In my honest opinion, I think Donny outranks Stevie and he might just be a bit ahead of Marvin. Your thoughts?

scriptgirl said:

I disagree. I put Stevie above them. However Art is subjective and I respect your opinion. Btw, I thoroughly enjoyed the recent TV One Unsung special on Donny Hathaway. It's time for some worthy retrospectives!

IMO I think Donny's tied with Marvin. He's one of those artist in black music that we love unconditionally

bboy87 said:

I agree. I think Donny does tie with Marvin. The only reason why I would not place him above Stevie, is due to the fact he died much too soon to release more music. In some ways however, I think his music was much cleaner than Stevie's. In my opinion, Stevie tends to get a bit too deep for me, when trying to get his point across. You did not find that in Marvin or Donny's music, their music was clean and straight to the point.

No. Vocally, I could see how one would prefer Donny over both Marvin and Stevie (although I don't). However, Stevie's prowess as a songwriter should put him out of this discussion completely. I think Marvin had more impact, more influence, and more vision, making him a better artist.

Personally, I think of Donny more in the vein of Luther Vandross. Yes, they could write songs, but they were singers first and foremost who spent a lot of their careers covering and interpreting someone else's material. I mean, Donny's self-titled album is almost all covers. By contrast, Marvin and Stevie were singer/songwriters in a truer sense (and better musicians IMO).

AlexdeParis said:

Donny Hathaway deserves more documentaries, comprehensive greatest hits and in depth retrospectives with extensive liner notes documenting his story for future generations!

manray10 said:

Not if Roberta Flack has her way...

AlexdeParis said:

I would disagree with putting Donny in the same vein as Luther. Luther, was no where near the musician Donny was. Donny was, composer, arranger, and producer for much of his material and did so for a lot of other artist as well. While his self-titled album, is made up of covers, he did have other albums that were made up of original material. Also, how he interpreted the material is important. Donny had a way of singing a song, that is closer to Marvin's style than Luther. When Luther sang a song, it was sang the way it was written, (ad-libs and vocal acrobatics and all). I don't believe that this was the case with Marvin, Stevie or Donny. They sang it the way they felt it.

shorttrini said:

I started to clarify the Luther/Donny thing, but I decided against it. I will agree that Donny was a much better musician than Luther was. Still, at their essence, I think of both of them as singers, because that has always been their main claim to fame. Marvin probably would've been in that same boat until What's Going On. Stevie's musicianship and versatility were on display from the very beginning.

Donny is a tier or two below Marvin and Stevie, and that's not a bad thing, considering both of those guys are at the highest of the tier chain.

Mong said:

I pray that one day she will find a way to satisfy her needs and wants so that Donny Hathaway's legacy can be properly recognized and celebrated.
[Edited 12/7/08 8:26am]

I'd rank Donny a notch below Stevie. His illness robbed him and the listener of some truly great moments. This guy breathed life into his songs. I don't know if anyone, including Stevie made his work come 2 life more than Donny. Anyone.

Mong said:

What is Flack's deal as it relates 2 Donny?
[Edited 12/7/08 8:55am]

No, because his career wasn't long enough to make that claim. He was one of the greatest no question about it and he was a true genius but in terms of overall appeal, he's just below Marvin and Stevie and that's not a bad thing either.

Marvin, Stevie & Donny are part of the Mt. Rushmore of soul geniuses to me.

Back in 2003, Rhino/Atlantic planned on releasing a Donny Hathaway retrospective entitled " Donny Hathaway- Love, Love, Love - The Anthology. It contained 35 songs including all of his hits and his signature duets with Roberta Flack. It also contained rarities incuding the following demos:

"Extension Of A Man- demo"
"What a Woman Really Means" since released on a compilation entitled " Atlantic Unearthed"
"I Could Love No Other One"
"You"?
"Make It On Your Own"
"Speak Easy"

A 9 minute live cover of Stevie Wonder's "Superwoman"

The liner notes were done by A Scott Galloway. It was a worthy tribute to Donny.

Roberta Flack would not give permission for Rhino to use any of her duets with him. Maybe there was a royalty issue. As a result, it remains unissued.

There was also talk of a live album featuring both artists. Roberta denied permission.

I hope one day these releases will see the light of day.

Timmy84 said:

Agreed!

Why did Roberta deny the release? Shouldn't Donny's ex wife have gotten involved-did Donny co write any of those songs?

Also, there is no way Luther is on the same plane as Donny. He is a singer or rather an interpreter, whereas Donny was so much more.

manray10 said:

Are we gonna have to go to Roberta's house and MAKE her give permission

because we could

Donny was good but not that good. Tragically, we didn't get to see his full potential but what we did see, you can't even put him close to the range of Stevie or Marvin. Too long of careers and huge muscial catalogs just outway just about anybody. Including Michael, Luther, and Prince. You just can't do it. I hate to say if anybody is better than anyone else because they all have talent and that's why they're where they're at and I'm where I'm at. But Donny just can't beat them. Simple as that.

scriptgirl said:

i betcha if u asked Stevie that question he'd tell u he doesn't rank himself above anyone, especially one he grew up watchin (Marvin) and the other he admired (Donny)....

diamondpearl1 said:

Agreed!

diamondpearl1 said:

in fact it's been said that Stevie penned his vocals styles after Donny's

In terms of vocals and/or social significance and/or unfulfilled potential? Perhaps.

But in terms of all-around musical contributions. Not in my mind.

Stevie Wonder has more masterpiece albums than Donnie has albums. And Marvin Gaye has more great songs than Donnie has songs.

But Donnie Hathaway is superb and any musical collection without a big chunk of his legacy would be lacking.

Brendan said:

I agree almost wholeheartedly, but I don't think there's any way Donny bests Stevie or Marvin in social significance.

AlexdeParis said:

I agree.

I'm just saying that you might have some sort of debate if you narrow the discussion.

Brendan said:

Agreed!

AlexdeParis said:

What he said.

Stevie is a completely different beast here. Vocally there's a comparison with Donny and Marvin, but that's just one facet of Stevie's game. For my money the only man that could rival Marvin vocally was MJ. Luther, Donny, and Stevie are up there though. (I won't even start with the singers in other genres but they are there too).

Donny was more soulful than either Stevie or Marvin IMHO. I don't know how Luther even got into the equation. Luther, although one of the greatest vocalist in my lifetime, was just that.....a great vocalist. I think that if Donny had lived longer, he may have rivaled Stevie.


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illimack said:

You think Mr. Hathaway was more soulful than this cat who also emerged in the early-'70s: