1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. Disgrayland is 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: a production of Double Elvis. This is the story about 4 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: Donnie Hathaway, a singer, a songwriter, and a performer so 5 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 1: inspiring that he made Stevie Wonder change the way that 6 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: he sang. He made Amy Weinhouse name check him in 7 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: her lyrics, and he compelled other musical giants Ray Charles 8 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:50,199 Speaker 1: and Aretha Franklin to stand up and take notice. But 9 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: this is also a story about madness, about angels and demons, 10 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: about paranormal phenomena, a haunting in a studio, the mysterious 11 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: death of a young talent, and about soul, the essence 12 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: of one soul, and about soul music great music. Donnie 13 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: Hathaway made great music, unlike that loop I played for 14 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: you at the top of the show that was not 15 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: great music. That was a preset loop from my melotron 16 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: called seven Deadly Sins MK One. I played you that 17 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,959 Speaker 1: loop because I can't afford the rights to too much 18 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: Heaven by the Begis. And why would I play you 19 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: that specific slice of brothers in Harmony Cheese? Could I 20 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: afford it because that was the number one song in 21 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: America on January thirteenth, nineteen seventy nine, and that was 22 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: the day Soul singer Donnie Hathaway's body was found dead 23 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: on the sidewalk fifteen stories below was rented Hotel World 24 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: on this episode Madness, Angels, Demons, paranormal phenomena, a studio haunting, 25 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: and the death of Soul singer Donnie Hathaway. I'm Jake Brennan, 26 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: and this this disgraceland. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings 27 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto 28 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: the High Priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, 29 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, 30 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: whether they were men or women, he might bring them 31 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,959 Speaker 1: bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, 32 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: and suddenly there shined round about him, alight from heaven. 33 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: And he fell to the earth and heard a voice 34 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And 35 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: he said, who art thou Lord? And the Lord said, 36 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: I am Jesus whom thou persecuted. It is hard for 37 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: thee to kick against the pricks, and he trembled and astonished, 38 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: said Lord, what would thou have me do? And the 39 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,359 Speaker 1: Lord said, unto him, arise and go into the city, 40 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 41 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing 42 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from 43 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: the earth. And when his eyes were opened, he saw 44 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: no man. But they led him by the hand and 45 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: brought him into Damascus. That, of course, was a passage 46 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: from the Bible, from the New Testament. King James Version, 47 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: specifically Acts chapter nine, verses one through eight, one of 48 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: three tellings in the Bible of the story of Saul, 49 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: a man who had threatened violence against Christians, a man 50 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: who was on his way to carry out that violence, 51 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: but who suddenly had a vision in the middle of 52 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: the desert. This blindingly bright vision came not from the sun, 53 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: but from behind the sun, a light from heaven, a 54 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,799 Speaker 1: light so strong it literally struck him face down onto 55 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: the ground, shaking, convulsing, Compelled to change his ways and 56 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 1: to change his name from Saul to Paul. Not only 57 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: did he convert to Christianity, but he became one of 58 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: the disciples. All because of this luminous phenomena, Saul aka 59 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: Paul literally saw the light. The man he was traveling with, however, 60 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: heard a voice, but saw nothing, perhaps because Saul had 61 00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:59,919 Speaker 1: a gift that the others did not possess, a li 62 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: allowing him to see beyond the veil of our everyday 63 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: reality and into another, a hidden reality that almost two 64 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: thousand years later in nineteen hundred, the Canadian psychiatrist doctor 65 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: Richard M. Buck, longtime friend of Walt Whitman, by the way, 66 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: explained this reality like this quote. There has lived on 67 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: the Earth for thousands of years among ordinary men, the 68 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: first faint beginnings of another race, walking the Earth and 69 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: breathing the air with us, but at the same time 70 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,719 Speaker 1: walking another earth and breathing air of which we know 71 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: little or nothing unquote Saul aka Paul circa thirty three 72 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,239 Speaker 1: a d. And Doctor Richard M. Buck at the turn 73 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: of the twentieth century. Nowadays, there are still true believers 74 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 1: here in twenty twenty four, looking to the sky for 75 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: signs of intelligent life from another planet, a topic that 76 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: has recently been investigated in depth at the highest reaches 77 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: of the United States government, and look I'm not saying 78 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,599 Speaker 1: that Paul was visited by aliens out in the desert 79 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 1: on his way to Damascus, because I'm not talking about extraterrestrials. 80 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:20,359 Speaker 1: I'm talking about ultraterrestrials, beings that, to paraphrase doctor Buck, 81 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: walk the earth and breathe the air with us. Angels, 82 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: not Michael and Gabriel, but other interdimensional angels demons too, 83 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: some helpful, others harmful, but all of them invisible to 84 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:38,720 Speaker 1: the majority of us, mere mortals. Because we use what 85 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: ten percent of our brains, thirty percent, whatever the number, 86 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: we don't use our brains to their full capacity. But 87 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: if we did, if we possess that extrasensorary equipment that 88 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,280 Speaker 1: a minor portion of the population allegedly possesses, we would 89 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,479 Speaker 1: be able to see beyond the spectrum of visible light, 90 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: to the so called spectrum where strange things, strange figures 91 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: roam free by our sides, day in and day out, 92 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: or so say paranormal eupologists or UFO experts, types like 93 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: author John Keel, who published a book in nineteen seventy 94 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: five called The Eighth Tower, a book in which a 95 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: lot of what I've just laid out comes from there 96 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: exists in this book a desire to make sense of 97 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: not just UFOs and alien abductions, but of other strange 98 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: phenomena like ghosts, Bigfoot, the Lockness Monster, and of course, 99 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: to bring us back to where we started religion. God. 100 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 1: John Keel writes about all these things as a mass 101 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 1: of energy tethered to our universe, an energy that we 102 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: are unable to see because of the distortion of electrical 103 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: energy in our everyday lives radio waves, phone lines, microwaves, generators. 104 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: But this energy that we are unable to see, this 105 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: super spectrum, it is powerful enough to shut down our clocks, 106 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: our watches, our cars, as routinely happens in many reports 107 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: of supposed alien contact. It controls us like pawns at 108 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: a cosmic game, and it radiates. We are at the 109 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: mercy of luminous phenomena which you probably can't see, but 110 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: you can read about. And in the nineteen seventies people 111 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: read about it a lot, books like The Eighth Tower, 112 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: or perhaps more likely, books like The Mothman Prophecies. John 113 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: Keel's other books from nineteen seventy five, which was actually 114 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: a bestseller, the failed hippie movement, Watergate Vietnam. This decade 115 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 1: was the time when Americans were desperate for meaning in 116 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: the New Age, so to speak, the metaphysical, the occult, 117 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: all these hot button topics at the time, they filled 118 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,079 Speaker 1: the void to provide meaning for days. But whether or 119 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,199 Speaker 1: not you believed in it had a lot to do 120 00:08:55,280 --> 00:09:01,679 Speaker 1: with whether or not you could see it. So nineteen 121 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 1: seventy New York City, back to a time and place 122 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: that we normally traffick in. Here in disgrace slam the 123 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: music industry, and the only thing that band leader and 124 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: session man King Curtis could see was his own reflection 125 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: in the closed doors of the elevator. That and the 126 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:21,320 Speaker 1: reflection of the guys standing next to him as the 127 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: elevator made its way up. The guy was wearing a 128 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: polyester jacket, turtleneck and a big floppy cap. And King 129 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: Curtis was one of those secret weapon type musicians. He 130 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,840 Speaker 1: made his own records, of course, records for Jerry Wexler 131 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: and Atlantic Records, but he was also the go to 132 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: guy when an R and B or soul artist needed 133 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: a saxophone player. Sam Cook, Jimmy Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, King 134 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: Curtis played with them all and like his megawat Peers, 135 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: King Curtis had an ear for talent, talent possessed by 136 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: the likes of this dude standing right here next to 137 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: him now looking straight ahead by see very shy, not talking, 138 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 1: but nonetheless humming to himself, and not just some random, 139 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: pointless melody. He was humming along to the elevator motor, 140 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:15,840 Speaker 1: matching the motor's pitch perfectly, as perfect as this guy's 141 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: voice was sounding right now while he hummed, a voice 142 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 1: that was tapped into the kind of frequency that even 143 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:26,200 Speaker 1: eluded an industry veteran like King Curtis. So King was 144 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 1: absolutely mesmerized. Hey man, you got a name. The dude 145 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: in the big floppy hat with the perfect pitch, said 146 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: Donnie Hathaway. Donny Hathaway didn't just have a name or 147 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: a voice, he had a demo recording of his own material, 148 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: like the song the Ghetto, a nearly seven minute Afro 149 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:50,960 Speaker 1: Latin style grove that grooved hard. King Curtis couldn't believe 150 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: how good the song was, and he couldn't get into 151 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: Jerry Wexer's hands at Atlantic Records fast enough. Jerry King 152 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: Curtis said, after he rushed into Wexer's place. Something great 153 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: neck Long Island. You got to check this kid out. 154 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 1: Donnie Hathaway is his name. He's as good as Marvin, 155 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 1: He's as good as Ray, but on a whole different level. 156 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: Jerry wondered what King Curtis meant by that, But he 157 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 1: listened to the demo and then he met the cat 158 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: with a big floppy hat, and suddenly it all made sense. 159 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:22,040 Speaker 1: Donnie Hathaway wasn't just an incredible new talent. Donnie Hathaway 160 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: heard and saw things that others never could. When Donnie 161 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 1: Hathaway's debut album, Everything Is Everything was released in July 162 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy on the Atlantic record subsidiary AGC Records, 163 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 1: it wasn't a major hit, but a quick became your 164 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: favorite artist's favorite album. Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin were 165 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: instant fans. Carol King bought eight copies to give to 166 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 1: her friends, and ditto for Stevie Wonder, who was so 167 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:16,560 Speaker 1: blown away by Donnie's voice that he actually changed how 168 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: he sang. This totally checks out, by the way, Go 169 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: listen to Stevie Wonder before Donnie Hathaway hit the scene, 170 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: and then compare it to how he sang afterward, starting 171 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,439 Speaker 1: with Stevie's classic album Talking Book, released a year after 172 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: Donnie's debut. Stevie's suddenly pulling off these incredible vocal tricks 173 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: that you can directly trace back to Donnie Hathaway. But 174 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 1: before Everything is Everything, before Stevie, before Carol King, before 175 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: King Curtis, there was another Curtis, Curtis Mayfield. Curtis Mayfield 176 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 1: was coming off of his tenure leading his R and 177 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 1: B group, The Impressions. It was now transitioning into a 178 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:56,680 Speaker 1: solo career and he desperately needed some extra creative muscle 179 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 1: at his newly formed Curdam Records. Donnie Hathaway was already 180 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: something of a known quantity. He was once a child prodigy. 181 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: At just four years old, he was touring the gospel 182 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: circuit as Little Donnie Pitts, a kid who was already 183 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 1: hearing complex arrangements in his head at a young age, 184 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,960 Speaker 1: arrangements said he could not yet translate onto a page. 185 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,559 Speaker 1: Then he stole the spotlight when he played in the 186 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 1: Rick Powell trio. He played piano and he sang around Washington, 187 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: d c. And clubs while attending Howard University. Now Howard 188 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: University was prestigious, but in Donnie Hathaway's eyes, Curdham Records 189 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,320 Speaker 1: was even more so. So he dropped out of school 190 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: for his first real gig in the business, writing, producing 191 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:47,640 Speaker 1: and performing for Curtis Mayfield. Donnie Hathaway was AllMusic all 192 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,480 Speaker 1: the time. He thought about it, he dreamed about it. 193 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: It oozed out of him every time he opened his mouth, 194 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 1: and not just one particular genre. He dug music in totality, 195 00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: to use his own words, from the Lowes blues to 196 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 1: the highest symphony, no lowbrow, highbrow, bullshit classification either. Everything 197 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: was everything. He could hear it all, he could explain it, all, 198 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: he could arrange it all, all that beautiful music saturating 199 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:14,800 Speaker 1: his brain. That was the kind of thing that you 200 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: could not be taught. That's why they called it soul music, 201 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 1: because it came from somewhere inside of you. Soul music 202 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 1: was in essence, your essence, and Donnie Hathaway embodied this essence. 203 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: Making music came as easy to Donnie as did his 204 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: ability to tell on something. And the music was off 205 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 1: even in the slightest, even when it came to a 206 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:40,080 Speaker 1: veteran player like drummer Al Jackson Junior, who played for 207 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: the legendary Stax House Bam Booker T and the MGS. 208 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: There was a recording session with Donnie for his self 209 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: titled sophomore album, and Al Jackson was playing great as always. 210 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: He was a living legend behind the drums. But Donnie 211 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: could hear something that no one else in the room could. 212 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 1: Al's timing was just slightly off Al. Donnie said, when 213 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: you come in on the one, you got to come 214 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 1: in like this. Donnie demonstrated, and Al Jackson made the correction, 215 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: and a few bars later, Donnie heard Al's time slip 216 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 1: again and again. He asked him the drummer, to tighten 217 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,720 Speaker 1: up a minor piece of guidance that made a major 218 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: difference in the long run. It was all there in 219 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: Donnie's ears and in Donnie's head, and he could hear 220 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:26,920 Speaker 1: the good things and the bad. But not just music, 221 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: not just drums that were off time. There were voices, 222 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: voices that only Donnie could hear, people people that only 223 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: Donnie could see. One was inside his television set, and 224 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 1: I'm not talking about a news anchor or an actor 225 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 1: on a primetime sitcom. Donnie turned the big dial in 226 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:47,920 Speaker 1: the front of the TV to change the station, but 227 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: stopped on the static in between the stations, almost like 228 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: it was calling to him. Black and white fuzz dancing 229 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 1: like bugs on the surface of a lake, distortion electrical energy, 230 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: humming and buzzing. The static percolated white noise. They called 231 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: it the kind of thing that soothed some people and 232 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: bugged the shit out of others. To Donnie, it was 233 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 1: mostly rhythmic. He began to seek out the pulse, the 234 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: beat propelling the static inside the television box. After all, 235 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 1: everything was everything so white. Noise blaring from a tiny 236 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: television speaker could be music. But soon there was more 237 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: than sound. There was a face. He could make it 238 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 1: out behind the veil of fuzz, trying to break on through, 239 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: like it was stuck behind a window and wanted desperately 240 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 1: to be seen, to be heard. No one else sitting 241 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 1: on the couch next to Donnie took notice of what 242 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: was happening, But the figure inside the TV was now moving, 243 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: its mouth, blinking its eyes. The glow from the screen 244 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: became brighter and brighter, until it was nearly blinding. Donnie 245 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: thought about angels, not people, good virtue, but spiritual attendance 246 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: messengers of God, about how their visitations in the Bible 247 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,360 Speaker 1: were often met with the same sort of bright light 248 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:15,640 Speaker 1: leanness phenomena. He thought about being a kid. He thought 249 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: about being raised in the church. He thought about being 250 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: raised on the gospel circuit, touring the Midwest with the 251 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: woman who took care of him, his grandmother, a professional 252 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: gospel singer, Donnie Hathaway aka Little Donnie Pitts one hell 253 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,400 Speaker 1: of a singer, but also one hell of a preacher. 254 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: Then he thought of the path that he had not taken. 255 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: He thought about how he chose life of secular music 256 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: over a life of the gospel, thought that he turned 257 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: his back on religion, far from it. Leading a crowd 258 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: through a transcendent live music experience was a lot like 259 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 1: leading a congregation through an impassioned sermon. But for Donnie's 260 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 1: grandmother R and B soul music, it wasn't Christian. It 261 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,719 Speaker 1: was the opposite of Christian. It was a life of 262 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 1: sin and unholiness. And it crushed Donnie Hathaway to think 263 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 1: that his preferred career choice had driven a wedge between 264 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: him and his grandmother. So he took comfort in this 265 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:16,399 Speaker 1: figure appearing inside of his television set, which was finally 266 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 1: beginning to speak to him. And the voice wasn't a 267 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,440 Speaker 1: man's or a woman's. He didn't know if it was human, 268 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:27,879 Speaker 1: but it was a gentle voice, the kind it reassured him, 269 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:31,920 Speaker 1: and he returned the favor, speaking softly to this strange 270 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 1: figure so clearly visible to him, now softly enough that 271 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: no one else in the woman could hear what he 272 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:43,399 Speaker 1: was saying. And then her voice stopped, and the figure 273 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:46,439 Speaker 1: was gone. All that was left was the glow of 274 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:51,720 Speaker 1: the screen and the harsh sound of the television static. Hey, Donnie, 275 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: his friend said, sitting next to him. You okay. Donnie 276 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: turned to look at his friend. Yeah, man, okay. Donnie 277 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:06,399 Speaker 1: wasn't just okay. He was confident, not just in his voice, 278 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: but in the music he was making, like a self 279 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: titled sophomore record that went higher on the R and 280 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: B chart than his debut, and not in the causes 281 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:16,360 Speaker 1: that he was now giving back to you, as any 282 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 1: performing artist on the come up would. Helping to raise 283 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 1: money for the Fred Hampton Legal Assistant Scholarship Fund for 284 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,360 Speaker 1: the National Black Political Convention. An activist in Reverend Jesse 285 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: Jackson's operation push. Donnie was confident that what he'd just experienced, 286 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 1: the conversation he'd just had with someone in the television static, 287 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:44,880 Speaker 1: was absolutely, unequivocally real. We'll be right back after this. 288 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 1: We're We're, We're. Marvin Gaye was confused. He was at 289 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:57,960 Speaker 1: his studio on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, not far 290 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 1: from where Donnie Hathaway had recently recorded the A side 291 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: of his new album, Donnie Hathaway Live. And Donnie recorded 292 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,160 Speaker 1: this to a packed house inside Doug Weston's Troubadour nightclub. 293 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:13,159 Speaker 1: But Marvin was now listening to that album, specifically to 294 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:17,640 Speaker 1: the opening song What's Going On, a song that Marvin 295 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 1: could have sworn he wrote and originally performed not even 296 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: a year prior. But here was Donnie Hathaway singing it, 297 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: and not just singing it, but owning it, killing it, 298 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:34,240 Speaker 1: not just the vocal, the arrangement, the shit hot solo 299 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: Donnie was playing on the world's piano. So, sitting in 300 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,119 Speaker 1: his sprawling, state of the art studio, listening to the 301 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: record as its spawn on the turntable, Marvin could hear 302 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: the music not just coming from a stereo speakers, but 303 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: coming directly from Donnie Hathaway's Soul. The rendition of the 304 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,480 Speaker 1: song was so good that Marvin Gave momentarily forgot that 305 00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: he wrote it. He thought it was Donnie's song. Maybe 306 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 1: it was. Now it was nineteen seventy two, and Donnie 307 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:08,960 Speaker 1: Hathaway was suddenly all the rage. There was Donnie Hathaway Live, 308 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:11,120 Speaker 1: the record that was tripping up our guy, Marvin Gay 309 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,520 Speaker 1: here and the one which pushed Donnie over the line 310 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:15,719 Speaker 1: from one of the industry's best kept secrets to one 311 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 1: of its budding new stars. But there was also ROBERTA. 312 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:23,480 Speaker 1: Flack and Donnie Hathaway, a collection of duets with his 313 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 1: fellow Howard Alum and Good Friend, released just two months later. 314 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,879 Speaker 1: That album included the hit where Is the Love along 315 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,080 Speaker 1: with a sublime cover of Carol King's You've Got a Friend, 316 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:39,439 Speaker 1: a track which incredibly was released just one week after 317 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: James Taylor's equally iconic version that song. More than Marvin's 318 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: What's going On or Donnie's own the Ghetto lights Up 319 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 1: the Crowd. On the Donnie Hathaway Live album, Donnie plays 320 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: the opening notes on his World's or electric piano and 321 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 1: women shriek with delight. The audience goes on to sing 322 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: along to the course so loudly that they practically overtake 323 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: the star of the show. It's this energy and the 324 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,400 Speaker 1: way in which Donnie Hathaway and his band feed off 325 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,359 Speaker 1: the energy that makes Donnie Hathway Live arguably one of 326 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,680 Speaker 1: the greatest live albums of all time, almost as good 327 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 1: as James Brown's Live at the Apollo and Johnny cash 328 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:24,439 Speaker 1: Is at Fulsome Prisoner America thought so too. It was 329 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:28,199 Speaker 1: Donnie's only album to go gold during his lifetime. He 330 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:30,720 Speaker 1: began to get noticed in public, and while out to 331 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: dinner with some friends, two women at the next table 332 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 1: over recognized a handsome guy with the mustache and the 333 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: big floppy cat, and they giggled amongst themselves while stealing looks, 334 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: before eventually working up the nerve to lean over and 335 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 1: say something, Hey, aren't you Donnie cracked a smile, Yes 336 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:51,440 Speaker 1: he was, and it was a pleasure to meet them both. 337 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,880 Speaker 1: And the ladies have been knocking back glasses of shardon Hay, 338 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:56,919 Speaker 1: and they wanted to know if Donnie wanted to come 339 00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,600 Speaker 1: back to their place, you know, and let them take 340 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,479 Speaker 1: care of it. Donnie was flattered, but he turned them 341 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 1: down gently flashed his wedding ring while also flashing another smile. 