Rest in Power, Roberta Flack. ❤️
My father is the reason that I love Roberta. She was an enduring part of the soundtrack of my childhood and adolescence and is an artist I have played for my kids since they were in utero. My dad's eclectic musical tastes (think hundreds of records, reel-to-reel recordings, and cassette tapes) introduced me to so many different genres and I suspect that is why my musical tastes veer all over the map, from ABBA to Wham!, Motown to musicals, and rap to rock en español.
Ironically, I had this exact conversation with Lulu last Thursday, playing Don McLean's "American Pie," then Roberta's haunting cover of "Killing me Softly." Lulu was gobsmacked and did a literal double take when I talked about the connection between these two songs. I then played the Fugees' cover and explained how Lauryn Hill had said her mother loved Flack and a.m. radio and that this was also a song from her childhood. We listened to a few of Roberta's other gorgeous songs then turned to Carole King as a songwriter and Aretha Franklin making "You Make me Feel Like a Natural Woman" her own before I dropped her off at school. That afternoon, the conversation about women songwriters and the stories they tell about the artists in their lives continued with Carly Simon/ James Taylor/ Warren Beatty as we drove home.
My papi's influence on the music I love is now firmly ingrained in my own children. While they never got the chance to talk to their grandfather about music or have him introduce them to the classics, they would absolutely recognize his favorites and know all the words were he alive to play them today. I suspect he'd also get as much joy as I do out of having Seba or Lulu introduce me to a song, artist, or cover version that they love. My dad's bookcases full of records and reel-to-reel recordings have found their modern day analogue in my kids, who both constantly create digital playlists in their Spotify accounts. (Thank goodness for that family plan Leo and I bought 15 years ago.)
