First Take (album)

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First Take
Flack.first.take.jpg
Studio album by
Roberta Flack
ReleasedJune 20, 1969 (1969-06-20)
RecordedFebruary 24–26, 1969
StudioAtlantic Studios, New York City
GenreVocal jazz, soul, R&B
Length46:08
LabelAtlantic
ProducerJoel Dorn
Roberta Flack chronology
First Take
(1969) 		Chapter Two
(1970)
Singles from First Take
  1. "Compared to What" / "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye"
    Released: August 14, 1969
  2. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" / "Trade Winds"
    Released: January 24, 1972
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic5/5 stars[1]
Pitchfork9.5/10[2]
Rolling Stonefavorable[3]

First Take is the debut album by the American soul singer Roberta Flack. It was released on June 20, 1969 by Atlantic Records. After a track from this album, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", was included by Clint Eastwood in his 1971 film Play Misty for Me with the song becoming a number 1 hit in the United States, the album reached number 1 on the Billboard album chart and Billboard R&B album chart. In the 2020 edition of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, the album was ranked number 451.[4]

In 2019, Flack's website[5] announced that First Take would be remastered and re-released as a limited deluxe edition of only 3,000 copies commemorating the album's fiftieth anniversary. The set includes one vinyl LP and two compact discs: one CD is the remastered album and the other contains "rare and unreleased recordings". The set was released on July 24, 2020.[6]

Track listing[]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Compared to What"Gene McDaniels5:16
2."Angelitos Negros"Andrés Eloy Blanco, Manuel Álvarez Maciste6:56
3."Our Ages or Our Hearts"Robert Ayers, Donny Hathaway6:09
4."I Told Jesus"Traditional; arranged by Roberta Flack6:09
5."Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye"Leonard Cohen4:08
6."The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"Ewan MacColl5:22
7."Tryin' Times"Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson5:08
8."Ballad of the Sad Young Men"Fran Landesman, Tommy Wolf7:00
Bonus tracks on 2020 anniversary edition CD
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."Compared to What" (single edit)Gene McDaniels4:37
10."The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (single edit)Ewan MacColl4:20
11."Trade Winds"Ralph MacDonald, William Salter5:37
2020 anniversary edition bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."All the Way" (live)Sammy Cahn, James Van Hausen8:39
2."This Could Be the Start of Something"Steve Allen1:23
3."Groove Me"King Floyd4:19
4."Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"Jimmy Cox6:24
5."Hush-a-Bye"Traditional; arranged by Roberta Flack5:33
6."Afro Blue"Mongo Santamaría, Oscar Brown9:21
7."It's Way Past Suppertime"Les McCann, Vicki Arnold3:53
8."Frankie and Johnny"Traditional; arranged by Roberta Flack7:15
9."On the Street Where You Live"Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Lowe2:45
10."The House Song"Noel Paul Stookey, Robert Bannard5:54
11."Ain't No Mountain High Enough"Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson3:25
12."The Song Is Love"Dave Dixon, Richard Kniss, Mary Travers, Noel Paul Stookey, Peter Yarrow5:20
13."To Sir with Love"Don Black, Mark London8:27

Personnel[]

Technical
  • William Arlt – recording engineer
  • Bob Liftin – remixing engineer
  • Stanislaw Zagorski – design
  • Ken Heinen – photography

Chart positions[]

Chart (1972) Peak
position
Billboard Top LPs 1
Billboard Top Soul Albums 1
Billboard Jazz Albums 3

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Bush, John. First Take at AllMusic
  2. ^ Nelson, Elizabeth (26 December 2020). "Roberta Flack: First Take". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  3. ^ Lester, Julius. "Roberta Flack: First Take : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2008-04-02. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  4. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  5. ^ http://www.robertaflack.com/index.php, retrieved May 4, 2020
  6. ^ https://store.soulmusic.com/first-take-50th-anniversary-deluxe-edition-1.html, retrieved May 4, 2020

External links[]

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