Welp, we’ve survived through October. It’s been a bit of a brutal slog of a year. But there’s postseason baseball. Hockey season just started. Basketball season will start in a few weeks.
October is also a busy month in music history.
We start off with the legendary Donny Hathaway, who was born 81 years ago today. Hathaway’s career started in earnest with a stint as a songwriter, session musician, arranger and producer for Curtis Mayfield‘s Curtom Records. He did arrangements for hits by The Unifics and took part in projects by The Staple Singers, Jerry Butler, Aretha Franklin, The Impressions and Curtis Mayfield.
His most famous songs “The Ghetto,” “This Christmas” “Someday We’ll All Be Free” and “Little Ghetto Boy” have been sampled and covered endlessly by countless artists all over the world. His duets with Roberta Flack are beloved — and they’re fucking great, too.
Hathaway has influenced a remarkably eclectic array of artists including Elton John, Alicia Keys, Aaliyah, Common, George Benson, Justin Timberlake and a lengthy list of others.
We may have lost him tragically 47 years ago, but he and his work remain towering. Happy birthday, legend!
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