Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway

• 1 I ( Who Have Nothing) 05:03
• 2 You've Got A Friend 03:26
• 3 Baby I Love You 03:27
• 4 Be Real Black For Me 03:34
• 5 You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 06:38
• 6 For All We Know 03:39
• 7 Where Is The Love 02:46
• 8 When Love Has Grown 03:27
• 9 Come Ye Disconsolate 04:53
• 10 Mood 07:02
• Total Runtime 43:55

Info for Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway

In the 1970s, R&B came to be dominated by glossy production, lending the music a slick, processed sound. Albums like 1972's Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, however, have an organic feel more closely tied to the rootsy soul traditions of the '60s. Flack was arguably the era's greatest practitioner of this strain of soulful, reflective R&B (check out her remarkable '69 debut, First Take), and her first collaboration with keyboardist and vocalist Donny Hathaway is one of her finest efforts.

The rich, elastic voices of the duo are perfectly matched--they sing in close-knit harmony throughout the set, and their chemistry is intimate and full of strong emotion. Moods range subtly but distinctly--a funky version of 'Baby I Love You' simmers along in a mellow groove, while the opener, 'I (Who Have Nothing),' is a stirring, romantic ballad. Though a near-definitive version of Carole King's 'You've Got a Friend' is one of the highlights, the breezy 'Where Is the Love,' which became a runaway chart hit, steals the spotlight. This classic R&B record blends soul, folk, jazz, and blues with an earthy flair.

Roberta Flack was arguably the era's greatest practitioner of soulful, reflective R&B and her first collaboration with keyboardist and vocalist Donny Hathaway is one of her finest efforts. The rich, elastic voices of the duo are perfectly matched--they sing in close-knit harmony throughout the set, and their chemistry is intimate and full of strong emotion. Moods range subtly but distinctly--a funky version of 'Baby I Love You' simmers along in a mellow groove, while the opener, 'I (Who Have Nothing)', is a stirring, romantic ballad. Though a near-definitive version of Carole King's 'You've Got a Friend' is one of the highlights, the breezy 'Where Is the Love', which became a runaway chart hit, steals the spotlight. This classic R&B record blends Soul, Folk, Jazz, and Blues with an earthy flair.

Donny Hathaway, vocals, piano, electric piano
Roberta Flack, vocals, piano, electric piano, organ, keyboards, synthesizer
John Littlejohn, vocals, guitar
Joel Dorn, vocals, piano
David Spinozza, guitar
Eric Gale, guitar
Hiram Bullock, guitar
Jeff Mironov, guitar
John Tropea, guitar
Ray Chew, strings, horns, keyboards
Arif Mardin, strings
Joe Gentle, flute
Hubert Laws, flute
Joe Farrell, saxophone, soprano saxophone
Raymond Jones, keyboards
Harry Whitaker, keyboards
Paul Griffin, keyboards
Ed Walsh, synthesizer
Ronnie Foster, synthesizer
Jack Jennings, vibraphone, background vocals
Chuck Rainey, electric bass
Howard King, drums
Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie, drums
Billy Cobham, drums
Errol Crusher Bennett, percussion
Ralph MacDonald, percussion
Brenda White, background vocals
Eric Mercury, background vocals
Merle Miller, background vocals
Gwen Guthrie, background vocals
Jocelyn Shaw, background vocals
Eleanore Mills, background vocals
Revelation, background vocals
Luther Vandross, background vocals
Yvonne Lewis, background vocals

Recorded March, August 12, and October 15, 1971 at at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York, N.Y. Engineered by Gary Olazabal, Gene Paul, Howie Lindeman, Jimmy Douglass, Joe Lopes Produced by Arif Mardin, Joel Dorn

Digitally remastered

Internationally hailed as one of the greatest songstresses of our time, GRAMMY Award winning Roberta Flack remains unparalleled in her ability to tell a story through her music. Her songs bring insight into our lives, loves, culture and politics, while effortlessly traversing a broad musical landscape from pop to soul to folk to jazz.

Classically trained on the piano from an early age, Ms. Flack received a music scholarship at age 15 to attend Howard University. Discovered while singing at the Washington, DC nightclub Mr. Henry's by jazz musician Les McCann, she was promptly signed to Atlantic With a string of hits, including, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Where Is the Love (a duet with former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway), Killing Me Softly With His Song, Feel Like Makin' Love, The Closer I Get to You, Tonight I Celebrate My Love, and Set the Night to Music, Ms. Flack has built a musical legacy. In 1999, she aptly received a Star on Hollywood's legendary Walk of Fame.

Roberta is currently involved with a very exciting studio venture — an interpretive album of Beatles' classics.

She regularly plays to appreciative audiences around the world, and had the pleasure of appearing recently with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, conducted by Marvin Hamlisch. In February 2009, Ms. Flack performed with critically acclaimed orchestras in Australia, including the Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide, Tasmanian, West Australian and Sydney Symphonies.

Very active as a humanitarian and mentor, Ms. Flack founded the Roberta Flack School of Music at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in the Bronx, providing an innovative and inspiring music education program to underprivileged students free of charge.

This album contains no booklet.