The Roberta Flack Thread

Anyway, if you haven't heard them already, I'd recommend First Take and (especially) Quiet Fire... the latter's second side is as perfect as Flack got: "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" (why did she add the "still"?)/"To Love Somebody"/"Let Them Talk"/"Sweet Bitter Love."

Clarence Carter does a version of "Do What You Gotta Do" that's really instuctive in its 180-degree difference from the Flack cover. Carter follows the melody very closely; it comes across as perfect and pristine. I don't know why anyone would want to embellish it. I don't mind people embellishing or extemporizing on much-loved melodies, so long as the embellishments have something interesting to offer in exchange. I wonder if Flack's take on this song owes something to her conservatory background, and/or a greater concern for artistic individuality in a, er, rockist sense. Whereas Carter was content to be an (awesome) soul journeyman so he's happy to just present song (with a few of his trademark croaks, yes).

surprisingly, the best track on there is her cover of "the impossible dream." great mix of schmaltzy broadway and snazzy gospel! i'm intrigued by the last song too, a nina simone-like "socially conscious" hymn/dirge about vietnam (songwriting credited to fred hellerman and fran minkoff, although it might as well be a more bleak, cynical rewrite of laura nyro's socially conscious hymn/dirge "christmas in my soul," which came out the same year).

but how about that '72 album with donny hathaway?! "be real black for me"! c90 go: your favorite black power love ballads.

I just bought a CD rerelease of First Take, the vinyl I had was rather worn out, and my vinyl player's broken anyway. Damn that record's sublime! What else should I buy? The local store was selling "Killing Me Softly" for cheap, is is worth it besides the title track?

A recent interview

sigh

"I Told Jesus"

:(

Everybody NEEDS to hear her 13 minute aquatic bedroom funktasia "I Can See The Sun in Late December" . . . with arrangements credited to "Rubina Flake". So good.

apparently the artist once and now again known as prince is a huge fan, which makes sense when you consider the phrasing on some of his slow ballads.

i like her version of "do what you gotta do" more than i evidently did upthread.

Where is the love?

omg i saw "play misty for me" last night. i thought it was gonna have rf playing in a club or something but actually "the first time i ever saw your face" is used as background music for an extended sex scene between clint and his love interest, including partial nudity (no penetrations shots unfortunately)

anyway at first i though wtf?!?!? but soon realized that mr. eastwood was simultaneously inventing both mtv and skinemax soft porn 10 years ahead of their time, plus breaking ms. flack to the world at large, and that he is a genius. also, "the first time ever i saw your face", wow - gave me chills. or maybe that was just the waterfall scene

yeah i guess first time ever i saw your face is overused but it's way beautiful

Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway doesn't get enough love on ILM

Everybody NEEDS to hear her 13 minute aquatic bedroom funktasia "I Can See The Sun in Late December" . . . with arrangements credited to "Rubina Flake". So good.

― Neotropical pygmy squirrel, Thursday, December 11, 2008 10:26 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

seriously anybody who doesn't know this jam and the whole album, you're missing out. it is such a great immersive listen.

Okay, fair enough, will have a listen. But what's your take on First Take?

I think it's really good - her voice is just incredible, the clarity of her tone - but I like Roberta Flack best when she gets a little poppier. Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, Feel Like Makin Love and Blue Light in the Basement, those are peak RF for me

I've loved First Take since I first got it 30 odd years ago. It seems pretty natural, organic etc. Chapter Two always struck me as more formulaic though I haven't heard it in quite a while. It certainly seemed more forced when I first heard it.

I quite like Quiet Fire. Need to get a physical copy.

I know there was an Original Artist series or equivalent box set but not sure what's in it.

It has five of her first six albums, but for some inexplicable reason it omits Chapter Two (which is indeed in the same mold as First Take, but since FT is awesome, this should be taken as a praise!). Still, you can get it for cheaper than the CD reissue of Quiet Fire alone.

And Joan Crawford is so right about "Late December". When talking about quiet storms soul epics, it's on the same level as Minnie Riperton's best - and that's a high level indeed.

It drove me crazy every time I heard the Flack track but I finally just this moment realized that the synthline in T.I.'s 'What You Know' is the same as the bassline in Roberta's 'Gone Away'. It's like the heavens just split open. Mind blowed.

I'm kind of glad taht the box omits Chapter Two cos i think it's a pale retread of the sublime First Take.
I should have grabbed the box while i was in FOPP cos i think it was among the sets they had in there reasonably cheaply and it is one taht I have meant to pick up for years. Well, think it's back on my to get list along with the Mike Nesmith First National band one.

