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Speaker 2
I'm Adam.

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Speaker 3
And I'm Peter Martin.

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Speaker 2
And you're listening to the you'll hear it podcast.

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Speaker 3
Music Explored.

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Speaker 2
Explorer, brought to you today by Open Studio. Go to Open Studio jazz.com for oh your jazz lesson means.

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Speaker 3
What's that on the world Wide Web?

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Speaker 2
It is on the world wide web.

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Speaker 1
Hey, before we get that com.

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Speaker 2
That's right. Got it. Yep. Exactly. Thank you, al Gore. Before we get too deep into it,

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Speaker 2
just shout out Jamal Nichols filling in for Bob in the blue in the face. Shout out Caleb Kirby playing the drums on the feel like making love as fun as.

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Speaker 3
Fun as a Christian life on musical bad. And segue for us to jump off into this great art.

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Speaker 2
And that might make its way into some of our categories later. So we are talking about the great Roberta Flack, who we sadly lost.

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Speaker 2
As of today, this is March 2025. We lost last month in February. Roberta was born in 1937, in North Carolina and,

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Speaker 2
went on to become, I think, one of the more influential hall musicians of the late 20th century.

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Speaker 2
It's actually hard to pin down, you know, after her, who hasn't been sort of influenced in one way or another by the music that she made, the music she recorded and the way that she took,

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Speaker 2
jazz and

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Speaker 2
soul and everything. And in this beautifully restrained sound. Yeah. And her work in collaboration with Donny Hathaway, I think will resonate for years and years and decades and decades to come.

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Speaker 3
I just want to note,

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Speaker 3
Roberta Flack from North Carolina, North Carolina, a state that punches above its weight in terms of producing master. Oh, artists 100, right? Yeah. I'm thinking of Thelonious Monk.

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Speaker 2
Oh, there's so many.

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Speaker 1
Yeah. John.

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Speaker 2
John Coltrane. Yeah.

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Speaker 3
Roscoe P Coltrane as well.

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Speaker 1
No.

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Speaker 3
Definitely not.

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Speaker 3
No. But that North Carolina shout out North Carolina, home state of my mother and father.

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Speaker 2
Well, let's go back to North Carolina and hear Roberta in her own words about her musical beginnings.

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Speaker 6
These memories are actually of my church experience. When I got in the church situation in the old Sunday school, programs and Sunday school, teaching situations, and they needed somebody to play. Jesus taught me this. That was me, you know? And I had a chance not only to please myself, but to please my peers. But even at 6 or 7, as a performer, it's a really hard thing to do.

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Speaker 6
You know, you can resort to thumb sucking in a minute. I think.

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Speaker 1
That's when I was doing.

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Speaker 4
That.

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Speaker 1
So getting her.

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Speaker 2
Start, like many, many, many musicians, we've talked about getting her start in church. Yeah. Playing the piano in church. She went on to fall in love with classical music of all things.

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Speaker 3
She just put it just to put a pin in the church thing, because I'm always thinking about other artists that we know in the jazz world or in the, you know, Donny Hathaway coming up in the I mean, all these great arts. What is it about that? Because I always thought, like the knee jerk reaction is the Lord has blessed them because they spent more time part of it, probably.

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Speaker 3
Right. But I think that that, as Roberta kind of alluded to, there there is a certain,

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Speaker 3
well, there's a competitive aspect to it sometimes because there's other great musicians, singers or, or maybe the drummer or whatever that you feel like, oh, I have to rise up to their level. Yeah.

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Speaker 3
There's certainly the rise of the competition rising up to the level of the deep meaning of being in a spiritual place.

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Speaker 3
Yeah.

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Speaker 2
Course, I think there's community. I think there's natural apprenticeship that happens in the church community.

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Speaker 3
I pray that that's important.

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Speaker 2
And I think that's the biggest thing. You know, all of my relatives,

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Speaker 2
that are musical were church musicians as well. Like my what's in my earliest musical live musical memories are seeing my great uncle Lzzy and my great Aunt Imogene play at the Methodist Church in South Saint Louis. She played the organ. He played the most beautiful Gibson acoustic guitar you've ever seen.

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Speaker 2
And they were magical together. And I remember, like, singing along to those hymns and remember, like, I know them and like, you know, leaning over my. And I'm a gene's shoulder and, I think church is a great place for anybody to learn music because of that sort of like openness between generations. Yeah. You got someone who's doing it very accomplished doing it for a long, long time.

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Speaker 2
And you have little tiny kids, right, who are watching and listening weekend.

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Speaker 1
And it's on the weekends.

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Speaker 3
On the weekend. Yeah, I think I think too, there's that

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Speaker 3
there's a little bit of Trial by Fire. What if you're like, oh, we need somebody on drums. Hey, kid, get up. And then you're like, oh, I feel like I've got to keep up. I've got to go. And like, also,

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Speaker 3
talent identification. Just a situation where you have access to instruments and voice and that kind of thing.

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Speaker 2
Yeah.

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Speaker 2
So Roberta starts in church,

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Speaker 2
which her parents were very encouraging of. And then she's Roberta is also, by the way, super smarty pants person. She starts attending Howard University at age 15. She falls in love with classical music, specifically Chopin.

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Speaker 3
You start college.

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Speaker 2
So it wasn't 15, I'll tell you that much.

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Speaker 2
But here's Roberta talking about her experience with the piano, on the classical level.

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Speaker 6
But being a classically trained musician, that means, as far as my piano studies, concerned that I was, I was, taught by a person who was, an expert when it came to Bach and music of the Baroque period, you know, Scarlatti, Haydn, she she excelled at that. She was a black woman who taught piano at Howard University, and she had studied in Europe on scholarship.

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Speaker 6
Her name was Hazel Harrison. And she said to me, you know, if you if you can hold on to, your love for playing the piano and play back this way, don't play Bach like you're playing Chopin or Mozart. Play Bach like this. If you can do that, then you will have accomplished something. So I learned to do that.

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Speaker 6
I learned to, to, to say, read those things at the at the opera Club.

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Speaker 1
For.

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Speaker 2
Accompanying and sight reading for, opera students at Howard as well.

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Speaker 3
A little more trial by fire.

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Speaker 2
A lot of trial by fire. She graduates Howard University and.

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Speaker 3
Wait, are you saying that if you take a talented young person, expose them to.

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Speaker 1
You, super.

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Speaker 3
Smart in church, and then later on with a great teacher that somehow they might flower into becoming a great artist. I know.

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Speaker 1
That's bizarre, right?

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Speaker 3
Oh, also, I just want to say Nina Simone came to mind another North Carolina native.

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Speaker 1
What a through.

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Speaker 2
Through through life, through lines with Roberta. Nina, actually,

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Speaker 2
but, then Roberta Flack goes on to not have a meteoric rise when she graduates college. She actually just starts teaching music in the D.C. public school system. And it's not till she's almost 30 that she gets her big break. She's playing at a small club.

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Speaker 2
In Georgetown in D.C., and she's discovered by pianist and singer les McCann.

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Speaker 2
And let's. McCann is most famous for this.

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Unknown
I love the night.

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Speaker 1
And I love hanging out with her show host. That is the motivation that is hanging up the god damn nation. Looks like we always say that, you.

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Unknown
Know, run with everybody now trying to make it real compared to what? Friends. Come on baby, it.

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Speaker 1
Come on baby.

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Speaker 2
Great laughs McCann discovers,

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Speaker 2
the young Roberta Flack. But but not too young. Like I said, she's been, like, paying dues. He's been teaching music. She's been playing clubs. She just.

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Speaker 1
Near middle age.

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Speaker 2
She literally just starts singing, like the year before. And within a year of this of less McCann discovering her, she's, you know, like on The Tonight Show and she's she's kind of already made a big name for herself. Her.

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Speaker 3
So you're saying I'm only one year potentially.

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Speaker 2
Saying a lot of things.

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Speaker 3
Appearing on The Tonight Show me.

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Speaker 1
You.

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Speaker 3
If I can be discovered, my vocal.

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Speaker 2
Ability to get you that, we're going to get you that for one of your for your birthdays.

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Speaker 3
It's a rolling one year.

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Speaker 1
It's the for 30 years.

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Speaker 3
Wasn't that buddy more than that.

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Speaker 1
So then she puts out what could be.

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Speaker 2
One of the great debut albums of all time. It's got to be in the conversation, right? Right.

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Speaker 3
Don't put it out there, man.

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Speaker 2
First take 1969 and look what's on this. Look what's what's on first tape. First track from her mentor.

