendency to mask his open, effusive, high-energy self in favor of displaying only a sullen and silent mask. It is also useful to listen carefully to Scott-Heron's final album, 2010's "I'm New Here," with its praise for the women who defined his life. Whether he anticipated his own death would be soon or not, Scott-Heron clearly was acknowledging his roots and providing some belated thank-yous.

In the last chapter on handling his own grief at his mother's death, Scott-Heron hints at the failure in relationships with the three mothers of his three children, and says that he was incapable of intimacy with anyone outside his immediate family. It is never clear why that is, as his childhood, while not happy in every sense, was full of strong mentors. Maybe his self-analysis on his problems with intimacy was something he never quite resolved before his death. Or maybe his "I'm New Here" album was an attempt to bring that intimacy full circle.

"The Last Holiday" does not pull together all the fragments that make up "Pieces of a Man." In fact, the gaps and silences speak volumes. The book has its moments of being overwritten and florid, with too many adjectives. The memoir is not an historical record of the political times Scott Heron lived through, and how he commented on them. It is not a self-critical analysis of his many failures later in life. But it is a fascinating, if partial, glimpse at the array of influences that helped to build up the Ghetto Code of one of the 20th century's finest poets and musicians. Dot-dot-ditty dot-dot-dash. What do you do? You change the code. Damned if I know.

[Rand]

A good, easy, engaging read overall.

excerpt:Since I have lived in the United States of America all of my life, I have seen too many deliberate distortions of events and too many slanted pieces of our history and lives to feel that I can correct them all or even put a good seized dent into them. All I can say is that if the truth is important to you, understand that most things of value have to be worked for, sought out, thought about, and brought about after effort worthy of the great value it will add to your life.

It will come at a great price. The time and sweat invested in that pursuit may cost you in hours and days you cannot used in other directions. It may cost you relationships that you cannot use in other directions. It may cost you relationships that you cannot would give almost anything to develop, with someone who cannot stand to come in second to anything. The passion with which you commit yourself to something intangible may well turn away the very support that could sustain you.

What you will need is help that exceeds understanding. There may be disruptions on every level by those you try to touch, who shy away from you because understanding is not what you are looking for. Your only hope for stability on the levels of togetherness beyond understanding is trust. Anyone who claims to love you knows that they will not understand every element of these things you need and that is where trust must carry you two the rest of the way. The truth you are seeking to write about, to sing about, to make sense of for others is something that you pursue not because you have seen it but because the Spirits tell you it is there.

PEACE GO WITH YOU GIL

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book I've been waiting for since the untimely death of Gil Scott-Heron in May 2011.

Did it live up to my expectations? Yes and no. This book raises almost as many questions as it answers. Obviously, Mr Heron expected to be around a while longer to fill us in with those answers in a future volume.

Predominantly about how he came to be on the Stevie Wonder tour that culminated in a huge concert in Washington to garner support for a public holiday in recognition of Dr Martin Luther King's birthday it is also a partial biography. I say partial, as details I would like, probably as I'm a nosy person are missing, maybe this is due to his rather sudden death and rather than the memoir that this is he did intend a fuller biography which he does hint at in this book.

Overall I'm glad I read it. The facts I already had, from researching him for my dissertation, he fills out with names, places, feelings. I wish I'd had this two years ago. It does ultimately leave me with a feeling of sadness that a man so lauded by a generation who 'disappeared' for a while left us at a time when his career was once again on the up and he seemed to have become more at home with himself.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

the occasional writings of g s-h collected to make a very comprehensible whole. he goes over his life from little boy in Tennessee to nyc to califa. while perhaps not a complete explanation of his uncanny ability to 'tell a complete story in shortest form, a lyric" reader gets the idea about his black power stances, cutting social observations, unstinting courage, and empathy.
his chapter about his mom dying and him taking care of her apartment and effects is incredible and touching starts page 314ish.
lots of music, bands, artists info too. just a few pics, no index.

[Harriett Milnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really two books in one -- Gil writes a memoir about his family and growing up in Jackson, Tennessee. Going to college, becoming a writer and being a musician. Then he closes with his stint being the opening act for STEVIE WONDER on the 1980 "Hotter than July" tour, where Stevie realized his dream of having Dr. King's birthday made a national holiday.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't even begin to tell you what I think must've been going through my head when I added this book to my TBR back in 2013. Back then I was more than fully immersed in taking the reviews of those I followed on a scale of trustworthy that ranged from an article in a published journal to the ten commandments, so it may have just been me liking whatever words were penned about a figure that I had run into, mall music style, in the forms of 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' and 'Whitey on the Moon'. For Gill Scott-Heron is not someone whom I knew much about going in, and considering the nature of the typical review of this work and the nature of the typical person who knows the minimum of the dude's name, you'd be right in assuming that I spent a good chunk of reading this more than a little lost amongst the name drops and the concert halls and all in all the movers and shakers who dealt with second half of the 20th c. US music than they did with literature. However, the beginning was glory itself, and by the time Scott-Heron had hit the college days, it would've taken a great deal of the experimental and/or the unfamiliar references to shake me loose from the tale of a modern day renaissance man, born just after WWII and passed at the cusp of the second decade of the 21st c. I'm not here to say he was perfect, or that he didn't have the complete and utter right to privacy in his own memoir. What Gil Scott-Heron was is a force to be reckoned with, and the fact that I wasn't really aware of him till now and yet can still appreciate how different, and how much for the worst, my world would be without him just goes to show that it's never too late to fill in the gaps.

The 20th century was the period the US almost completely lost its grip on its settler state mechanics and decided to drug/murder/drive into insanity the most vital sections of its population in order to slouch on into an ultra-marketable future. As such, if you have a favorite artist from that period that managed to get by without an overdose or an STD or a jail record, congratulations, they were the ones blessed by capitalism and sanctified by COINTELPRO. Now, as I said, I went into this not knowing a whole lot about Scott-Heron or the larger role he played in much of the art, culture, and the personal-is-political doctrine that the more worthy parts of the 21st century have inherited and committed to carrying into the future. Of course, the 21st century has also proven to be a nexus of Nazi-Germany style conflation of art with artist, and when you add in the parasocial cults of personality that the US incubates so as to discourage folks from indulging in healthier modes of social intercourse like truly getting to know their neighbors or participating in unions with their fellow workers, it's no surprise that certain reviewers think it's their sworn duty to get all up in Scott-Heron's business like some kind of priest-therapist groupie. In any case, this text itself is has an understandably unfinished quality to it, but what was there was so rich in its creative drive and so multifarious in its participation in all walks of life that it makes me hope that the younger members of our legislative bodies and worker's movements are taking the time to develop other passions, as Scott-Heron's legacy would not loom as large as it did without that multifaceted joie de vivre that embraced athletics alongside literary heritages alongside actively participating in truly creating a better tomorrow. At the very least, it would make it harder for them to be bought off by those who miss the good ol' days when they could drive civil rights' activists into suicide and buy off the rest with promises of cryptocurrency and other methods of integrating into a burning building.

There is a deep and violently enforced chasm driven between the folks that are worth learning about and those forced down the throats of schoolchildren in the US in the public view, and the efforts of some to supplement the latter with the former sometimes feels akin to a finger plugged into a breaking dyke. I'm not saying everyone has to learn about Scott-Heron, but the fact that he slipped into the various voids between the tangents of my thought patterns for as long as he did is a mark against my country and the chains of knowledge it chooses to center in everything from water cooler breaktime talk to interview winning references. In any case, while TikTokers argue about whether some famous white woman is queerbaiting by not being explicitly transphobic, it's nice to take a stroll back to days that were hardly better and more often than not were a great deal worse, but were as filled with people determined to create art and and carry on their culture and build better lives for one another as has any point in human history. It took me a while to finally track down a copy of this, but now that I have, I've done my part in ensuring that this book doesn't get weeded for another few years, and that's always something to feel good about.

[Connor Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I just finished was Gil Scott-Heron’s posthumously released memoir/auto-biography THE LAST HOLIDAY. I’ve never been a giant fan of Scott-Heron’s outside of a few singles, but I found this book at Goodwill for $2 and decided to check it out off of his reputation for poetic writing. The book details Scott-Heron’s upbringing, rise to fame, and his time opening for Stevie Wonder on the Hotter Than July tour. The book ends with a few chapters detailing Scott-Heron’s life after the 1980’s, as well as tying up loose ends with his estranged family, but these chapters were much more scattered than the rest of the book. Since the book was released posthumously, it was never properly finished, but rather, compiled from various manuscripts that were written as early as the 1990’s up until his death in 2011. Without a proper conclusion, the ending of the book feels underwhelming, although it should be acknowledged that it’s a miracle that the book is in a readable state at all.

I was unaware of the significance that Stevie Wonder and the Hotter Than July tour played towards the creation of MLK day in America before reading this, so the aspects of the book detailing the tour were incredibly interesting. In fact, one of my favorite anecdotes from this book was about Stevie Wonder. Apparently anytime Gil entered the room without making a sound or making his presence known, Wonder could sense he was there and shout out “AIR-REES” (his nickname for Scott-Heron). If you are a fan of Scott-Heron’s music, or are interested in memoirs written by musicians in general, I would recommend this one. It’s written by a deeply flawed, but fascinating individual and I am positive you will come away from it with some wisdom.

