The popular memory of Roberta Flack, who died yesterday at 88, boils down to two songs, this one and “Killing Me Softly,” and no wonder – they won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1972 and 1973, making Flack the first to win the award in consecutive years (U2 and Billie Eilish have done it since).
This song was inescapable back in 1972. Flack, who was discovered singing jazz in Washington DC, is in great voice, but good grief, the tempo is as slow as a bicycle racer’s heartbeat. That emotional, atmospheric style made Flack a forerunner of the Quiet Storm branch of R&B, but it also led to Robert Christgau calling her “Barry Manilow with better taste.”
The song had been recorded by dozens of folk acts, so Flack’s version gained little attention when she released it on her 1969 LP “First Take.” Then Clint Eastwood used it in his directorial debut, 1971’s “Play Misty for Me” – he paid $2,000 for the rights – leading to its release as a single.
Fun fact: the record was produced by Philadelphia’s Joel Dorn. Old heads who watched local UHF TV back in the day might remember him as the Masked Announcer, who dressed like the Green Hornet to hawk clear plastic slipcovers.
The song was written by Scottish folksinger Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, Pete’s half-sister, his mistress at the time and later his wife. She recorded it in 1957.
Lots of folkies like the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary recorded it. The version Flack first heard was by gospel-folk duo Joe & Eddie.