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Speaker 4
Said love love.

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Unknown
Love love hate. And you know.

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Speaker 4
With push and you possession is the motivation. Hanging up the whole damn nation looks like we always end up in a row. But you gotta make it me. You. But compared to what I mean.

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Speaker 2
So this is why we're talking about today. The subtle restraint, right? The quiet genius of Roberta Flack. Her ability to pull some of the most, like, heart wrenching, soul crushing vocals out of a very, very subdued style of instrument that she has with her voice. She definitely has, like a horn where she can where she can, like, resonate.

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Speaker 2
But it's a lot of it is just like couched really, really low. Yeah. And really subtle. It's really incredible. I just want to highlight to the rhythm section on this for our jazz fans here. Roberta Flack is playing piano on this whole album, killing it, crushing it. We got Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar. How about that? We got the maestro himself, open studio artist Ron Carter on the.

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Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 2
Ray. Ray Lucas, excuse me on the drums, the percussion. So like, there is, you know, a really a through line here to a lot of jazz and some of the tracks on all of her albums. She'll do extended improvization or like vibe sections that. Yeah, definitely resonates for 70s jazz fans.

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Speaker 3
Yeah. I mean, it's got the openness, the space, the instrumentation,

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Speaker 3
of a jazz. I mean, I think this is jazz. I mean, I know that's a controversial take, and we'll probably talk about some other forays. I've had into with that particular record, especially one track of finding that is one of the greatest jazz tracks of all time.

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Speaker 1
But I'm gonna put it out there. Yeah. Sumi.

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Speaker 2
So after first take, she puts out her second album and just, I could see your interest. We'll get we'll get to you. We'll get back to you.

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Speaker 1
I mean.

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Speaker 2
After first out, she puts out her second album called chapter two. Chapter Twos. Also an I think it's I hadn't really gone deep on chapter two.

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Speaker 2
But check out Do What You Got to Do from chapter two.

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Speaker 1
Do what you gotta do.

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Speaker 2
What you gotta do. Is Jimmy Webb composition.

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Speaker 4
Man, I can understand.

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Speaker 1
How it might be like.

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Unknown
I know for you to love a girl like me.

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Speaker 4
I don't blame.

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Speaker 1
You. But I'm wanting to be free. Come on. I just wanted.

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Unknown
You to know that I loved you better than your own kindred from the very start.

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Speaker 2
Oh, such an amazing storyteller. Yeah. I mean, it's really where she shines, right? You know, she didn't write her own music. She sang other people's songs and, like, great song interpreters, she's able to just, like, pull your heart out. Yeah.

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Unknown
Do what you gotta do. Who?

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Speaker 1
My wife will,

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Unknown
Though it may be that I'll never kiss those sweet lips.

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Speaker 2
Let's do what you got to do. From chapter two. Beautiful, beautiful song. So she's just on a run now. 69 is is first take. 70 is chapter 271. She puts out an album called Quiet Fire. Three albums in three years. She's, like, going for it. And she's got a couple of heavy hitter songs on here, including Paul Simon's Bridge Over Troubled Water, which is.

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Speaker 2
This is an incredible rendition.

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Speaker 3
It is a great one. There's so many great renditions of this, but I will put this right.

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Speaker 2
This is Quiet Fire again. Ron Carter on the bass. Cissy Houston on background vocals on this, Hubert Laws on flute. And I don't know about this track. Hugh McCracken on guitar, Bernard Pretty on drums. Chuck rhenium bass.

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Speaker 4
And tears Are in Your Eyes. I'll dry the water.

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Speaker 4
I'm on your side. Yeah.

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Speaker 2
When the piano playing, too. Yeah.

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Unknown
Was getting rough.

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Speaker 4
And friends just can it can be found.

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Unknown
Like a bridge. Oh trouble. Oh those.

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Unknown
I would lay me.

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Speaker 2
And Peter you know me. You know I love me some Garfunkel. Yeah I love some Art Garfunkel.

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Speaker 1
Yeah.

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Speaker 2
That's that's crazy. Next level.

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Speaker 3
Right. It's so great. And I think, you know, what we hear in Roberta's piano playing is like, there's nothing wrong with just loving her. Playing and being like, oh, that's so great. But I think to the average listener, that's what you should do. You're focusing on the voice and the story. Great storyteller, as you said, nuance, you know, with her voice.

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Speaker 3
But I can tell you, like, if you really listen to what, how she's playing the instrument. And if you ever tried to play that big boxing machine there, like to do what she does. So simply, like there's so many little things. It's like, you know, I mean, it's like any great artist, they make it look easy. They make it sound beautiful, like it's.

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Speaker 3
What? She's not playing. Yeah, it's how she's. It's the restraint. The restraint. But Queen.

00:18:07:20 - 00:18:08:13
Speaker 2
Of restraint.

00:18:08:15 - 00:18:29:01
Speaker 3
Queen of restraint. But like when you play like that, you actually expose. There's some technical challenges that that that brings on to be able to keep it going like her, her just effortless, easy sense of groove on that, where it's just like the groove is there, but it's like nothing. There's nothing unnecessary. Like it's such. I can't tell you how hard it is to actually play like that without adding anything else.

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Speaker 3
I couldn't do it. I mean, I could, I can try it and I have tried to duplicate it. I've certainly been influenced by her playing and other players like her, but to me it's a very interesting way to play the industry. Yes. You hear like the kind of control when she talks about the classical training she has, it's kind of obvious when you kind of look back and you're like, oh, okay.

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Speaker 3
But then there's the church influence. There's like the harmonic influence, like. And then that's not even talking about that. She's accompanying herself while she's playing, which is not an easy thing to do. And so it's just one of those things where it's like there's nothing crazy flashy about it unless you're a pianist and you actually listen to it, you're like, oh.

00:19:04:01 - 00:19:04:08
Speaker 1
You know.

00:19:04:08 - 00:19:04:20
Speaker 2
It's really good.

00:19:04:20 - 00:19:07:07
Speaker 3
And so it's it's always fun to hear this kind of playing, you know.

00:19:07:07 - 00:19:08:16
Speaker 2
Another single from,

00:19:08:16 - 00:19:28:12
Speaker 2
Quiet Fire is another hit song from another artist, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Great tune. A lot of ballads on today's episode because Roberta is had the, perfect storm is this. There's a quiet storm brewing.

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Speaker 1
She don't give it away.

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Speaker 4
Tonight you might completely. You give your love so sweetly.

00:20:02:20 - 00:20:07:08
Speaker 2
Tonight the great song The Carole King.

00:20:07:11 - 00:20:08:09
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:20:08:11 - 00:20:10:16
Speaker 2
Brill building we got to do a Carole King. So yeah, we.

00:20:10:16 - 00:20:13:22
Speaker 3
Should do hair and all. But the whole Brill Building scene.

00:20:13:23 - 00:20:16:08
Speaker 1
The Brill Building and what it's called. Brilliant.

00:20:16:11 - 00:20:41:05
Speaker 2
Yeah, sure. We're history podcast. So again, this is the second single from Quiet Fire. Great name for an album from Roberta Flack. Quiet fire. Yeah, telling about all this stuff and I, you know, my research leading up to this, I learned so much that I didn't know. And, and Roberta Flack talked about a lot, her classical background. And she said even when she was choosing classical repertoire, she would often choose things that weren't the flashiest things.

00:20:41:05 - 00:20:52:00
Speaker 2
Yeah, with lots of, like, blistering techniques. She wanted to do, you know, melodic, beautiful, subtle pieces. Yeah, that's what she's drawn to. And and it carries over into her pop career.

00:20:52:01 - 00:20:59:00
Speaker 3
Absolutely. So she had some great musicians on this record. Oh, Joe Farrell, Hubert Laws, West. We can.

00:20:59:02 - 00:20:59:16
Speaker 1
All hear about.

00:20:59:16 - 00:21:00:22
Speaker 2
These in the 70s.

00:21:01:00 - 00:21:02:16
Speaker 3
It was on a bunch of her records around the time.

00:21:02:16 - 00:21:17:21
Speaker 2
Bunch of killers on it. Okay, so now we're going to go backwards because at this point in 1971, after this, in 1972, a movie comes out directed by Clint Eastwood called play Misty for me.

00:21:17:22 - 00:21:18:06
Speaker 1
Yeah.

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Speaker 2
And one of the,

00:21:20:17 - 00:21:52:08
Speaker 2
songs on the soundtrack is from Roberta's first album in 1969, First Take. And It's This, which becomes by far her most massive hit up to this point. Three years later.

