Pieces of a Man

Pieces of a Man
Studio album by Gil Scott-Heron
Released	1971
Recorded	April 19–20, 1971
Studio	RCA Studios, New York
Genre	Soul jazz-funk progressive soul[1]
Length	48:03
Label	Flying Dutchman
Producer	Bob Thiele
Gil Scott-Heron chronology
Small Talk at 125th and Lenox (1970) Pieces of a Man (1971) Free Will (1972)
Singles from Pieces of a Man
"Home Is Where the Hatred Is" Released: 1971

Pieces of a Man is the debut studio album by American poet Gil Scott-Heron. It was recorded in April 1971 at RCA Studios in New York City and released later that year by Flying Dutchman Records. The album followed Scott-Heron's debut live album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox (1970) and departed from that album's spoken-word performance, instead featuring compositions in a more conventional popular song structure.

Pieces of a Man marked the first of several collaborations by Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, who played piano throughout the record. It is one of Scott-Heron's most critically acclaimed albums and one of the Flying Dutchman label's best-selling LPs. Earning modest success after its release, Pieces of a Man has received retrospective praise from critics. Music critics have suggested that Heron's combination of R&B, soul, jazz-funk, and proto-rap influenced the development of electronic dance music and hip hop. The album was reissued on compact disc by RCA in 1993.