342 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: But behind that smile, Donny wasn't happy. Not what the 343 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:16,400 Speaker 1: music that is, specifically with how Donnie Hathaway live sounded. 344 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: For a guy who went to great lengths to make 345 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:21,400 Speaker 1: sure that the sounds he heard in his head were 346 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: accurately imperfectly represented in the finished product. Downy Hathaway found 347 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,320 Speaker 1: the live album format two raw, from the lowest blues 348 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 1: to the highest symphony sher But he knew he could 349 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: do better. He knew he could be more polished, allish, 350 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,119 Speaker 1: like the music he wrote it conducted for the nineteen 351 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:42,399 Speaker 1: seventy two film Come Back Charleston Blue, a scoring gig 352 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: handed to him personally by none other than the great 353 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 1: Quincy Jones. Or the music for his next project, which 354 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: was his third studio album that he had called Extension 355 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,879 Speaker 1: of a Man, some of the most progressive music of 356 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,720 Speaker 1: his still young career that pushed the boundaries of soul 357 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: in R and B. Even Rolling Stone Magazine noticed. They 358 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: called it an ambitious breakthrough album. Donnie Hathaway's ambition didn't 359 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: stop there. Before long, he was back in the studio, 360 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:17,680 Speaker 1: back to pouring all the genius inside his brain onto 361 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: two inch tape on a reel, working on some new 362 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: tracks in a New York City studio with some new musicians, 363 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: including James of Twomey, a great percussion and keyboard player 364 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,520 Speaker 1: who'd just come off a string of wild jazz rock 365 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: hybrid records with Miles Davis. James was in the groove now, 366 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:35,560 Speaker 1: even if Donnie had a coaching to get him there 367 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:37,640 Speaker 1: the way he'd done with Al Jackson Junior a few 368 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:44,199 Speaker 1: years earlier. Donnie looked around the studio, musicians, engineers, a 369 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 1: tape operator making coffee, songwriter and session producer Eric Mercury James. 370 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: The two me over there working out some nasty polyrhythms 371 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: on the Congress. But there was someone else too, someone 372 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: that Donnie didn't recognize. And that someone stood in the 373 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 1: middle of the room, surrounded by the session players that 374 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,360 Speaker 1: Donnie had hired to cut this track, and that someone 375 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: was seemingly unnoticed by any of them. That someone just 376 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: stared at Donnie sitting there at the piano. Donnie stared back. 377 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,320 Speaker 1: The dude was a white guy. He had neat hair, 378 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,159 Speaker 1: he was smartly dressed. He was the only Caucasian in 379 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 1: the room. He didn't speak. He didn't have to gave 380 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: off this vibe dread, doom or reckoning, the complete opposite 381 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 1: of the vibe given off by those women in the 382 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,480 Speaker 1: restaurant or by the thing that Donnie saw in the television. 383 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:47,399 Speaker 1: This was malevolent. They wanted to hurt him. Donnie jumped 384 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: up from the piano bench and bolted from the studio room. 385 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,120 Speaker 1: James Matoma found him a few minutes later in another room, 386 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: squatting against the corner Donnie. James said, Man, what's wrong. 387 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:01,199 Speaker 1: Donnie was shaking James. He said, they're trying to kill me. 388 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,439 Speaker 1: Who white people? They have my brain hooked up to 389 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: a machine. James. They're stealing my music and my sound. 