[Constance Chevalier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extensive coverage of the life of Gil Scott-Heron, who i loved to listen to. well-educated poe.t, writer, songwriter, singer, entertainer. He knew and worked with well-known people, especially Stevie Wonder. Thoroughly loved reading this memoir.

[Mikkel]

najs

[arun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so happy I took my time with this one. His writing is honest, bold, clever and lyrical just like his music. "I would have traded a hundred be-there's for one heartfelt hug."

[Marcus Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most humble memoir ever written.

From one of the most influential souls in the music business, this grammy lifetime achievement award recipient has worked along side some of the greatest there ever were. Evoking a coolness he perfected during his era; his voice, style, charisma, charm and talent touched the youths of the inner city and the big wigs at Carnegie Hall. The brother was bad! But again, he wrote this autobiography with a gratefulness thanks for being able to share his message and please.

This memoir chronicles his rise, culminating with his band being the opening act for Stevie Wonder in 1980 as they toured the U.S. in an effort to make Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday a national holiday. Obviously it was effective and his impact and efforts will not go unnoticed with “The Last Holiday” enacted into law forever.

“See that Black Boy over there running scared, his old man’s got a problem. And it’s a bad one.” This cut, ‘The Bottle,’ is just so enjoyable to listen to (who uses a flute) that the sadness of the lyrics go unnoticed. Only to an extent because its gritty base and raspy voiced rhyme sets it on 125th, mid seventies, dirty, reality but hopeful.

‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ is an anthem to mind, action then results. Don’t listen to the blowhard, the real revolution begins in the mind and spirits of those serious about change. The quiet one is brewing a storm. And this cut caused people to think, take a step back and analyze before action. Don’t always advertise your next move. Plot, plan then execute.

A voice of his generation that carried through timelessly to the present towards the future. Gil Scott-Heron was the gatekeeper and undercurrent to the soulfulness that has survived til this day. Just the way he lived his life – humbly, no need for fanfare and pleased that his efforts were enjoyed.

[ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man is such an inspiration. I was a fan of his before reading the book, but I never really realized how intelligent and thoughtful and wise and hard-working he was. He accomplished more before turning 22 years old than most people accomplish in a lifetime, and he never stopped working hard to improve himself and the world around him.

He has an amazingly unique storytelling style, with a pace and rhythm that only a seasoned poet could manage. He isn't afraid to freely shift back and forth between poetry and prose and lyrics as the situation or his mood merits, which really keeps the book from lulling at any point.


There are some shortcoming with this book, however. For starters he seems to gloss over or ignore large periods or important issues (very little mention of substance use/abuse issues for example). He doesn't talk much about his own children other than to tell them how much he loves them, even though he had three and had active roles in at least two of their lives. It focuses in great detail on his early years and upbringing with his mother and a lot of detail about his family, as well as his formative years in school all the way through college, but in later years of his life he simply skips ahead many years without any clue what was happening in between. Undoubtedly it must have been left incomplete, and I hope he had intended to fill in some of those gaps before his passing, but alas it is not to be.

[Jarret Lovell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable glimpse into the life of a true poet, The Last Holiday is less a memoir than a collection of chapters that provide insight into various moments in the life of Gil Scott-Heron. To be sure, to the book was published posthumously, so it is impossible to know just how (in)complete is the memoir: It provides neither a complete picture of his life and times, nor a comprehensive look into the campaign to secure a national holiday for MLK. Still, there is much to enjoy, even if what emerges are merely - pardon the pun - “pieces of a man.” One learns about how his novels came to be (at such an early age), how he became a recording artist, his relationshp with his family, and his experience touring with Stevie Wonder.

Unfortunately, what one does not get from the Last Holiday is much insight in the forces that shaped his art. He discusses writing THE VULTURE but his memoir provides no context. The same can be said for his book THE N***ER FACTORY. And given how incredibly political is his poetry, there is really nothing that explains the passion with which he wrote. This is by far the most disappointing aspect of the book, and one is left wholly in the dark on this issue.