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Speaker 4
The first.

00:21:53:05 - 00:22:08:06
Unknown
Time. Ever I saw your face.

00:22:08:07 - 00:22:25:11
Unknown
I thought the sun rose in your, Unveils.

00:22:25:13 - 00:22:28:06
Speaker 4
And the moon.

00:22:28:08 - 00:22:39:22
Unknown
From the start was worth the kiss you gave.

00:22:40:00 - 00:22:40:21
Speaker 2
Ron Carter.

00:22:40:23 - 00:22:59:13
Speaker 1
Yeah. Fifth to the dance. Oh. And the end of this. What a beautiful and patient hit. Queen of restraint. Wow.

00:22:59:15 - 00:23:02:06
Speaker 4
Oh, and the first time.

00:23:02:08 - 00:23:07:06
Speaker 2
A great song by, UK songwriter Ewan McColl.

00:23:07:08 - 00:23:09:03
Speaker 1
Oh.

00:23:09:05 - 00:23:11:21
Speaker 3
And this was in the movie? No Clint Eastwood movie, right?

00:23:11:23 - 00:23:17:09
Speaker 2
Yeah. Actually, I don't know if you in was UK or Ireland, but.

00:23:17:11 - 00:23:17:23
Speaker 3
British Isles.

00:23:18:03 - 00:23:18:23
Speaker 2
Somewhere over there.

00:23:19:03 - 00:23:19:17
Speaker 1
Over there.

00:23:19:18 - 00:23:21:21
Speaker 2
Somewhere in that island region.

00:23:21:23 - 00:23:32:08
Unknown
And my,

00:23:32:10 - 00:23:46:21
Speaker 2
How gorgeous is that? And this wins like all the awards, it's a massive, massive hit. And it's from three years later. Like, she's just on fire from something that's three records ago, three albums ago, you know.

00:23:46:23 - 00:23:51:00
Speaker 3
And then I think that was very unusual. It's pretty. The films could do that.

00:23:51:02 - 00:23:59:22
Speaker 2
Films definitely can do that. And, you know, Clint Eastwood, huge fan of jazz and and play Misty for me. You're telling me this is the name of the movie and things are about to even,

00:23:59:22 - 00:24:05:17
Speaker 2
take off even more for Roberta Flack, because that very same year she releases,

00:24:05:17 - 00:24:14:04
Speaker 2
the Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway album, which we actually have covered here on the podcast, the full thing, and it's worth listening to that whole episode.

00:24:14:06 - 00:24:28:23
Speaker 2
We'll have producer Caleb put a link in the show notes to the original episode, but we can definitely listen to a couple of tracks because it yielded, one of the biggest hits in the 1970s. This is Where Is the Love from 19?

00:24:29:01 - 00:24:41:08
Unknown
Where is love? Where is the love?

00:24:41:10 - 00:24:41:17
Speaker 1
Chuck?

00:24:41:17 - 00:24:43:02
Speaker 2
Raining on electric face here.

00:24:43:04 - 00:24:49:16
Unknown
Oh, where is the love? You said you did.

00:24:49:18 - 00:24:50:20
Speaker 2
An art party on drums.

00:24:50:23 - 00:24:53:00
Speaker 1
You are free within.

00:24:53:02 - 00:24:56:00
Speaker 4
Every.

00:24:56:02 - 00:25:04:18
Unknown
Where is a love. You tell me that you love, love a lot of.

00:25:04:18 - 00:25:10:17
Speaker 2
Crossover between a lot of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway and Steely Dan and lots of other fans noticed that.

00:25:10:18 - 00:25:11:16
Speaker 1
You didn't.

00:25:11:16 - 00:25:19:18
Unknown
Mean it. Why did you have to lie? Oh, where is I.

00:25:19:18 - 00:25:22:18
Speaker 4
Love you said with my.

00:25:22:18 - 00:25:25:01
Speaker 1
Own mind. Oh.

00:25:25:03 - 00:25:29:21
Unknown
I wasn't just a like Saint Louis.

00:25:29:23 - 00:25:38:03
Speaker 1
Donny Hathaway, ladies and gentlemen. And, you know. And you come into our house. You know, I think that Roberta's.

00:25:38:04 - 00:26:06:14
Speaker 3
Like, was straight, Donny. I mean, he really had that kind of restraint element, but a little bit more in there. But for every, like, this way of, you know, this is not a ballad. That kind of musical philosophy to like the space and stuff. And they will so many cool things that happen on these tracks. And every time I hear it, like Chuck Rainey's iconic lines on here and his very restrained playing, but then tiny little places where he's darting these little fields and Purdie just like right in there.

00:26:06:14 - 00:26:13:16
Speaker 3
But then these little details, that kind of restraint and space and architecture enables for all these little special, classic moments.

00:26:13:16 - 00:26:32:12
Speaker 2
I'm so glad you mentioned Chuck Rainey. He's all over, you know, a lot of these Roberta Flack, Ron Carter, Chuck Rainey taking the bass seat. But there's a lot of Bernard Purdie on this stuff too. I think Chuck Rainey, Bernard Purdie, they set an archetype for a rhythm section in the 1970s that has been, frankly, replicated. Yeah. At nauseum.

00:26:32:12 - 00:26:50:05
Speaker 2
Yeah. By other folks, and for good reason, because they're just incredible together. Great chemistry together. So there's one other, hit here from, another Carole King song, You've Got a Friend, but I want to highlight one of my favorite all time tracks.

00:26:50:07 - 00:26:54:09
Speaker 3
Do you like a heavy pan on your Fender Rhodes? I do.

00:26:54:11 - 00:26:54:15
Speaker 2
Oh.

00:26:58:09 - 00:27:01:09
Speaker 1
just bring some more power.

00:27:01:11 - 00:27:07:01
Speaker 2
Just the greatest sets. You've got a friend Carole King's. You've got a friend from Roberta, and you can talk to her like.

00:27:07:01 - 00:27:25:08
Speaker 3
Donny Hathaway's version without Roberta on the live Donny Live, I guess Bitter End or wherever that where he's doing the same. You've got to like he sings differently. It's great too. And like, he's pushing in a way and there's more athleticism. It's busier. I mean, it's certainly great, just different. But like that's a really good contrast to hear that version with this.

00:27:26:01 - 00:27:34:03
Speaker 2
So from there Roberta releases another solo album, 1973 Killing Me Softly and the hit song from this.

00:27:34:03 - 00:27:36:19
Speaker 1
This is the Fuji's right. We'll get to that.

00:27:36:21 - 00:27:47:22
Speaker 2
This is killing me softly with this song. So this is a band. I went on a little bit of a deep dive on the history. Controversial songs are written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel officially, but,

00:27:48:00 - 00:27:49:06
Speaker 3
The inventor of the gimbal.

00:27:49:11 - 00:28:13:16
Speaker 2
Nope. But, a young lady named Laurie Lieberman claims to have been not just the inspiration, but they they actually took the story from her diaries, from her real life. And they were arguing about this song until, I believe Norman or Charles, one of them passed in, like 2018, like they are. And I believe we just lost Laurie a couple of years ago.

00:28:13:18 - 00:28:15:11
Speaker 3
Some publishing royalties, meaning I.

00:28:15:12 - 00:28:29:22
Speaker 2
Well, she never got credit, but the story goes, is that they were. Laurie is an artist, and she was the first person to release Killing Me Softly with this song. Oh yeah. And they went to a club in LA and they saw singer songwriter Don McLean of American Pie fame, you know, by.

00:28:30:00 - 00:28:33:02
Speaker 1
American Pie and Heavy on the levee.

00:28:33:04 - 00:28:39:08
Speaker 2
And Lori claims she wrote in her diary some inspiration for what would become Killing Me Softly with this song. And then these two, they were.

00:28:39:08 - 00:28:41:03
Speaker 3
Killing her softly with a lack of royalties.

00:28:41:03 - 00:28:47:15
Speaker 2
But at but there is controversy about it now. Laurie's version never really went anywhere. Her original version?

00:28:47:15 - 00:28:51:11
Speaker 2
However, Roberta Flack heard this song and turned it into.

00:28:51:12 - 00:28:52:11
Speaker 4
Drumming.

00:28:52:13 - 00:28:53:09
Speaker 2
Something magical.

00:28:53:11 - 00:29:25:19
Speaker 4
Fingers singing my life with these words. Killing me softly with this song. Killing me softly with this song. Telling my whole life with his words. Killing me softly with this song.

