Jaded, My Tummy

I just learned via Wikipedia that Black Music Month was established by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. How executive of him, haha. Anyway, for my blog, I wanted to dedicate the month to those extremely talented artists who we tragically lost, either too soon (Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Amy Winehouse [I know she's not black, so hush]) or still had time to make another impact (Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Don Cornelius). These artists all suffered from some form of mental illness, some combined with drugs, and it's something that I think about constantly.

But, one artist who I regard so highly and suffered from mental illness was Donny Hathaway. He is someone who I believe, unlike fellow keyboard prodigy Stevie Wonder, whose singular brilliance was never fully recognized on wax. While alive, he was mainly famous for the softer, simpler duets he did with Roberta Flack. I just happened to be listening to his song "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black," a cover of Nina Simone, around Whitney's passing, and it makes me think of all these artists. Aretha Franklin and a few others also did a cover, but Hathaway's is the best and arguably better than Simone's original. This month, though, I want to post up some artists and music I like that are outside the triumvirate of black music-hip hop, R&B, and jazz-that will be tagged "black music month." So enjoy.

"To Be Young, Gifted, and Black" from Everything Is Everything (1970)