Customer Reviews

The Very Best of Roberta Flack

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Roberta Flack emerged on the music scene in the early `70s with a cool, soothing, precise delivery that contrasted greatly with the fiery vocals of established Atlantic labelmate Aretha Franklin. Her more refined style helped her establish a successful niche as a soulful singer-songwriter, ultimately recording 15 albums over 25 years (1970-1995).

Flack was most successful - and prolific - in the early part of her recording career, with the intimate, folk-oriented recordings "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (1972) and "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (1973) both garnering Record Of The Year Grammies, while the sumptuous "Feel Like Makin' Love" (1974) earned a nomination in that same category. A series of duets with college chum Donny Hathaway were also well-received at this time, including the chart-toppers "Where Is The Love" (1972) and "The Closer I Get To You" (1978).

Outside projects and Hathaway's suicide in 1979 slowed down Flack's output thereafter, but she continued to make some great music. This included the gentle theme for the film Making Love (1982), the breezy chart-topper "Oasis" (1988) and top ten collaborations with Peabo Bryson ("Tonight I Celebrate My Love" - 1983) and Maxi Priest ("Set The Night To Music" - 1991). These latter pairings, by the way, are nice, but don't begin to approach the intensity that Flack shared on record with the mighty Hathaway.

This 17-track Very Best Of contains 12 overlaps from Flack's 1993 retrospective Softly With These Songs (which also had 17 tracks), including all of the aforementioned hits. Available on the earlier set only were a slowed down rendition of the Shirelles' hit "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" (1972) and the not missed, inane single "Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out" (1989), while this new Very Best Of adds "You Are My Heaven," a posthumous R&B hit with Hathaway (1980).

While duplicates abound, several key tracks remain unavailable on a domestic Flack collection. These include early duet hits with Hathaway ("You've Got A Friend" - 1971, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - 1971), top 30 solo ballads ("Jesse" - 1973, "If Ever I See You Again," - 1978), additional collaborations with Bryson ("Make The World Stand Still" - 1980, the adult contemporary staple "You're Lookin' Like Love To Me" - 1982), and the up-tempo boast "I'm The One" (1982). They all deserve to be anthologized and hopefully the folks at Rhino will see fit to include them in a double-disc Flack set in the near future.

When I read Rhino was coming out with a Roberta Hits CD, I was really excited. At last, a complete Roberta Flack compilation - or so I thought. But this is so similar to Atlantic's 1993 "Softly With These Songs" hits package, it has to be deemed a major disappointment. The only plus is it does contain "Trade Winds", the much sought-after b-side previously unreleased on CD before. But where is "Jesse", "If Ever I See You Again", "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", "I'm The One", "Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out", not to mention the 1996 club remix of "Killing Me Softly With His Song"?!!! That remix went straight to #1 on Billboard's dance chart yet has NEVER been available on CD and a MUST for all Roberta fans. What a LETDOWN! Even the casual Flack fan is forced to buy two CDs to get a decent collection. Sorry, Rhino! This time you really missed the mark. The songs deserve 5 Stars but Rhino's efforts for putting together what should have been the ultimate Flack greatest hits package is deserving of nothing more than a big fat zero! Without a doubt, this should have been a double CD. So I am still waiting for a comprehensive collection of her work! Maybe someday someone will get it RIGHT!

Since 1971 I have hoped and wished Trade Winds would be included on a long-playing album,then later on a CD.I couldn't believe my years of waiting are finally over. This has always been one of my Top 5 Roberta Flack songs of all time.
What made it even better was that an almost 7 minute complete version is the one on this CD! This song too should have been nominated and won a grammy in my opinion. The sound on this disc is wonderfully improved over all others of these wonderful, glorious songs and performances by one of my Top 5 female vocalists of all time (and that's 6 decades worth!)

It's a great album that covers alot of ground, but where is "God Don't Like Ugly"?? I think the makers of this album (and the previous "Best Of" album as well) sold Ms. Flack's work kind of short

I would still recommend getting this though.

This is the simply the greatest Flack comp that's out there. Remastered hits from one of the great pop divas. The only slight is this-- there's perhaps too much of a focus on her 1980s work. An even-handed, comprehensive treatment would've included more stuff from the 1970s.

