First Take Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack's debut album, titled "First Take" in true underachiever fashion, introduced a singer who'd assimilated the powerful interpretive talents of Nina Simone and Sarah Vaughan, the earthy power of Aretha Franklin, and the crystal purity and emotional resonance of folksingers like Judy Collins…

50 years ago this month, Roberta Flack released her sophomore album, an LP which – despite failing to match the crazy commercial success of her debut, FIRST TAKE, with mainstream audiences – still packed a solid emotional punch and served to cement her superstar status on the R&B and jazz charts.

Capping off a string of early-'70s hits with this album's title track, Roberta Flack would soon take a sabbatical from the spotlight in 1975. And while she would return to the stage and studio, Flack never quite hit the heights of this and the handful of other MOR soul releases from the first half of the decade. Her Carole King-meets-Gladys Knight sound is particularly impressive on highlights like "Mr. Magic" and "Feelin' That Glow." Helping out with the stellar backing are such luminaries as vocalist Patti Austin, drummer Alphonze Mouzon, keyboardist Bob James, and guitarist Hugh McCracken. Maybe not as fine an album as 1971's "Quiet Fire", "Feel Like Makin' Love" will still please the singer's dedicated fans.

"Bustin' Loose" is a soundtrack album released by Roberta Flack in 1981. It was recorded for the movie of the same title starring Richard Pryor. Luther Vandross and Peabo Bryson contributed vocals to the album and Vandross wrote the song, "You Stopped Loving Me", which he later performed himself on his debut album "Never Too Much".

Earlier this year, Roberta Flack joined an illustrious circle of honorees as a 2020 recipient of the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

"First Take" is the debut album by the jazz/soul/R&B singer Roberta Flack. It was released in 1969 on Atlantic Records. After a track from this album, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was included by Clint Eastwood in his 1971 film "Play Misty for Me" with the song becoming a #1 hit in the United States, this album became #1 on the U.S. album chart.

50 years ago this month, Roberta Flack released her sophomore album, an LP which – despite failing to match the crazy commercial success of her debut, FIRST TAKE, with mainstream audiences – still packed a solid emotional punch and served to cement her superstar status on the R&B and jazz charts.

The Beatles' song catalog is one of the best-known and revered bodies of work in the whole of modern music, and the depth, variety, and timelessness of the songs this once-in-a-lifetime band produced make that catalog both a marvel and a treasure. Everyone knows these songs, and everyone knows them in the original Beatles versions. Those versions are there, shining in stone, and even when they show up in remixes like in the recent LOVE mashup, the original recordings echo unshakably in the mind. Roberta Flack knows this.

Released in 1992 on the Eastworld label, "Stop the World" is a Japan-only release that is now out of print. It was produced by Joe Okuda and Randy Petersen and features covers of Japanese singer's Yazawa Eikichi songs which were sung by Roberta in English.

"Quiet Fire" is the 3rd studio album by American singer-songwriter Roberta Flack, released in November 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios, Regent Studios, and The Hit Factory in New York City. The album peaked at #18 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape, and its single "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" charted at #76 on the Hot 100.