00:29:25:21 - 00:29:39:04
Speaker 2
Eric Gayle on guitar. Ron Carter on the bass. Grady Tate on the drums.

00:29:39:06 - 00:29:47:05
Speaker 4
I heard he sings the song. I heard he had a slight.

00:29:47:07 - 00:29:49:16
Speaker 1
And so I try to sound.

00:29:49:20 - 00:29:55:00
Unknown
Him to listen for a while.

00:29:55:02 - 00:29:59:05
Speaker 4
And there he was. This young boy.

00:29:59:07 - 00:30:02:14
Speaker 2
A strange. It's the greatest bass drum sounds.

00:30:02:16 - 00:30:03:16
Speaker 1
In 1970.

00:30:03:16 - 00:30:06:00
Speaker 2
Three. Bass drum sound is a peak bass drum set piece.

00:30:06:00 - 00:30:12:15
Speaker 1
That's the kick singing kicks, right? Like you feel like you kick this off me with this.

00:30:12:15 - 00:30:15:17
Speaker 4
Song killing me softly.

00:30:15:22 - 00:30:33:08
Unknown
With this song. Telling my whole life with his words. Can it be something with this song? Gorgeous. I feel so blessed.

00:30:33:10 - 00:30:34:11
Speaker 1
This is where my.

00:30:34:11 - 00:30:41:18
Speaker 2
Awareness of Roberta Flack comes into play. So I'm in high school in 1996, in the Fugees, the score comes out. Really. I was like, no, definitely.

00:30:41:18 - 00:30:42:13
Speaker 3
Not take a while to.

00:30:42:13 - 00:30:45:02
Speaker 2
Graduate. I was born in 1927. Now,

00:30:45:02 - 00:30:45:23
Speaker 2
I'm in high school and like.

00:30:46:01 - 00:30:48:05
Speaker 3
Jelly Roll back in the 80s.

00:30:48:07 - 00:30:50:07
Speaker 1
The 1880s.

00:30:50:09 - 00:30:53:08
Speaker 2
High school, the score comes out. The Fugees and.

00:30:53:08 - 00:30:54:06
Speaker 3
It was a big record.

00:30:54:07 - 00:30:58:05
Speaker 2
It was a huge record in my head. Like my first real like long term girlfriend.

00:30:58:05 - 00:31:01:11
Speaker 3
You were that in high school in the 90s, buddy.

00:31:01:13 - 00:31:02:15
Speaker 2
Late 90s, even.

00:31:02:15 - 00:31:04:09
Speaker 1
Really high school. I'm old.

00:31:04:09 - 00:31:09:14
Speaker 3
Wait a second. No, no, you'd be young then. 90s. I was in high school in the 80s, my friend.

00:31:09:14 - 00:31:12:20
Speaker 2
Yeah, I graduated 97 high school. Yes, sir.

00:31:12:22 - 00:31:14:06
Speaker 1
Really? Yeah. Okay.

00:31:14:08 - 00:31:15:13
Speaker 3
Wait. What do you mean by graduated?

00:31:15:13 - 00:31:20:06
Speaker 2
I know that's controversial as well. No, too. I had a I had my first, like, long term girlfriend,

00:31:20:06 - 00:31:27:13
Speaker 2
high school sweetheart. And she would play the Fugees. She would play this over and over again because, you know, she her boyfriend, which was me, was like a musician.

00:31:27:13 - 00:31:28:19
Speaker 3
Just Heather or somebody else. No.

00:31:28:22 - 00:31:29:04
Speaker 2
Okay.

00:31:29:09 - 00:31:29:17
Speaker 1
This is.

00:31:29:17 - 00:31:32:05
Speaker 2
Way later. So this is the food version?

00:31:32:05 - 00:31:32:18
Speaker 1
Oh, yeah.

00:31:32:23 - 00:31:35:14
Speaker 2
That really took this song. And this is a monster.

00:31:35:14 - 00:31:38:14
Speaker 1
This was a huge hit multi months.

00:31:38:16 - 00:31:47:07
Speaker 2
But I remember asked like my dad saying, you know they didn't write this I know. Yeah okay. And playing me the Roberta Flack version.

00:31:47:09 - 00:31:54:22
Speaker 1
With his song telling my whole life I love this version man. When the people to.

00:31:55:00 - 00:31:56:12
Speaker 2
The intro slower.

00:31:56:14 - 00:32:08:12
Speaker 1
But even when they go it is probably a little bit with his. Oh is that my. Well, yeah. Sorry. My, Yeah. Yeah.

00:32:08:12 - 00:32:09:06
Speaker 2
Refugiados.

00:32:09:06 - 00:32:10:09
Speaker 1
That's right.

00:32:10:11 - 00:32:11:18
Speaker 4
Help me.

00:32:11:20 - 00:32:18:12
Speaker 1
Rise. Well, I mean, that's not gravy taste. That is not good. It well could be sample. Could be that.

00:32:18:14 - 00:32:20:09
Speaker 2
It's not, though. No it is, it's.

00:32:20:09 - 00:32:21:14
Speaker 3
A nice.

00:32:21:16 - 00:32:22:16
Speaker 1
Version.

00:32:22:18 - 00:32:27:22
Speaker 2
Hey, yo, I like what they did here though. Yeah, they took the music out of the verse.

00:32:28:00 - 00:32:29:00
Speaker 1
I heard.

00:32:29:00 - 00:32:29:21
Speaker 4
He say.

00:32:30:01 - 00:32:31:03
Speaker 2
Yeah, you know what I mean.

00:32:31:03 - 00:32:35:10
Speaker 1
I forgot it's a good call to Lauryn Hill.

00:32:35:12 - 00:32:39:16
Speaker 3
And she's really like an influence and paying homage to Roberta the way she sings this.

00:32:39:16 - 00:33:03:19
Speaker 2
Yeah. And actually, there's video from Roberta's funeral last month and it's Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill sing this at her funeral. And it's really special moment. Very, very cool. So that was Killing Me softly, 1973. We are going to there's another important album that I definitely want to talk to you, but we're going to save that one for our, I think, for our desert island.

00:33:03:19 - 00:33:08:04
Speaker 2
So we're going to skip ahead a little bit to 1977 Zulu lights in the basement.

00:33:08:04 - 00:33:08:20
Speaker 3
I remember 70.

00:33:08:20 - 00:33:18:15
Speaker 2
Seven. And this is a bit of a reunion with Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. This is The Closer I Get to You. Oh, this is by James to me and Reggie Lucas.

00:33:18:17 - 00:33:24:06
Speaker 1
And know.

00:33:24:08 - 00:33:27:14
Speaker 1
So good. Oh, the fates are screaming.

00:33:27:16 - 00:33:31:17
Speaker 3
This is like forward looking to early 80s like great pop ballads.

00:33:31:18 - 00:33:32:19
Speaker 2
We're getting there. Yeah we're.

00:33:32:19 - 00:33:36:04
Speaker 1
Getting there. Yeah. This is on the cutting edge.

00:33:36:06 - 00:33:37:22
Speaker 2
This is quiet storm. Yeah.

00:33:38:00 - 00:33:49:14
Speaker 1
It oh, oh. Long ass intro. Can't do that anymore.

00:33:49:16 - 00:34:16:17
Unknown
Oh, The closer I get to you, the more you make me see. My. Give me all you got.

00:34:16:19 - 00:34:17:22
Speaker 4
Your love.

00:34:17:22 - 00:34:28:10
Unknown
Has got. Let me under. Ooh. Over and over again.

00:34:28:12 - 00:34:33:15
Speaker 1
I try to tell myself that we could never.

00:34:33:15 - 00:34:39:00
Unknown
Be more than friends. And all the while inside I.

00:34:39:02 - 00:34:47:17
Speaker 1
I wasn't in high school in 1977, but I feel like I got to dance. Slow dance? Oh, yeah. To this. Are the pixies. Like, when this comes on.

00:34:47:19 - 00:34:53:22
Speaker 2
All the boys hide in the corner. Like we got to dance together. Closer I get to you. So so good.

00:34:54:02 - 00:34:57:14
Speaker 3
So sadly I was in first grade.

00:34:57:16 - 00:35:15:21
Speaker 2
Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway make another album in 1979. Donny passed away, later that year. Tragically, and the last track on when they hit here is another duet where Roberta found actually enormous success in 1983 with a duet with people.

00:35:15:23 - 00:35:17:13
Speaker 3
And I was just thinking about that.

00:35:17:15 - 00:35:19:18
Speaker 2
Speaking of like, 80s ballads, I.

