Donny Hathaway
Encyclopedia : D : DO : DON : Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul musician best known for his duets with Roberta Flack. Born in Chicago, he grew up in St. Louis and played piano, earning a fine arts scholarship to Howard University in 1964. He was offered jobs in the music industry before graduating, and left school after only three years.
He worked as songwriter, session musician and producer for The Staple Singers, Jerry Butler and Aretha Franklin, as well as with Curtis Mayfield. His debut solo single was "I Thank You Baby", a duet with June Conquest, followed by the influential (though only a minor hit) "The Ghetto, Pt. 1". His debut LP was Everything Is Everything (1970), which was critically acclaimed. His second album, Donny Hathaway, was a major hit and was followed by an acclaimed album of duets with label mate Roberta Flack which included a hit version of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend" and "Where Is The Love" written by Ralph MacDonald and his songwriting partner. Hathaway also began working on soundtracks but his output would slow down in the mid 70s as depression set in. In the late 70s Hathaway renewed his collaboration with Flack spawning the hit "The Closer I Get to You" (1978). More recording was set to follow with the duo, but Hathaway was found dead in an apparent suicide in 1979. He was discovered on the sidewalk below the 15th floor window of his room in a New York City hotel.
Legacy
Donny Hathaway's Donny Hathaway Live has been cited as an influence by numerous artists, including India.Arie and Stevie Ray Vaughan. This short live album includes noted R&B musicians Willie Weeks (bass guitar) and Cornell Dupree (guitar).Hathaway was considered an eccentric by many, and claimed himself to be a devotee of mid-20th century French classical composers. Several anecdotes about Hathaway are contained in Jerry Wexler's book Rhythm And The Blues. Hathaway also lives on with the latest generation of R&B stars such as Brian McKnight, India.Arie, and Anthony Hamilton.
Notably, on soul group The Whispers' 1980 self-titled album, the group paid homage with "A Song for Donny," written by fellow soul singer Carrie Lucas. The song was set to the melody of Hathaway's "This Christmas."
In 2005, Neo-soul singer songwriter guitarist, Raul Midon (Blue Note) worked with Hathaway's longtime producer Arif Mardin (known for collaborations with The Bee Gees, Norah Jones & Aretha Franklin) and created a tribute song to Hathaway called "Sittin' in the Middle."
Hathaway's daughter Lalah is an accomplished R&B/jazz singer.
'' Modern R&B singer and 2003 American Idol winner Ruben Studdard grew up with Hathaway's music, and did cover versions of the Hathaway songs "For All We Know" and "This Christmas". Another American Idol contestant, 2006 second runner-up Elliott Yamin, covered Hathaway's "A Song for You" in his audition, during Hollywood Week and again during the show's primetime performances, as well as in front of a crowd at the baseball stadium during his visit back home (when he was eliminated, his final video clips segued through several of the performances). After the April 25, 2006 show in which Yamin performed "A Song for You" and said he wanted to return the "spotlight" to Donny Hathaway, sales of A Donny Hathaway Collection shot all the way up to twenty-third on Amazon.com CD sales chart, with some commenters citing the performance as their reason for buying Hathaway's CD.
Another Hathaway daughter, Kenya, is a backup singer for American Idol.
Note from a reader: Not sure how to say this. "A Song for You" was written by Leon Russell.
Trivia
Hathaway was a prominent member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
Hathaway performed the theme song to the '70s sitcom Maude.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.