| The Best of Roberta Flack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | 1981 | |||
| Genre | R&B, soul | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Roberta Flack chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s | C [2] |
The Best of Roberta Flack is Roberta Flack's first compilation album, released in 1981.
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) [3] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
| Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) [4] | Gold | 10,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
Roberta Cleopatra Flack is an American singer. She is known for her No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like Makin' Love"; and "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of her many duets with Donny Hathaway. Flack is also noted for her influence on the subgenre of contemporary R&B called quiet storm, along with her interpretations of songs by various songwriters, such as Leonard Cohen and members of The Beatles.
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom 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 Carole King. It was first recorded by King and included in her album Tapestry. 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 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The two versions were recorded simultaneously in 1971 with shared musicians.
Mtume was a funk and soul group that rose to prominence during the early 1980s and had several R&B hits during its career. Its founder, former percussionist James Mtume, previously played and toured with Miles Davis in the early 1970s. Other members of the group included Reggie Lucas, Philip Field and vocalist Tawatha Agee. Mtume also gained recognition after having its hit single "Juicy Fruit" extensively sampled by many hip-hop artists, most notably by the Notorious B.I.G. in the 1994 hit song "Juicy".
Reginald Grant Lucas, known as Reggie Lucas, was an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Lucas is perhaps best known for producing the majority of Madonna's 1983 self-titled debut album, and for playing rhythm guitar with the Miles Davis electric band during the first half of the 1970s.
James Forman, better known by his stage name James Mtume, is an American jazz and R&B musician, songwriter, record producer, activist and radio personality.
Ralph Anthony MacDonald was a Trinbagonian-American percussionist, songwriter, musical arranger, record producer, steelpan virtuoso and philanthropist.
"Never Knew Love Like This Before" is a 1980 song written and produced by songwriters James Mtume and Reggie Lucas for American R&B recording artist Stephanie Mills' fourth studio album Sweet Sensation (1980). According to Lucas' wife, Kay, the song was inspired by the birth of their baby daughter, Lisa.
"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.
"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.
Paul Griffin was an American pianist and session musician who recorded with hundreds of musicians from the 1950s to the 1990s.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Live & More is a two-disc live album between Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson.
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.
"Making Love" is a 1982 song written by Burt Bacharach, Bruce Roberts, and Carole Bayer Sager to serve as the theme song for the film of the same name in which, as recorded by Roberta Flack with Bacharach/ Bayer Sager producing, it played under the closing credits: a Top 20 hit single for Flack, "Making Love" was included on the singer's 1982 album release I'm the One.
Tawatha Agee is an American background singer and songwriter. Her voice has been described in The New York Times as an "acrobatic, gospel-charged soprano." She was the lead singer of the soul/R&B band Mtume; her soulful lead vocals are featured on their 1983 R&B hit "Juicy Fruit".
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