delight
A napkin poem became a three-time Grammy winner
She never asked for royalties. She asked to be believed.
The Grammy-winning standard "Killing Me Softly (With His Song)" started with a napkin and a 19-year-old at a concert. In November 1971, singer Lori Lieberman let a friend talk her into a Don McLean show at LA's Troubadour club. Something in his set moved her, and she scribbled her feelings onto a napkin in the dark. She handed that poem to songwriters Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, who were building her debut album. Lieberman recorded the song in 1972. It barely made a ripple. A year later, Roberta Flack heard it on an airplane's in-flight music channel and cut her own version at Quincy Jones's urging. Flack's rendition won three Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year. For years, the credited writers distanced Lieberman from the origin. The person who set the record straight was McLean himself, who backed her account publicly and dug up a 1973 Daily News article where Gimbel told the story. Lieberman never wanted royalties. She wanted someone to say it happened.