| Softly with These Songs: The Best of Roberta Flack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | June 22, 1993 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 76:09 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Roberta Flack chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Softly with These Songs: The Best of Roberta Flack is the third compilation album by American singer Roberta Flack, released in 1993.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" | Ewan MacColl | First Take (1969) | 5:20 |
| 2. | "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" | Quiet Fire (1971) | 4:07 | |
| 3. | "Where Is the Love" (duet with Donny Hathaway) |
| Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (1972) | 2:43 |
| 4. | "Killing Me Softly with His Song" | Killing Me Softly (1973) | 4:46 | |
| 5. | "Feel Like Makin' Love" | Eugene McDaniels | Feel Like Makin' Love (1975) | 2:53 |
| 6. | "The Closer I Get to You" (duet with Donny Hathaway) | Blue Lights in the Basement (1977) | 4:40 | |
| 7. | "More Than Everything" (duet with Peabo Bryson) |
| Live & More (1980) | 4:02 |
| 8. | "Only Heaven Can Wait (For Love)" (duet with Peabo Bryson) |
| Live & More | 5:47 |
| 9. | "Back Together Again" (duet with Donny Hathaway) |
| Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway (1980) | 4:50 |
| 10. | "Making Love" | I'm the One (1982) | 3:43 | |
| 11. | "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" (duet with Peabo Bryson) |
| Born to Love (1983) | 3:31 |
| 12. | "Oasis" |
| Oasis (1988) | 6:10 |
| 13. | "And So It Goes" |
| Oasis | 3:35 |
| 14. | "You Know What It's Like" |
| Oasis | 4:44 |
| 15. | "Set the Night to Music" (duet with Maxi Priest) | Diane Warren | Set the Night to Music (1991) | 5:24 |
| 16. | "My Foolish Heart" | Set the Night to Music | 4:41 | |
| 17. | "Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out (Here It Comes)" (Steve Hurley's House Mix) | This version was a 1989 single (Original song from Oasis) | 5:13 | |
| Total length: | 76:09 | |||
All track information and credits were taken from the CD liner notes. [2]
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC) [3] | 7 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) [4] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) [5] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Roberta Cleopatra Flack is an American singer who topped the Billboard charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like Makin' Love", "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", the latter two duets with Donny Hathaway. Flack influenced the subgenre of contemporary R&B called quiet storm, and interpreted songs by songwriters such as Leonard Cohen and members of the Beatles.
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.
"You've Got a Friend" is a 1971 song written by American singer-songwriter Carole King. It was first recorded by King and included on her second studio album, Tapestry (1971). Another well-known version is by James Taylor from his album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. His was released as a single in 1971, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the UK Singles Chart. The two versions were recorded simultaneously in 1971 with shared musicians.
Gwendolyn Guthrie was an American singer-songwriter and pianist who also sang backing vocals for Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Peter Tosh, The Limit and Madonna, among others, and who wrote songs made famous by Ben E. King, Angela Bofill and Roberta Flack. Guthrie is well known for her 1986 anthem "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent," and for her 1986 cover of the song "(They Long to Be) Close to You."
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a song composed by Charles Fox with lyrics by Norman Gimbel. The lyrics were written in collaboration with Lori Lieberman after she was inspired by a Don McLean performance in late 1971. Denied writing credit by Fox and Gimbel, Lieberman released her version of the song in 1972, but it did not chart. The song has been covered by many other artists.
Killing Me Softly is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Roberta Flack, released on August 1, 1973, by Atlantic Records. She recorded the album with producer Joel Dorn for 18 months. The album was dedicated to Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who later became his wife. At the time, the couple were lovers, although MacColl was still married to his second wife, Jean Newlove. Seeger sang the song when the duo performed in folk clubs around Britain. During the 1960s, it was recorded by various folk singers and became a major international hit for Roberta Flack in 1972, winning Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Billboard ranked it as the number one Hot 100 single of the year for 1972.
"Alone Again (Naturally)" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. It was recorded in 1972 at the same time as his album Back to Front and was a worldwide hit.
"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.
This is the discography documenting albums and singles released by American singer and songwriter Peabo Bryson.
First Take is the debut album by the American soul singer Roberta Flack. It was released on June 20, 1969, by 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 number 1 hit in the United States, the album reached number 1 on the Billboard album chart and Billboard R&B album chart. In the 2020 edition of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, the album was ranked number 451.
"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.
"Feel Like Makin' Love" is a song composed by singer-songwriter and producer Eugene McDaniels, and recorded originally by soul singer-songwriter Roberta Flack. The song has been covered by R&B and jazz artists including Gladys Knight and the Pips, Lou Rawls, Isaac Hays, George Benson, Larry Coryell, Johnny Mathis, Marlena Shaw.
"Where Is the Love" is a popular song written by Ralph MacDonald and William Salter, and recorded by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. Released in 1972 from their album, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway. It peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and spent a week each at number one on the Billboard Easy Listening chart and R&B chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 58 song for 1972. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
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.
Live & More is a two-disc live album between Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson.
The Best of Roberta Flack is Roberta Flack's first compilation album, released in 1981.
This discography documents albums and singles released by American recording artist Roberta Flack.
The Way We Were is the thirty-second studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the spring of 1974 by Columbia Records and was a return to singing songs that his audience was already familiar with after Solitaire, his previous LP that was less reliant on covers of recent pop hits, did not perform well.
The discography of the Fugees, an American hip hop trio consisting of rapper/singer Lauryn Hill and rappers Pras Michel and Wyclef Jean, consists of two studio albums, three compilation albums, one remix album and nine singles and nine music videos. After the group formed in the 1980s under the name Tranzlator Crew, they signed to Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records in 1993; they then changed their name to Fugees – an abbreviation of "refugees", also a reference to Haitian immigrants.