Roberta Flack: Classic

There are certain nostalgia-laced voices that can make my stomach tighten with a glorious homesickness for my youth. Roberta Flack possesses one of those voices. When I hear her sing, something inside me melts. And it feels good. So, imagine my surprise and glee when the kids from, uhm, Glee, covered “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” on last week’s episode of the musical phenomenon! It sent me into a delightful tizzy of franticly longing for years gone by.

The next day, while I was slogging through my email, of all the incredulous things, I discovered I had been sent an advance track from the new album by (say it with me, now) Roberta Flack! Roberta’s upcoming project is called Let It Be Roberta: Roberta Flack Sings The Beatles. I promptly requested the rest of the album, and when I heard it . . . “Wow!” Yes, these are Beatles’ songs and I knew them inside-out, but Flack’s sweet, elegant grace along with the mind-bogglingly fresh arrangements made it sound like I was hearing these songs for the very first time. Roberta grabbed these tunes by the core and nurtured them until they flourished in a way they never quite have before.

“I didn’t write these wonderful songs, of course,” Roberta noted, “I’m only expressing what I feel about them. And what I feel about them – hopefully – is universal enough that people will say, ‘Yeah.’

The first single, “We Can Work It Out,” has just been released to radio (and is also available on iTunes). The track is a magical cascade of gentle beats with Flack’s sincere, pleading vocals residing at the core, urging you to take a closer look and consider how you could make the world a better place.

However, words fall pathetically short when trying to describe this album. “And I Love Him,” “The Long And Winding Road,” “I Should Have Known Better,” and “In My Life” really need to be heard in order to fully grasp the depth and the extent to which these classic tracks have been recreated. In fact, if you venture over to iTunes and listen to some of the advance clips for yourself, I’d love to read your reactions in the comment section below.

“With this collection, Roberta is adding a woman’s voice of fun and joy and, again, making people realize how universal these songs are.” — Yoko Ono

Roberta Flack is currently on tour. Let It Be Roberta: Roberta Flack Sings The Beatles will be available on February 7th. For more information, visit: www.robertaflack.com.