Donny Hathaway | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 2, 1971 | |||
Recorded | 1970–71 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | Soul | |||
Length | 44:46 | |||
Label | Atco 33-360 | |||
Producer | Jerry Wexler Arif Mardin Donny Hathaway | |||
Donny Hathaway chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Rolling Stone | (favorable) [2] |
The Village Voice | D− [3] |
Donny Hathaway is the second studio album by American soul artist Donny Hathaway, released on April 2, 1971, on Atco.
The majority of songs featured on the collection were covers of pop, gospel and soul songs that were released around the same time. The most prominent of the covers were Hathaway's rendition of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" and a gospel-inflected cover of Gladys Knight & the Pips' "Giving Up", written by Van McCoy. This was the second of three solo studio albums that Hathaway released during his lifetime before his suicide in 1979. Atlantic producer Jerry Wexler took over most of the production duties, with Hathaway producing one track, the self-penned "Take a Love Song".
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, backing vocalist, and arranger who Rolling Stone described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include "The Ghetto", "This Christmas", "Someday We'll All Be Free", and "Little Ghetto Boy". Hathaway is also renowned for his renditions of "A Song for You", "For All We Know", and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", along with "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of many collaborations with Roberta Flack. He has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and won one Grammy Award from four nominations. Hathaway was also posthumously honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. Dutch director David Kleijwegt made a documentary called Mister Soul – A Story About Donny Hathaway, which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 28, 2020.
"A Song for You" is a song written and originally recorded by rock singer and pianist Leon Russell for his first solo album Leon Russell, which was released in 1970 on Shelter Records. A slow, pained plea for forgiveness and understanding from an estranged lover, the tune is one of Russell's best-known compositions. Russell sang, played piano, and played tenor horn on the recording. It has been performed and recorded by over 200 artists, spanning many musical genres. The Encyclopedia of Country Music wrote in 2012: "In 1970 Russell released his self-titled debut solo album, including such enduring songs as "Delta Lady" and "A Song for You", both written for versatile vocalist Rita Coolidge.
Silver Rain is an album by bassist Marcus Miller. Named after a poem by Langston Hughes, it was released in 2005.
Broken Blossom is the fourth studio album by American singer Bette Midler, her second album release in 1977 and her fifth on the Atlantic Records label. Just as Midler's three previous studio albums Broken Blossom includes songs from a wide variety of genres, ranging from Edith Piaf's signature tune "La vie en rose", Phil Spector-esque covers of Billy Joel's "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" and Harry Nilsson's "Paradise" and hard rock like Sammy Hagar's "Red", to a jazzy duet with Tom Waits, "I Never Talk to Strangers", and a rendition of "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes", originally from Walt Disney's 1950 film version of Cinderella. The album reached No. 51 on Billboard's album chart.
Asshole is the second solo studio album by Kiss's Gene Simmons and it was released in 2004 on Sanctuary Records. Its controversial title does not appear on the front cover. On the side of the CD case the title reads "asshole". "It's just another way of me saying, 'I don't care what anyone says about me," Simmons declared. "I'm preempting what people say and therefore diffusing the power of my detractors."
Let Me in Your Life is the twentieth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on February 26, 1974, by Atlantic Records.
"This Christmas" is a song by American soul musician Donny Hathaway released in 1970 by Atco Records. The song gained renewed popularity when it was included in 1991 on Atco Records' revised edition of their 1968 Soul Christmas compilation album and has since become a modern Christmas standard, with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers reporting that it was the 30th most-performed holiday song of all time.
Extension of a Man is the final studio album released by the R&B/soul singer Donny Hathaway on Atco Records in 1973.
"The Ghetto" is a socially conscious, mostly instrumental jazz-flavored anthem, released as the first single off American soul singer Donny Hathaway's debut album, Everything Is Everything, released as a single in 1969 on Atlantic Records.
Everything Is Everything is the debut studio album by American soul artist Donny Hathaway, which was released on July 1, 1970 on the Atlantic Records' subsidiary, Atco.
The Life of the Party is the seventh studio album by American country music artist Neal McCoy. Released in 1999, it contains the singles "I Was" and "The Girls of Summer", which peaked at #37 and #42, respectively, on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts that year. "Straighten up and Fly Right" is a cover of a Nat King Cole song.
Chapter Two is the second studio album by American singer Roberta Flack. It was released in 1970 by Atlantic Records.
Aretha is the twenty-sixth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was released on September 30, 1980, by Arista Records. This is Franklin's second eponymous album, and her first for Arista Records after a 12-year tenure with Atlantic Records.
Blue Lights in the Basement is the sixth studio album by American singer Roberta Flack, released by Atlantic Records on December 13, 1977. A commercial success, it peaked at number eight on the US Billboard 200, becoming her third top-ten album on the chart, while also reaching number five on the R&B albums chart. In February 1978, it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments over 500,000 copies.
The 1972 Atlantic release Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway is a million-selling duet album by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway produced by Joel Dorn and Arif Mardin.
Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Roberta Flack. Released via Atlantic in March 1980, the album features posthumous vocals by close friend and collaborator Donny Hathaway, who had died in 1979. At the 23rd Grammy Awards in 1981, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The award, however, went to Stephanie Mills for "Never Knew Love Like This Before."
Two Eyes is the third studio album by the American singer/songwriter Brenda Russell, released in 1983 on Warner Bros. Records. The album got to No. 16 on the Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums chart.
Tattooed Heart is the third solo studio album by American country music artist Ronnie Dunn. The album was released on November 11, 2016 via Nash Icon Records. The album was originally scheduled for release on October 21, 2016.
Braxton Family Christmas is a Christmas album, and second studio album overall, by R&B female group The Braxtons. It is the only album to feature all five Braxton sisters. The album was released on October 30, 2015, by Def Jam.
Christmas is a studio album by American recording artist Stephanie Mills, released in October 1991 on MCA Records. The album is a Christmas album, the first by Mills that showcases her soulful renditions of classic Christmas carols such as "White Christmas", "Silent Night", "Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer", and soul singer Donny Hathaway's, "This Christmas".