00:35:19:18 - 00:35:26:08
Speaker 3
Mean, this might be I was going to some dance. You probably dance. And there's the dude standing over at the side.

00:35:26:10 - 00:35:28:00
Speaker 2
And when this comes on, deejay puts.

00:35:28:00 - 00:35:35:05
Speaker 1
On, I'm like, tonight I celebrate my love. You like, hum. Who's Jennifer?

00:35:35:07 - 00:35:49:10
Unknown
Oh, my friend, my love for you. It's seems the natural thing to do.

00:35:49:15 - 00:36:05:01
Speaker 1
To, you know, no one's gonna find us. We'll leave the world behind us. I just want to sing like that. When I make love to you. I could do that.

00:36:05:03 - 00:36:06:19
Speaker 2
I said this with Johnny Hartman.

00:36:06:21 - 00:36:08:14
Speaker 1
I give all the money my back. You know, I.

00:36:08:14 - 00:36:19:00
Unknown
Sang about my love for. And hope that deep inside of.

00:36:19:00 - 00:36:21:11
Speaker 1
Me, the greatest bass, drums.

00:36:21:11 - 00:36:24:13
Speaker 3
Peak bass drum. This is not.

00:36:24:15 - 00:36:33:02
Speaker 1
Early me a starter. It's just not for me. It's what we game do. Let's do it again so we can have everything.

00:36:33:04 - 00:36:34:05
Speaker 3
And I just wrote down my first.

00:36:34:10 - 00:36:42:01
Unknown
When I'm with you. Tonight, the murderers.

00:36:42:03 - 00:36:42:18
Speaker 2
Is another Gerry.

00:36:42:18 - 00:36:45:08
Speaker 1
Goffin tune with Michael Messer.

00:36:45:10 - 00:37:00:04
Unknown
Michael Messer tonight. So I still celebrate my love. Still to come and then be gone in some way that I couldn't face down the gumption.

00:37:00:10 - 00:37:03:09
Speaker 1
You fighting for court.

00:37:03:11 - 00:37:08:20
Unknown
To my voice. And there'll be no distance between us.

00:37:08:22 - 00:37:12:23
Speaker 1
Yeah, you got to get them. What? I'm going to voice sing.

00:37:13:00 - 00:37:13:10
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:37:13:12 - 00:37:32:00
Speaker 3
Yeah, I think this was too, like, Roberta was such a great duo. Vocalists. Like, that's what a big part of her heritage of her, her lineage. I mean, not her lineage. Just, you know what she did. It was such a. It's so cool. I mean, like, we talked about her piano playing, her beautiful singing, the restrained. Yeah.

00:37:32:02 - 00:37:48:08
Speaker 3
You know, the accuracy and the musicality. They probably came out of her piano playing kind of be the leading force of her music and then the vocals coming later. But her ability to play, to composite vocals with others in the same way she could come up with herself in terms of playing, you know, this period. I love this Roberta Pier.

00:37:48:09 - 00:38:05:04
Speaker 3
This is when I first got hip to her, just hearing on the radio stuff and it dances, whatever. But it did like this. As I started to learn her earlier stuff later and got into the Donny and Roberta record deep, which was probably at least ten years later. This period, I did miss her piano playing. That was the main thing.

00:38:05:05 - 00:38:21:03
Speaker 3
I know, you know, like a lot of, like, Nat King. I mean, all these great vocalist pianist. And Roberta really deserves to be in that group of top ten, top 20 pianist vocalists. Yeah, of all time. I'd say top ten. But invariably they fall off with the piano playing because they become stars and you.

00:38:21:03 - 00:38:36:21
Speaker 2
Know it well. And what what you lose a little bit, I think in the 80s and beyond is some of the earthiness that I think she was so great at living in. You know, I actually kind of hint at it here when we get to some of our categories. But like, her sound in the 70s is so grounded.

00:38:36:21 - 00:38:54:22
Speaker 2
Yeah, it actually reminds me of like my mom and my aunts in the 70s wearing like, earth, like women, like wearing earth tones and just a lot of, like, grounded earthiness like that. I don't know, she feels like in the 70s, it's like you. Have you been here before? Like, how are you this young and like, you feel like just.

00:38:54:22 - 00:39:05:04
Speaker 3
Grounding authenticity lights. You know, it is. Yeah. But a, an organic, I mean, not USDA organic, but, you know, I understand what you know, that authenticity.

00:39:05:04 - 00:39:06:09
Speaker 2
Totally. And, like.

00:39:06:11 - 00:39:07:21
Speaker 3
And a little Mary MacColl thrown in.

00:39:07:22 - 00:39:09:01
Speaker 1
Yeah. And, you know, in the.

00:39:09:01 - 00:39:14:00
Speaker 2
Digital age, you I think you lose that a little bit. Like we mentioned the kick drum in 1973. Like there's something about.

00:39:14:00 - 00:39:15:00
Speaker 3
It that, oh my gosh, when.

00:39:15:02 - 00:39:22:17
Speaker 2
You hear it, it feels like there's a puff of smoke. Yeah, that comes out. And it could have been a puff of marijuana smoke in the studio back in 1972. That's coming out. You know what I mean?

00:39:22:18 - 00:39:25:11
Speaker 1
Like muggles, you.

00:39:25:13 - 00:39:28:16
Speaker 3
That was the Louis Armstrong. Thank you. Reference to marijuana. We were.

00:39:28:16 - 00:39:35:16
Speaker 2
All wondering. But, yeah, I agree with you. And and we'll talk about maybe more of that in a little bit. So let's get into the categories though. Peter. What?

00:39:35:18 - 00:39:49:15
Speaker 3
Well, it's just like the keyboard. Like, that was very much what you're talking about. That 70s earthy. Yeah. Salt of the earth. Maybe. Maybe I'm mixing my references now. Possibly. But but the earth tones thing, the piano very much lends itself the way she played the piano.

00:39:49:15 - 00:39:50:02
Speaker 2
100.

00:39:50:02 - 00:40:01:16
Speaker 3
Percent. But then this is kind of, like, as beautiful as it is nostalgic is. This is what that DX7 sound is great, but it's kind of the opposite. It's like it's not earthy. It's supposed to be terrestrial or something. Yeah. Extraterrestrial.

00:40:01:16 - 00:40:09:01
Speaker 2
Yeah. We're getting into like, plastic clothing and you know what I mean? We're well into the 80s where we're going in a different direction.

00:40:09:01 - 00:40:09:14
Speaker 3
Neon.

00:40:09:19 - 00:40:27:11
Speaker 2
Neon. Exactly. No. It's true, it feels like spacey and, you know. Yeah. Go to the mall now. We are kind of going to the mall. So Desert Island tracks. So here's what I got me. Okay, so this is the album that we skipped over 1975. I feel like making love. It was the song we played here in the intro, and this is the track.

00:40:27:11 - 00:40:34:21
Speaker 2
I go to a desert island with from Roberta Flack. I friggin love this song. This was written by Eugene McDaniels.

00:40:34:21 - 00:40:38:08
Speaker 2
so here's Roberta's version.

00:40:38:10 - 00:40:40:01
Unknown
Strolling it. Oh,

00:40:45:04 - 00:41:03:00
Speaker 2
By the way, this song also has an incredibly great cover from this, from another classic all time classic album. Yeah, this is an all timer. You know, these two together are like a 40 year handshake. 35 magic D'Angelo from voodoo.

00:41:03:03 - 00:41:05:15
Speaker 1
We forget to do this, right. We're going to do for.

00:41:05:17 - 00:41:11:18
Speaker 2
Lose on the horizon.

00:41:11:20 - 00:41:14:17
Unknown
To the new one.

00:41:14:19 - 00:41:16:10
Speaker 1
Check to.

00:41:16:12 - 00:41:22:18
Unknown
Play.

00:41:22:20 - 00:41:24:06
Unknown
You do?

00:41:24:08 - 00:41:49:02
Speaker 1
That's a good bass. Drums. Talk about Hi-Fi, Questlove or somebody. Who? Busted. Or harder? Roy Hargrove. Let me think. To stay detail oriented, we could do a whole series on detail.

00:41:49:02 - 00:41:53:09
Speaker 3
Oriented studio recordings. Spitzley. We got an EEG voodoo.

00:41:53:09 - 00:42:09:00
Speaker 2
He's got to be on the list for some deep research. You know, one thing I want to note here that, of course, you know Roberta Flack, not known for writing songs she didn't write Killing Me Softly that the Fugees covered. She didn't write feel like making love that D'Angelo covered. There is no question that they're covering her version of it.

