On February 10, Roberta Flack would have celebrated her 90th birthday. Though the legendary singer and pianist passed away in February 2025, her extraordinary legacy is being honored with a comprehensive new box set from Rhino. With Her Songs: The Atlantic Albums 1969–1978 gathers Flack’s first eight studio albums for Atlantic Records into one newly remastered collection, restoring much of her foundational catalog to print in a compact and cohesive package.
The set begins with 1969’s First Take, the album that introduced the world to Flack’s singular interpretive power. Though recorded in early 1969, its breakthrough came in 1972 after her haunting rendition of Ewan MacColl’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” was featured in Play Misty for Me, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. The song spent six weeks at No. 1 and earned the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1973. Yet First Take runs deeper than its signature hit, featuring collaborations with Donny Hathaway, a striking cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye,” and a politically charged reading of Gene McDaniels’ “Compared to What.” The album itself topped the Billboard 200 for five weeks.
Producer Joel Dorn returned for 1970’s Chapter Two, joined by arranger-conductor Eumir Deodato. The album continued Flack’s gift for reinvention, transforming works by Jimmy Webb, Bob Dylan, and Broadway writers Joe Darion and Mitch Leigh into intimate soul-jazz statements. With 1971’s Quiet Fire, Flack deepened her fusion of jazz, soul, and R&B, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. Her interpretations of songs by Goffin and King, Bee Gees, Paul Simon, and others demonstrated her ability to slow time and inhabit a lyric with remarkable emotional clarity.
In 1972, Atlantic executive Jerry Wexler encouraged a full-length duet project pairing Flack with Donny Hathaway. The resulting album, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, yielded enduring hits including “Where Is the Love,” written by Ralph MacDonald and William Salter, which topped the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts and earned the duo a Grammy Award. Their chemistry would become one of soul music’s defining partnerships, culminating years later in “The Closer I Get to You.”
Flack reached even greater commercial heights with 1973’s Killing Me Softly, her most successful album. The double-platinum release peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and was anchored by the Grammy-winning title track written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. The album also featured songs by Janis Ian and Leonard Cohen and boasted an all-star roster of musicians including guitarist Eric Gale, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Grady Tate, and percussionist Ralph MacDonald. Dedicated to multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, the album remains a landmark in sophisticated soul.
Following creative tensions with Dorn, Flack self-produced 1975’s Feel Like Makin’ Love. Its Gene McDaniels-penned title track became her third No. 1 hit, prompting Atlantic to award her what was reportedly the largest contract ever given to a female recording artist at the time. 1977’s Blue Lights in the Basement followed after a lengthy gap and featured the reunited Flack and Hathaway on “The Closer I Get to You,” which reached No. 1 R&B and No. 2 Pop. The album also included material associated with Diana Ross and a Gwen Guthrie co-write, underscoring Flack’s continued ability to balance elegance with contemporary appeal.
The box concludes with 1978’s Roberta Flack, a more fraught project anchored by “If Ever I See You Again,” written by Joe Brooks. Though the single reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, its association with a poorly received film dampened its broader impact. The album also attempted to revisit the magic of “Killing Me Softly” with another Fox and Gimbel collaboration and included a cover of Thom Bell and Linda Creed’s “You Are Everything.” Notably, this marks the album’s first appearance on CD in the United States.
Though With Her Songs: The Atlantic Albums 1969–1978 does not include bonus tracks—despite some albums previously receiving expanded digital editions—Discs 4 through 8 have been newly remastered. Until a more expansive physical anthology emerges, this collection serves as a vital archival restoration, returning Flack’s formative Atlantic catalog to circulation and reminding listeners of the depth and refinement that defined her artistry.
Spanning 1969 to 1978, these recordings trace Roberta Flack’s ascent from conservatory-trained pianist to one of the most emotionally resonant voices in modern soul. Her phrasing, restraint, and interpretive intelligence transformed familiar songs into intimate confessions and elevated popular music into high art. This box set stands not merely as a reissue campaign, but as a tribute to a singular artist whose voice continues to echo long after the final note fades.
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