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Few musicians gave more to their audience than Donny Hathaway. Capable of leading the section or letting the crowd take him away, a man whose sensuality oozed out of him on-stage but who also aired his struggles with despair and social unrest, Hathaway really had no comparison in soul music, or even pop music in total. (His closest kin, Sam Cooke, was the only one who possessed a similarly transcendent voice, gloriously simple yet with enormous depth.) Fans of latter-day soul music's most cathartic figure previously had two avenues to enjoy Hathaway in a live context: the brilliant original album Live from 1972 and the valuable document In Performance, issued in 1980 after his suicide (perhaps the most tragic death in pop history). Atlantic/Rhino's breathtaking compilation These Songs for You, Live! combines roughly half of those LPs and bolsters the program with six unreleased tracks (only some from the same concerts) and an interview. The results prove that, arranging skills aside, Donny Hathaway reached his peak facing not a mixing board but an audience of living (and often screaming) people. Compilation producers Dave Nathan and Barry Benson start out with a pair of light pieces, Hathaway originals "Flying Easy" and "Valdez in the Country," before beginning the heart of the disc, a selection of inspired covers. The choices are all formidable (though for a variety of reasons), including Carole King's "You've Got a Friend," the Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On," and the Beatles' "Yesterday" (the latter, astonishingly unreleased, takes its place as one of the most gorgeous versions ever recorded of the most performed pop standard of the 20th century). No one could deny that these pieces are soaked in melodrama, though Hathaway's spirit and fire transcend the pathos so completely that in his hands they're transformed. His own "Someday We'll All Be Free" is another gorgeous performance, this one leavened by his alternate modes of piano playing, gospel arpeggios in the beginning but meaty jazz solos later on. These performances, all recorded between 1971 and 1973, provide the most compelling proof that it was Donny Hathaway who reached the pinnacle of true gospel-soul.
© John Bush /TiVo
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Fred White, Drums - Arif Mardin, Producer - Cornell Dupree, Guitar - Willie Weeks, Bass - Richard Tee, Organ - Donny Hathaway, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Phil Upchurch, Guitar - Earl Derouen, Congas - Franklin Moss Jr., Writer - Walter Lowe, Writer - Mike Howard, Guitar
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp.
Fred White, Drums - Arif Mardin, Producer - Cornell Dupree, Guitar - Willie Weeks, Bass - Richard Tee, Organ - Donny Hathaway, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Phil Upchurch, Guitar - Earl Derouen, Congas - Mike Howard, Guitar
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp.
Edward Howard, Writer - Fred White, Drums - Arif Mardin, Producer - Cornell Dupree, Guitar - Willie Weeks, Bass - Richard Tee, Organ - Donny Hathaway, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Phil Upchurch, Guitar - Earl Derouen, Congas - Mike Howard, Guitar
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 2004 Atlantic Recording Corporation
Fred White, Drums, Backing Vocals - Arif Mardin, Producer, MixingEngineer - Willie Weeks, Backing Vocals, Bass - Carole King, Writer - Donny Hathaway, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist - Ray Thompson, RecordingEngineer - Phil Upchurch, Lead Guitar - Mike Howard, Guitar, Backing Vocals
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 1972 Atlantic Recording Corp.
Jerry Wexler, Producer - Chuck Rainey, Bass Guitar - Arif Mardin, Producer - al jackson jr., Drums - GENE PAUL, RecordingEngineer - King Curtis, Tenor Saxophone - Donny Hathaway, Keyboards, Vocals, MainArtist - Joe Newman, Trumpet - Bob Russell, Writer - Ronald Bright, Backing Vocals - Cissy Houston, Backing Vocals - Judy Clay, Backing Vocals - Sylvia Shemwell, Backing Vocals - JAMES DOUGLASS, RecordingEngineer - Bobby Scott, Writer - Cornel Dupree, Guitar - Howie Albert, Engineer - J.R.Bailey, Backing Vocals - Ron Albert, RecordingEngineer
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 2004 Atlantic Recording Corporation
Renaldo Benson, Writer - Fred White, Drums - Alfred Cleveland, Writer - Arif Mardin, Producer - Willie Weeks, Bass - Marvin Gaye, Writer - Donny Hathaway, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist - Ray Thompson, RecordingEngineer - Earl Derouen, Congas - Mike Howard, Guitar
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 1972 Atlantic Recording Corp. for the US and WEA International for the world outside the US.
