and eating pasta and whatever else they wanted to share… you know. They don’t want to hear “Chest- nuts roasting on an open fire.” They don’t want to hear that, I’m sorry. No “Silent Night” for them. So, the owner insisted I do that. The minute I started
to do that, to sing… they sort of kind of shut up. So, there I was “may your days be merry and bright.” So, you can picture that. Yeah. The guy, who was the head waiter, came over to me
TRACK BY TRACK
BY ROBERTA FLACK… (WELL… ALMOST)
“Hey Jude”- “The version of the song is so sentimental and so emotional, that when I got there, I could not get loud. I cannot do it, “la, la, la, la-la-lah.” The reason I didn’t do that is because I want the audience to.”
“Isn’t It a Pity” – “This is what we did with this song. We took a few liberties. I do this with the orchestra. My producer and I played around with the melody and it came out to be a very beautiful and meaningful song. So, we like that.”
“Oh Darling” – “I just made it an ode to B.B. King, I tell you. Just used the basic keyboard, bass, drum and guitar for this, the guitar answers everything I say… I love it.”
“Come Together” – “When I did this song, I had so much fun! I chose not to make it clever but more like a story. I made it not about two people com- ing together but about people all over the world… “why don’t you come together!”
and said, “Roberta Flack. Are you kidding me? You can sing?” I said, “Yes.” Now, fast forward a bit to a little bar on Capitol Hill that he took me to called Mr. Henry’s. I learned that I could get people’s attention by singing what they wanted to hear. I would teach songs to my students in my seventh grade class. The kids in the class taught me to sing, “Stop! In the Name of Love” and all the Stevie Wonder songs, before I could get them to sing “The National Anthem”… that’s what they required of me. So, I had this job and I pulled all these songs that I had loved. Up came, “once there was a way, to get back home again.” I said, “Oh my goodness,” and that became a big hit with me on the piano. There I am singing my heart out and I’m scared. It was all a new experience for me. Then it was, “you never give me your money… you only give me your funny papers,” anything that had a melody. That I could somehow make a little bit florid based on my “opera” experience and get the audience so caught up in it, that they’d say, “Sing it again!” “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “Golden Slumbers” are incredible songs. Yes, The Beatles songs of all of the songs that I did
like that… and that is not to diminish the importance of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” it became the most popular songs for me to sing in that bar. It makes me somewhat teary-eyed to say that, because they’re so beautiful, Bill. I don’t know if you need a more beautiful song than “Hey Jude.” I don’t know a better melody or any better song musically in terms of where it starts and how it develops and ends. And, it’s the simplest song in the entire world. So, that’s what got me excited. [Let the advance listening party commence for
Let It Be Roberta: Roberta Flack Sings The Beatles as courtesy of the great lady herself… she plays me her recording of “Hey Jude.”] It’s really well-done and different. Thank you. I selected “And I Love Him,” “Come
Together,” “Here, There and Everywhere,” “If I Fell” and “Isn’t That a Pity.” Isn’t that interesting because… That’s George’s song. It is. Do you know that song?
Yes. So, this is what we did. [Ms. Flack plays her version
52 RAGE monthly | FEBRUARY 2012
of “Isn’t It a Pity.”] Your selection process… you just shared a bit of it. Obvi- ously, there were songs that just stuck out in your life. Right. They just sort of knocked me for a loop.
As an artist of your caliber, you’re indelibly imprinted in the memories of many, many people in just one example with “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” I would imagine that not everyone knows the connection with this song and Clint Eastwood. Will you share how this connection happened with Clint? I will. I got a call from the head of Atlantic Records.
We had recorded the song in 1969 on my first album. He said, “Clint Eastwood wants the song in his movie Play Misty For Me.” I said, “Okay!” He said, “Can I give you his number? He wants to talk to you personally. He’s a big music fan.” I said, “Oh great.” Of course; I’m a big Clint Eastwood fan. I was so in love with his persona as an actor. When he actually called, I kind of lost my cool. You know how musicians say, “No, I’m cool.” Well, I lost mine…oh my god. Clint Eastwood! I’m trying to get my mouth not to be dry and to think of what I could say. (Laughter) So, he called and said, “Hi Roberta. It’s Clint.” All I could think of to say was, “Yes.” He said, “I just want to tell you about ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.’” He told me about the film and said there was one beautiful soft moment in the film and he wanted to use my song. I said, “Thank you. You can use it.” He said, “I can?” Now, this is three years after I recorded it! Clint told
me he was driving down the L.A. Freeway when he heard it and that had he not been careful, he would have driven into a ditch. He was so mesmerized and hypnotized by the sound of my voice and the record and what it meant. It just played so strongly for him. I’m really happy about that and I’ve had a chance to tell him more than once. That is so cool. Then he wrote a song that he let me sing at the end
of “Sudden Impact” called “This Side of Forever.” Oh yeah, that’s a beautiful song. Will you give us a glimpse of what you have in store for your upcoming performance? Well, I can’t do all Beatles songs. I don’t see myself
going on stage and not singing songs that people have given back to me. I’ve given them and they’ve given them back by making them so successful and buying them over and over again. So, I’ll do “Killing Me Softly.” I’ll do “First Time Ever.” I’ll also do a song that a dear friend of mine wrote called “Soft and Gentle Rain.” It’s going to be lovely. And I’ll do some songs from my Beatles album like “Long and Winding Road” and “Oh Darling.” I think people are going to be surprised.
Sounds fantastic. Thank you, honestly. It’s been a joy. Thank you so much.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76