Search - Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway :: Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway

Roberta's disco album was among her better 80s work

03/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was intended to be Roberta's second full fledged collaboration with Donny Hathaway but as we all know, Donny committed suicide before the recording was finished, so we'd never know what the final product might have been had the album been completed. Nevertheless, what we eventually got from the sessions were 7 tracks featuring Donny's vocals on only 2 of them. On 2 tracks, the songs ran back to back for nearly 18 minutes long, so Atlantic must have been pretty desperate to drag out the half complete sessions into a full length album. How else to explain an interminable 9-minute plus take of "Back Together Again" when a 4 to 5 minute version would have done the job ? That aside, the good news is that the quality of this, Roberta's disco album, is remarkably even. Roberta's and Donny's voices blend beautifully on their hit duet, "You Are My Heaven". For those who think Roberta doesn't ever let rip, just listen to the last 15 seconds before the fade out. For a fleeting moment, I thought I was hearing Aretha ! The other stand out but curiously ignored track is Gwen Guthrie's "God Don't Like Ugly". Here, Roberta gets into an unusually funky groove with excellent phrasing and some of her most soulful singing. The two non-disco ballads on the album, "Disguises" and "Stay With Me", also hold their own. "Disguises" is particularly poignant and moving. So, "Roberta Flack featuring Donny Hathaway" isn't quite what its title professes. She flirted with disco but avoided its excesses and worst influences. This album is clearly one of Roberta's better late 70s/early 80s efforts since abandoning the persona of virtuoso performer for that of classy MOR artiste."

"Don't wait, buy this CD"

L. Kelsey | Riverside, CA. United States | 07/31/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The long awaited reunion of Roberta and Donny is one of the highlights of this album. This is one of Roberta's best, where she sounds so good with Donny on "You Are My Heaven," and gets down and funky with him on "Back Together Again." One of my favorite cuts though is "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long." Roberta gets funky on this one too, and it doesn't hurt that another GENIUS, Stevie Wonder, wrote it. The material is outstanding, the melodies will have you humming songs ALL DAY. And while you check out the credits on this one, take note of some of the background vocalists. This is a great album."

A good final tribute to Donny Hathaway

rodog63jr | bronx, N.Y.C. N.Y. USA | 03/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back together again may be the hit song of this album, but this whole album is slammin'. Don't make me wait to long is classic disco. Donny was one of the great ones."