Gil Scott-Heron - We Almost Lost Detroit

Bridges is an album by Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, released in the fall of 1977 on Arista Records. The song "We Almost Lost Detroit", which shares its title with the 1975 John G. Fuller book of the same name, recounts the story of the nuclear meltdown at the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station near Monroe, MI, in 1966. It was performed at the No Nukes concert in September 1979 at Madison Square Garden. This song was also contributed to the No Nukes album in November 1979 and No Nukes concert film in May 1980. Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson, and the Midnight Band take a slightly different approach with their 1977 effort, Bridges. With less of the gaping and world-infused sound prevalent on previous albums, the songs are more concise and Scott-Heron comes into his own as a singer depending less on his spoken word vocal style. The excellent songwriting exposes Scott-Heron at the height of his powers as a literary artist. The social, political, cultural, and historical themes are presented in a tight funk meets jazz meets blues meets rock sound that is buoyed by Jackson's characteristic keyboard playing and the Midnight Band's colorful arrangements. Scott-Heron's ability to make the personal universal is evident from the opening track, "Hello Sunday! Hello Road!," all the way through to the gorgeous "95 South (All of the Places We've Been)." The most popular cut on the album, "We Almost Lost Detroit," which shares its title with the John G. Fuller book published in 1975, recounts the story of the nuclear meltdown at the Fermi Atomic Power Plant near Monroe, MI, in 1966. This song was also contributed to the No Nukes concert and album in 1980. Along with the two records that would follow in the late 70s, Bridges stands as one of Scott-Heron's most enjoyable and durable albums. Gil Scott-Heron - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Piano Brian Jackson - Flute, Keyboards, T.O.N.T.O. Danny Bowens - Bass Joe Blocker, Reggie Brisbane - Drums Fred Payne, Marlo Henderson - Guitar Tony Duncanson, Barnett Williams - Percussion Bilal Sunni Ali - Saxophone Delbert Tailor - Trumpet