"I can see the sun in late December"is absolute perfection.. an extremely beautiful and intoxicating sound world

feel like makin' love is one of my favorite albums ever. every song is made of clouds

Blue Light in the Basement is great, most especially the first song, "Why Don't You Move In With Me," which is completely incredible

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Friday, September 8, 2006 6:27 PM (thirteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

yep

Marvelous: https://www.npr.org/2020/02/10/804370981/roberta-flack-the-virtuoso

Great overview. Was just talking with a DC musician who had Roberta Flack as a school teacher here in DC and later played music with her at Mr Henry’s on Capitol Hill in DC, which still has music years later.

He says she is tough but fair as a bandleader and teacher

Was trying to recall how Movin' Out goes while cleaning, but it keeps turning into Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly in my head - something about that turnaround in the chorus is v similar

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, August 29, 2017 6:57 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

strumming my pain with his fingers, is that all you get for your money

GAH Cannot un-hear that now, thanks a lot.

who needs a house out in Hackensack, singing my life with his words

― Tone-Locrian (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, August 29, 2017 7:10 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

roberta flack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack

― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, August 29, 2017 7:24 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

got a full scholarship to go to Howard...at age 15 whaaaaaaaaaat

There's a 1970 video turned up on Dime yesterday. Not got a chance to watch it yet,
I think its several tracks played live as a trio.

Wish I could post Steve Hurley's House Remix of "Uh-uh Ooh-ooh Look Out (Here It Comes)" (it's referenced upthread) because it pops up in my head every now and then and it came up in a DJ mix I was listening to last week, but it seems to have been erased from YouTube. Hurley's sort-of-dub House of Trix Mix is all there's left.

Roberta Flack to Host Live Charity Listening Party
On Rhino's YouTube Channel
To Benefit Feed The Children's COVID-19 Relief Efforts

Flack's First Take Celebrates 50 Years With Deluxe Reissue Out This Summer
Featuring 12 Recordings Never Heard Before

Broadcast Host And Singer Santita Jackson to Introduce the Set List
For Streaming Event on May 16 at 3:00pm Eastern

details etc. here:
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1103923394056&ca=db998055-a3dd-4a2d-87f3-061a42690e75

1970 show mentioned a few posts ago by me is Flack on Boboquivari so about 1/2 hour of her around teh time of Chapter two. Her on piano with a rhythm section.
Seems quite good. Hadn't realised there was more of a series than the Tim Buckley set . Hadn't realised it was a series.
So would like to know what else is in it if the rest is as good as the 2 I've seen.
Looks like it must be being repeated on some channel since there is on screen text happening , recommendations to listen to shows. thankfully didn't seem to be much in the way of clips across the bottom of the screen

THis was the one clip I could see on youtube from it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlZihXbU91Q

Almost wholly because of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"--one of '70s greatest singles, I'd say, though it actually came out in '69--there's an American Masters on her airing next week.

Meant to attach this link:

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/masters/roberta-flack/#

let's not forget the supposedly-don-mclean-inspired "killing me softly."

speaking of which, there's a new lori leiberman record.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_r5V1oknPI

lieberman rather

American Masters special on her is on PBS now (here in DC area and maybe elsewhere)

I PVR'd it to watch later.

It was superb.

86 today!

She has ALS :(

Sorry to hear that.

I fluffed up that post of mine above--what I meant to say was that my interest in the American Masters episode was almost wholly because of "The First Time." Obviously, Flack had many other hits, including two other #1s. If anything, "Killing Me Softly" has become her signature song--it's the one that made a couple of the Rolling Stone Top 500s. I markedly prefer "The First Time," and "The Closer I Get to You" would be next.

RIP legend

Blue lights in the basement may be my favorite at this point

That right there is an album cover:

https://i.discogs.com/qps20XbW6uN3RDlUa41S5amFKxfnvdKXsJFYmGn4nng/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:595/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM1Njkx/NDEtMTM0MTU1OTcy/MC02NDQwLmpwZWc.jpeg

RIP. Her first three albums are so special I rarely allow myself to listen to them. My copy of Quiet Fire is signed: To Ernest, Much love to you. Roberta Flack. the handwriting is exquisite. Will be playing them all over the next few evenings.

RIP, Queen.