00:42:09:00 - 00:42:14:03
Speaker 2
Like those covers, D'Angelo's feel like making love doesn't happen without Roberta's by and Saints.

00:42:14:03 - 00:42:15:05
Speaker 3
Sing song for sure.

00:42:15:06 - 00:42:23:06
Speaker 2
Like it's not even just the composition, it's she created a vibe. Yeah, that other artists want to include in there.

00:42:23:06 - 00:42:33:09
Speaker 3
Even on some of the other songs that were covered really well by a bunch of people. Huge hits like the Carole King. Yeah, tunes and stuff like that. She still like, she, she staked her claim. You know.

00:42:33:10 - 00:42:35:06
Speaker 2
Peter, your desert island track.

00:42:35:08 - 00:42:44:13
Speaker 3
My desert island track. Well, let me find that again. Did we establish that? Oh. Trying times. Okay, so let's play it and then I'll. I'll play.

00:42:44:15 - 00:42:45:19
Speaker 2
Should we play this on the way out too?

00:42:45:19 - 00:42:52:09
Speaker 1
Probably with the band. Yeah.

00:42:52:11 - 00:42:53:13
Speaker 2
Ron Carter on the bass.

00:42:53:13 - 00:42:58:13
Speaker 1
Yes.

00:42:58:15 - 00:43:01:00
Speaker 3
I think Roberta's piano playing on here. It's just.

00:43:01:06 - 00:43:05:15
Speaker 1
It's. What's the chef's kiss? This is just. And the subtlety.

00:43:05:16 - 00:43:08:06
Speaker 2
This is from first tape from 1969. The first way.

00:43:08:06 - 00:43:11:02
Speaker 1
She moves through each of these.

00:43:11:04 - 00:43:14:15
Speaker 3
Oh, the resolution to force to the three. Like, I don't know where this is.

00:43:14:15 - 00:43:17:10
Speaker 1
So her touch.

00:43:17:10 - 00:43:24:09
Speaker 2
This was written by Donny Hathaway. The song you know that. Yeah. And Leroy Hudson.

00:43:24:10 - 00:43:29:10
Speaker 3
This is Ray Lucas, right? This man, the brushwork. And then when he comes in with the snare.

00:43:29:12 - 00:43:29:19
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:43:29:19 - 00:43:32:18
Speaker 3
Ray loses what she just did. Yeah, that kind of thing.

00:43:32:18 - 00:43:37:04
Speaker 2
Ray Lucas on the drums.

00:43:37:06 - 00:43:41:18
Speaker 2
The drums here.

00:43:41:20 - 00:43:45:10
Speaker 1
Trying to go across it. Oh, the.

00:43:45:10 - 00:43:52:03
Speaker 4
World is talking about. You got confusion for voicings.

00:43:52:05 - 00:43:56:10
Speaker 1
So what? Voice? It's all over the thing.

00:43:56:11 - 00:43:59:10
Speaker 3
She plays a major there, but sings the minor third,

00:43:59:11 - 00:44:03:17
Speaker 1
Mother against daughter going.

00:44:03:19 - 00:44:06:15
Speaker 4
For no, against son.

00:44:06:17 - 00:44:10:11
Unknown
The whole thing.

00:44:10:13 - 00:44:12:05
Speaker 4
Is getting out of.

00:44:12:05 - 00:44:14:15
Speaker 3
Hand. Yeah. I love this track.

00:44:14:17 - 00:44:15:11
Speaker 2
It's amazing.

00:44:15:13 - 00:44:18:01
Speaker 3
It was like her choices on when to resolve.

00:44:18:03 - 00:44:19:13
Speaker 1
Maybe not too.

00:44:19:15 - 00:44:22:07
Speaker 3
Well has such an emotional pull. Was more like.

00:44:22:10 - 00:44:33:04
Speaker 2
So the whole thesis for this episode has been a queen of restraint. And I think this you nailed this, that this really, really it highlights that characteristic.

00:44:33:05 - 00:44:39:01
Speaker 4
Got the riots and the ghetto.

00:44:39:03 - 00:44:43:14
Speaker 1
Over to the right. So.

00:44:43:16 - 00:44:45:23
Speaker 4
A whole lot of things that's wrong.

00:44:46:02 - 00:44:47:22
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:44:48:00 - 00:44:50:09
Speaker 4
Is going down.

00:44:50:11 - 00:45:03:08
Speaker 1
I think this is jazz, Sumi. I'm telling you, man, I'm climbing up that hill and I'm going to die on that. Dude, you're not wrong. You know what? You are? You can actually said this, right?

00:45:03:10 - 00:45:04:09
Speaker 2
I think the term black.

00:45:04:09 - 00:45:06:00
Speaker 1
American music is.

00:45:06:00 - 00:45:07:12
Speaker 2
About this stuff. Quest of.

00:45:07:14 - 00:45:09:07
Speaker 1
The exhibit a black.

00:45:09:09 - 00:45:13:07
Speaker 2
Music, a philosophies or beyond. Some kind of like marketing.

00:45:13:07 - 00:45:17:15
Speaker 1
Guys genre from the 70s, you know what I'm saying?

00:45:17:16 - 00:45:23:07
Speaker 4
But these I try I not yeah.

00:45:23:09 - 00:45:31:12
Speaker 3
Incredible because he's a great player of of wonderful, you know, politically active lyrics and songs being presented in a way.

00:45:31:12 - 00:45:32:11
Speaker 2
1969.

00:45:32:16 - 00:45:34:09
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:45:34:11 - 00:45:36:22
Speaker 1
Well, going to London for our party.

00:45:36:23 - 00:45:38:20
Speaker 2
Apologies to our UK listeners.

00:45:38:22 - 00:45:39:19
Speaker 1
Shout out UK.

00:45:39:19 - 00:45:40:00
Speaker 3
Our.

00:45:40:00 - 00:45:42:16
Speaker 1
Former listeners across the pond.

00:45:42:18 - 00:45:47:07
Speaker 2
Apologies. Played Austin. That was from I think it's

00:45:47:09 - 00:45:56:13
Speaker 3
You know all that that all that playing at the beginning. So full disclosure, I do have this as my number one track of my ten greatest jazz. Oh, we know all time.

00:45:56:14 - 00:45:58:08
Speaker 2
Most popular open studio video of all time.

00:45:58:09 - 00:46:05:11
Speaker 3
Very well. I mean, I haven't checked lately, but it was worth a million views. We'll link to that. But no, I that was.

00:46:05:16 - 00:46:09:04
Speaker 2
By the way, he projects that stat on his house at night so that when you drive my.

00:46:09:04 - 00:46:11:18
Speaker 1
Hand, it's always like, oh,

00:46:11:20 - 00:46:19:21
Speaker 3
The thing about it, what's interesting, like I have a bunch of controversial. It's a contrary list. Sue me. Literally people are. I'm currently in litigation on that.

00:46:19:23 - 00:46:25:04
Speaker 1
That YouTube video, the boss here, we're bringing back the boss. The boss and the bosses.

00:46:25:04 - 00:46:26:08
Speaker 2
Are hard at work for.

00:46:26:08 - 00:46:43:07
Speaker 3
Us. But this track, like I got nothing but like. So yeah, people were like, oh my God, I've never heard that. Thank. Yeah. You know. So I love that. I love these like so is a jazz is a black American music is an R&B. It's Roberta, it's Roberta Flack. That's, that's, that's that's my desert island track that could be on one.

00:46:43:10 - 00:46:57:13
Speaker 3
Like, that's my top 5 or 10. I'd be fine. Like to mix it up with that being my only track on the desert island. Okay, I gotta tell you something. You know, as I get older, the whole. Oh, if you get stuck on a desert island, it's not a stock for me. It's more of like, is that a retirement plan?

00:46:57:13 - 00:47:00:01
Speaker 3
Because I get a few records and take them to a desert.

00:47:00:01 - 00:47:02:12
Speaker 1
I'm down with this. A possibility you.

00:47:02:12 - 00:47:04:02
Speaker 3
Don't know and don't come save me anybody.

00:47:04:02 - 00:47:06:10
Speaker 2
So you're saying there's a record player on this desert island?

00:47:06:10 - 00:47:07:23
Speaker 1
Is that true? And that's all.

00:47:07:23 - 00:47:08:22
Speaker 3
I need electricity for.

00:47:08:22 - 00:47:10:03
Speaker 1
It's all good. But.

