{"title":"Roberta Flack","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eRoberta Flack was teaching music and English at a junior high school in Washington DC and playing sets five nights a week at a nightclub called Mr. Henry's on Capitol Hill when Les McCann caught her performing at a benefit in the summer of 1968. He arranged an audition with Atlantic producer Joel Dorn, she played 42 songs from her nightclub repertoire across three hours, and Dorn signed her on the spot. She recorded her debut album \"First Take\" in a single ten-hour session in November 1968, with Ron Carter on bass, Ray Lucas on drums, Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar, and Frank Wess on tenor saxophone. The album sat dormant until Clint Eastwood used the opening track, Ewan MacColl's \"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face\", in his 1971 film \"Play Misty for Me\", after which Atlantic rush-released it as a single and it spent six weeks at number one. \"First Take\" eventually reached number one on the Billboard 200 and number three on the jazz chart. \"Quiet Fire\" (1972), produced by Dorn, featured Chuck Rainey, Bernard Purdie, Richard Tee, Joe Farrell, Hubert Laws, Ron Carter and Romeo Penque. In 1971 she ended Ella Fitzgerald's near two-decade hold on DownBeat's Best Female Vocalist award. She was diagnosed with ALS in 2022 and died on 24 February 2025, aged 88.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"roberta-flack-quiet-fire-1972-japanese-atlantic-vinyl-lp","title":"Roberta Flack - Quiet Fire (1972 Japanese Atlantic Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp data-end=\"1214\" data-start=\"1061\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eVinyl\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e: VG+\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSleeve\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e: VG+\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObi:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOur grading system explained \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dpbg4u-d1.myshopify.com\/pages\/secondhand-grading-guide\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehere\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePhoto is of the actual item.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRoberta Flack - \u003cem\u003eQuiet Fire\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP - 1972 Japanese Atlantic (P-8199A, Warner-Pioneer Corporation)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlack was a classically trained pianist who had been teaching music at a Washington DC high school before Les McCann heard her playing at Mr. Henry's nightclub in Georgetown and recommended her to Atlantic. Joel Dorn signed her, and \u003cem\u003eQuiet Fire\u003c\/em\u003e was the third album they made together. It sits between soul, jazz and orchestral pop, and the musicians behind Flack are the reason the album moves so fluidly between those categories. Chuck Rainey and Bernard Purdie lock together on the rhythm tracks with the feel of a band that had been doing three sessions a day across New York's studios. Hugh McCracken's guitar adds warmth without drawing attention. Richard Tee's organ on \"Go Up Moses\" and \"To Love Somebody\" sits low in the mix, filling space rather than leading. \"Sunday and Sister Jones\" (an Eugene McDaniels composition) brings in Joe Farrell on alto and flute alongside Romeo Penque's soprano saxophone and Seldon Powell's tenor, with Buddy Lucas on harmonica and Wally Kane on bassoon, giving the track a woodwind texture closer to a Gil Evans arrangement than a soul record. \"See You Then,\" the Jimmy Webb piece, pairs Hubert Laws and Joe Farrell on flutes with Arif Mardin's string arrangement and Corky Hale's harp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Bridge Over Troubled Water\" runs past seven minutes with Eumir Deodato's string and voice arrangement building behind Flack's vocal, Cissy Houston (Whitney Houston's mother) and the Newark Boys Chorus singing alongside her. \"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow\" strips down to Flack's piano, Ron Carter's bass and William Eaton's string arrangement, one of the quietest tracks on the album. \"To Love Somebody\" puts Les McCann (the jazz pianist who first discovered Flack) on backing vocals alongside Eugene McDaniels, Hilda Harris and Tasha Thomas. \"Go Up Moses,\" the album opener, carries a co-writing credit to Jesse Jackson, and its gospel energy sets a tone that runs through the album even when the material shifts to pop standards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the 1972 Japanese pressing on Atlantic P-8199A, made by Warner-Pioneer Corporation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atlantic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43740356247611,"sku":null,"price":50.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_7583.jpg?v=1783061571"}],"url":"https:\/\/lushliferecords.com.au\/collections\/roberta-flack.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}