Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway (born October 1, 1945 in Chicago , Illinois ; † January 13, 1979 in New York ) was a Grammy- winning American soul singer , musician, and songwriter who became famous primarily for his duets with Roberta Flack . Two of them, Where Is the Love (1972) and The Closer I Get to You (1978), reached the top 5 on the US charts and went gold . In addition, Hathaway's composition This Christmas (1970) is one of the most popular and most covered Christmas songs in the United States.
Life
Donny Hathaway grew up in St. Louis , Missouri . At the age of three he sang in the church choir, and in childhood he learned to play the piano . Thanks to his outstanding piano playing, he received a scholarship to Howard University in Washington, DC in 1965. After three years, he left the university to work as a songwriter, musician and producer. In the late 1960s, Hathaway was a producer on Curtis Mayfield 's Curtom Records label. There he recorded his first single I Thank You Baby in 1969 .
In 1970 his first album Everything Is Everything was released , on which he delighted the critics primarily with his unique voice. His second self-titled album was another commercial and critically acclaimed success. After his next album with partner Roberta Flack , he first recorded some soundtracks, including the theme for the series Maude . Another duet with Roberta Flack followed in 1978: The Closer I Get to You . During his own career, Hathaway continued to produce albums by other artists.
Over the course of his career, Donny Hathaway suffered increasingly from depression and had to seek treatment several times. His friendship with the duo partner Roberta Flack also suffered from Hathaway's state of health, so that the two only wanted to record an album together again after six years. While the recording sessions were in progress, Hathaway was found dead on January 13, 1979, on the sidewalk under the window of his room at the Essex House Hotel in New York . His duets with Flack, You Are My Heaven and Back Together Again were in the charts posthumously in 1980, the latter even reaching the British Top 3. The accompanying album Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway , apart from these two duets, only contains solo recordings by Flack.
In 2008, Rolling Stone listed Hathaway 49th of the 100 best singers of all time .
Hathaway's daughter, Lalah Hathaway , followed her father into show business and to date has won five Grammys for her R&B recordings.
Discography
Studio albums
year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | R&B | |||
1970 | Everything Is Everything Atco 332 |
- |
US73 (25 weeks) US |
R&B33 (10 weeks) R&B |
First published: July 1, 1970
Producers: Donny Hathaway, Ric Powell, King Curtis |
1971 | Donny Hathaway Atco 360 |
- |
US89 (21 weeks) US |
R&B6 (25 weeks) R&B |
|
1972 | Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway Atlantic 7216 |
- |
US3
gold
(39 weeks)US |
R&B2 (26 weeks) R&B |
First published: May 6th 1972
with Roberta Flack chart entry in UK only in June 1980 Producers: Arif Mardin, Joel Dorn |
1973 | Extension of a Man Atco 7029 |
- |
US69 (13 weeks) US |
R&B18 (15 weeks) R&B |
First published: June 18, 1973
Producer: Arif Mardin |
1980 | Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway Atlantic 16013 |
UK31 (7 weeks) UK |
US25th
gold
(24 weeks)US |
R&B4 (26 weeks) R&B |
First publication: November 1979
Roberta Flack feat. Donny Hathaway Producers: Eric Mercury, Roberta Flack |
Live albums
year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | R&B | |||
1972 | Donny Hathaway Live Atco 386 |
- |
US18th
gold
(38 weeks)US |
R&B4 (34 weeks) R&B |
First published: April 1971
A-Side: The Troubadour, LA B-Side: The Bitter End , NYC Producers: Arif Mardin , Jerry Wexler |
1980 | In Performance Atlantic 19278 |
- | - |
R&B68 (5 weeks) R&B |
First published: September 1980
Recordings: The Troubadour, LA, The Bitter End and Carnegie Hall , NYC Producer: Arif Mardin |
2004 | These Songs for You, Live! Rhino 78075 |
- | - |
R&B78 (2 weeks) R&B |
First published: June 8, 2004
Recordings: The Bitter End and Carnegie Hall, NYC / University of California and The Troubadour, LA |
More live albums
- 2014: Live at the Bitter End 1971 (2 LPs; Atco / Rhino 541097)
Soundtrack
year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | R&B | |||
1972 | Come Back Charleston Blue Atco 7010 |
- |
US198 (2 weeks) US |
- |
Compilations
year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | R&B | |||
1978 | The Best of Donny Hathaway Atco 107 |
- | - |
R&B51 (4 weeks) R&B |
First published: September 1978
|
1990 | A Donny Hathaway Collection Atlantic 82092 |
- |
US193 (1 week) US |
- |
First published: April 24, 1990
|
More compilations
- 1972: The Most Beautiful Songs of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway (2 LPs, Split Album ; Atlantic 60031)
- 2010: Original Album Series (box with 5 CDs; Atlantic 8122 79837 6; release: February 26th)
- 2011: Flashback with Donny Hathaway (Atlantic 528200)
- 2013: Never My Love: The Anthology (box with 4 CDs; Atco / Rhino 8122 79654 3; release: November 11th)