White critics wrote such condescending th8ngs about her at the time

“After you” off blue lights in the basement is one of my all time favorites

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4J28EwBSjI

White critics wrote such condescending th8ngs about her at the time

Quiet Fire [Atlantic, 1971]
Flack is generally regarded as the most significant new black woman singer since Aretha Franklin, and at moments she sounds kind, intelligent, and very likable. But she often exhibits the gratuitous gentility you'd expect of someone who says "between you and I." Until she crackles a bit, forget about significance and listen to Ann Peebles. C

Killing Me Softly [Atlantic, 1973]
Q: Why is Roberta Flack like Jesse Colin Young? A: Because she always makes you wonder whether she's going to fall asleep before you do. C

The Best of Roberta Flack [Atlantic, 1981]
On the evidence of these hits (the early albums were marginally livelier), she has nothing whatsoever to do with rock and roll or rhythm and blues and almost nothing to do with soul. The analogy isn't Donny Hathaway (who lives on in duet after duet), much less Stevie Wonder (also represented)--it's Barry Manilow. She made "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Killing Me Softly With His Song," he made "Mandy" and "I Write the Songs," and who is to say which achievement will prove more durable? Flack has much better taste, I agree--that's the point. In the long run, pop lies are improved by vulgarity. C

Roberta [Atlantic, 1994]
the great black pop of middle-class dreams ("Cottage for Sale," "Let's Stay Together") **

where's my god, and where's my money?

Not considered one of her great albums or anything but I really liked this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqZ46ttz7fU

that song specifically. I swear it sounds like something but I could never place what it reminded me of

A lot of her mid '70s stuff is like that for me too.

always this for me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yorkdiw92PU

"No Tears (In the End)" is my jam. RIP.

first take among the best debut albums oat. her "compared to what" is the definitive. 70s material is peak argument for catalogue exploration. she did originals and covers with equal reverence. never understood her bad rep with critics, tho carole king didn't do much better so that figures.

can't even begin to explain how thoroughly i love her. there was a performance she did with the fugees for an mtv thing in the 90s and it was my proper introduction to her. i sat there as a huge fan of the score knowing in the back of my mind, "they stole this from her." and she's happy as hell to be up there all the same. i'm sure i could go find that performance on youtube by now -and maybe i will later- but with this news, i'd rather trust my memory for now and keep her huge smile in mind as i revisit her completely classic music.

rest well.

She was a school teacher in DC before her music career took off, and later in life she started the Roberta Flack School of Music in the Bronx.

Her first record with Donny Hathaway is incredible. I always revisit this one when I'm in my deepest sadnesses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YceJjhuduY

Quiet Fire [Atlantic, 1971]
Flack is generally regarded as the most significant new black woman singer since Aretha Franklin, and at moments she sounds kind, intelligent, and very likable. But she often exhibits the gratuitous gentility you'd expect of someone who says "between you and I." Until she crackles a bit, forget about significance and listen to Ann Peebles. C
Killing Me Softly [Atlantic, 1973]
Q: Why is Roberta Flack like Jesse Colin Young? A: Because she always makes you wonder whether she's going to fall asleep before you do. C

The Best of Roberta Flack [Atlantic, 1981]
On the evidence of these hits (the early albums were marginally livelier), she has nothing whatsoever to do with rock and roll or rhythm and blues and almost nothing to do with soul. The analogy isn't Donny Hathaway (who lives on in duet after duet), much less Stevie Wonder (also represented)--it's Barry Manilow. She made "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Killing Me Softly With His Song," he made "Mandy" and "I Write the Songs," and who is to say which achievement will prove more durable? Flack has much better taste, I agree--that's the point. In the long run, pop lies are improved by vulgarity. C

Roberta [Atlantic, 1994]
the great black pop of middle-class dreams ("Cottage for Sale," "Let's Stay Together") **

― cryptosicko, Monday, February 24, 2025 3:09 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

These are fucking embarrassing on so many levels. RIP Roberta, long live Roberta

But she often exhibits the gratuitous gentility you'd expect of someone who says "between you and I."

good grief what armchair psychiatry fantasy world bullshit is this?

it doesn't even make sense.

otoh, gratuitous gentility is one of the most attractive phrases i can think of to describe such lush, thoughtful music.

god forbid black people have middle class dreams

wish they'd stick out the4 expanded First Take as just a 2cd set. I don't need the vinyl. Would like t5he bonus tracks though.

“After you” off blue lights in the basement is one of my all time favorites

― Heez, Monday, February 24, 2025 10:36 AM

heez otm, super potent introspection.

her "compared to what" is the definitive.

not that this is the thread for this, but the live Les Mccann version is the definitive one imo

that song specifically. I swear it sounds like something but I could never place what it reminded me of

― ok (D-40), Monday, February 24, 2025 2:06 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

sounds a bit like just the two of us to me

totally! cool approach

just checked and well wouldnt you know... lots of songwriter, producer and personnel crossover between the two records. grover plays on two tracks off this album lol.

love her phrasing on it, great song id never heard before.

Blue Lights In The Basement is the best. I found a vinyl copy for a buck and decided to try it, not being a huge fan of what I had heard of hers (Killing Me Softly album). It knocked my socks off. Can't stop playing it.

I've been listening to First Take and it's reminded me of Astral Weeks in certain ways - folky/jazzy singer backed by jazz musicians over eight long songs, with strings and horns dubbed on afterwards. The differences are obvious too...