Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway

Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Roberta Flack. Released via Atlantic in March 1980, the album features posthumous vocals by close friend and collaborator Donny Hathaway, who died a year prior after sessions for the album were completed.

Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway
Studio album by
Roberta Flack
ReleasedMarch 1980
Recorded1979
GenreR&B, soul, disco
LabelAtlantic
ProducerRoberta Flack, Eric Mercury
Roberta Flack chronology
Roberta Flack
(1978)		 Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway
(1980)		 Live & More
(1980)
Singles from Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway
  1. "You Are My Heaven / I'll Love You Forever and Ever"
    Released: November 15, 1979
  2. "Back Together Again / God Don't Like Ugly"
    Released: February 17, 1980
  3. "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long / Only Heaven Can Wait (For Love)"
    Released: July 13, 1980
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Overview

Intended as her second duets album with Donny Hathaway (following 1972's Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway), Flack's ninth studio album project became a Flack solo album with Hathaway as guest due to Hathaway's death after recording only two songs with her. On 13 January 1979 Hathaway and Flack had recorded the duets "Back Together Again" and "You Are My Heaven" - the latter the last song Hathaway would ever record: after having dinner with Flack at her residence in the Dakota, Hathaway had then returned to his suite on the fifteenth floor of Essex House, later fatally falling from window of his suite.

Despite becoming the first Roberta Flack album since Quiet Fire (1971) to not yield a Top 40 hit, ...Featuring Donny Hathaway provided Flack with a substantial commercial comeback following the underperformance of her precedent 1978 self-titled album, with ...Featuring Donny Hathaway becoming a certified Gold album. Also both the duets on ...Featuring Donny Hathaway reached the R&B chart Top Ten peaking at #8, with "Back Together Again" reaching #3 in the UK: "Back Together Again" had been written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, members of Flack's back-up band who had previously written the 1978 Flack/ Hathaway hit "The Closer I Get to You", while "You Are My Heaven" was a Stevie Wonder co-write (with album producer Eric Mercury). Wonder also contributed the song "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long", providing the track's whispered rap: issued as a third single "Don't Make Me Wait..." was not a major mainstream hit, but issued on a 12" single with "Back Together Again" afforded Flack her first disco chart hit single with a #6 peak.

Flack has mentioned the track "Disguises" as being among her favorite lower-profile songs in her repertoire.[2] ...Featuring Donny Hathaway was also the third consecutive Roberta Flack album on which she sang a composition by Michael Masser, who in 1983 would write (with Gerry Goffin) and produce "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" the million-selling Peabo Bryson duet which would be Flack's most successful post-1970s release.

Track listing

Side One
  1. "Only Heaven Can Wait (For Love)" (Flack, Eric Mercury) (4:03)
  2. "God Don't Like Ugly" (Gwen Guthrie) (4:34)
  3. "You Are My Heaven" (Eric Mercury, Stevie Wonder) (4:10)
  4. "Disguises" (Stuart Scharf) (2:24)

Side Two
  1. "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long" (Stevie Wonder) (7:45)
  2. "Back Together Again" (Reggie Lucas, James Mtume) (9:45)
  3. "Stay with Me" (Gerry Goffin, Michael Masser) (3:47)

Personnel
  • Roberta Flack – lead and background vocals, keyboards, synthesizer (All tracks), musical arrangements (tracks 1-2, 4)
  • John Tropea – guitar
  • Gwen Guthrie – backing vocals (All tracks), background vocal arrangements (tracks 2, 6)
  • Donny Hathaway – lead vocals (tracks 3, 6), piano
  • Luther Vandross – backing vocals (All tracks), background vocal arrangements (tracks 2, 6)
  • Hiram Bullock – guitar
  • Ronnie Foster – keyboards
  • Eric Mercury – backing vocals (track 1)
  • Hubert Eaves III – synthesizer
  • Reggie Lucas – guitar
  • Eluriel Tinker Barfield – bass guitar
  • Errol Bennett – percussion
  • Ray Chew – keyboards
  • Basil Fearrington – bass guitar
  • Anthony Jackson – bass guitar
  • Raymond Jones – keyboards
  • Brenda White-King – backing vocals
  • Howard King – drums
  • Eleanore Mills – backing vocals (track 3)
  • Jeff Mironov – guitar
  • Jocelyn Shaw (Jocelyn Brown) – backing vocals
  • Ed Walsh – synthesizer
  • Nathan Watts – bass guitar on "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long"
  • Harry Whitaker – keyboards
  • Stevie Wonder – backing vocals, drums and keyboards on "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long"
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References
  1. Theakston, Rob. Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway at AllMusic
  2. https://ilovetheburg.com/an-interview-with-roberta-flack/
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