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | [↑]: treated together with the previous entry; [←]: placed in both charts |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | R&B | Dance | ||||
1969 | I thank you baby | - | - |
R&B45 (2 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: February 1969
as June and Donnie, with June Conquest Authors: Curtis Mayfield , Donny Hathaway |
|
1970 | The Ghetto Everything Is Everything |
- |
US87 (8 weeks) US |
R&B23 (11 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: October 1969
Authors: Leroy Hutson , Donny Hathaway |
|
1971 |
You've Got a Friend Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway |
- |
US29 (12 weeks) US |
R&B8 (13 weeks) R&B |
- | ||
You've Lost That Lovin 'Feelin' Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway |
- |
US71 (6 weeks) US |
R&B30 (6 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: October 1971
with Roberta Flack Authors: Barry Mann , Cynthia Weil , Phil Spector Original: The Righteous Brothers , 1964 |
||
1972 | Little Ghetto Boy (Live) Donny Hathaway Live |
- | - |
R&B25 (7 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: March 1972
Authors: Earl DeRouen, Edward Howard |
|
Giving Up Donny Hathaway |
- |
US81 (5 weeks) US |
R&B21 (7 weeks) R&B |
- | |||
I thank you | - |
US94 (5 weeks) US |
R&B41 (5 weeks) R&B |
- | |||
Where is the love? Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway |
UK29 (7 weeks) UK |
US5
gold
(13 weeks)US |
R&B1 (13 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: May 1972
with Roberta Flack Grammy (Pop Vocal Duo) Authors: Ralph MacDonald , William Salter |
||
I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know Extension of a Man |
- |
US60 (6 weeks) US |
R&B20 (10 weeks) R&B |
- | |||
1973 | Love, Love, Love Extension of a Man |
- |
US44 (9 weeks) US |
R&B16 (11 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: June 1973
Authors: JR Bailey, Ken Williams Original: JR Bailey, 1972 |
|
Come Little Children Extension of a Man |
- | - |
R&B67 (9 weeks) R&B |
- |
First published: December 1973
Author: Donny Hathaway |
||
1978 | The Closer I Get to You Blue Lights in the Basement |
UK42 (4 weeks) UK |
US2
gold
(20 weeks)US |
R&B1 (19 weeks) R&B |
- | ||
1980 | You Are My Heaven Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway |
- |
US47 (11 weeks) US |
R&B8 (17 weeks) R&B |
- | ||
Back Together Again Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway |
UK3 (11 weeks) UK |
US56 (8 weeks) US |
R&B8 (14 weeks) R&B |
Dance6 (21 weeks) Dance |
First publication: April 1980
with Roberta Flack Authors: Reggie Lucas, James Mtume |
||
Don't Make Me Wait Too Long Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway |
- | - | -[Dance: ↑] |
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More singles
- 1970: Thank You Master (For My Soul) (Release: June)
- 1970: Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything) (Release: August)
- 1970: This Christmas (released December)
- 1971: Magnificent Sanctuary Band (released May)
- 1971: Put Your Hand in the Hand (release: July)
- 1972: I Thank You (with June Conquest; release: March)
- 1972: Come Back Charleston Blue (with Margie Joseph ; release: July)
- 1973: Magdelana
- 1978: You Were Meant for Me (release: August)
- 2013: Never My Love (released April 20)
- 2015: Don't Turn Away
Trivia
- The US rock band Fall Out Boy dedicates the song What a Catch, Donnie to Donny Hathaway . The track was released on the album Folie à Deux from 2008.
- Prince named Hathaway's song Someday We'll All Be Free (1973) as one of 55 songs that inspired him musically
literature
- Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 283f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .
Web links
- Donny Hathaway at Allmusic (English)
- Donny Hathaway at Discogs (English)
- Donny Hathaway at 45cat.com
- Donny Hathaway at soulwalking.co.uk (English)
- Donny Hathaway at soultracks.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.ascap.com/press/2014/1203-top-holiday-songs-100-years
- ↑ biography on soulwalking.co.uk; Retrieved December 4, 2012
- ↑ http://www.musicvf.com/Roberta+Flack+%2526+Donny+Hathaway.art
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/Roberta-Flack-Featuring-Donny-Hathaway-Roberta-Flack-Featuring-Donny-Hathaway/release/6086526
- ↑ 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 9, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d e Chart sources: UK Billboard Hot 100 Billboard 200 Billboard R&B albums (from 1999)
- ↑ a b c d e gold / platinum database US
- ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
- ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .
- ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Hathaway, Donny |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Pitts, Donnie (pseudonym) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American soul musician |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 1, 1945 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Chicago , Illinois |
DATE OF DEATH | January 13, 1979 |
Place of death | new York |