Nevertheless, THE LAST HOLIDAY is an enjoyable read, and one can hear his voice in the narrative. A work in progress on its release, it is likely a book for die hard fans only.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This "Memoir" of Gil Scott-Heron, which he seems to have been in the process of pulling together piecemeal before his death in 2011 is a tantalising glimpse at the life of a unique individual. Much of the focus is on the Martin Luther King/ Hotter Than July tour with Stevie Wonder and no light is shed on the drug abuse and jail terms he went through. His early life is well represented here, which accompanies some of his later musical pieces on his early life and Lily Scott, his grandmother who raised him for many years. It would have been nice to find out more about what he was thinking during the 70's, this section reads like a chain of events he is watching from the outside. The story of being on Scottish TV and having to talk about football reveals us (I'm from Glasgow) as the parochial nation we know we are. The bits at the end about the Hotter Than July tour with Stevie Wonder are fascinating and more detailed, but he remains a very private man. In these last sections you learn more from his genorous comments on Diana Ross, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson about these people than you do about Gil himself. The short chapters at the end to his children give a glimpse behind the mask that never really slips during the rest of the book.

[Léa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Depuis la sortie de ce livre en 2014 où j'avais lu une très belle revue sur Télérama, j'avais très envie de lire ce texte. J'ai eu quelques difficultés à le faire commander par les bibliothèques de ma ville mais ouf enfin le Saint Graal est arrivé! Autant dire que j'avais beaucoup d'attente vis à vis de ce livre. Il a été plus qu'à la hauteur de mes espérances. La plume du musicien, poète et romancier Gil Scott-Heron est enivrante, je ne suis pas spécialiste de sa musique mais je me suis laissée porter par toute la playlist dont il fait référence. Ne vous méprenez pas, certes cela parle du milieu musical américain des années 70-80 mais cela évoque aussi l'enfance d'un jeune noir à Jackson, la lutte afro-américaine, l'engagements avec comme thème centrale sa tournée avec Stevie Wonder pour le Martin Luther King's day. Et rien que pour la magie des mots de cet artiste, cela vaut le coup de lire ses mémoires.

[Dorothea Paas · Rating 5 out of 5]

a beautiful and inspiring account of not only his own musical journey, but how it intertwined with Stevie Wonder's life and political vision. I came to this book mainly to learn about Stevie; I didn't know till a friend told me that he was largely responsible for the political organizing that led to the inception of MLK day. this book documents that process in brief (i wanted more) as well as the two artists' time together on the Hotter Than July tour. I got kicks from reading about Stevie on tour and from seeing how much Scott-Heron admired and loved Stevie. And was extremely inspired by Scott-Heron's approach to music - he advocated for himself with strength and humility in every situation, and always seemed to keep his eye on a 'bigger picture' (not just getting swept up in industry/fame, but concerned with Black people's wellbeing and continually taking political action, both through music and in 'the real world').

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

As engaging to read as his music is to listen too, this is a must for all Gil Scott-Heron fans. I also liked the approach to memoir, its episodic rather than completely chronological. Key times in his life are written about with warmth, intelligence, wit and reflection. He is a very charismatic man and that really comes across in the book that and his determination to make a career for himself. His struggles to be taken seriously as a Black man in America are also presented in an interesting way that encourages empathy. He writes honestly about the mistakes he's made especially in his relationships which is refreshing in an autobiography. I came away with huge respect for his mother and even more fondness for Gil Scott-Heron.

[Jon Levinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the same plainspoken, no-nonsense style that defined his verse, Scott-Heron's memoir is a loosely connected journey through his upbringing and major career and personal milestones as he defines them. It is by no means a comprehensive or objective narrative. Instead Heron describes snapshots of his life and surroundings in gripping detail yet somewhat haphazardly, the ultimate result of which is a book with moments of deep emotional impact, conveying a unique perspective of widely explored historical events as well as personal triumphs and shortcomings. However, posthumously published from a collection of his writings, this memoir lacks a certain sense of coherence that may have escalated its resonance from episodic to holistic.

[Adi Gonen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Regrettably this was one of the most boring books I've ever read.
I take comfort in the fact that Heron did not sign of on the book, and as a fan, to me his last album " I'm new here" is much more of a glorious ending than this book.
Only at the end with the publishers note, I understood what bothered me- no cohesion in the storytelling, a lot of trivial information while the last several chapters actually refer to Stevie and the hotter than July four.
And the last chapter is truly heartbreaking with his family and love perception.why only then?
Anyway, love you,Gil... you'll always have room on my CD;-)

[Kamy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find his timbre, timing, and tone so compelling as a musician. His memoir is not narcissism. It is a series of homages to his influences, ending with his greatest praise for Stevie Wonder, with whom he toured in 1981. Gil's life gets intertwined with Kareem Abdul Jabar, Bob Marley, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Carlos Santana, and other major figures - musical and otherwise. It was a fun read and a great insight into the man whose music many have forgotten. They shouldn't. It's wonderful.