390 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 1: James was shocked. He didn't know what to say or 391 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,119 Speaker 1: how to react. He'd never seen Donny like this before, 392 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,399 Speaker 1: and given the state that Donnie was currently in, the 393 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:22,120 Speaker 1: best move in the moment seemed to be to call 394 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: off the recording session for the night and pick it 395 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: back up again a few days later. So Donnie took 396 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: off from the studio and he cooled out at his 397 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 1: friend ROBERTA. Flack's apartment. He had dinner, and then he 398 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:35,240 Speaker 1: returned to his room on the fifteenth floor of the 399 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:39,360 Speaker 1: Essex House Hotel on Central Park South. Donnie didn't mind 400 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: heights when he lived in Chicago, back when he worked 401 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,679 Speaker 1: for Curtis Mayfield. Donnie used to open up his window 402 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: on the seventeenth floor, lean out and make a joyful noise, singing, preaching, 403 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:55,320 Speaker 1: whatever you want to call it. He loved to blend 404 00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 1: his natural instrument with the sights and sounds of the 405 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,679 Speaker 1: natural world. But when he did, he was oblivious to 406 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,879 Speaker 1: what was going on around him. Sometimes he leaned out 407 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,479 Speaker 1: a little too far, in which case one of his 408 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 1: friends would have to grab him and pull him back 409 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 1: inside before he fell. But tonight Donny Hathaway was alone, 410 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:18,880 Speaker 1: or so goes one version of the story, because it's 411 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: impossible to truly understand what happened that night. The night 412 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: that Donny Hathaway, still haunted by what he'd witnessed in 413 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 1: the recording studio, still dressed in his polyester jacket and 414 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: big floppy cap, fell from his open fifteenth story window 415 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 1: overlooking Central Park and died instantly when his body hit 416 00:27:40,040 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 1: the ground. Did Donnie Hathaway jump from his window in 417 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:11,359 Speaker 1: the Essex House Hotel, or did he fall. So hang on, 418 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:13,760 Speaker 1: before we get into that, we need to just back 419 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 1: up a quick second. First, I need to tell you 420 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: something about his final recording session, the one with James Mitumay, 421 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: in which Donnie Hathaway freaked out and said that white 422 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:26,359 Speaker 1: people were trying to kill him. That session took place 423 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,840 Speaker 1: on the day at Donnie's death, Saturday, January thirteenth, nineteen 424 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:35,439 Speaker 1: seventy nine. Perhaps the more important piece of information is 425 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,880 Speaker 1: that at the time of that session it had been 426 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: six years since Donnie released any music. Six years. And remember, 427 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 1: this is a guy who, from nineteen seventy to nineteen 428 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 1: seventy three put out not just three studio albums, but 429 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,960 Speaker 1: a live album for the Ages, a collaboration with ROBERTA. Flack, 430 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:56,040 Speaker 1: and a soundtrack, not to mention, one of the greatest 431 00:28:56,040 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: holiday jams of all time this Christmas. And then nothing 432 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: for six long years, nothing at all. So what was 433 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:11,360 Speaker 1: Donnie Hathaway doing during those six years? Well, sometimes he 434 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:15,680 Speaker 1: was performing, or attempting to. At the Cellar Door in Washington, DC. 435 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 1: He sat at the keyboard, barely playing humming to himself 436 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: while audience members walked out one by one and demanded 437 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: a refund. Not a week later, he was at the 438 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:28,600 Speaker 1: Village Gate in New York City, delivering a riveting show 439 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 1: with an incredible band at his back. But as the 440 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,400 Speaker 1: highs and lows of these shows demonstrate, mostly Donnie Hathaway 441 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 1: spent those six years struggling not just with making music 442 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 1: or even navigating his newfound fame, he struggled with paranoid schizophrenia. 443 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:50,400 Speaker 1: As early as nineteen seventy one, before Donnie Hathaway Live 444 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: was even conceived, Donnie's wife, Yulela, noticed that Donnie was 445 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:57,600 Speaker 1: acting strange at first, in the way that only a 446 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 1: husband or a wife would notice. Over time, it got worse, 447 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 1: and when his third studio album, Extension of a Man, 448 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: came out in nineteen seventy three, Donnie was hospitalized several times. 449 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 1: In fact, he was taking something like fourteen different pills 450 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,280 Speaker 1: three to four times a day, and the pills made 451 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,760 Speaker 1: him agitated, they made him drowsy, and they affected his 452 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 1: ability to write and perform, so naturally he didn't like 453 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: to take them, and when he didn't take them for 454 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: days or weeks at a time, his illness went into overdrive. 455 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,080 Speaker 1: The figure, the voice that he saw in the TV 456 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:38,520 Speaker 1: screen there was no figure and there was no voice, 457 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: or maybe there was. I don't know. I'm not Donnie Hathaway. 