Roberta Flack: The Great Interpreter
7 songs that solidified the soul icon’s rep as the queen of covers
Roberta Flack was more than simply a great singer. She was also a remarkable interpreter of songs.
Winner of five Grammy Awards as well as multiple nominations, recipient of an American Music Award and honorary Doctorate degreed in the Arts from Berklee College of Music and from Long Island University, she became a radio staple throughout the ‘70s, ‘80s and early ‘90s, and continued making music even in her later years. When she died on February 24, she was duly credited with bringing any number of great songs into the mainstream lexicon.
It was hardly surprising that in the process of doing so, she also repeatedly climbed to the top of the charts, courtesy of songs that are now considered standards. So while she may not have been responsible for penning her material, she clearly made them her own.
Here then, are seven songs covered by Roberta Flack for which she’ll always be remembered.
“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” is both one of her. Best known songs and one of her most unique given the fact that prior to Flack’s recording, it was written by the little-known British singer/songwriter Ewan MacColl, an avowed folkie who wrote it in 1957 at the request of Peggy Seeger, who later became his third wife. It was penned for a play, but Seeger never recorded the song himself, and although it became an early standard on the UK folk circuit, he allegedly declared that he hated every cover that was recorded. Flack herself took a measured approach to the song, despite the insistence of producer Joel Dorn that it needed to be sped up in order to become a hit. In a sense, he was correct and Flack was later ready to concede that fact.
The song gestated for three years, from the time it was recorded in 1969 until it was appropriated by Clint Eastwood for his directorial debut Play Misty For Me. Eastwood insisted it was recorded at a perfect pace and he was the one who turned out to be right. After it was used in the film, it became a smash success, reaching the top of the Billboard pop, R&B and easy listening charts, eventually remaining at Number One for six weeks.
Interestingly enough, it was also used as wake-up music for the astronauts on board Apollo 17, the final manned flight to the moon. Its use was supposedly inspired by their view of the “face” of the moon.
AUDIO: Roberta Flack “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
“Killing Me Softly with His Song,” composed by the successful songwriters Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel also featured writing contributions from singer Lori Lieberman, although the two principal composers denied her the credit. Flack brought it to Number One in the U.S., Canada and Australia in 1973 and, in the process, won a Grammy for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal performance. When the Fugees had success with it more than 20 years later, Flack received renewed notoriety after it was remixed with her vocal added in, reaching the top of the Hot Dance Club Play chart in the process. Flack and the Fugees sometimes performed the song together in concert.
Nevertheless, the conflict over who had a hand in writing “Killing Me Softly” continues and never fully resolved, and although Lieberman recorded a version of the song, the legal wrangling effectively ended her career. Gimbel and Fox initially denied Lieberman’s claims to the songs, but then reversed themselves before denying her claims again. They even threatened to sue Don McLean for asserting the fact that Lieberman got the idea for the song while attending one of his concerts.
Flack wasn’t the first artist to cover “Killing Me Softly.” Helen Reddy preceded her by a year. Nevertheless, Flack’s inspiration came, ironically, when she heard Lieberman’s version on an in-flight airplane transmission. Nevertheless, she wasn’t pleased with the demo she received not with her own initial arrangement. Nevertheless, she decided to debut it onstage as part of an impromptu encore, encouraged to do so by producer Quincy Jones who was headlining the show. The audience went crazy and Jones told her she need to record it. It was wise advice. It went on to spend a total of five non-consecutive weeks at number one in February and March 1973, attaining more success than any other record that year. It not only became Billboard’s Number Three song for the year overall, but garnered her the 1973 Grammy for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance while the Song of the Year Grammy went to Gimbel and Fox. In 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
VIDEO: Roberta Flack “Killing Me Softly with His Song”
“Tonight, I Celebrate My Love,” written by Gerry Goffin and Michael Masser, became a million-selling song for Flack and her singing partner Peabo Bryson when it was included on their duets album Born To Love in 1983. Although the song was originally intended for Diana Ross (but subsequently rejected by her label) as well as Barbra Streisand, Flack insisted that she could sing it, and when she went to Masser’s house with Bryson in tow, the proved her point. Bryson later admitted he wasn’t impressed with the composer’s presentation but agreed to collaborate because Flack was so enamored.
