Johannesburg (song)

"Johannesburg"
Song by Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson
from the album From South Africa to South Carolina
Released	November 1975
Length	4:52
Label	Arista

"Johannesburg" is a song by Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, with music provided by the Midnight Band. It was the first track on From South Africa to South Carolina , released in November 1975. The lyrics to "Johannesburg" discussed opposition to apartheid in South Africa, and likened apartheid to the disenfranchisement of African Americans in the United States. ^[1] The song became a popular hit, reaching No. 29 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1975. ^{[2] [3]} According to Nelson George, "Johannesburg" played a role in spreading the cultural awareness of apartheid. ^[4]

Background, lyrics, and composition

Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson met and began collaborating while they were both students at Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania. ^[5] The duo formed the Midnight Band, ^[6] which Jackson led as a keyboardist. ^[2] Several members of the Midnight Band had previously played with the Black & Blues, a musical group Scott-Heron and Jackson had formed as students. ^[5] The Midnight Band played the music on Scott-Heron's 1975 albums The First Minute of a New Day and From South Africa to South Carolina , and was important to their success. ^{[2] [3]}

From South Africa to South Carolina explored contentious political issues: "Johannesburg" examined the apartheid system in South Africa. ^[7] At the time, South Africa was witnessing a struggle between the African National Congress, which sought to dismantle apartheid, and the government of the National Party, which sought to maintain it. ^[6] Black South Africans were being denied the right to vote, to assemble, and to form trade unions. ^[1] The lyrics of "Johannesburg" do not criticize apartheid directly, but question the listener, asking if they have heard the news from Johannesburg, and suggesting that black South Africans were rising up. ^[1] In doing so Scott-Heron makes frequent use of phrases from Black vernacular. ^[1] Musically, the song has been associated with disco, ^[2] funk protest, ^[8] and jazz-funk. ^[9]

The song frequently refers to the scarcity and unreliability of information in the West about opposition to apartheid within South Africa, and calls for a continued awareness of events in South Africa. ^[5] The refrain "What’s the word? Johannesburg!" represents a musical crescendo within the song, during which Scott-Heron engages in a call and response with band members. ^[1] The refrain parodies a jingle for Thunderbird wine, a cheap wine sold by Gallo: "What’s the word? Thunderbird!". ^[1] Scott-Heron's lyrics expressed his Pan-African and transnational leanings, likening apartheid to the disenfranchisement of African Americans in the United States. ^[1] The song ends by comparing Johannesburg to number of cities in the US, thereby noting the "absence of an achieved freedom on American soil", according to scholar Stéphane Robolin. ^[5]

Release, reception, and legacy

Scott-Heron initially resisted pressure to release "Johannesburg" as a single, preferring to release complete albums; however, he was persuaded to release the track as a twelve-inch single by Arista Records. ^[7] In November 1975, the song was released again as the first track on From South Africa to South Carolina. ^{[10] [11] [12]} In December 1975 Scott-Heron performed "Johannesburg" on Saturday Night Live . ^[13] The album was reissued in 1998 ^[5] via Scott-Heron's Rumal-Gia label, distributed by TVT Records. ^[14] The reissue included a 1982 live recording of "Johannesburg", on which Scott-Heron induced the audience to playing the part of the chorus on the call and response refrain. ^[5] Scott-Heron frequently played the song live, including in Johannesburg in 1998, when he and Jackson visited South Africa for the first time: there, they found the song was not well-known, as it had been banned during apartheid. ^[15]

Unusually for a song with a political message, "Johannesburg" became a popular hit, receiving playtime on the radio and reaching No. 29 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1975. ^{[2] [3] [7]} It became one of Scott-Heron's most popular political songs. ^[16] According to Scott-Heron's biographer Marcus Baram, "Johannesburg" was "arguably the first pop song to address apartheid". It had a particular impact among Black Americans and activists. ^[7] The culture critic Nelson George stated in 2011 that "Johannesburg" played a large role in spreading the cultural awareness of apartheid for him and other young people. ^[4]

References

1. Bolden 2020, pp. 170–171.
2. Power, Mike (May 29, 2011). "Gil Scott-Heron obituary". The Guardian . Retrieved August 18, 2022.
3. "Gil Scott-Heron | Biography & History". AllMusic .
4. Cromelin, Richard (May 29, 2011). "Gil Scott-Heron dies at 62; singer and poet 'set the template' for rap music". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 18, 2022.
5. Robolin 2015, pp. 92–95.
6. Bolden 2020, p. 153.
7. Baram 2014, pp. 143–145.
8. Pollock 2014, p. 196.
9. Cosgrove 2018, p. 241.
10. "From South Africa to South Carolina". AllMusic. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
11. Harrington, Richard (June 3, 1998). "At Last, the Word Is Out; The Influential Scott-Heron, Finally on CD". The Washington Post . p. D5.
12. "New LP/Tape Releases". Billboard . November 15, 1975. p. 68.
13. "Season 1: Episode 7", Saturday Night Live Transcripts.
14. Fischer, Doug (January 14, 1999). "Hip-hop grandmaster still offers hope". Windsor Star. p. E3.
15. Baram 2014, p. 243.
16. Bolden 2020, p. 170.

Sources

• Baram, M. (2014). Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces of a Man. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN   978-1-250-01278-4.
• Bolden, T. (2020). Groove Theory: The Blues Foundation of Funk. American Made Music Series. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN   978-1-4968-3063-0.
• Cosgrove, Stuart (2018). Harlem 69: The Future of Soul. The Soul Trilogy. Birlinn. ISBN   978-1-78885-025-4.
• Pollock, Bruce (2014). Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   978-1-135-46296-3.
• Robolin, Stéphane (2015). Grounds of Engagement: Apartheid-Era African-American and South African Writing. New Black Studies Series. University of Illinois Press. ISBN   978-0-252-09758-4.