Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway

Last updated
Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway
Roberta flack featuring donny hathaway (album cover).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 1980
Recorded1979
Studio
Genre R&B, soul, disco
Label Atlantic
Producer Roberta Flack, Eric Mercury, Arif Mardin, Joe Ferla
Roberta Flack chronology
Roberta Flack
(1978)
Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway
(1980)
Live & More
(1980)
Singles from Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway
  1. "You Are My Heaven / I'll Love You Forever and Ever"
    Released: November 15, 1979
  2. "Back Together Again / God Don't Like Ugly"
    Released: February 17, 1980
  3. "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long / Only Heaven Can Wait (For Love)"
    Released: July 13, 1980
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]

Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Roberta Flack. Released via Atlantic in March 1980, the album features posthumous vocals by close friend and collaborator Donny Hathaway, who had died in 1979. At the 23rd Grammy Awards in 1981, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The award, however, went to Stephanie Mills for "Never Knew Love Like This Before."

Contents

Overview

Intended as her second duets album with Donny Hathaway (following 1972's Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway ), Flack's ninth studio album project became a Flack solo album with Hathaway as guest due to Hathaway's death after recording only two songs with her. On 13 January 1979 Hathaway and Flack had recorded the duets "Back Together Again" and "You Are My Heaven" - the latter the last song Hathaway would ever record: after having dinner with Flack at her residence in the Dakota, Hathaway had then returned to his suite on the fifteenth floor of Essex House, later fatally falling from the window of his suite.

Despite becoming the first Roberta Flack album since Quiet Fire (1971) to not yield a Top 40 hit, ...Featuring Donny Hathaway provided Flack with a substantial commercial comeback following the underperformance of her precedent 1978 self-titled album, with ...Featuring Donny Hathaway becoming a certified Gold album. Also both the duets on ...Featuring Donny Hathaway reached the R&B chart Top Ten peaking at #8, with "Back Together Again" reaching #3 in the UK: "Back Together Again" had been written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, members of Flack's back-up band who had previously written the 1978 Flack/ Hathaway hit "The Closer I Get to You", while "You Are My Heaven" was a Stevie Wonder co-write (with album producer Eric Mercury). Wonder also contributed the song "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long", providing the track's whispered rap: issued as a third single "Don't Make Me Wait..." was not a major mainstream hit, but issued on a 12" single with "Back Together Again" afforded Flack her first disco chart hit single with a #6 peak.

Flack has mentioned the track "Disguises" as being among her favorite lower-profile songs in her repertoire. [3] ...Featuring Donny Hathaway was also the third consecutive Roberta Flack album on which she sang a composition by Michael Masser, who in 1983 would write (with Gerry Goffin) and produce "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" the million-selling Peabo Bryson duet which would be Flack's most successful post-1970s release.

In 2023, "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long", was reworked into a more electronic cover version, with Stevie Wonder being credited as an artist on this rendition, with vocals from Kimberly Brewer, and Joe. [4]

Track listing

Side One

  1. "Only Heaven Can Wait (For Love)" (Flack, Eric Mercury) - 4:03
  2. "God Don't Like Ugly" (Gwen Guthrie) - 4:34
  3. "You Are My Heaven" (Eric Mercury, Stevie Wonder) - 4:10
  4. "Disguises" (Stuart Scharf) - 2:24

Side Two

  1. "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long" (Stevie Wonder) - 7:45
  2. "Back Together Again" (Reggie Lucas, James Mtume) - 9:45
  3. "Stay with Me" (Gerry Goffin, Michael Masser) - 3:47

Personnel

Production

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donny Hathaway</span> American singer-songwriter (1945–1979)

Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, backing vocalist, and arranger who Rolling Stone described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include "The Ghetto", "This Christmas", "Someday We'll All Be Free", and "Little Ghetto Boy". Hathaway is also renowned for his renditions of "A Song for You", "For All We Know", and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", along with "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of many collaborations with Roberta Flack. He has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and won one Grammy Award from four nominations. Hathaway was also posthumously honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. Dutch director David Kleijwegt made a documentary called Mister Soul – A Story About Donny Hathaway, which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 28, 2020.

<i>The Force Behind the Power</i> 1991 studio album by Diana Ross

The Force Behind the Power is the nineteenth studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on September 10, 1991, by Motown Records. The album reached No. 11 on the UK Albums chart and became the biggest selling studio album of her career there, selling over half a million copies in the UK alone.

<i>Love Lives Forever</i> 1980 studio album by Minnie Riperton

Love Lives Forever is the sixth and final studio album by the American soul singer Minnie Riperton. Released posthumously in 1980, it was co-produced by her husband Richard Rudolph and released on her then-label Capitol Records. It consists of tracks that she recorded in 1978 during vocal sessions before her death, and music recorded after her early death, occurred on July 12, 1979.

<i>Lalah Hathaway</i> (album) 1990 studio album by Lalah Hathaway

Lalah Hathaway is the debut studio album by American singer Lalah Hathaway. It was released by Virgin Records on June 29, 1990 in the United States.

"Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" is a romantic ballad written by lyricist Gerry Goffin with Michael Masser and recorded by Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack for their 1983 album of duets, Born to Love, issued as the lead single. The track—produced by Masser—became a million-selling international hit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Closer I Get to You</span> 1978 romantic ballad by Donnie Hathaway and Roberta Flack

"The Closer I Get to You" is a romantic ballad performed by singer-songwriter Roberta Flack and soul musician Donny Hathaway. The song was written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, two former members of Miles Davis's band, who were members of Flack's band at the time. Produced by Atlantic Records, the song was released on Flack's 1977 album Blue Lights in the Basement, and as a single in 1978. It became a major crossover hit, becoming Flack's biggest commercial hit after her success with her 1973 solo single, "Killing Me Softly with His Song". Originally set as a solo single, Flack's manager, David Franklin, suggested a duet with Hathaway, which resulted in the finished work.

<i>Burnin</i> (Patti LaBelle album) 1991 studio album by Patti LaBelle

Burnin' is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Patti LaBelle. It was released by MCA Records on October 1, 1991, in the United States to mixed reviews. The album features several collaborations, including duets with Gladys Knight and Michael Bolton, and a reunion track with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash from Labelle. It yielded three Billboard R&B chart hits: "Feels Like Another One", "Somebody Loves You Baby " and "When You've Been Blessed ".

<i>Feel Like Makin Love</i> (album) 1975 studio album by Roberta Flack

Released in 1975, Feel Like Makin' Love is Roberta Flack's fifth solo album and sixth overall, when counting her duet album with Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway from 1972. It was the first album produced by Flack herself, under the pseudonym Rubina Flake.

<i>Blue Lights in the Basement</i> 1977 studio album by Roberta Flack

Blue Lights in the Basement is the sixth studio album by American singer Roberta Flack, released by Atlantic on December 13, 1977. The album was a commercial success, peaking at number eight on the US Billboard 200, becoming her third top-ten album on the chart and reaching number five on the R&B albums chart. On February 27, 1978, the album received a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments over 500,000 copies.

<i>Roberta Flack</i> (album) 1978 studio album by Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack is a 1978 album release by American vocalist Roberta Flack: her eighth album release - including her 1972 Donny Hathaway collaboration - Roberta Flack was the parent album of the #1 Adult Contemporary hit "If Ever I See You Again" which also ranked in the Top 40.

<i>Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway</i> 1972 studio album by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway

The 1972 Atlantic release Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway is a million-selling duet album by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway produced by Joel Dorn and Arif Mardin.

<i>Live & More</i> (Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson album) 1980 live album by Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson

Live & More is a two-disc live album between Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson.

<i>The Best of Roberta Flack</i> 1981 greatest hits album by Roberta Flack

The Best of Roberta Flack is Roberta Flack's first compilation album, released in 1981.

<i>Greatest Hits</i> (Roberta Flack album) 1984 greatest hits album by Roberta Flack

Capitalizing on Roberta Flack's comeback success with the hit duet, "Tonight I Celebrate My Love," K-tel Records released Greatest Hits in 1984. It contained the 1983 duet with Peabo Bryson as well as some of her best-known songs from the 1970s.

<i>Oasis</i> (Roberta Flack album) 1988 studio album by Roberta Flack

Oasis is Roberta Flack's first solo album of newly recorded songs since 1982's I'm the One. Released 1 November 1988, Oasis features the number-one U.S. singles, "Oasis" (R&B), and "Uh-uh Ooh-ooh Look Out ".

<i>Set the Night to Music</i> (album) 1991 studio album by Roberta Flack

Set the Night to Music is an album released by Roberta Flack in 1991 on Atlantic Records. The title track, written by Diane Warren and originally the 11th track of Starship's 1987 album No Protection, was remade as a duet with Maxi Priest and reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart. In Canada, "Set the Night to Music" peaked at number nine on the pop singles chart and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart. It became the 17th biggest Canadian Adult Contemporary hit of 1991.

<i>Born to Love</i> (Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack album) 1983 studio album by Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack

Born to Love is a 1983 studio album of duets by American singers Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack. It was released by Bryson's label Capitol Records on July 22, 1983, in the United States. The album yielded the hit single "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love", written by Gerry Goffin and Michael Masser. The track "Maybe" was written and recorded for the film Romantic Comedy (1983).

<i>Roberta</i> (album) 1994 studio album by Roberta Flack

Roberta is Roberta Flack's fourteenth album, released in 1994. It consists of cover versions of jazz and soul standards. It was also her final album for Atlantic Records after twenty five years with the label since her debut.

<i>Merciless</i> (album) 1983 studio album by Stephanie Mills

Merciless is the seventh studio album by American R&B singer Stephanie Mills. It was released in 1983 and Stephanie's second release on Casablanca Records. The album features two Billboard R&B hits in "Pilot Error", a cover version of Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" as well as "My Body" written by singer Luther Vandross. Merciless received a nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female at the 26th Grammy Awards in 1984.

<i>Just Between Us</i> (Norman Brown album) 1992 studio album by Norman Brown

Just Between Us is the debut album by jazz guitarist Norman Brown released in 1992 by Motown Records. The album reached No. 4 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

References

  1. Theakston, Rob. Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway at AllMusic
  2. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 248.
  3. "An Interview with Roberta Flack". 21 March 2016.
  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jEznVhIMI0