"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 Leroy Hutson (born June 4, 1945) is an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, arranger, producer and instrumentalist, best known as former lead singer of R&B vocal group The Impressions. His music concerns '70s soul, as noted in the June 2 ...

. 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-lib In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The r ...

s from Hathaway, who played

Wurlitzer electronic piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptua ...

on the song, and constant chants of the song's title. The song has a distinctive

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural el ...

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. 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

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 Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on ...

's " The Ghetto", which featured

Gerald Levert Gerald Edward Levert (July 13, 1966 – November 10, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and producer. Levert was best known for singing with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon of the vocal group LeVert. Levert was also a ...

singing the chorus.

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

, accompanied by keyboardist

Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, the band which shortened its name to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained ...

, covered the song on his album '' Absolute Benson''.

Personnel

* Donny Hathaway: lead vocals,

, bass *Eulalah Hathaway: background vocals *

Master Henry Gibson "Master" Henry Gibson (August 9, 1942 – December 18, 2002) was an American percussionist, appearing on about 1200 albums, spanning a career of four decades. Born in the United States, Gibson began playing on the streets of Chicago. While a yo ...

: conga solo *

Morris Jennings Morris Jennings was an American drummer and musician from Chicago. He recorded as Moe Jennings, M. Jennings, Maurice Jennings, Morris "Gator" Jennings, and Morris Jennings Jr. Jennings is best known for having played drums on the ''Electric Mud' ...

: drums * Marshall Hawkins: bass *

Phil Upchurch Philip Upchurch (born July 19, 1941) is an American jazz and blues guitarist and bassist. Career Upchurch started his career working with the Kool Gents, the Dells, and the Spaniels, before going on to work with Curtis Mayfield, Otis Rush, an ...

: guitar *Richard Powell: percussion &

timbales Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfico ...

Solo *Written and composed by Donny Hathaway and Leroy Hutson *Conducted and arranged by Donny Hathaway *Produced by Donny Hathaway and Ric Powell

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghetto, The 1969 songs 1970 singles Soul jazz songs 1960s instrumentals Donny Hathaway songs Songs written by Leroy Hutson