Flashback Friday – “Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway”
“You are my love
You are my Heaven
You are my love
Make me sing “la-dee-dah”
You are my love
You are my Heaven
Darling I won’t let them take you away”
– Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
By now, you are flashing back to 1980 and singing “Make me sing la-dee-dah” along with me. I own two copies of this album on vinyl and one on CD. I scratched my first vinyl copy years ago but still won’t throw it out. “Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway” is a classic album on so many levels. It was the last recording featuring the phenomenal duets of two powerful singers whose music touches our lives. “You Are My Heaven,” written by Stevie Wonder, featured the background vocals of Eleanore Mills who sang on Norman Connors’ albums and “Back Together Again” which was written by Mtume (you know, “Juicy Fruit!!”) Both songs were top 10 hits in 1980 along with “Don’t Make Me Wait Too Long.” I loved “Only Heaven Can Wait For Love” and Roberta’s soulful anthem arrangement of “God Don’t Like Ugly” which was written by Gwen Guthrie (“Ain’t Nothing Goin’ But The Rent!!”) There was also a veritable assortment of background vocalists on this album including Gwen Guthrie, Jocelyn Shaw (we know her as Jocelyn Brown), Brenda White, Eleanore Mills, Merle Miller, “Revelation“, Eric Mercury, Luther Vandross, and Yvonne Lewis. Gwen and Luther also did background vocal arrangements on a couple of songs.
Roberta wrote in the liner notes, “My life is beginning to reveal to me that – Donny Hathaway Lives.” This music will live on forever in our hearts. Enjoy!
i didn’t know stevie wrote “You Are My Heaven”!
i wish donny was still with us. a star that fell too soon..
Good Lawd! These Flashback Friday’s are a blast! Roberta & Donny? Y E S!
love it!
Ilove a good flashback!
I have one of Donny’s CDs. I will have to add this one since I have Roberta & Peabo “Live & More.”
This week has been interesting for me. I pulled out lots of oldies: Karyn White (all 3 of hers) and I found out she has a “best of” which is an import only released in Japan. I just ordered Ray Parker’s Greatest Hits.
I had to pullout Maxwell. Just can’t get enough of him….he is Marvin Gaye coming back to us.
And lastly, Confunkshun. Their ballads were simply the bomb. I loved Honey Wild and “By Your Side” and “All Up to You” which weren’t really played on radio but were still good.
And i almost forgot, I had to hear Stephanie Mills’ “Home” since she performed live on the Tom Joyner Morning Show Skyshow one week ago. I was travelling and got to hear her the entire way. She still sounds good.
love that album! great flashback. you definitely know your music. i’ll be humming that song all night with a smile on my face. 🙂
oh. my. gawd.
Donny and Roberta. This was one of my favourite albums back in the day.
it’s wonderful to see that someone else knows about this album.
these days i find myself surrounded by too many young people that only vaguely know roberta via “killing me softly” and don’t know donny at all.
(when was the last time you heard “the ghetto” on the radio?)
: )
you, you, and I,I,Iiiii…back together again…”
that was my jam off that album. You Are My Heaven still gives me goosebumps (not least because of radio dedications on lovesick nights, back in my late-teen-years…)
damn, i almost bought that cd yesterday.
must be a sign.
picked up “Miracles” by Change and
Teena Marie Greatest Hits w/ “Aladdin’s Lamp” instead.
back to the store.
m
where are those people, especially Eleanore Mills? can you help me; thanks
i really like donny hathaway’s “love, love, love” and his song with roberta flack “the closer i get to you”, but i dont have either of them. if someone has them can you email them to me
-geengapes33@aol.com
donny & roberta is like peanut butter & jelly
voices like silk. donny and nat king cole are 2 of the greatest american voices. thats why their x-mas songs are still the most popular on black radio still today. no high notes and riffing and stuff, just straight sangin. young singers should take note… and just hold a note….thats singing…
you are my heaven is my J A M!
i’m a year late and a dollar short but mista sent me here looking for diane reeves. i found more than that.
i love me some donny hathaway!
Hello everyone!!
I am relatively new to donny’s music but i have found quite a lot of it through the internet but there’s a piece he has called “Harlem dark” or something along those lines and i would really like to posess this song so that i could use it for a class presentation… I adore his music and i want to get his name into the minds of some who may have forgotten what good music is….