Arif Mardin, Producer - John Lennon, Writer - Paul Mccartney, Writer - Donny Hathaway, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 2004 Atlantic Recording Corporation
Arif Mardin, Producer - Donny Hathaway, Vocals, MainArtist - Stevie Wonder, Writer
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 2004 Atlantic Recording Corporation
Jimmy Douglass, Engineer - Jerry Wexler, Producer - Chuck Rainey, Electric Bass - Arif Mardin, Producer - al jackson jr., Drums - Cornell Dupree, Guitar - GENE PAUL, Engineer - Leon Russell, Writer - Donny Hathaway, Producer, Keyboards, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - Sammy Turner, Backing Vocals - Cissy Houston, Backing Vocals - Myrna Smith, Backing Vocals - Judy Clay, Backing Vocals - Sylvia Shemwell, Backing Vocals - Howie Albert, Engineer - J.R.Bailey, Backing Vocals - Ron Albert, Engineer - Jack Jennings, Percussion - Murray Allen, Engineer - John Littlejohn, Guitar, Vocals - Myrna Summers, Backing Vocals - Ronnie Bright, Backing Vocals - Deirdre Tuck Corley, Backing Vocals
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 1980 Atlantic Recording Corporation
Fred White, Drums - Arif Mardin, Producer, MixingEngineer - Willie Weeks, Bass Guitar - Donny Hathaway, Arranger, Additional Piano, Electric Piano, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - Ray Thompson, RecordingEngineer - Phil Upchurch, Guitar - GARY MCFARLAND, Writer - Earl Derouen, Congas Drums - Mike Howard, Guitar - Lou Savary, Writer
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 1980 Atlantic Recording Corp.
Edward Howard, Writer - Jerry Wexler, Producer - Fred White, Drums, Backing Vocals - Arif Mardin, Producer, MixingEngineer - Cornell Dupree, Backing Vocals, Lead Guitar - Willie Weeks, Backing Vocals, Bass - Donny Hathaway, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Earl Derouen, Drums, Writer - Tom Flye, RecordingEngineer - Mike Howard, Guitar, Backing Vocals
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 1972 Atlantic Recording Corp.
Jerry Wexler, Producer - Fred White, Drums - Arif Mardin, Producer, MixingEngineer - Willie Weeks, Bass Guitar - GENE PAUL, RecordingEngineer - Hugh McCracken, Guitar - Donny Hathaway, Organ, Electric Piano, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - David Newman, Tenor Saxophone - Al Kooper, Writer - Cornel Dupree, Guitar - Al Koopr, Writer - Tom Flye, RecordingEngineer
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 1990 Atlantic Recording Corporation
Fred White, Drums - Arif Mardin, Producer - Cornell Dupree, Guitar - Willie Weeks, Bass - Richard Tee, Organ - Donny Hathaway, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Leroy Hutson, Writer - Phil Upchurch, Guitar - Earl Derouen, Congas - Mike Howard, Guitar
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 1972 Atlantic Recording Corp. for the US and WEA International for the world outside the US.
Donny Hathaway, MainArtist
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp.
Album review
Few musicians gave more to their audience than Donny Hathaway. Capable of leading the section or letting the crowd take him away, a man whose sensuality oozed out of him on-stage but who also aired his struggles with despair and social unrest, Hathaway really had no comparison in soul music, or even pop music in total. (His closest kin, Sam Cooke, was the only one who possessed a similarly transcendent voice, gloriously simple yet with enormous depth.) Fans of latter-day soul music's most cathartic figure previously had two avenues to enjoy Hathaway in a live context: the brilliant original album Live from 1972 and the valuable document In Performance, issued in 1980 after his suicide (perhaps the most tragic death in pop history). Atlantic/Rhino's breathtaking compilation These Songs for You, Live! combines roughly half of those LPs and bolsters the program with six unreleased tracks (only some from the same concerts) and an interview. The results prove that, arranging skills aside, Donny Hathaway reached his peak facing not a mixing board but an audience of living (and often screaming) people. Compilation producers Dave Nathan and Barry Benson start out with a pair of light pieces, Hathaway originals "Flying Easy" and "Valdez in the Country," before beginning the heart of the disc, a selection of inspired covers. The choices are all formidable (though for a variety of reasons), including Carole King's "You've Got a Friend," the Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On," and the Beatles' "Yesterday" (the latter, astonishingly unreleased, takes its place as one of the most gorgeous versions ever recorded of the most performed pop standard of the 20th century). No one could deny that these pieces are soaked in melodrama, though Hathaway's spirit and fire transcend the pathos so completely that in his hands they're transformed. His own "Someday We'll All Be Free" is another gorgeous performance, this one leavened by his alternate modes of piano playing, gospel arpeggios in the beginning but meaty jazz solos later on. These performances, all recorded between 1971 and 1973, provide the most compelling proof that it was Donny Hathaway who reached the pinnacle of true gospel-soul.
© John Bush /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 14 track(s)
- Total length: 01:19:48
- Main artists: Donny Hathaway
- Label: Rhino Atlantic
- Genre: Soul/Funk/R&B Soul
© 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing ℗ 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Warner Strategic Marketing
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