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WILLIE WEEKS DONNY HATHAWAY..THIS IS SO GOOD..

#21
The live releases by Hathaway and Co. are must-have recordings for most musicians. I especially like a tune called "Sack Full of Dreams".

The "What's Going On" cover is also top-notch.

Thanks for bringing up this post!

I just put on the CD to listen again
 
#23
jerry said:
*A singer I work with recorded a album in Nashville about eight years back with Willie on bass, the very cool thing about it for me was that I co-wrote two of the songs and Willie played my basslines from the demos[only a million times better]. A high point for my little career.;)



* I Know, I know....I've told this story before!
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Cool story for sure!
 
#24
i got this record a year ago because i wanted to hear WW famous solo on EisE, when i put it on it blew my head off! because of donny h, who is every bit the genius of stevie wonder, this record is top three. for me, as bass player, it is to soul what jaco's 1st is to jazz. WW pulses like a melodic heartbeat through the whole record. i love it
 
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#26
weary hobo said:
Donnie Hathaway Live is one of my favorite albums, ever.
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OK, we all know about Donny Hathaway Live...these other 2 are from the same era & I don't recall too many comments about either.

Donny Hathaway In Performance
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...and-

These Songs For You, Live!
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Jerry-
I'm sure you'll have a capsule review.
;)
 
#27
JimK said:
OK, we all know about Donny Hathaway Live...these other 2 are from the same era & I don't recall too many comments about either.
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In Performance - Major dissapointment for me. Mostly slow ballad type tunes. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a diehard fan of donny or willie. Contains 2 unreleased tracks "Nu-Po" and "We Need You Right Now".

These Songs for you Live! - It contains Unreleased tunes, stuff from In Performance, and stuff from Live. I bought it for the unreleased stuff and I'm happy I did. There are great covers (and I mean EXCELLENT) of Stevie's "Superwoman" (he really really kills it on this tracks, so soulful), "He Ain't Heavy, He's my Brother" (nice ballad that really gets the emotions running), and the Beatles "Yesterday". There are 3 songs "Flying Easy", "Valdez in the Country", and "Someday We'll All Be Free" which are really excellent (these are live, the album versions are on Extension of A Man). Lastly there is a small interview that's included.

So you get 3 covers, 3 originals, an interview, and a bunch of other tunes from the 2 live albums.
 
#28
markjazzbassist said:
In Performance - Major dissapointment for me. Mostly slow ballad type tunes. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a diehard fan of donny or willie. Contains 2 unreleased tracks "Nu-Po" and "We Need You Right Now".
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Thanks, Mark.
In Performance is a posthumous release...that explains why it didn't see the light of day earlier.
 
#30
Open myself up for flaming here... I read about this performance in BP this month, so I bought it on iTunes. The performances are absolutely stunning, especially Willie, who is all I've *really* listened to so far. However, overall I find the music to be boring, just not my bag. I can't imagine sitting down and listening to it for enjoyment's sake, but I can imagine sitting down with a Tascam bass trainer and transcribing the parts for analysis... kind of like how I treat Charlie Parker for that matter.
 
#31
I like the crowd participation part in The Ghetto ..
having the ladies sing one part and the fellas another ( in unison) is a great idea.

Donny Hathaways recordings and He's Misstra Know It All from Stevie Wonders Innervisions is all I have of W. Weeks recordings.. any other suggestions?
 
#32
XXL said:
Donny Hathaways recordings and He's Misstra Know It All from Stevie Wonders Innervisions is all I have of W. Weeks recordings.. any other suggestions?
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There are quite a few, but at the top of the list for me is the 'Jungle Fever' album by Neil Larson. Awesome grooves with the rhythm section of Willie and drummer Andy Newmark, those two are very special together.
 
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#33
BillMason said:
Open myself up for flaming here... I read about this performance in BP this month, so I bought it on iTunes. The performances are absolutely stunning, especially Willie, who is all I've *really* listened to so far. However, overall I find the music to be boring, just not my bag. I can't imagine sitting down and listening to it for enjoyment's sake, but I can imagine sitting down with a Tascam bass trainer and transcribing the parts for analysis... kind of like how I treat Charlie Parker for that matter.
Click to expand...

For those of you who haven't seen it, the BP article accompanying the transcription (by Chris Jisi), begins with, "On the hallowed list of bass guitar discs, Donny Hathaway, Live [Warner Bros., 1972] stands shoulder to shoulder with Jaco's eponymous debut and seminal Motown and Beatles sides." In a sidebar, Roscoe Beck raves about the grooves and asks, "Have I convinced those of you who don't own this album to run out and get a copy?," and later adds that "it's the best audio bass lesson you could ever purchase." So, I bought it with this purpose in mind, and it doesn't disappoint. Whether or not the tunes are "my bag" stylistically (they aren't) wasn't even a consideration.
 
#35
Willie Weeks has a long list of hits.. I recently learned that he played bass on Rolling Stones.. It’s Only Rock N Roll.. give it a listen..amazing bass playing.
He also recorded a few albums with George Harrison..
check out 33 1/3...
I had the pleasure of meeting him and spending about 2 hours prior to his show at Westbury Music Fair when he was playing with Wynonna Judd. We sat out behind the venue at a picnic bench and talked bass and gear for that time. He’s a gear head..but loves his Precision’s....
He on my top 3 favorite list.
 
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#36
Love Donny Hathaway Live like the child I'll never have.

Some good recommendations for his other work have already been mentioned. He's also on all of Bowie's "Young Americans" album save for 2 tracks. I dig his work double-teaming the second track on John Mayer's "Continuum" album alongside Pino. (Side note: regardless of how you feel about JM, that whole album features Pino and Steve Jordan. Killer stuff throughout.)

Weeks also played Soul Shine with Govt Mule on their first disc after Allen Woody died. You can see some studio footage of that in the first 5-10 minute of the Rising Low documentary. The whole doc is very cool if you haven't seen it - loads of great players featured throughout.

 
#37
Thanks so much for reminding me of this album!

When it came out, Mr Weeks' bass playing was a revelation to me, especially his fills in Little Ghetto Boy, which I thought were (and still are) just cool as hell and spent hours trying to figure them out with my first electric bass, a hopeless task of course with only a turntable for playback and very very green skills. But man, I knew that was what I wanted to play like. Still trying. Sigh.

Willie Weeks, y'all! Damn!
 
#39
Tommy Shannon said WWs playing on the Donny LIVE was one of his all time favs. In the pre internet days it took me years to track down a copy . Finally found a a Japanese import and I’ve turned more people on this great record over the years. Check out Willie on those Ron Wood solo records too.
 
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