Donny Hathaway (album)

Last updated
Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway album.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 2, 1971
Recorded1970–71
Studio
Genre Soul
Length44:46
Label Atco
33-360
Producer Jerry Wexler
Arif Mardin
Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway chronology
Everything Is Everything
(1970)
Donny Hathaway
(1971)
Live
(1972)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [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.

Contents

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".

Track listing

  1. "Giving Up" (Van McCoy) (6:20)
  2. "A Song for You" (Leon Russell) (5:25)
  3. "Little Girl" (Billy Preston) (4:47)
  4. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (Bob Russell, Bobby Scott) (5:55)
  5. "Magnificent Sanctuary Band" (Dorsey Burnette) (4:24)
  6. "She Is My Lady" (George S. Clinton) (5:33)
  7. "I Believe in Music" (Mac Davis) (3:38)
  8. "Take a Love Song" (Hathaway, Nadine McKinnor) (4:53)
  9. "Put Your Hand in the Hand" (Gene MacLellan) (3:49)

Bonus tracks on CD

  1. "Be There" (Donny Hathaway, Charles Ostiguy) (3:02)
  2. "This Christmas" (Hathaway, Nadine McKinnor) (3:51)

Personnel

Technical

Related Research Articles

"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.

<i>Silver Rain</i> 2005 studio album by Marcus Miller

Silver Rain is an album by bassist Marcus Miller. Named after a poem by Langston Hughes, it was released in 2005.

<i>Broken Blossom</i> 1977 studio album by Bette Midler

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.

<i>Asshole</i> (album) 2004 studio album by Gene Simmons

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."

<i>Let Me in Your Life</i> 1974 studio album by Aretha Franklin

Let Me in Your Life is the twentieth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on February 26, 1974, by Atlantic Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">This Christmas (Donny Hathaway song)</span> 1970 single by Donny Hathaway

"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.

<i>Extension of a Man</i> 1973 studio album by Donny Hathaway

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.

<i>Everything Is Everything</i> (Donny Hathaway album) 1970 studio album by Donny Hathaway

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.

<i>The Life of the Party</i> (album) 1999 studio album by Neal McCoy

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.

<i>Chapter Two</i> (Roberta Flack album) 1970 studio album by Roberta Flack

Chapter Two is the second album by the American soul singer Roberta Flack. It was released in 1970 by Atlantic Records.

<i>Feel Like Makin Love</i> (album) 1975 studio album by Roberta Flack

Released in 1975, Feel Like Makin' Love is Roberta Flack's fifth solo album and sixth overall, when counting her duet album with Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway from 1972. It was the first album produced by Flack herself, under the pseudonym Rubina Flake.

<i>Blue Lights in the Basement</i> 1977 studio album by Roberta Flack

Blue Lights in the Basement is the sixth studio album by American singer Roberta Flack, released by Atlantic on December 13, 1977. The album was a commercial success, peaking at number eight on the US Billboard 200, becoming her third top-ten album on the chart and reaching number five on the R&B albums chart. On February 27, 1978, the album received a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments over 500,000 copies.

<i>Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway</i> 1972 studio album by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway

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.

<i>Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway</i> 1980 studio album by Roberta Flack

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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Steady (Aretha Franklin song)</span> 1971 single by Aretha Franklin

"Rock Steady" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin, released in October 1971 from her eighteenth album, Young, Gifted and Black (1972). The single reached the #9 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts that same year. It also peaked at #2 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart. The original A-side, a rendition of the song "Oh Me Oh My ", peaked at #73 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart.

<i>Two Eyes</i> 1983 studio album by Brenda Russell

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.

<i>Tattooed Heart</i> 2016 studio album by Ronnie Dunn

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.

<i>Braxton Family Christmas</i> 2015 studio album by The Braxtons

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.

<i>Christmas</i> (Stephanie Mills album) 1991 studio album by Stephanie Mills

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".

References

  1. Bush, John. Donny Hathaway at AllMusic
  2. Vince Aletti, Rolling Stone review, June 10, 1971.
  3. Village Voice review