Roberta (album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[5]

Dimitri Ehrlich of Entertainment Weekly remarked "On this inspired swing through soul, blues, / and jazz classics-such as Al Green's Let's Stay Together, B. B. King's The Thrill Is Gone, and Billy Eckstine's 1945 hit, Cottage For Sale-Flack sounds as supple, dramatic, and warm as ever. Sure, there are few bows to contemporary R&B; in terms of form or content, but that's okay: After all, a singer of her standing is above kowtowing to trends."^[5] Robert Christgau also gave Roberta a two out of three stars rating. Christgau described the album as "the great black pop of middle-class dreams".^[4]

1. "Let's Stay Together" (Al Green, Al Jackson Jr., Willie Mitchell) - 4:55
2. "Sweet Georgia Brown" (Ben Bernie, Kenneth Casey, Maceo Pinkard; Additional Lyrics: Jerry Barnes, Katreese Barnes, Roberta Flack) - 5:14
3. "The Thrill Is Gone" (Rick Darnell, Roy Hawkins) - 5:14
4. "It Might Be You" (Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Dave Grusin) - 10:03
5. "In a Sentimental Mood" (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Manny Kurtz) - 3:08
6. "Looking for Another Pure Love" (Stevie Wonder) - 4:50
7. "I Don't Care Who Knows (Baby I'm Yours)" (Buddy Johnson, Ella Johnson) - 4:05
8. "Prelude to a Kiss [Intro]" - 0:43
9. "Prelude to a Kiss" (Ellington, Mills, Benny Golson, Irving Gordon) (Rap Intro by Gabrielle Goodman) - 4:27
10. "Angel Eyes" (Earl K. Brent, Matt Dennis) - 6:35
11. "Tenderly" (Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence) - 3:48
12. "A Cottage for Sale" (Larry Conley, Willard Robison) - 4:37
13. "Isn't It Romantic?" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) - 3:42
14. "My Romance" (Rodgers, Hart) - 5:39
15. "You'll Never Know ('Til You Let Go)" (Jerry Barnes, Katreese Barnes, Roberta Flack, Barry Miles) - 5:20

• Roberta Flack – vocals, backing vocals, arrangements (1, 2, 6, 7, 12)
• Katreese Barnes – acoustic piano (1, 12), backing vocals (1-6, 15), arrangements (1, 2, 4-6, 12), keyboards (2-6), saxophone (2, 3, 6, 13), synthesizers (4, 12)
• Bernard Wright – acoustic piano (1, 3), synth pad (1), clavinet (3), synth solo (3), additional keyboards (4), keyboards (5, 7, 9), backing vocals (5), arrangements (7), synth bass (9), Moog bass (12)
• Ruy Folguera – synthesizer arrangements (1)
• Kenny Barron – acoustic piano (4, 10, 11, 13), arrangements (10, 11, 13)
• Richard Keller – keyboard programming (4), additional keyboards (9), synthesizer programming (9), drum programming (9)
• Barry Miles – keyboards (7, 15), arrangements (7, 14, 15), acoustic piano (14)
• Hiram Bullock – guitars (1)
• Phil Hamilton – guitars (2, 3, 6, 7), electric guitar solo (4)
• Paul Pesco – acoustic guitar (4), electric guitar (4)
• Paul Pimsler – guitars (12)
• Jerry Barnes – bass (1-6), backing vocals (1-6, 15), arrangements (1-4, 6, 12), guitars (2, 5), drum programming (2, 4-6), additional synthesizers (4), electric bass (7), vocal arrangements (15), vocal supervision (15)
• Ray Drummond – bass (4, 10, 11, 13)
• Anthony Jackson – electric bass (14, 15)
• Ivan Hampden Jr. – drums (1)
• Steve Jordan – drums (2)
• William "JuJu" House – drums (3), drum fills (5), congas (6)
• Ben Riley – drums (4, 10, 11, 13)
• Buddy Williams – hi-hat cymbal (5), drums (7, 12)
• Shane Keister – drum programming (9), Moog bass (12), synthesizer programming (15)
• Allan Schwartzberg – drums (15)
• Steve Kroon – percussion (1, 5, 6)
• Steve Thornton – percussion (1, 3, 10-13), timbales (5)
• Gary Fritz – percussion (2)
• Bashiri Johnson – percussion (4, 15)
• Roger Byam – tenor saxophone (12), saxophones (13)
• Jamal Haynes – trombone (13)
• Aaron Flagg – trumpet (2, 6, 13)
• Randy Brecker – flugelhorn (15)
• The Duke Ellington Orchestra – musical intro (9)
• Andre Smith – backing vocals (4)
• Tony Terry – backing vocals (4)
• Gwen Guthrie – backing vocals (15)
• Curtis King – backing vocals (15)

• Ahmet Ertegun – executive producer
• Roberta Flack – producer
• Katreese Barnes – co-producer (1-3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13), producer (4)
• Jerry Barnes – co-producer (1-3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13), mixing (2, 3, 5), producer (4), engineer (5, 7)
• Shane Keister – co-producer (7-9, 14, 15)
• Barry Miles – co-producer (7-9, 14, 15)
• Richard Keller – co-producer (8, 9), mixing (8, 9)
• Bernard Wright – co-producer (8, 9)
• Dana Mars – engineer (1-3, 5-7, 12, 13)
• Stanley Wallace – engineer (1-5, 7, 10-15)
• John Angelini – assistant engineer
• Grant Dickins – assistant engineer
• Jonathan Mooney – assistant engineer
• Al Theurer – assistant engineer
• Goh Hotoda – mixing (1, 12)
• Butch Jones – mixing (2)
• Russell Elevado – mixing (3)
• Ray Bardani – mixing (4)
• John Jaszcz – mixing (6)
• Frank Filipetti – mixing (7, 10, 13-15)
• Randy Brown – technical assistant
• Ben Newberry – technical assistant
• Greg Calbi – mastering at Masterdisk (New York City, New York)
• Joan Martin – production coordinator
• Darren Crawforth – art direction, design
• STAIN – art direction, design
• Kim Taylor Reece – photography
• David Nathan – liner notes
• Magic Lady – management