Softly with These Songs: The Best of Roberta Flack

by Roberta Flack

Overview

Roberta Flack was blessed with one of the loveliest, most soothing voices in the music industry. In the 1970s, she not only appealed to pop and R&B audiences, but also fit in with the era's more serious, sensitive singer/songwriters. She scored some of the decade's biggest hits with classics such as "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," "Killing Me Softly with His Song," and "Feel Like Making Love," as well as her legendary duets with Donny Hathaway, all which have gone on to become standards in the pop pantheon. This single-disc set attempts to collect her best and most successful recordings from the 1970s to the 1990s, when she enjoyed the success of another Top Ten hit with Diane Warren's "Set the Night to Music" (with Maxi Priest). However, this ambitious collection, even with such stellar material, proves a little frustrating due to the omission of several key tracks from Flack's catalog, among those "Jesse," "If I Ever See You Again," "You've Got a Friend," and several others. It does, however, manage to incorporate other Flack collectibles, including her soundtrack hit "Making Love," her hit with Peabo Bryson, "Tonight I Celebrate My Love," her lovely, breezy, chart-topping 1988 R&B hit "Oasis," and a sleek 1990s house track, "Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out (Here It Comes)." This ambitious yet frustrating collection not only highlights Flack's long, illustrious career, but also brings to attention the fact that a multi-disc retrospective on this legendary singer would be a most welcome addition to her catalog. ~ Jose F. Promis

Product Details

Release Date:	06/22/1993
Label:	Atlantic
UPC:	0075678249822
Rank:	6777

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Roberta Flack   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Donny Hathaway   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Piano,Vocals,Piano (Electric)
Peabo Bryson   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals
Maxi Priest   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals
Craig Huntley   Synthesizer,Synthesizer
Ralph MacDonal   Percussion
Chude Mondlane   Vocals (Background),Vocals (Background)
Ed Walsh   Oberheim Synthesizer,Synthesizer
Paul Jackson   Guitar
Ron Carter   Guest Artist,Bass
Luther Vandross   Vocals
Lee Ritenour   Guitar
John Pizzarelli   Guitar
Jerry Hey   Trumpet
Katreese Barnes   Vocals (Background)
Arif Mardin   Conductor
Paul Jackson, Jr.   Guitar
Randy Kerber   Piano,Synthesizer
Paulinho Da Costa   Percussion
Robbie Kondor   Keyboards
Steve Thornton   Percussion
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie   Drums
Burt Bacharach   Synthesizer
Neil Steubenhaus   Bass
Marcus Miller   Bass,Vocals,Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Yvonne Lewis   Vocals
Carlos Vega   Drums
Gabrielle Goodman   Vocals (Background)
Gene Page   Rhythm,Orchestra
Andy Snitzer   Sax (Tenor)
Cindy Mizelle   Vocals (Background)
Chuck Rainey   Bass
Joe Mardin   Keyboards,Synthesizer Bass
Lani Groves   Vocals (Background)
Barry Miles   Conductor,Keyboards,Linn Drum,Sequencing,Synthesizer,Moog Synthesizer
Earl Klugh   Guitar (Acoustic)
Greg Phillinganes   Keyboards
Georg "Jojje" Wadenius   Vocals,Guitar
Rachele Cappelli   Vocals (Background)
Jason Miles   Synthesizer
Eric Gale   Guitar
David Sanborn   Soloist,Sax (Alto)
John "4 Daddman" Robinson   Drums
Jim Keltner   Drums
Sammy Merendino   Drums
Ralph MacDonald   Percussion
Brenda White-King   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Errol Crusher Bennett   Percussion
Plex Barnhart   Keyboards
Rachele Rappelli   Vocals (Background)
Keith Barnhart   Keyboards
Craig Hundley   Synthesizer
Larry Andrew Williams   Synthesizer
John "J.R." Robinson   Drums
Dennis Collins   Vocals (Background)
John Robinson   Drums
Buddy Williams   Drums,Vocals
Nathan East   Bass
Jerry Barnes   Vocals (Background)
Mark Stephens   Vocals (Background)
Phil Perry   Vocals (Background)
Ray Chew   Horn,Strings
Richard Tee   Piano
Neil Stubenhaus   Bass
Michael Fisher   Percussion
Ray Lucas   Drums
Jack Jennings   Vibraphone
Michael Landau   Guitar
Brenda White   Vocals
Reggie Griffin   Vocals (Background)
Michael Masser   Rhythm
Mike Fisher   Percussion
Dan Higgins   Saxophone

Technical Credits

Joel Dorn   Audio Production,Producer
Joe Ferla   Audio Production,Producer
Rubina Flake   Audio Production,Arranger,Producer
Eric Mercury   Audio Production,Composer,Producer
Roberta Flack   Audio Production,Arranger,Composer,Producer
Peabo Bryson   Audio Production,Arranger,Composer,Producer
Arif Mardin   Audio Production,Vocal Arrangement,String Arrangements,Woodwind Arrangement,Arranger,Producer
Jerry Hey   Audio Production,Arranger,Producer
Eugene McDaniels   Audio Production,Producer
Marcus Miller   Audio Production,Composer,Producer
Carole Bayer Sager   Audio Production,Composer,Producer
Burt Bacharach   Audio Production,Composer,Producer
Joe Brooks   Audio Production,Producer
Michael Masser   Audio Production,Composer,Producer
Gene McDaniels   Producer,Composer
Luther Vandross   Vocal Arrangement
Leon Pendarvis   Arranger
Valerie Simpson   Composer
Robbie Kondor   Arranger,Programming
Carole King   Composer
Gerry Goffin   Composer
William Salter   Composer
Gene Page   Orchestration
Charles Fox   Composer
Billy Joel   Composer
Joe Mardin   Programming
Joe Gastwirt   Digital Remastering
James Mtume   Composer
Barry Miles   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Ewan MacColl   Composer
Jason Miles   Synthesizer Programming
Nickolas Ashford   Composer
Sammy Merendino   Drum Programming
Ralph MacDonald   Composer
Victor Young   Composer
Norman Gimbel   Composer
Keith Barnhart   Programming
Bridgette Lancome   Photography
Greenberg Kingsley   Art Direction
Giuseppe Pino   Photography
David Gahr   Photography
Ned Washington   Composer
Mark Stephens   Composer
Maya Angelou   Composer
Diane Warren   Composer
Ahmet Ertegun   Producer,Executive Producer
Brenda Russell   Composer
Bruce Roberts   Composer
Reggie Lucas   Composer