"Feel Like Makin' Love" is a song composed by
singer-songwriter Eugene McDaniels, and recorded originally by
soul singer-songwriter Roberta Flack. The song has been covered
by several R&B and jazz artists.
Released from the album of the same title, the song became
one of the greatest musical successes of 1974, as well as of
Roberta Flack's recording career. It scored a week as number
one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, making it Flack's
third #1 single. It also scored five weeks at number one on the
Hot Soul Singles chart. and two weeks as #1 on the Adult
Contemporary chart. Flack produced the record under the
pseudonym Rubina Flake. It went on to receive three Grammy
nominations for Flack: Record of the Year, Song of the Year,
and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.
"Feel Like Makin' Love" was covered by American R&B and
neo soul musician D'Angelo for his second studio album
Voodoo(2000). It was released April 8, 2000 on Virgin
Records as the album's fifth and last single. His cover version
features a quiet storm sound and heavy use of multi-tracking
for vocals. It was initially planned as a duet with R&B
singer Lauryn Hill. Although tapes were sent via FedEx between
the two, the collaboration between D'Angelo and Hill was
aborted and the song was instead recorded solo. According to
producer and drummer Questlove, the duet failed to materialize
due to "too many middle men.... I don't think Lauryn and D ever
talked face-to-face." Mistakenly, some critics who later
reviewed the album's track assumed that Lauryn Hill's vocals
are present in the recording.
According to Questlove's review of
Voodooat Okayplayer, the song's production was also
managed by late hip hop producer J Dilla, as Questlove stated
"jay dee did the lauryn track". Dilla, however, did not receive
an official credit for the song. As a single, "Feel Like Makin'
Love" was
Voodoo
's least successful,
as it only reached the number 109 position on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.
It was covered by other artists such as Bob James (as an
instrumental for his 1974 album "One"), or George Benson (for
his 1983 album "In Your Eyes"), both under the title
Feel Like Making Love.
Shirley Bassey covered this song on her 1975 album Good, Bad
but Beautiful
Roy Ayers covered this song in his 1974 album "Change up the
groove"
Lumidee covered this song in her album Unexpected, released
in 2007.