First Take (album)

First Take
Studio album by
Roberta Flack
ReleasedJune 20, 1969 (1969-06-20)
RecordedFebruary 24–26, 1969
StudioAtlantic, New York City
Genre
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
AllMusic[2]
Pitchfork9.5/10[3]
Rolling Stonefavorable[4]

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, and the song became a number-one hit in the United States, causing the album to reach number one on the Billboard album chart and Billboard R&B album chart; furthermore, the single topped the chart for the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972, possibly the only sleeper hit to accomplish this. In the 2020 edition of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, the album was ranked number 451.[5]

In 2019, Flack's website[6] 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.[7]

  1. ^ Breihan, Tom (February 25, 2019). "The Number Ones: Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 18, 2023. The album is a total stunner, a florid and lovely jazz-folk meditation...
  2. ^ Bush, John. First Take at AllMusic
  3. ^ Nelson, Elizabeth (26 December 2020). "Roberta Flack: First Take". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  4. ^ Lester, Julius. "Roberta Flack: First Take : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-04-02. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  5. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  6. ^ "Roberta Flack - Singer, Songwriter, Musician". www.robertaflack.com. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  7. ^ store.soulmusic.com https://web.archive.org/web/20210818125821/https://store.soulmusic.com/first-take-50th-anniversary-deluxe-edition-1.html. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2020. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[title missing]