From South Africa to South Carolina

From South Africa to South Carolina is a studio album by the American vocalist Gil Scott-Heron and the keyboardist Brian Jackson. It was released in November 1975 by Arista Records. The album has songs about important events and places. It connects the stories of people from around the world.

Scott-Heron sang two songs from the album, "Johannesburg" and "A Lovely Day," on Saturday Night Live in December 1975. Many people heard his music and learned the messages in his songs from these performances.

The album became popular. It reached No. 103 on the Billboard 200_. The song "Johannesburg" was especially liked. It was a hit in the "disco" style of music that many people enjoyed at the time.

In the late 1990s, the album was released again by Scott-Heron’s own label, Rumal-Gia, and distributed by TVT Records. This let new listeners enjoy the music and messages many years later.

Production

The music for the album was played by the Midnight Band, led by Brian Jackson.

Critical reception

Some newspapers and magazines talked about the album after it was released. The Houston Press liked songs like "Beginnings" for its sweet sounds. The Chicago Tribune thought the album helped people think about important issues in the 1970s. The Wire enjoyed the song "Essex" and found it interesting with cool flute playing.

Track listing

This album has many songs. On the first side, you can hear "Johannesburg", "A Toast to the People", "The Summer of '42", and "Beginnings (The First Minute of a New Day)".

The second side includes "South Carolina (Barnwell)", "Essex", "Fell Together", and "A Lovely Day". There are also extra songs added later, like live versions of "South Carolina (Barnwell)" and "Save the Children".

Personnel

The album "From South Africa to South Carolina" had many talented musicians. Gil Scott-Heron sang and played the electric piano. Brian Jackson also sang and played flute, keyboards, and synthesizer. Other musicians were Victor Brown on vocals, tambourine, and bells; Bilal Sunni Ali on saxophone, flute, and harmonica; Danny Bowens on bass; Bob Adams on drums; and others who played percussion instruments.

One track, "Let Me See Your I.D.," was performed by a group including Big Youth, Ray Barretto, Brian Jackson, Duke Bootee, Peter Garrett, Grandmaster Melle Mel, and Gil Scott-Heron.