First Take (album)

First Take is the debut album by the American soul singer Roberta Flack. It was released in 1969 on 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 #1 hit in the United States. The album reached #1 on the Billboard album chart and Billboard R&B album chart.

First Take
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
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[2]

Track listing
  1. "Compared to What" (Gene McDaniels) - 5:16
  2. "Angelitos Negros" (Andrés Eloy Blanco, Manuel Álvarez Maciste) - 6:56
  3. "Our Ages or Our Hearts" (Robert Ayers, Donny Hathaway) - 6:09
  4. "I Told Jesus" (Traditional; arranged by Roberta Flack) - 6:09
  5. "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" (Leonard Cohen) - 4:08
  6. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (Ewan MacColl) - 5:22
  7. "Tryin' Times" (Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson) - 5:08
  8. "Ballad of the Sad Young Men" (Fran Landesman, Tommy Wolf) - 7:00

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

Reissue

In 1999, Flack's website[3] announced that First Take would be remastered and re-released as part of a limited (3000 copies) deluxe edition 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 is scheduled for release on July 24, 2020.[4]

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

Single
Year Single Chart Position
1972 "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" Billboard Adult Contemporary 1
1972 "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" Billboard Pop Singles 1
1972 "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" Billboard Soul Singles 4

See also
  • List of number-one albums of 1972 (U.S.)
  • List of number-one R&B albums of 1972 (U.S.)

References
  1. Bush, John. First Take at AllMusic
  2. 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.
  3. http://www.robertaflack.com/index.php, retrieved May 4, 2020
  4. https://store.soulmusic.com/first-take-50th-anniversary-deluxe-edition-1.html, retrieved May 4, 2020
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