3 Essential Songs by Roberta Flack

On February 24, the music world lost a giant who helped create a “quiet storm” on 1970s radio.

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Roberta Flack hypnotized audiences with epically slow ballads and helped define a new approach to R&B and soul music. (The new format was named after Smokey Robinson’s 1975 album A Quiet Storm.)

Like Robinson, Flack’s emotive voice favored softness over volume—though no less commanding. The former Washington, D.C., schoolteacher became a soul and jazz legend with a serene catalog of iconic and intimate hits.

Highlighting three of Flack’s best below, give yourself plenty of time to relish each recording. As she was one of the most popular artists of the 1970s, this list is by no means definitive. But it offers a snapshot of the legendary singer and pianist.

“Killing Me Softly With His Song” from Killing Me Softly (1973)

Lori Lieberman was inspired by a Don McLean performance, which led her to collaborate with songwriters Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. She released the song in 1972, but it wasn’t a hit. That didn’t happen until Flack’s version arrived the following year. It had a second life on the Fugees’ 1996 blockbuster The Score. Lauryn Hill remains true to Flack’s quiet soul, but against the driving hip-hop beat, you miss the serene reserve that gives the title its power.

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song

“Feel Like Makin’ Love” from Feel Like Makin’ Love (1974)

Self-produced under the name Rubina Flake, this sensual number describes the singer’s carnal impulses. She opens with a stroll in the park, watching the seasons change and feeling encouraged by “seeing lovers do their thing.” Her production sounds effortlessly easy, putting the listener in a dreamy trance. Meanwhile, D’Angelo’s hazy take on “Feel Like Makin’ Love” from his groundbreaking album Voodoo became a touchstone of neo soul.

In a restaurant
Holding hands by candlelight
While I’m touching you
Wanting you with all my might

“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” from First Take (1969)

Flack’s 1969 version wouldn’t become a hit until three years later, after it appeared in the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty for Me. She stretches each note, taking time over gradual chords and the light urgency of chamber strings. Savoring each moment of the love story with patience. Her voice is so affecting you don’t want the track to end. It must have been how she felt then.

The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and the stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the endless skies

Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images