Moving Target is a studio album by American spoken-word poet and blues musician Gil Scott-Heron.
Contents
Background, production, release
The album, released on Arista in 1982, was to be his last for more than a decade. On Moving Target, Scott-Heron and his band "The Amnesia Express" recorded their "typical, tastefully jazzy R&B and funk grooves", though flavored with "more exotic sounds" and influenced by reggae (there are echoes of Bob Marley in some songs). The final song, the almost ten-minute long "Black History/The World", is in part a spoken-word performance by Scott-Heron ending with a "plea for peace and world change".
The album, co-produced by Malcolm Cecil, was released in September 1982 on LP (#204921), and issued as a CD in February 1997, under the same number. Robert Christgau gave the album a B.
Track listing
All tracks composed by Gil Scott-Heron; except where indicated
"Fast Lane" (lyrics: Scott-Heron; music: Robbie Gordon) – 4:55
"Washington D.C." – 4:13
"No Exit" – 4:08
"Blue Collar" – 5:18
"Explanations" – 4:12
"Ready or Not" (lyrics: Scott-Heron; music: Larry McDonald) – 4:33
"Black History/The World" – 9:42
Personnel
Gil Scott-Heron – vocals; electric piano on "Washington D.C."
Vernon James – alto saxophone; flute on "Ready or Not"
Robbie Gordon – bass
Kenny Powell – drums
Ed Brady – guitar
Glen Turner – keyboards
Carl Cornwell – tenor saxophone (tracks 2, 3, 7)
Ron Holloway – tenor saxophone
Kenny Sheffield – trumpet
Larry McDonald – percussion
"High Note" Harry Kim – trumpet on "Washington D.C."
Malcolm Cecil – horn arrangement on "Fast Lane"
Technical personnel
Malcolm Cecil - engineer, co-producer
Alan Douglas - second engineer
Richard Mannering - second engineer
Denis Heron - coordinator, production assistant
Bob Carboni - mastering
Donn Davenport - artwork
John Ford - photography
Recorded at Bias Studio, Springfield, Virginia (March 25–27 and May 28–29, 1982); Townhouse Studios, London (April 9–12, 1982); The Manor Studio, Oxford (April 19–21, 1982); and Record Plant, Los Angeles (June 7–17, 1982). Mixed at Record Plant. Mastered at A&M Studios, Los Angeles (July 1982).