458 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: Only Donnie Hathaway knew. But what we do know for 459 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,400 Speaker 1: sure is that Donnie Hathaway sat on a couch with 460 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,880 Speaker 1: a friend at his side, completely mesmerized by the distorted 461 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,880 Speaker 1: static sizzling on the screen, black and white fuzz dancing 462 00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:00,280 Speaker 1: like bugs on the surface of a lake. Donnie saw something, 463 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 1: or he thought he did at least, And what about 464 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 1: those women hitting on him at the restaurant? In reality, 465 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:12,280 Speaker 1: that was not women plural but woman singular. One woman 466 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,280 Speaker 1: sitting at the table next to Donni's, a woman who 467 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 1: was not talking to Donnie. Rather, Donnie was talking to her. 468 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: He didn't even know her. He just stopped eating and 469 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:24,520 Speaker 1: conversing with the people at his table, turned to this 470 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: woman and said, you need to go home and take 471 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:31,280 Speaker 1: care of your kids. Donnie did make the Great drummer 472 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: Al Jackson Junior play a take after take to get 473 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 1: his part right, to stay on time the way Donnie 474 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 1: heard it in his head. But in reality this dragged 475 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:43,960 Speaker 1: on for hours and nearly drove Al Jackson crazy. And 476 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 1: at the end of that time, after all those takes 477 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,240 Speaker 1: and after all of Donnie's notes, according to Jerry Wexler, 478 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:52,680 Speaker 1: Al Jackson was not playing any differently than he was 479 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:57,320 Speaker 1: playing at the start, which brings us back to Donnie's 480 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: final recording session on Saturday, January thirteenth, nineteen seventy nine, 481 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:08,760 Speaker 1: just hours before his death. Did Donnie Hathaway see someone 482 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 1: or something in the studio that was invisible to everyone else? 483 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,120 Speaker 1: Probably not, but then again, only Donny knew. Donnie did 484 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:20,360 Speaker 1: say to James Mitomy White, people have my brain hooked 485 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: up to a machine. And according to Eric Mercury, the 486 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 1: songwriter who was producing that day's session, Donnie also spent 487 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: a lot of his time talking out loud in one 488 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: voice and answering himself in another. So when you look 489 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:41,280 Speaker 1: at Donnie Hathaway's tragic death, the official cause of that death, suicide, 490 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: seems to track Donnie was spooked that day, really freaked out. 491 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:50,480 Speaker 1: His behavior was erratic, He panicked, he removed the safety 492 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 1: glass from his hotel room window, and then he jumped, 493 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:57,400 Speaker 1: suicide being one of the leading causes of death for 494 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: people suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. On the other hand, Donnie 495 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,320 Speaker 1: was trying to restart his career. He had three young daughters. 496 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:10,240 Speaker 1: He was a major source of musical inspiration for superstars, 497 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 1: from Aretha Franklin, who had Donnie play keys on her 498 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 1: hit rock Steady, to Stevie Wonder, who co wrote the 499 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 1: song Donnie was recording on the final day of his life. 500 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: At Donnie's funeral, Jesse Jackson delivered the eulogy and said 501 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:27,920 Speaker 1: that Donnie's death was an accident. That no man would 502 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:30,720 Speaker 1: go through the preparation of putting on his jacket, scarf 503 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 1: and cap just to jump out of a window. Point 504 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,560 Speaker 1: take in, Reverend Jackson. But no one knew exactly what 505 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: Donnie Hathaway heard or saw, Not in the TV set, 506 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: not out at dinner, not in a recording studio, and 507 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:47,720 Speaker 1: certainly not on that cold January evening in his Essex 508 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:52,560 Speaker 1: House hotel room. Maybe it was something invisible to the 509 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:58,160 Speaker 1: rest of us, luminous phenomena. Maybe it was absolutely nothing. 510 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:03,960 Speaker 1: Either way, deliberate or not, it took the tremendously talented 511 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,760 Speaker 1: and soulful Donnie Hathaway away from us at just thirty 512 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:13,960 Speaker 1: three years old. And that is a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan, 513 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:31,360 Speaker 1: and this is Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly. 514 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:34,640 Speaker 1: It is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for 515 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:36,880 Speaker 1: this episode can be found on the show notes page 516 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 1: at disgracelandpod dot com. Subscribe, follow, like, rate, and review 517 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 1: the disgracelam podcast wherever you get your podcast, because the 518 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:49,320 Speaker 1: disgracelamd podcast is now available everywhere. If you love Disgraceland, 519 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:52,920 Speaker 1: tell someone, tell everyone, Shout us out on social spread 520 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:54,920 Speaker 1: the word and follow us to find out how you 521 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 1: can cop some free merch for spreading that word. Follow 522 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:01,319 Speaker 1: us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook at disgraceland pod, 523 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:05,920 Speaker 1: and on YouTube at YouTube dot com, slash at Disgracelandpod. 524 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:12,359 Speaker 1: Rock a Roll. He's a bad down man.