Robert flack sings the beatles, in stores february 2012

[glencro]

Roberta Flack the four-time Grammy Award-winning artist is back with a new song and forthcoming album, "LET IT BE ROBERTA"--a collection of Beatles song interpretations. Roberta Flack has long been known as an unparalleled musician who effortlessly inhabits the worlds of pop, soul, R&B, jazz and folk. From her very first recording , "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" which hit #1 in the U.S across all charts, Flack has created strong emotional bonds with her listeners through her poignant musicality and unerring stylizations while also shining an uncompromising light onto the culture and politics of the times.

Let It Be Roberta is Flack's first in 8 years and was produced by Sherrod Barnes, who has also produced Beyonce' and Angie Stone, with contributing producers Jerry Barnes and Barry Miles, and is slated for release on February 7th worldwide.

Since bursting onto the scene in 1969 with the blockbuster album "First Take" [[produced by the legendary Joel Dorn), she's followed her fiercely uncompromising lyrical and musical muses earning her a place alongside pioneering artists such as Aretha Franklin, Elton John, and Nina Simone. A multiple Grammy winner, she is the only artist along with U2 to win "Record of the Year" in consecutive years [[for "The First Time, Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Killing Me Softly"). Although she's taken some time between recordings, she's never stopped performing having constantly toured worldwide. Flack, a national treasure gives her time freely to a host of charitable and humanitarian causes--among them, the ASPCA [[spokesperson of the year for 2011) and the Roberta Flack School of Music in Bronx, NY [[which she founded in 2006).

Says Roberta: "My passion for this project comes from the magical genius of the greatest songwriters of all time. Love, inspiration, friendship and my own life's lessons come together when I sing the songs they created. I am honored to be a part of the fabulous legacy of the Beatles."

[soulster]

There was another thread about this several months ago. As I recall, it was not positive. I didn't like what I heard.

[uptight]

Umm, hasn't that photo has been used on at least one of her compilations already..? Let's hope they come up with better cover artwork between now and February.

[reese]

Umm, hasn't that photo has been used on at least one of her compilations already..? Let's hope they come up with better cover artwork between now and February.

I was thinking the same thing. That photo has been used on at least two album covers. Sad that quite a few performers have been doing that lately. In any event, its always a pleasure to hear Roberta. I hope the album is a good one. Its been so long since the last one.

[timmyfunk]

This concept is so damn outdated.

[stephanie]

Timmy we agree on something! The first thing I thought of was Mary Wells and Sarah Vaughn and all of those other people who have done tributes to the Fab Five I was shocked to see this now.

[luke]

Boring!!! Unless incredible arrangements.

[smark21]

Timmy we agree on something! The first thing I thought of was Mary Wells and Sarah Vaughn and all of those other people who have done tributes to the Fab Five I was shocked to see this now.

I think you mean the Fab 4. The Fab 5 is Duran Duran and doing a tribute album to them would be something new.

[uptight]

Maybe Fab 5 Freddie should do one, too. LOL

[RossHolloway]

yea, this concept has been done to death. but hey she probably figures that there are so many Beatles fanatics out there and they'll buy just about anything with the word Beatles attached to it... what else does she have to lose? lol

[imnokid]

The concept may be done to death, but if an artist has something o say within the framework, why fault them?
If Bettye ever gets a chance to do a Beatles album, it won't be for the Beatle fans. It will be because she thinks they wrote great songs. She had Beatle songs in her show long before her "resurgence" in 2000. And they will certainly have new arrangements. See Blackbird, The Word, etc.

[Koach]

I'd love to see a Diana Ross/Supremes tribute album from someone.

[timmyfunk]

The concept may be done to death, but if an artist has something o say within the framework, why fault them?
If Bettye ever gets a chance to do a Beatles album, it won't be for the Beatle fans. It will be because she thinks they wrote great songs. She had Beatle songs in her show long before her "resurgence" in 2000. And they will certainly have new arrangements. See Blackbird, The Word, etc.

