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Killing Me Softly (Roberta Flack album)

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Killing Me Softly
Studio album by
Roberta Flack
ReleasedAugust 1, 1973
Studio
Genre
Length40:57
LabelAtlantic
ProducerJoel Dorn
Roberta Flack chronology
Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway
(1972) 		Killing Me Softly
(1973) 		Feel Like Makin' Love
(1975)
Singles from Killing Me Softly
  1. "Killing Me Softly with His Song"
    Released: January 21, 1973
  2. "Jesse"
    Released: November 8, 1973

Killing Me Softly is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Roberta Flack, released on August 1, 1973, by Atlantic Records.[3] She recorded the album with producer Joel Dorn for 18 months.[4] The album was dedicated to Rahsaan Roland Kirk.[5]

Killing Me Softly reached number three on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape and number two on the Soul LPs chart.[6] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album gold on August 27, 1973, and double platinum on January 30, 2006, denoting shipments of two million copies in the United States.[3] It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, which it lost to Stevie Wonder's 1973 album Innervisions. The album's title track was released as a single and topped the Billboard Hot 100.[6] It won the 1974 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

Promotion

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Record World called the single "Jesse" a "gorgeous Janis Ian tune reportedly dedicated to Rev. Jesse Jackson [that is] impeccably produced by Joel Dorn."[7] "Jesse", the follow-up single to the title track, reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100.[8]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]

Reviewing for the Chicago Tribune in September 1973, Clarence Page said Killing Me Softly has a hit title track and "other potential hits, adding up to one of [Flack's] better albums".[10] John S. Wilson, writing in The New York Times, felt that Flack and producer Joel Dorn "have resisted the pitfalls of overproducing that you would suppose such a long gestation period would induce".[4] Billboard called the record a "delicate, introspective work" by Flack, whom the magazine deemed a "masterful interpreter of clean lyrics fusing a sophisticated pop sound with that dark side of the blues".[1]

Robert Christgau was less impressed in a December 1973 column for Creem, giving Killing Me Softly a "C" while comparing Flack negatively to Jesse Colin Young because she also "always makes you wonder whether she's going to fall asleep before you do".[11] In a retrospective review, The Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992) gave the record two-and-a-half out of five stars and found its music "innocuous".[12] AllMusic's Ron Wynn later gave it four and a half stars, writing that the album "continued in the same tradition as Chapter Two and Quiet Fire", featuring "simmering ballads, declarative message songs, and better-than-average up-tempo numbers".[9]

Track listing

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Killing Me Softly track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Killing Me Softly with His Song"
4:49
2."Jesse"Janis Ian4:03
3."No Tears (In the End)"
4:56
4."I'm the Girl"James Alan Shelton4:55
5."River"Gene McDaniels5:03
6."Conversation Love"
3:43
7."When You Smile"
  • MacDonald
  • Salter
3:44
8."Suzanne"Leonard Cohen9:44
Total length:40:57

Personnel

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Credits are adapted from AllMusic.[13]

Performers and musicians

Technical

  • Joel Dorn – producer
  • Jack Shaw – associate producer
  • Gene Paul – engineer and remix (1)
  • Bob Liftin – engineer and remix (2-8)
  • Barry Diament – mastering
  • Shorewood Graphics – design concept
  • Rod Dyer – design
  • Burt Goldblatt – backliner photography
  • David Redfern – inside photography

Charts

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Weekly chart performance for Killing Me Softly
Chart (1973) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[14] 40
US Billboard 200[15] 3
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[16] 2

Certifications

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Certifications for "Killing Me Softly"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[17] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[18] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Top Album Picks". Billboard. August 25, 1973. p. 52. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  2. ^ "Killing Me Softly - Roberta Flack". AllMusic. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  4. ^ a b Dove, Ian; Wilson, John S. (August 22, 1973). "Records: The Rewards of Penderecki; Teresa Brewer Roberta Flack". The New York Times. p. 43. Retrieved May 18, 2013. (subscription required)
  5. ^ "Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly". Discogs. 1973.
  6. ^ a b "Killing Me Softly - Roberta Flack : Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  7. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. September 15, 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  8. ^ "Roberta Flack: Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  9. ^ a b Wynn, Ron. "Killing Me Softly - Roberta Flack". AllMusic. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  10. ^ "Sound: New Wonder in solid soulful realm". Chicago Tribune. September 16, 1973. section 6, p. F11. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2013. (subscription required)
  11. ^ Christgau, Robert (December 1973). "The Christgau Consumer Guide". Creem. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  12. ^ Anthony DeCurtis, James Henke, Holly George-Warren (October 27, 1992). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. p. 248. ISBN 0679737294.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "Killing Me Softly - Roberta Flack : Credits". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  14. ^ "Roberta Flack | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  15. ^ "Roberta Flack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  16. ^ "Roberta Flack Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  17. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Roberta Flack – Killing Me Softly". Music Canada. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  18. ^ "American album certifications – Roberta Flack – Killing Me Softly". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
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