Feel Like Makin' Love
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Album Summary
Recorded and released in 1975 on Atlantic Records, 'Feel Like Makin' Love' found Roberta Flack working once again with her trusted collaborator and producer Charles Stepney, whose lush, orchestrated arrangements gave the album a warm, sophisticated glow that sat beautifully between soul, jazz, and quiet storm. Coming off the enormous success of her earlier Atlantic output, Roberta stepped into the studio with something to prove — that she was more than a hitmaker, she was an artist with depth and staying power. The album dropped at a moment when Black music was riding high on a tide of funk and soul creativity, and Flack brought her piano-trained elegance right into the heart of that conversation.
Reception
- The title track 'Feel Like Makin' Love' had already proven itself as a chart heavyweight, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974, paving the way for strong commercial anticipation around the full album release.
- The album performed respectably on the R&B charts, cementing Roberta's reputation as one of the premier voices in sophisticated soul and quiet storm territory.
- Critics of the era praised the album's lush production and Flack's emotionally nuanced vocal performances, recognizing her ability to transform even the quietest ballad into something that felt deeply personal and profoundly moving.
Significance
- The album stands as a landmark in the quiet storm subgenre, helping to define the sound of introspective, orchestrated Black adult contemporary music that would shape R&B radio throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s.
- Roberta Flack's inclusion of 'Mr. Magic' — a Grover Washington Jr. cover — spoke to the deep cross-pollination happening between jazz, soul, and funk in mid-1970s Black music, and her reading of the tune brought it to a whole new audience.
- The album as a whole represented a bold artistic statement from a Black woman in an industry that too often tried to box female artists into narrow commercial lanes — Flack refused the box, and the music is richer for it.
Samples
- "Feel Like Makin' Love" — this silky soul classic has been revisited and interpolated by various hip-hop and R&B artists over the decades, its unmistakable groove and melodic hook proving irresistible to producers mining the golden era of 1970s soul.
Tracklist
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A1 Feelin' That Glow 144
5:48
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A2 I Wanted It Too 203
2:51
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A3 I Can See The Sun In Late December 150
12:48
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A4 Some Gospel According To Matthew 114
2:37
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B1 Feel Like Makin' Love 93
2:55
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B2 Mr. Magic 74
3:55
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B3 Early Ev'ry Midnite 138
5:54
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B4 Old Heartbreak Top Ten —
4:22
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B5 She's Not Blind 63
5:24
Artist Details
Roberta Flack, born in Black Mountain, North Carolina in 1937 and raised in Arlington, Virginia, was a classically trained pianist and vocalist who emerged from the Washington D.C. jazz club scene in the late 1960s to become one of the most soulful, tender voices of her generation — her silky blend of soul, R&B, jazz, and pop touching hearts in ways that few artists ever could. She burst into the national consciousness with her breathtaking 1972 smash "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," a song that moved so slow and so deep it felt like time itself stopped, followed by the unforgettable "Killing Me Softly With His Song" in 1973, earning her back-to-back Grammy Awards for Record of the Year — a feat that had never been accomplished before. Roberta Flack wasn't just making music; she was creating intimate, cinematic experiences that spoke to the beauty and pain of love, and her artistry helped pave the way for sophisticated Black female artists who refused to be put in any one box.
