200 FAVE ALBUMS This update: #134. More albums next week.

THE CAFFE` LATTE`

200

MOST RECOMMENDED ALBUMS

Some are the best selling, while others may be obscure, but the albums listed here are all worthy of a listen. No compilation/ best of sets. Only exceptional live albums included.

#134

FIRST TAKE: ROBERTA FLACK

 [1969] 

Roberta Flack's debut album was an apt premiere of one of music's best vocalists. While the album would need to wait until 1972 to be noticed by a wider audience, this collection of songs serves as a bridge between jazz, blues, soul and pop. Flack is the link between the R&B of the 1960s and the singer-songwriter era in the decade that followed. It was in the 1970s that Flack's popularity widened and the awards came her way. What would propel this album into the charts was the inclusion of standout track "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" in the Clint Eastwood film 'Play Misty For Me'. The song would soar to the chart summit around the world and finally introduced the public to Flack's enchanting voice. On 'First Take', the singer recorded 2 songs co-written by Donny Hathaway. Flack and the latter would collaborate and duet together on other songs in the 1970s. This album therefore is important as an historical and influential milestone as well as being an aural delight. Flack's voice impresses today as much as it would have at the time of the album's release. Highlight tracks: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face; Ballad Of The Sad Young Man & Compared To What.