Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway never had a big hit—at least not as a solo artist—but he along with Stevie Wonder helped change the way a lot of male R&B/soul singers belted during the late 1970s through the mid-and-late 1990s. Hathaway and Wonder both had these voices just FILLED the middle of a song.
Hathaway in particular didn’t really hit high notes or growl with grit or dip real deep. His voice just filled that middle with soul. Since he didn’t have a lot of range he worked that middle for all it was worth. Future vocalists with even greater vocal limitations imitated Hathaway’s delivery. Critically, a lot of those future singers lacked the richness of ole Donny. Hell, even Hathaway (IMO) couldn’t always overcome his own vocal limitations and there are definitely songs, particularly early in his career, where he tries too hard resulting in painful vocal strain.
*cough* “I Believe to My Soul” *cough*
Anyhoo, Hathaway was also a great keyboardist and composed the majority of his own music. He also wasn’t above tossing in a few beloved covers on his albums too.
Hathaway’s greatest commercial success came via duets with his friend, Roberta Flack. They recorded a whole album of duets in 1972 and scored another hit duet with “The Closer I Get to You” (8/10) in 1978. Inspired by that track, the duo were in the process of doing another LP’s worth of duets, but they finished just two tracks when Hathaway died of suicide in 1979.
Those tracks augured well for what could have been.
Back Together Again — a mellow disco-funk number that goes for a bit too long (9:50), but probably wouldn’t have had the two been able to finish more songs. I’d rate it a 6.5/10.
You Are My Heaven — written by Stevie Wonder, this song is exquisite soul-pop. I’d give it a 7.5/10.
Because of his schizophrenia—medically diagnosed, not just an outside assumption—Hathaway’s recording output is pretty paltry for a soul legend. Three solo studio albums, two live albums, one film soundtrack, and one duet album for a total of seven. All but one of those albums was released between 1970 and 1973.
Nonetheless, Hathaway left quit the impact especially thanks to the album Extension of a Man. Y’all get to that LP immediately if you’re the least bit of a ‘70s soul fan.