A Donny Hathaway Collection (1990)

As one with any knowledge of Donny Hathaway (1945 - 1979) would expect, this is one of those "all killer no filler" compilations. The disc would be worth seeking out if all that were on it were the duets with Roberta Flack, but we're also treated to other Hathaway classics such as The Ghetto and Giving Up plus some non-singles that took on lives of their own as deep album cuts, including Someday We'll All Be Free and To Be Young, Gifted And Black.

CashBox, June 2, 1990, p. 10

So it's not just me that gets frustrated by poor/lazy packaging decisions. My other complaint about this disc deals with the song sequencing - if you're not going to do chronological order, why start the compilation with three consecutive slow/midtempo songs? I will readily admit, however, that putting the Christmas tune at the end was smart: you can quit the disc early if you're not ready for holiday tunes.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart upon original release in 1990 but continues to chart on occasion around Christmas, peaking at #108 in 2023.

Tracks, including Billboard chart peaks:

Title	Year	R&B	Pop
A Song For You	1971
I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know	1972	20	60
You Were Meant For Me	1978	17
Back Together Again (with Roberta Flack)	1980	8	56
Where Is The Love (with Roberta Flack)	1972	1	5
For All We Know (with Roberta Flack)	1972
Someday We'll All Be Free	1973
Giving Up	1972	21	81
The Closer I Get To You (with Roberta Flack)	1978	1	2
You Are My Heaven (with Roberta Flack)	1980	8	47
What's Goin' On	1972
The Ghetto	1970	23	87
To Be Young, Gifted And Black	1970
You've Got A Friend (with Roberta Flack)	1971	8	29
This Christmas	1970		34

Have mercy! How good is Where Is The Love??? One of the best soft rock tunes of the '70s plus it won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. And I'll admit to welling up today at hearing Someday We'll All Be Free.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Just regret that I didn't pick this up in 1990.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Extension of a Man (1973)

Donny Hathaway - Extension of a Man (1973)

When I was in high school jazz band circa 1983, the director gave us a chart that I fell in love with the first time we played it. It was titled Valdez In The Country and the promo line at the top of the sheet music stated something like "as heard on Chariots of Fire, the new Qwest album from Ernie Watts." At the time, I had never heard of saxophonist Ernie Watts, but I found a copy of his 1982 album and listened to this track over and over.

I'm not sure how I discovered that it was a cover of a Donny Hathaway tune, but as soon as I did, I sought out Hathaway's version as well, which led me to this album. As much as I liked the Watts version of Valdez In The Country, it ain't got nuthin' on the wah-wah guitar and electric piano of the Hathaway original.

Sadly, before purchasing this CD, I knew very little of Hathaway beyond a few tunes: Valdez In The Country, The Ghetto, and his beautiful duets with Roberta Flack. But this album lives up to its title; Hathaway is truly stretching out as a songwriter here. Influenced by everyone from George Gershwin to Marvin Gaye to Maurice Ravel to Stevie Wonder, we're treated to inner city soul, jazz-fusion jams, gospel, beautiful orchestrated instrumentals, and R&B tunes. The lyrics have a definite autobiographical quality to them. It isn't a cohesive album, but it is soulful, painful at times, and certainly ambitious. Don't put it on for background music; this thing requires your full attention and active listening.

Liner notes on this 1993 CD Rhino reissue are top notch. Recommended.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #69
• Billboard R&B: #18

Tracks:  If you've read this far, you know my favorite tune on this one is the instrumental Valdez In The Country. The sweeping, epic first ten minutes of side one, I Love The Lord He Heard My Cry (Parts I & II) segueing into Someday We'll All Be Free, with its perfectly subdued trumpet solo from Marvin Stamm, will stop you in your tracks, too. And we haven't even gotten to the singles yet. The singles from this album were I Love You More Than You Ever Know (#60 pop, #20 R&B), Come Little Children (#67 R&B), and Love Love Love (#44 pop, #16 R&B) - and they're all good, especially Love Love Love. The only skippable track is the retro novelty tune, Magdalena, but I usually don't because while this album is certainly a pastiche, it must be heard start-to-finish for full impact. The bonus track, Lord Help Me (written by Billy Preston), was originally the flipside to I Love You More Than You Ever Know and why it was relegated to a b-side is beyond me.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  See above. To my knowledge, that Ernie Watts album has never been reissued on CD, but I still have a vinyl copy. I transferred it to digital a while back, but it only gets played when I'm feeling nostalgic and replaying high school memories in my head.