A project with a worn out concept like this probably won't sell anymore than an album of original material. Hell, if you're going to go the cheap route, why not do a "Roberta Flack Sings Lady Gaga" album. Couldn't be anymore exploitative.

[soulster]

Why not just get The Beatles music and be done with it?

[imnokid]

Maybe because there are artists who PERFORM their great songs differently.

[imnokid]

Should people no longer record some of the great standards because they have been done so many times?

[soulster]

Maybe because there are artists who PERFORM their great songs differently.

Oh, I know that! I was getting at that Flack doesn't do a very good job it interpreting The Beatles, IMO. Many have done better, but Flack is just too mellow.

[imnokid]

I listened to the one sample. I agree with you. I thought the conversation here was implying that nobody should do the Beatles catalogue any more because so many people have already.

[timmyfunk]

I listened to the one sample. I agree with you. I thought the conversation here was implying that nobody should do the Beatles catalogue any more because so many people have already.

I ain't implying it. I'm saying it out right. That concept is too tired for words. There are so many other artists that she could cover. Just do someone different. Or just write your own material. If we were talking about someone who isn't a songwriter, then maybe my perspective would be different.

[P-Shark: The Revenge]

Could be that she feels a connection since she lived in the same apartment building as John Lennon. And I think she still lives there.
Tim, I always wondered about the Funkadelic lyric, I'm not here to kill you softly, but I promise to be good to your earhole. A personal
attack on RF or the music industry?

[imnokid]

Timmy -Bettye is not a songwriter. Does that means she gets a pass from you? ;-)

[soulster]

Tim, I always wondered about the Funkadelic lyric, I'm not here to kill you softly, but I promise to be good to your earhole. A personal
attack on RF or the music industry?

I don't think there was anything bad about that lyric, just Clinton's attempt to be humorous.

[JM27]

Guess I'll pass on this. I also find it disappointing about her blocking the "Love Love Love" 2CD Donny Hathaway anthology a few years ago on the grounds of it featuring unreleased recordings/versions of tracks she had done with him. I know that the full 2CD set was prepared as an in-house promo [[in addition to a 8 or 9 track additional promo with selected unmastered and unedited tracks, some of which came out on the "These Songs For You Live" compilation).

[timmyfunk]

Timmy -Bettye is not a songwriter. Does that means she gets a pass from you? ;-)

It's a tired, worn out concept for whoever uses it.

[Sugarchilehoneybaby]

Who is Robert Flack? Rubina Flake's brother-in-law?

[imnokid]

Timmy-you're welcome to your opinion. And it is yours. Thanx for sharing! ;-)

[timmyfunk]

Timmy-you're welcome to your opinion. And it is yours. Thanx for sharing! ;-)

I'm not trying to come off negative here. But there are so many other songwriters that could receive the same treatment [[including Roberta Flack herself). At this point, another Beatles tribute would just come off as exploitative.

[Glenpwood]

Roberta is over seventy now and certainly earned the right to record an album to whoever artistically stimulates her. This isn't as obvious a cash in as say the Barry Manilow/Rod Stewart songbook sets. We should be happy she's still willing to record and can find a label to release it. On the other hand, the people who don't like the concept don't have to buy it just because its Roberta Flack. Even most people who consider themselves huge fans of most artists statistically usually only buy a maximum 5 albums by them. I will wait to hear the samples on ITunes and then decide.

[timmyfunk]

And if you still have the energy to record and perform, you should have the energy to come up with better concepts than the tired and worn out Beatles tribute. She's also a legend and doesn't have to go down this particular avenue to keep her career from going stale. There isn't enough going on in the world that she can't come up with one last album of original material?

[imnokid]

Here's a perfect example of taking a Beatles song to another place. Nothing tired or worn out about this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0bOgP5IYBg

[timmyfunk]

Here's a perfect example of taking a Beatles song to another place. Nothing tired or worn out about this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0bOgP5IYBg

Individual remakes are one thing. Whole albums trying to breath life into a tired, worn out concept is quite another story. Leave this where it belongs.