Today we celebrate the 70th birthday of a lady with one of the sweetest soul voices of the last century, Roberta Flack.
Emerging alongside so many of her contemporaries - Gladys Knight, Minnie Riperton, Candi Staton - from the black gospel tradition, in an era when civil rights were still in their infancy in the USA, the young Roberta received a scholarship at the age of 15 (unheard of at such a young age for a black girl) to attend music college and hone up her already incredible vocal and musical talents.
After a period as a music teacher in an all-white school, she was "discovered" by the classic soul jazz piano player and vocalist Les McCann, and in the early 1970s she became one of the world's biggest selling solo artistes. With songs like The first time ever I saw your face (written by Kirsty's dad Ewan McColl), Feel like making love, Lovin' you is such an easy thing to do and of course Killing me softly, and collaborations with the late Donny Hathaway and, later, Peabo Bryson, she remains one of the most respected singers in soul music.
Personally, I cannot listen to Killing me softly since the bloody Fugees ruined it a few years back ("one time"), but here are some other examples of this remarkable lady's talents:
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