Donny Hathaway – The Ghetto

By , July 9, 2015 11:55 am

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Donny Hathaway

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Listen/Download – Donny Hathaway – The Ghetto MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week os upon us, and so I will remind you once again that Friday nights at 9PM is Funky16Corners Radio Show time. You can listen on Viva Radio, or you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab an MP3 here at the blog.

What better way to wind your way into a sultry summer weekend than with a superior groove from the mighty Donny Hathaway.

Donny Hathaway, was for a long time, more of a name than a sound for me, i.e. I knew who he was, and I saw all the artists that namechecked him as an influence and a giant of soul, but all I ever really knew were is duets with Roberta Flack.

Then, right around the time I started digging into Richard Evans and the Soulful Strings, I started to notice Hathaway’s name in the credits of those albums (his ‘Valdez In the Country’ having become a favorite of mine), as songwriter and keyboardist, and with my curiosity piqued, I started picking up his albums where I could.

Donny Hathaway was the first black singer/songwriter that I “got”, eventually filing him with Bill Withers, and later on guys like Lou Bond. He was a prodigiously talented vocalist, songwriter and performer who – after his tragic death in 1979 – left us with a painfully brief discography.

His first solo album was 1970’s ‘Everything Is Everything’, which mixed his covers of tunes by Ray Charles, Nina Simone and Errol Garner, with his own originals (some in collaboration with Leroy Hutson). The sound of the album mixes straight ahead soul, gospel, and soul jazz (there’s definitely a Les McCann vibe), and Hathaway is joined by many of his Chess/Cadet sessioners like Phil Upchurch and Morris Jennings, as well as heavies like King Curtis (which whom Hathaway had recorded).

‘The Ghetto’, which sits in the middle of side two, is a slow, groovy number led by Hathaway’s voice and electric piano, with drums and Latin percussion keeping things moving. The vocals are (for the first half of the record) little more than a repeated chant of the title, with Donny coming in a little more in the second part.

An edit of the track grazed the R&B Top 20 in the beginning of 1970 (though it wasn’t his first hit, having been preceded by his 1969 duet with June Conquest (as June & Donnie) ‘I Thank You Baby’ which had almost made it into the R&B Top 40.

While it may not be the deepest thing he ever laid down, it’s a very nice groove indeed, and one that I’m sure will have you nodding your head.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

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Don’t forget the drawing for 2015 Allnighter Donors (open until the end of next week).

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The good folks at Secret Stash Records have sent along some very groovy promos as incentives for you good folks to donate to the 2015 Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

We have two pairs of two 2-record sets comprised of rare and unreleased material from the legendary Chicago soul labels Mar-V-Lus and One-Derful Records!

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At the end of next week I will randomly select two winners from the list of this year’s donors to receive these incredible prizes. All you need to do (unless you’ve already kicked in, in which case you’re already eligible) is click on the Paypal button and donate at least $5.00USD to be entered for a chance to win.

All the names will go into a hat and one of the little Corners will select the winners, who will be announced in this space on Monday, as well as notified via e-mail.

So get to clicking!




 

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Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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