People who bought the album on the strength of that hit were surprised to find a work of great depth and tenderness. It sounds as sweet, breezy and peachy as any of Stevie Wonder’s high-period ballads, and remained on the US charts for best part of a year. A molasses-sweet pop song, it was written by Ralph Macdonald and William Salter and originally intended for vocal group The 5th Dimension. The song that really cemented the popularity of Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway was Where Is the Love. Flack and Hathaway’s reading is so heartfelt and emotional, it is probably the best cover of King’s original. Released simultaneously with James Taylor’s version, the two covers vied for US chart space. They took the song out of middle-class bohemian bedsits and relocated it to the inner city. It was Wexler’s suggestion that the duo initially record Carole King’s You’ve Got a Friend. Flack and Hathaway had been friends at Howard University, and Hathaway had played piano on Flack’s early albums. One of the best duet albums of all time, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway was made at the request of Atlantic producer Jerry Wexler.
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