A gifted musician, imaginative arranger and powerful singer, Donny Hathaway created a formidable musical legacy during an intensive three-year period that was punctuated by a string of pop and R&B hits – several as a solo artist, as well as a series of unforgettable collaborations with singer Roberta Flack. Sadly, Hathaway’s promising career was derailed unexpectedly in the early ’70s by a difficult battle with mental illness that contributed to his tragic suicide in 1979. But even though his productivity only lasted a few short years, Hathaway’s influence on popular music remains immeasurable today.
To underscore Hathaway’s continuing impact, Rhino will release on November 11th a four-disc retrospective that combines the singer-songwriter’s essential studio and live tracks with 23 previously unreleased recordings. The boxed set also includes an extensive, illuminating essay about Hathaway’s life and music written by noted music journalist Charles Waring as well as rare photos.
The first disc retraces the arc of Hathaway’s career, which began in St. Louis, where he grew up entertaining church audiences across the Midwest with his soulful renditions of sacred songs. Years later, he scored arrangements and played sessions for Curtis Mayfield’s record label, an experience that eventually led to his first single, “I Thank You Baby” – a song he wrote with Mayfield and performed with June Conquest. Appropriately, it’s featured here as the set’s first song. The rest of the disc includes selections from three studio albums – Everything Is Everything (1970), Donny Hathaway (1971) and Extension of a Man (1973) – and the soundtrack Hathaway recorded for Come Back Charleston Blue (1972). Among the standout tracks are: “Giving Up” featuring saxophonist King Curtis, his signature cover of Leon Russell’s “A Song For You,” the rare promo edit of “Thank You Master (For My Soul)” and Hathaway’s final hit single, “You Were Meant For Me.”
The next disc uncovers 13 unreleased studio recordings spanning a full decade (1968-1978) including several tracks from the mid to late 1970s, often thought to be a period of musical hibernation for Hathaway. Among the unheard gems are: “Never My Love,” a song recorded shortly after the sessions for Extension of a Man; “A Lot Of Soul,” a Nashville-flavored track that recalls Hathaway’s arrangements for Willie Nelson’s Shotgun Willie; plus “Zyxygy Concerto,” an epic classical piece that features piano and a full orchestra.
The third disc expands upon the gold-certified album Live (1972), a widely acclaimed collection of Hathaway’s electrifying performances recorded in clubs in L.A. and New York. A few performances left off the original album have surfaced over the years, but nothing like the trove featured on NEVER MY LOVE. The set includes 10 previously unissued live recordings from Hathaway’s residency at The Bitter End in New York’s Greenwich Village. These tracks include a brilliant version of the soul anthem “What’s Going On” and an incendiary take on “Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything).”
The final disc covers the many memorable hits recorded by Hathaway and Roberta Flack, one of the 1970’s most successful musical partnerships. They scored three certified-gold singles together in the ’70s: “You’ve Got A Friend” (#8 R&B/#29 pop) and “Where Is The Love” (#1 R&B/#5 pop) from the bestselling LP Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, plus the immortal “The Closer I Get To You” (#1 R&B/#2 pop) from Blue Lights In the Basement. And in 1980, a year after Hathaway’s death, they returned to the charts again with “You Are My Heaven” (#8 R&B/#47 pop) and “Back Together Again” (#18 R&B/#56 pop), two tracks from Roberta Flack featuring Donny Hathaway.
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Tracklisting
Disc 1
The Life and Music of Donny Hathaway
1. I Thank You Baby – June & Donnie
2. Just Another Reason – Donny Hathaway & June Conquest
3. The Ghetto – Part 1
4. The Ghetto – Part 2
5. Thank You Master (For My Soul) (Promo Edit)
6. Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)
7. Tryin’ Times
8. To Be Young, Gifted and Black
9. I Believe To My Soul
10. This Christmas
11. A Song For You
12. Magnificent Sanctuary Band
13. Giving Up
14. Come Back Charleston Blue – Donny Hathaway with Margie Joseph
15. Little Ghetto Boy (Studio Version)
16. Valdez In The Country
17. Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know
18. Lord Help Me
19. Come Little Children
20. Love, Love, Love
21. Someday We’ll All Be Free
22. You Were Meant For Me
Disc 2
Unreleased Studio Recordings
1. Never My Love
2. A Lot Of Soul
3. Let’s Groove
4. Latin Time
5. Tally Rand
6. Memory Of Our love
7. Sunshine And Showers
8. After The Dance Is Done
9. Don’t Turn Away
10. Always The Same
11. Brown Eyed Lady (Instrumental)
12. The Sands Of Time
13. ZYXYGY Concerto
Disc 3
Live at The Bitter End 1971 (All Previously Unreleased Performances)
1. What’s Going On
2. Sack Full Of Dreams
3. Little Ghetto Boy
4. You’ve Got A Friend
5. Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)
6. He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
7. Jealous Guy
8. I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know
9. Hey Girl
10. The Ghetto
Disc 4
Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway Duets
1. I (Who Have Nothing)
2. You’ve Got A Friend
3. Baby I Love You
4. Be Real Black For Me
5. You’ve lost That Loving Feeling
6. For All We Know
7. Where Is The Love
8. When Love Has Grown
9. Come Ye Disconsolate
10. Mood
11. The Closer I Get To You
12. You Are My Heaven
13. Back Together Again
Donny Hathaway Never My Love : The Anthology (Rhino/Warner). Available on 4CD set and itunes on 12, november 2013.
Bonne combinaison en plus le son est bon