Softly With These Songs - The Best of Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack is a singer apart from the normal soul singers, who have a background in Gospel with all its passion, her music is a more sophisticated sound I suppose you could bracket her with singers such as Dionne Warwick, Anita Baker and modern voices like Lianne La Havas and Laura Mvula singers with a softer jazz funk sound. This is a greatest hits collection so has all her most famous work beginning with the delicate version of folk singer Ewan MacColl's love song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face this track showed that Flack had a wide range of influences on her sound and this is a beautiful gentle version is one of the definitive takes on this song. Then there is the track for which she is best known the wonderful Killing Me Softly With His Song there are also great versions of Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow and Feel Like Makin' Love as well as her later hit with Peabo Bryson Tonight I Celebrate My Love . The Bryson track is a duet but the person she sang with most often was Donny Hathaway with whom she released a couple of albums until his tragic suicide there 2 tracks on this album representing that partnership. So this is a record of beautiful understated soul music the only bum note being the final track which is an 80's Steve Hurley produced dance track that doesn't sit well with the gentle sophistication that proceeds it. So this is a record to appreciate a different softer take on 70's soul by a singer with an exceptional voice and a great talent.

I only liked the first song , the rest was rubbish ...cd was posted through my letter box ..dropped on the floor broke the cover with it been a cheap one ...it sounded a bit like a copy ..so.. i am just been honest ..i should have bought a used one for £1 ...it wasnt worth £4.69...WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY ...I.FEEL.LIKE IVEBBEEN MUGGED

Heard the George Micheal version of 'The first time' and thought I would buy that. Then happened to look on Amazon for the original version and realised I loved so many of her songs. The song 'The first time' is just haunting and beautiful. Ahead of its time, yet timeless. An amazing CD for the money.

Roberta flack is a lovely soulful singer her renderings of killing me softly and first time ever I saw your face to her duets Donny Hathaway and peabo Bryson are all on this CD I'm really pleased I purchased this CD a really good buy highly recommend this compilation

Lots of tracks on here. all the old favourites and ones I haven't heard before, she's a great singer, and the duets were great too. Quite soulful, although a few lively tracks I wasn't too fond of, but the rest of the tracks more than make up for that. On the whole, really lovely songs.

this lady is a very fine singer and this album is very good

I love the two old classics on this - First Time Ever, and Killing Me Softly.

Brilliant CD - the wonderful voice of Roberta Flack. I love it.