Bryson and Flack had previously appeared on Billboard’s R&B chart in Billboard courtesy of their previous collaborations, ”Make the World Stand Still” and “Love is a Waiting Game,” but “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” became the first Bryson/Flack duet single to climb the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number sixteen in November 1983. It also scored on the Billboard R&B chart at Number Five and the Adult Contemporary Chart at Number. Four. In addition, it made the charts on a number of other countries as well. Nevertheless, it would be the only Top 40 hit duet for the two as a duo.
For the record, Flack’s recording of a song from Goffin’s catalog had been a version of his classic co-write with Carole King, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.”
VIDEO: Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love”
“Where Is the Love,” composed by Ralph MacDonald and William Salter, was culled from the album Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, and was one of several successful singles the duo recorded and climbed to Number Five on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In addition, it spent a week each at number one on the Billboard Easy Listening chart and the R&B chart as well, eventually becoming a number 50 song for the entirety of 1972. In addition, it garnered the pair a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
Nevertheless, in retrospect, “Where Is the Love” seems an unlikely candidate for chart success if judged on its subject matter alone. It hints at the fact that the singer isn’t entirely faithful to her mate because she’s secretly in love with another person. “I guess it must have been my fate to fall in love with someone else’s love,” she sings. “Now all I can do is wait.”
Wait for what?, we might wonder…
AUDIO: Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway “Where Is the Love”
“The Closer I Get To You” was the last song recorded by Flack and Hathaway, continuing a string of hits the two recorded over the years. The pair had known each other ever since they met while attending Howard University. They went on to become great friends. This particular track found the two recording their parts separately when Hathaway was dealing with ongoing bouts with depression. Nevertheless it brought them the same success as before, climbing to Number One on Billboard’s Soul Chart, Number Two on The Hot 100 and Number Three on the Adult Contemporary Chart. It also brought both artists Grammy nominations, one of many Flack accumulated in her lifetime.
The song was written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, former members of Miles Davis’ band and members of Flack’s band at the time of its composition. It was originally intended for Flack alone, but Flack’s manager David Franklin decided to rewrite it to accommodate a role for Hathaway.
Sadly, Hathaway’s mental illness continued unabated. A few months later, in the midst of another recording session, he began to act erratically. And later that day, he committed suicide by jumping to his death from the 15th floor of the Essex House Hotel in New York City. Flack was, of course, shattered and instructed all the money made from the song be donated to his widow and children.
“I tried to reach out to Donny,” Flack told Jet magazine. “That’s how we managed to do the song we did last year. I felt this need because I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t save him, I knew he was sick. But I knew when he sat down at that piano and sang for me it was like it was eight or nine years ago because he sang and played his ass off.”
Given the messaging of the music, it proved a fitting epitaph indeed.
AUDIO: Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway “The Closer I Get”
“For All We Know” was the oldest song in Flack’s songbook, having became popular in the mid ‘30s shortly after it being composed by J. Fred Coots and Sam M. Lewis. The only line was particularly poignant: “For all we know we may never meet again…” It was recorded by a number of artists over the years, including Billie Holiday, Diana Washington, The Spinners, Bill Evans, Jennifer Hudson, Nina Simone, Al Martino, The Andrews Sisters, Aretha Franklin, Chet Baker, Crystal Gayle, Bette Midler, Nat King Cole, Rod Stewart, Frankie Callie, Rosemary Clooney, The Spinners, and Long John Baldry. It was also featured in several film soundtracks.
It’s a credit to Flack’s talent and ability that her version still stands out.
AUDIO: Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway “For All We Know”
“Set the Night to Music” was written by Diane Warren and was originally recorded by the band Starship. However Flack had a hit with it in 1991 when it was turned into a duet with Maxi Priest. It reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her final chart hit. That said, it fared better on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart where it reached number two.
VIDEO: Roberta Flack & Maxi Priest “Set the Night to Music”
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