Live | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | Feb. 1972[1] | |||
Recorded | August 24–30, 1971 at The Troubadour in Hollywood 7 October 1971 The Bitter End in New York | |||
Genre | Deep soul | |||
Length | 52:39 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Producer | Arif Mardin (side one) Jerry Wexler & Arif Mardin (side two) | |||
Donny Hathaway chronology | ||||
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Live is a 1972 live album by American soul artist Donny Hathaway. It was recorded at two concerts: side one at The Troubadour in Hollywood, and side two at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village, Manhattan based on the guidance of Jerry Wexler. [2]
The album features some traditional soul anthems, such as Marvin Gaye's 1971 hit "What's Going On", but also Carole King's pop standard "You've Got a Friend".
There are two notable solos on the album, one on the track "The Ghetto" by Hathaway on electric piano and another by Willie Weeks on bass on "Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)", taken from the performances recorded at The Troubadour and at The Bitter End accordingly.
Hathaway's daughter Lalah would record her own live album in 2015 in which she also did "Little Ghetto Boy".
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Rolling Stone | (favorable) [4] |
The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. Rolling Stone 's Mosi Reeves stated "Donny Hathaway swings with vividness on this brilliant live set and the audience responds ecstatically." [4] AllMusic rated the album score of 4.5 out of 5, with John Bush stating the album is "one of the most glorious of his career, an uncomplicated, energetic set with a heavy focus on audience response as well as the potent jazz chops of his group", and that it "solidified Hathaway's importance at the forefront of soul music". [5] In 2015, Live was ranked number 48 on Rolling Stone's list of 50 Greatest Live Albums of All Time. [4] In 2005, Victor Wooten included it in his list of the 10 essential bass albums. [6]
Chart (1972) | Peak position |
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US Billboard Top LPs [7] | 18 |
US Billboard Top Soul LPs [8] | 4 |
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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.
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Jerry Wexler proposed that Hathaway do a live recording for his third Atlantic release. Two clubs, the Troubadour in Hollywood, California, and the Bitter End in New York City, were chosen as the recording venues.