Listen: Reverend Lee / Roberta Flack
Reverend Lee / Roberta Flack

Do yourself a favor. Go see Roberta Flack next chance you get. That shimmering voice over near ambient arrangements is perfectly offset by her XXX risque between song jokes. It’s amazing that both come out of the same mouth.

When she breaks into ‘Reverend Lee’, preceded by a lengthy delta introduction, it’s as close as you can get to a religious experience that I know of.

Composed by Eugene Booker McDaniels, best known for his black consciousness songwriting form, it led to an even bigger hit a few years later when he delivered her ‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’. Go ahead, just imagine the onstage intro that one gets.