Lori Lieberman
Killing Me Softly With His Song

kreegah said on Sunday, 30 January 2011:
@cmulwee001: Our friend Wikipedia provides at least a partial answer to your question in it's article on in-flight entertainment:
"In 1963, AVID Airline Products developed and manufactured the first pneumatic headset used on-board the airlines and provided these early headsets to Trans World Airlines. These early systems consisted of in-seat audio that could be heard with hollow tube headphones."

cmulwee001 said on Sunday, 30 January 2011:
That's interesting, that Hysear Don Walker's wonderful jazzy instrumental, was the first cover, before all the various vocal cover version. Release wise, yes, Roberta had the first vocal cover. However, Anne Murray has admitted to recording the song before Flack, it just did'nt get released until after Flack's became a monster hit. If you ever listen(ed) to Murray's renditon, it's done in the same style as Lieberman,so I believe that could be the case. It's also possible than Anne was more influenced by Lori's version than by Roberta's, and chose to cover the Lieberman recording.

What I REALLywant to know is HOW Flack heard Lieberman's original while on a plane. After all, there were no i-pods or digital downloads of any kind back in those days. Maybe planes had mini -jukeboxes? Or maybe there were compilation tapes that were played to individual passengers, featuring various artists.
If anyone knows, please reply.
Thanks

Jay Gumb$ said on Saturday, 29 January 2011:
Reported btw.

Jay Gumb$ said on Saturday, 29 January 2011:
If the first cover (Hysear Don Walker) was an instrumental then Flack covered Lieberman. She had the first vocal cover.

cmulwee001 said on Saturday, 29 January 2011:
Hysear Don Walker did the song before Roberta Flack, so she covered him, who covered Lori. If Don's album came out sometime in 1972, and Flack's single didn't get released until January 1973, that means Walker's cover version predated Flack's. So Walker, not Flack was probably the first to cover Lieberman's song. Kind of odd, too, that the first cover version was an instrumental