Really unfortunate that "Jesse", "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", and "You've Got a Friend" are left off of this. Could've done without the reprise of "And So it Goes" as well. The best I can say is this includes a few of her great hits from the 70's and the audio quality is nice, but I wish the guy who produced this compilation, Johnny "D" De Mairo, included more of her early material. Poorly designed graphics by Lisa Glines features back cover photo of Roberta Flack with a beard (!)

Everyone who purchase's this album the track listings are mis-written by Amazon.com these are the official track listings :

1. Killing Me Softly With His Song
2.Where is The Love (Feat.Donnie Hathaway)
3.Feels Like Making Love
4.The First Time Ever I saw Your Face
5.And So It Goes
6.Tonight, I celebrate My Love-Peabo Bryson
7.The Closer I get to you-Donnie Hathaway
8.'Til The Morning Comes
9.Back Together Again- with Donnie Hathaway
10.Making Love
11.Only Heaven Can Wait(For Love)
12.Set The Night To Music ( With Maxi Priest)
13.You Are My Heaven- with Donnie Hathaway
14.Oasis
15.Don't Make Me Wait Too Long
16.And So It Goes
17.Trade Winds


These are the correct songs on the album I have it and it's beautifully remastered the guy on the first review made sense BUT every artist usually does the same with Greatest Hits Such as Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight and others. So you can purchase this album for your musical enjoyment!

It's Great.
Brandon

Don't get me wrong--I LOVE Roberta Flack. In this day and age
where singing 9 notes for one syllable constitutes "soul", she
is still the epitome of great R&B singing and is almost the
definition of "Quiet Storm". Her classic recordings are timeless
and still sound fantastic 30-35 years later. HOWEVER, I don't
really get the point of this collection (other than the great
photo on the cover!). Most of the songs were on her "Softly
With These Songs" CD from the early 90's. A few songs were left
off, a few new ones added. Some are welcome additions, like
"Don't Make Me Wait Too Long", written by the one and only
Mr. Stevie Wonder. But again, two of her very best songs,
which were also left off the 90's collection, are missing.
Where is "Jesse"? Where is "You've Got A Friend"? These are
songs that any Roberta fan would place in their list of her best
recordings. I have no idea why they were left off, but without
them, this does not seem complete, and is certainly not essential
for people who own any of Roberta's early compilations. Sorry!

I'm actually listening to this right now, and it's a CD that's been on my mind lately as I recently rediscovered her song "'Till the Morning Comes", which I played for my girlfriend the other night because I anticipated it would so greatly resonate with her. I bought this CD really only being aware of Roberta's hits "Killing Me Softly", "Where is the Love", "Feel Like Making Love", and after purchasing realized I was familiar with great tunes like "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love", and "The Closer I Get To You". If someone told me that this was part of her 20 best songs (17/20) then I'd certainly believe it. I've come to enjoy the rest of the songs on the CD, and there's great variety in tone, mood, and actual lyrical content--majorly revolving around love and passion themes that you'd expect from this talented soulful woman, but also contains in part commentary on life like in "Trade Winds", which I'd call Flack's participation in the genre of music like Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues", "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy Me", and "What's Going On". Of the romantic love songs she touches upon many facets to that dynamic tangle that is love. Consider "Only Heaven Can Wait (For Love)", where she shares the confusing and conflicted yearnings that result from a love that's become overripe. This album crosses many other things but I'll try not to flood a mass of information. I highly enjoy this CD, it's one of the one's I'll return to from time to time again and again. Oh one last thing, it's a fantastic mood setter ;)

I am a forty-something male, and remember hearing Roberta Flack's music as a child back in the 1970's. I hadn't heard any of her songs in years, and frankly had kinda forgotten all about her music; but about a month ago I heard one of her songs again, and I just sat back and said, "Wow, I had forgotten, I gotta have that!"

Very glad I found and purchased this collection of amazing songs. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" might simply be the best and most pure love song ever written and recorded. Do yourself a favor - get ahold of this, get somewhere cozy with that special someone, light some candles, put this CD in your player, and hit the play button..., the rest will take care of itself, trust me....... :)