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Feel Like Makin' Love (album)

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Feel Like Makin' Love is the fifth studio album by American singer Roberta Flack. It was released by Atlantic Records in March 1975 in the United States. Recorded after the release of her duet album with Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (1972), it marked the singer's first album to be produced by Flack herself, under the pseudonym Rubina Flake.

Feel Like Makin' Love
Studio album by
Roberta Flack
ReleasedMarch 1975
Studio
Genre
Length46:34
LabelAtlantic
ProducerRubina Flake
Roberta Flack chronology
Killing Me Softly
(1973) 		Feel Like Makin' Love
(1975) 		Blue Lights in the Basement
(1977)
Singles from Feel Like Makin' Love
  1. "Feel Like Makin' Love"/"When You Smile"
    Released: August 14, 1974
  2. "Feelin' That Glow"/"Some Gospel According to Matthew"
    Released: May 17, 1975

Background

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The album's title cut had been issued as a single in June 1974, affording Flack her third number one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, after which success Atlantic Records signed Flack to a new five-year contract – reportedly the most lucrative ever signed by a female recording artist.[2] By September 1974, Feel Like Makin' Love had reportedly already accrued enough advance orders from retail outlets to guarantee gold status upon the album's release, which was expected in November 1974.[3]

Recording

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Feel Like Makin' Love would not be ready for release until March 1975, having taken fourteen months to record.[2][4] Although Flack had self-produced the "Feel Like Makin' Love" single, she began recording the album with her regular producer Joel Dorn.[2] Unhappy when Flack recruited "Feel Like Makin' Love" co-writer Gene McDaniels as an additional producer, Dorn withdrew from the album and after Flack and McDaniels proved unable to establish an agreeable working relationship, Flack was left to produce her album alone.[2]

Although Flack had worked closely with Dorn in the recording of her previous albums, the singer found the task of producing an entire album by herself an arduous challenge.[2] She later commented on the process: "I made a lot of mistakes. It was a very hard time for me. There were days when I just cried and cried. But you press on. You press on."[2] Upon the belated release of Feel Like Makin' Love, Flack admitted that Atlantic Records was discontented with the time and expense spent on the album: "The [high price tag] is misleading. Some material I recorded will be used on my next two albums [which] I will be able to finish [...] very quickly and [cost efficiently]."[4] In fact, Flack's next album Blue Lights in the Basement would not be ready for release until December 1977 – thirty-three months after the release of Feel Like Makin' Love.[4]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [5]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Cook rated the album three out of five stars and wrote: "Maybe not as fine an album as 1971's Quiet Fire, Feel Like Making Love will still please the singer's dedicated fans." He found that "Flack never quite hit the heights of this and the handful of other MOR soul releases from the first half of the decade. Her Carole King-meets-Gladys Knight sound is particularly impressive on highlights like "Mr. Magic" and "Feelin' That Glow"."[5]

Track listing

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Feel Like Makin' Love track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Feelin' That Glow"
5:48
2."I Wanted It Too"
2:51
3."I Can See the Sun in Late December"Stevie Wonder12:48
4."Some Gospel According to Matthew"Stuart Scharf2:37
5."Feel Like Makin' Love"McDaniels2:55
6."Mister Magic"
  • MacDonald
  • Salter
3:55
7."Early Ev'ry Midnite"
  • MacDonald
  • Pendarvis
5:54
8."Old Heartbreak Top Ten"McDaniels4:22
9."She's Not Blind"Stuart Scharf5:24
Total length:46:34

Personnel

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Performers and musicians

Technical

  • Roberta Flack – producer, album design
  • Leon Pendarvis – associate producer
  • Gene McDaniels – co-producer
  • Antisia Music, Inc. – co-producers
  • Scharf / Dorough, Ltd. – co-producers
  • Frederick Wilkerson – vocal production
  • Louise Fleming – production assistant
  • Jim McCurdy – engineer, remixing
  • Stephen Y. Scheaffer – engineer
  • John Struthers – assistant engineer
  • Harry Yamick – engineer
  • Lou Stovall – album design, cover artwork

Charts

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Weekly chart performance for Feel Like Makin' Love
Chart (1975) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[6] 24
US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[7] 11
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[8] 5

References

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  1. ^ a b c Breihan, Tom (May 29, 2019). "The Number Ones: Roberta Flack's "Feel Like Makin' Love"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 19, 2023. The Feel Like Makin' Love album... [is] full of these gorgeous excursions that drew as much from folk and jazz as they did from the soul music...
  2. ^ a b c d e f High Fidelity May 1978 "Inevitably, Roberta Flack" by Leida White pp.121-124
  3. ^ Fort Lauderdale News 21 September 1974 "Roberta Flack Does New Album: Bessie Smith film next" by Mary Campbell p.9B
  4. ^ a b c Los Angeles Times 10 May 1978 "Roberta Flack Producing Her Own Albums" by Dennis Hunt pp.IV-1, IV-24 - IV-25
  5. ^ a b Cook, Stephen (2011). "Feel Like Makin' Love - Roberta Flack | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  6. ^ "Roberta Flack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  7. ^ "Roberta Flack Chart History (Top Jazz Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  8. ^ "Roberta Flack Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
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