Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
ROBERTA FLACK AND DONNY HATHAWAY
(Atlantic)
As best heard in the hit "Where is the Love," this twosome had marvelous vocal chemistry. Hathaway's keening tenor meshed with Flack's breathier pipes, and both shared a churchy quality that gave their harmonies real heft. This LP finds them combining originals with a number of reworked hits — Ben E. King's "I (Who Have Nothing)," Carole King's "You've Got a Friend," Aretha's "Baby I Love You," The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' — that often have a ballady bent. The duo is surrounded by unobtrusive arrangements that always let the singing shine through.
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2008.