Frogtoon Music

First Take (Album) by Roberta Flack

Artist Biography For Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack Born Roberta Cleopatra Flack On 10th February 1937 In Black Mountain North Carolina Is An American Singer And Musician. She Is Known For Her Classic #1 Singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" "Killing Me Softly With His Song" And "Feel Like Makin' Love" And For "Where Is The Love" And "The Closer I Get To You" Two Of Her Many Duets With Donny Hathaway. Flack Was The First Solo Artist To Win The Grammy Award For Record Of The Year On Two Consecutive Years "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" Won At The 1973 Grammys As Did "Killing Me Softly With His Song" At The 1974 Grammys. Flack Performs In The Areas Of Jazz Soul And Folk And Is Best Known For Singles Such As "Killing Me Softly With His Song" Which Won The 1974 Grammy For Record Of The Year And "Where Is The Love" Which Was One Of Her Many Duets With Donny Hathaway. Flack Began Her Professional Career Recording For Atlantic Records Without Much Success Until One Of Her Earliest Recordings "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" 1969 Was Included On The Soundtrack To Clint Eastwood's Directorial Debut Play Misty For Me It Became A Number-One Hit In 1972.

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Frogtoon Music Album Info: First Take

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. Indeed The Album Often Sounded More Like Vocal Jazz Or Folk Than Soul Beginning With The Credits A Core Quartet Of Flack On Piano John Pizzarelli On Guitar Ron Carter On Bass And Ray Lucas On Drums As Fine A Lineup As Any Pop Singer Could Hope To Recruit. With Only One Exception -- The Bluesy Grooving Opener "Compared To What " During Which Flack Proves Her Chops As A Soul Belter -- She Concentrates On Readings Of Soft Meditative Material. A Pair Of Folk Covers "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" And "Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye " Are Heart-Wrenching Standouts The First Even Became A Surprise Hit Two Years Later When Its Appearance In The Clint Eastwood Film Play Misty For Me Pushed It To The Top Of The Pop Charts And Earned Flack Her First Grammy Award For Record Of The Year. Her Arrangement Of The Traditional "I Told Jesus" Has A Simmering Power While "Ballad Of The Sad Young Men" Summons A Stately Sense Of Melancholy. Flack Also Included Two Songs From Her College Friend And Future Duet Partner Donny Hathaway Including A Tender Examination Of The Classic May-December Romance Titled "Our Ages Or Our Hearts." The String Arrangements Of William Fischer Wisely Keep To The Background Lending An Added Emotional Weight To All Of Flack's Pronouncements. No Soul Artist Had Ever Recorded An Album Like This Making First Take One Of The Most Fascinating Soul Debuts Of The Era.

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