I have criminally few of Roberta's recordings in my music collection, in fact more cover versions of her songs or her collaborations with Donny Hathaway.
Not that Roberta was averse to a cover version herself, achieving global success with defining versions of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, written by Ewan MacColl, and Killing Me Softly With His Song, written by Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel and Lori Lieberman, though the latter was denied a credit.
So, no Dubhed selection in tribute, but I have found a few concert and TV selections which convey the sheer power and beauty of Roberta as a singer, songwriter, interpreter and performer.
1) Do What You Gotta Do (Live @ Montreux Jazz Festival) (Cover of Johnny Rivers) (1971)
2) Feel Like Makin' Love (Live @ BET Studio II, Washington D.C.) (2000)
3) The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Top Of The Pops) (Cover of Bonnie Dobson) (1972)
4) Killing Me Softly With His Song / Just Like a Woman (Live @ The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson) (Cover of Lori Lieberman / Bob Dylan) (1973)
And then there's Double Exposure, a documentary filmed in 1972, televised in 1976 but never commercially released. The live set comprises five songs - Baby I Love You, Somewhere, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, The Ghetto and Reverend Lee - and Roberta joined on stage by Donny Hathaway. The taped-off-the-telly quality does not diminish the power and the beauty of the songs or the singers.
Rest in peace, Roberta.
