Sunday Music: The Best of Roberta Flack
Jun. 10th, 2012 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoutfellowAlbum Title: The Best of Roberta Flack
Why I Bought It: I haven't been to many popular music concerts; I could probably count them on one hand. One of that handful stands out in memory. It was an outdoor concert in Chicago, in summer of '79 or '80. The concert was free, but you had to bring your own blanket, lawn chairs, or whatever, and so many people were there that I couldn't even see the singer. The sound system was just fine, though, and I heard her clearly. She was, of course, Roberta Flack.
What I Like (Eerie): "Killing Me Softly With His Song". Just a powerful song - or is it a metasong?
What I Like (Romantic): "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". Flack's other signature song. I have a cover by Gordon Lightfoot, which isn't nearly as good.
What I Like (Comforting): "You've Got a Friend". What more is there to say?
Overall: Some very good songs, some merely good. Janis Ian sang a better version of "Jesse", and I think I like Carole King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" a little better than Flack's, but that doesn't make either of them bad. "Where Is the Love", "You Are My Heaven", "Back Together Again" - lots of good old fashioned romantic stuff.
Why I Bought It: I haven't been to many popular music concerts; I could probably count them on one hand. One of that handful stands out in memory. It was an outdoor concert in Chicago, in summer of '79 or '80. The concert was free, but you had to bring your own blanket, lawn chairs, or whatever, and so many people were there that I couldn't even see the singer. The sound system was just fine, though, and I heard her clearly. She was, of course, Roberta Flack.
What I Like (Eerie): "Killing Me Softly With His Song". Just a powerful song - or is it a metasong?
What I Like (Romantic): "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". Flack's other signature song. I have a cover by Gordon Lightfoot, which isn't nearly as good.
What I Like (Comforting): "You've Got a Friend". What more is there to say?
Overall: Some very good songs, some merely good. Janis Ian sang a better version of "Jesse", and I think I like Carole King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" a little better than Flack's, but that doesn't make either of them bad. "Where Is the Love", "You Are My Heaven", "Back Together Again" - lots of good old fashioned romantic stuff.
