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Already a respected arranger and pianist who'd contributed to dozens
of records (by artists ranging from the Impressions to Carla Thomas to
Woody Herman), with this debut LP Donny Hathaway revealed yet another
facet of his genius -- his smoky, pleading voice, one of the best to ever
grace a soul record. Everything Is Everything sounded like nothing before
it, based in smooth uptown soul but boasting a set of excellent, open-ended
arrangements gained from Hathaway's background in classical and gospel
music. (Before going to Howard University in 1964, his knowledge of popular
music was practically non-existent.) After gaining a contract with Atco
through King Curtis, Hathaway wrote and recorded during 1969 and 1970
with friends including drummer Ric Powell and guitarist Phil Upchurch,
both of whom lent a grooving feel to the album that Hathaway may not have
been able to summon on his own (check out Upchurch's unforgettable bassline
on the opener, "Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)").
All of the musical brilliance on display, though, is merely the framework
for Hathaway's rich, emotive voice, testifying to the power of love and
religion with few, if any, concessions to pop music. Like none other,
he gets to the raw, churchy emotion underlying Ray Charles' "I Believe
to My Soul" and Nina Simone's "To Be Young, Gifted and Black,"
the former with a call-and-response horn chart and his own glorious vocal,
the latter with his own organ lines. "Thank You Master (For My Soul)"
brings the Stax horns onto sanctified ground, while Hathaway praises God
and sneaks in an excellent piano solo. Everything Is Everything was one
of the first soul records to comment directly on an unstable period; "Tryin'
Times" speaks to the importance of peace and community with an earthy
groove, while the most familiar track here, a swinging jam known as "The
Ghetto," places listeners right in the middle of urban America. Donny
Hathaway's debut introduced a brilliant talent into the world of soul,
one who promised to take R&B farther than it had been taken since
Ray Charles debuted on Atlantic.
(by John Bush, All
Music Guide)
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Plattentipp 
#197 Rock Critics Choice(1978) 