00:47:10:04 - 00:47:32:05
Speaker 2
Gilligan's Island style. Okay, so bespoke playlist style. If this title, if this was a bespoke playlist on, Spotify or Apple Music, I've got a couple good ones, and I got to redeem myself. So I do have Earth Song, because again, like, especially the 70s, early 70s, Roberta Flack, there's a there's an earthiness to the soul of the music.

00:47:32:05 - 00:47:54:00
Speaker 2
To me that feels just very grounded, very like I've been here before, you know what I mean? Just very, very authentic and connected to, to the, I don't know, to to the earth itself, to the ground itself. Like, it feels like something that's always been here, one of those musical moments, you know, it's so important. I also have roads.

00:47:54:00 - 00:47:55:01
Speaker 1
Pop.

00:47:55:03 - 00:47:58:08
Speaker 3
Roads, pop roads, pop like a Rhodes Scholar. But. But do pop music.

00:47:58:08 - 00:48:00:18
Speaker 2
But like, roads. Pop like literally the Fender Rhodes. Right?

00:48:00:18 - 00:48:19:11
Speaker 3
Right, right. That's good. I, I had I'm a little late on this one. Full disclosure. Yeah. No greatest duo's ever good, but that wasn't good. Not great. But now I'm thinking two ladies that slay, singing and play. Sing and play. Oh, right. Oh, I can make this right. Ladies that slay. Come on, sing and play.

00:48:19:11 - 00:48:21:01
Speaker 3
Perfect. Because I'm thinking like who ladies get.

00:48:21:01 - 00:48:22:03
Speaker 2
Slay, sing and play.

00:48:22:04 - 00:48:24:08
Speaker 1
Yeah, I relate to it.

00:48:24:10 - 00:48:26:15
Speaker 3
No, because I'm thinking, like Shirley Horn. So this is.

00:48:26:15 - 00:48:30:03
Speaker 2
The playlist in 2005. Is that right? It seems like a 2005 title.

00:48:30:04 - 00:48:49:17
Speaker 3
Right. As I'm sitting at home watching entourage with my father laughing, and how topical all these jokes are and how evenhanded they are between the genders. Yeah. No, no, I'm just thinking. No, these are like, they really just could. It's not just actually the ladies are the ones I'm thinking that would be at the top of this list.

00:48:49:17 - 00:49:05:12
Speaker 3
I'm thinking Shirley Horn. What I'm talking about is, like, equal or at least near equal mastery as vocalist and pianist. Got it right. Got it. Nina Simone, obviously. Obviously. Roberta Flack, obviously. Nina Simone, Nat King Cole,

00:49:05:14 - 00:49:06:13
Speaker 2
Even Aretha, and they're.

00:49:06:17 - 00:49:16:18
Speaker 3
Great. I say, yeah, Aretha, probably a little, yeah. No, totally. Aretha. Yeah. So that's kind of a fun playlist because that's like, that's stuff I like to nerd out about. Cool.

00:49:16:23 - 00:49:17:22
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:49:18:00 - 00:49:32:21
Speaker 2
On an up next, what do you think is like the preferred Up Next album if this was streaming? I have a couple. I have Marvin Gaye's What's Going On I think would would stream really well next to this. And I also have for a little bit, a little bit more contemporary. Who is Jill Scott?

00:49:32:23 - 00:49:34:05
Speaker 3
Oh, nice. Yeah, I like that.

00:49:34:05 - 00:49:37:06
Speaker 2
I think that would I think there's a sensibility that's similar.

00:49:37:08 - 00:49:55:23
Speaker 3
Yeah. I would say, Donny Hathaway, extensions of a man. Yeah. You know, just because of the connection with that and that that record being such a seminal thing, even though it doesn't have Roberta. So maybe it's not his, you know, his apex male, but solo records, I would say apex. I'd say El DeBarge. I'm thinking about, oh, it really just DeBarge in general.

00:49:55:23 - 00:49:57:04
Speaker 3
Like early 80s song.

00:49:57:07 - 00:50:01:01
Speaker 2
You know, son of a gun. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. I'm so mad. I didn't think of that.

00:50:01:01 - 00:50:02:16
Speaker 1
That's good. Oh, yeah.

00:50:02:17 - 00:50:05:04
Speaker 2
Okay. Quibble bits where you got.

00:50:05:06 - 00:50:23:12
Speaker 3
Well, I mean, the only thing directly related with, with Roberta Flack or just a kind of what we've heard, and this is actually more of a quiet storm genre thing, which I actually think is a great a lot of people kind of like Quiet Storm now, like disco or something, like. Yeah, yeah, I thought I thought it was a wonderful thing.

00:50:23:12 - 00:50:29:11
Speaker 3
I mean, talk about connecting people with emotion and like, listen to, I mean, you know, baby making music, as we used to call it, whatever.

00:50:29:11 - 00:50:30:00
Speaker 2
Come on them.

00:50:30:00 - 00:50:46:14
Speaker 3
But I would say that the, the reverb of that early 80s sound and then what kind of became with a lot of the quiet storm stuff, the river. And we heard it from like the 70s record, where it was a more direct, like when you have a vocalist like Roberta and Donny, you know, he kind of missed that because he wasn't with us anymore.

00:50:46:19 - 00:51:03:07
Speaker 3
But when you get like in the 80s, like the vocal reverb just went bonkers, you know? Yeah. If her and with Peabo and her like and I heard them live I know it's like and same with Luther Vandross. Like great sound, but I don't know. To me, at the time I thought it was normal. Now I hear it and I'm like, we have a very.

00:51:03:07 - 00:51:24:03
Speaker 2
We have a very smart and like, experienced listener base. Yeah, I'm sure we'd have. I know, in fact, I know for a fact we have some heavy hitter engineers in our listenership. Yeah. If you're an engineer, what happened in the 80s, why do the vocals sound a bit cheaper, a bit thinner? The reverb is not as impactful as like in the early mid 70s when everything had this incredible depth to it.

00:51:24:05 - 00:51:26:22
Speaker 2
And that was technically what was going on there. Well, some.

00:51:26:22 - 00:51:28:22
Speaker 3
Of it is just digital voice when digital recording.

00:51:28:23 - 00:51:36:13
Speaker 2
I understand, but I'm sure there's some like nuance that it would be fun to hear. Yeah. So put in the comments of the YouTube video, go to YouTube and any engineers let us know what was going on.

00:51:36:13 - 00:51:41:04
Speaker 3
But I would say some of this, some people are going to be like, no, that was just that's that was part of that's not.

00:51:41:06 - 00:51:41:23
Speaker 2
Part of the sound.

00:51:41:23 - 00:51:52:00
Speaker 3
It's more of a person like at the time I loved it. I thought it was not because I'm hearing on the radio, but now when I hear it, I'm like, I prefer her sound, but it's not like it's so much that it ruins the experience, but it's just different.

00:51:52:00 - 00:51:54:13
Speaker 2
It's just very different. Anemometer. What do you got on this one?

00:51:54:18 - 00:51:57:07
Speaker 3
Well, you do yours first because mine is a direct reaction to yours.

00:51:57:07 - 00:51:58:04
Speaker 2
I'm going to do a three.

00:51:58:07 - 00:52:01:15
Speaker 3
I'm going to go 3.1. Yeah I said.

00:52:01:17 - 00:52:02:01
Speaker 1
That is.

00:52:02:01 - 00:52:05:14
Speaker 2
The cheapest price is right. There is what it is. The cheapest.

00:52:05:16 - 00:52:07:16
Speaker 1
Price is right above I will ship.

00:52:07:19 - 00:52:09:02
Speaker 2
Prices right now is that you could.

00:52:09:05 - 00:52:19:10
Speaker 3
Have no reference point. This could be one that could be ten, this, not this on this kind of stuff. And basically everything at this point does not matter. Let's let's be honest. This number is broken. Sir.

00:52:19:10 - 00:52:21:16
Speaker 2
Buddy, it's. You would say that ever. Well, you.

00:52:21:16 - 00:52:27:04
Speaker 3
And my father, Bill Martin, that you invented the Snapple meter. He renamed it the anemometer.

00:52:27:05 - 00:52:28:21
Speaker 2
Shout out to Bill Martin. Great call on that.

00:52:28:21 - 00:52:31:17
Speaker 3
Well, but but bad call on the on this thing because.

00:52:31:19 - 00:52:35:14
Speaker 2
It's a simple question. Peter ten is it's a stormy album. One is it's.

