| "The Ghetto" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Donny Hathaway | ||||
| from the album Everything Is Everything | ||||
| A-side | "The Ghetto, Pt. 1" | |||
| B-side | "The Ghetto, Pt. 2" | |||
| Released | 1969 | |||
| Recorded | 1969 | |||
| Genre | Soul jazz | |||
| Length | 6:50 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Donny Hathaway & Leroy Hutson | |||
| Producer(s) | Donny Hathaway & Ric Powell | |||
| Donny Hathaway singles chronology | ||||
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"The Ghetto" is a socially conscious, mostly instrumental jazz-flavored anthem, released as the first single off American soul singer Donny Hathaway's debut album, Everything Is Everything, released as a single in 1969 on Atlantic Records.
The song was co-written by Hathaway and Leroy Hutson. The song was a 6-minute and 50 second extravaganza which built upon a cinematic feel with its lengthy instrumental though it did feature vocal ad-libs from Hathaway, who played Wurlitzer electronic piano on the song, and constant chants of the song's title. The song has a distinctive Afro-Cuban sound with congas.
The song also featured additional background dialogue from what sounds like men talking on a street corner and a baby crying - that baby being Hathaway's own daughter Lalah before Hathaway ended the song with frenetic hand claps.
When originally released in 1969, the song became a modest charted single, peaking at number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 23 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.[1]
The song was also featured on Hathaway's revered Live album in which Hathaway and his musicians played a faster version of the song and later featured Hathaway getting the audience to sing the final chorus. The song was also used in the 1977 film Short Eyes.
Co-writer Leroy Hutson recorded a version of the song entitled "The Ghetto '74" for his album The Man! (1973). Since then, the song has been sampled in hip-hop songs, most famously, Too Short's "The Ghetto", which featured Gerald Levert singing the chorus.
George Benson, accompanied by keyboardist Joe Sample, covered the song on his album Absolute Benson.