Don McLean - Empty Chairs Then Lori Lieberman - Killing Me Softly

This is the story of two songs and several fine musicians. Lori Lieberman’s version of the tale is she saw Don McClean perform his song “Empty Chairs“ at The Troubadour in Los Angeles in the early 70s. She was so moved by the song she wrote a poem based on it from which the song “Killing Me Softly“ was born. After she related the experience to Norman Gimbel he took her feelings and put them into words. Then, Gimbel passed the words on to Charles Fox, who set them to music. Fox himself, however, has specifically repudiated Lieberman’s having input into the song’s creation, saying: “We ,Gimbel and Fox, wrote the song and Lieberman heard it and said it reminded her of how she felt at a Don McLean concert. Don McLean didn’t inspire Norman Gimbel or I to write the song but even Don McLean thinks he’s the inspiration for the song according to his official website!“ This much is certain. Lori Lieberman is the first to record “Killing Me Softly“. Roberta Flack first heard Lieberman’s recording. Flack went on to record it and it became a number one hit. The romantic in me wants to believe Lori.