00:52:35:14 - 00:52:39:16
Speaker 3
Not. No. You've told me ten means Ethan Iverson.

00:52:39:18 - 00:52:50:04
Speaker 2
As much as we love Ethan Iverson and my Aunt Linda, we are banding that scale because it was kind of snobby to who. That's a great question. I don't know. Okay. We'll have to because we're snobs.

00:52:50:09 - 00:52:53:04
Speaker 3
Let's be honest. Now, this whole speak for yourself cast.

00:52:53:06 - 00:52:54:00
Speaker 1
Is is many.

00:52:54:00 - 00:53:01:14
Speaker 3
People. Look, you're you're looking in front of an iPad preloaded with, you know, Roberta Flack and four pages of copious notes. You're not a snob.

00:53:01:16 - 00:53:04:21
Speaker 2
Sorry. My tank is broken here. I gotta go ahead.

00:53:04:23 - 00:53:05:11
Speaker 1
You're right.

00:53:05:11 - 00:53:09:01
Speaker 2
Okay. Is it better than Kobe? Is it better than kind of blue?

00:53:09:03 - 00:53:16:08
Speaker 3
Well, it's not a I put not on this. This is not a we're talking about, an artist, you know, life's work.

00:53:16:08 - 00:53:18:02
Speaker 2
The answer, you know, answer is no.

00:53:18:04 - 00:53:19:16
Speaker 1
No is not an.

00:53:19:16 - 00:53:24:22
Speaker 3
Album for, I mean, like, Dottie that I don't remember what I said on Donny Roberta on that particular. Right. I think.

00:53:24:22 - 00:53:25:18
Speaker 2
You might have said even.

00:53:25:18 - 00:53:31:10
Speaker 3
I might. Yeah. I mean, to me, that's like that's certainly a toss up. In some ways a cultural sign is sour on kind of blue.

00:53:31:11 - 00:53:33:09
Speaker 2
I know you're really not a lot. You know.

00:53:33:09 - 00:53:34:10
Speaker 1
What? I'm bored.

00:53:34:14 - 00:53:41:00
Speaker 2
She accouterments like the album cover or anything surrounding covers, album covers. I think they're great. Yeah, I have a nine on that.

00:53:41:01 - 00:53:45:03
Speaker 3
I have eight just because I feel like I'm doing too many nines, but it's really good.

00:53:45:05 - 00:53:46:09
Speaker 1
Well, this is great. Peter.

00:53:46:09 - 00:53:47:10
Speaker 2
Hey.

00:53:47:12 - 00:53:50:18
Speaker 1
Hey, hey, hey, listen, it don't go anywhere, listener.

00:53:50:23 - 00:53:52:22
Speaker 2
Remember? Leave us. Leave us a rating and review.

00:53:52:22 - 00:53:55:00
Speaker 3
This is the time when people start going, like.

00:53:55:02 - 00:53:59:03
Speaker 1
Don't call me dude. No, no, no, you don't want to give him ideas.

00:53:59:05 - 00:54:02:09
Speaker 3
I'm telling them, please stop, because we know that's. Come on, we got exciting stuff to tell you.

00:54:02:09 - 00:54:20:14
Speaker 2
So we get a lot of great ratings and reviews. If you're on your Apple Podcast app, please leave us a rating. Five stars only. Seven stars again. And, which is impossible. Please try for seven and then leave us a review. Here's a review we got and we'll read your review here on air. We got a review from Edward SRV 1981.

00:54:20:14 - 00:54:24:12
Speaker 3
And right after we read this, we're going to be playing some what are we going to play going on. What do you want to do.

00:54:24:14 - 00:54:32:11
Speaker 2
Let's play the trying times. Oh that's right. Yeah. So this is a review from Edward Savage. Have anything more you want to say before I.

00:54:32:13 - 00:54:33:04
Speaker 3
I'll wait until you.

00:54:33:04 - 00:54:36:04
Speaker 2
Okay. Thanks. Edward. This is a review from Edward SRV, 1981.

00:54:36:10 - 00:54:38:10
Speaker 3
He's got you got a chip on your shoulder that.

00:54:38:12 - 00:54:39:07
Speaker 1
Pushed it off.

00:54:39:09 - 00:54:40:08
Speaker 3
I got to.

00:54:40:10 - 00:54:48:17
Speaker 2
Get into this. I get into this. Okay. I'll be taking notes. From Edward, SB 1981. The gold no platinum standard is the title of the review.

00:54:48:17 - 00:55:01:01
Speaker 3
This is. You said that wrong. I have to interrupt. It says the gold. No platinum standard. He's saying he or she is. He is saying like he's starting to say gold, but then he's like correcting himself.

00:55:01:02 - 00:55:02:15
Speaker 2
How do I say.

00:55:02:16 - 00:55:04:14
Speaker 3
You said the gold. No. Platinum.

00:55:04:16 - 00:55:06:18
Speaker 2
No, I said the gold. No platinum standard.

00:55:07:00 - 00:55:16:09
Speaker 3
Now that's kind of like where's the common? The sentence asking me right there. Ask me if I'm a businessman. Are you a businessman? No, I'm a business man.

00:55:16:11 - 00:55:21:01
Speaker 1
Shout out Jay-Z. Okay. The gold platinum.

00:55:21:03 - 00:55:41:07
Speaker 2
Standard. This is 100% my absolutely favorite music podcast. So much so that it persuaded me to become an Open Studio Pro member. That's enough. And Peter, hey, now that's a great product in and of itself. But focusing on the podcast, I'd like to express gratitude. I came back to music after a severe injury, likely took my favorite sport away from me.

00:55:41:09 - 00:56:05:07
Speaker 2
Open studio, more than just about anything else, restored the joy of playing music for me. And express it inexpressibly grateful for that. It did so by taking a person who lost art in his life and replaced it with extremely tangible and measurable interests and a similar profession. I was struggling with reconnecting to the simple joy of playing and listening to music, versus trying to just grind on, improving while feeling insecure about my abilities.

00:56:05:09 - 00:56:24:08
Speaker 2
It helped me receive music, which has helped me receive life as a journey and not a destination. It's helped me crawl out of a dark place, and I can thank Peter and Adam enough for that. I can't thank Peter and Adam enough for that. Edward, buddy. That means more than anything else in the world. Thank you for that and thank you and good luck on the rest of your journey.

00:56:24:08 - 00:56:30:08
Speaker 2
We're so glad that you're with us at Open Studio Pro. Open Studio Pro is one of the great music communities in the whole world. Yeah.

00:56:30:10 - 00:56:31:05
Speaker 3
Life classes.

00:56:31:05 - 00:56:31:22
Speaker 2
Live classes.

00:56:31:22 - 00:56:32:22
Speaker 3
Every day around the world.

00:56:32:22 - 00:56:50:01
Speaker 2
Filled with incredible folks like Edward who are on this musical journey. And I love that you said that. It's about the journey, not the destination. It's so easy to get caught up into, like, I gotta achieve this or I gotta learn this, or if I just had this part of my playing, or if I just listen to these albums, then I would be good.

00:56:50:02 - 00:57:03:20
Speaker 2
Then I would be this, then I would be that. And if I just did this and had this gig and really it comes down to living a musical life. Yeah, that's what this whole thing is about. If you want to be a musician, you've got to learn how to live a musical life. And that's really it. Yeah, music has to be part of your daily existence.

00:57:03:20 - 00:57:04:03
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:57:04:05 - 00:57:14:23
Speaker 3
Oh, what a joy when it is. Oh, I think we're preaching to the choir with that. But that that is what open. Thank you. Yeah, that's the actualization. Oh, and it's not just for pros who's the idiot? The name that Open Studio Pro, but it's not for pros.

00:57:14:23 - 00:57:19:02
Speaker 2
Oh no it's not I forget, but it's not just for pros. You could almost call it.

00:57:19:02 - 00:57:20:14
Speaker 3
It's not even for pros. I forget who.

00:57:20:14 - 00:57:24:21
Speaker 2
Wanted to call it Open Studio live, but that would have been good to open studio.

00:57:24:21 - 00:57:29:09
Speaker 1
Sessions, not Open Studio plus, like you remember, Studio Plus is good.

00:57:29:09 - 00:57:30:08
Speaker 3
The station in France.

00:57:30:08 - 00:57:32:23
Speaker 2
I just have a rebrand happening.

00:57:33:01 - 00:57:35:06
Speaker 1
Canal plus from next time.

00:57:35:12 - 00:57:37:21
Speaker 3
You'll hear it.

00:57:37:21 - 01:01:03:19