First Take (1969)

First Take is the debut album by the American singer Roberta Flack. It was released on June 20, 1969, by Atlantic Records. In the 2020 edition of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, the album was ranked 451st.

Promotion

After a track from First Take, "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 1 hit in the United States, the album itself reached number 1 on the Billboard albums 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.

Critical reception

First Take was released to universal acclaim. In the 2020 edition of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, the album was ranked number 451. AllMusic editor John Bush rated the album five out of five stars. He felt that First Take "introduced a singer who'd assimilated the powerful interpretative talents of Nina Simone and Sarah Vaughan, the earthy power of Aretha Franklin, and the crystal purity and emotional resonance of folksingers like Judy Collins. Indeed, the album often sounded more like vocal jazz or folk than soul [...] No soul artist had ever recorded an album like this, making First Take one of the most fascinating soul debuts of the era."

Julius Lester, writing for Rolling Stone, found that First Take was "one of those rare albums that has the power to enlighten the emotional content of one's life. You feel the world differently after listening to it." Pitchfork's Elizabeth Nelson wrote: "Recorded over a period of just 10 hours, the future star’s breakthrough 1969 debut captured her idiosyncratic mix of soul, jazz, and folk and her singular vision as a bandleader [...] Recorded in the violent blinding flash of a moment when absolutely nothing seemed certain. "And it would last 'til the end of time," she sang. So it has."

Reissue

In 2019, Flack's website announced that First Take would be remastered and re-released as a limited deluxe edition of only 3,000 copies commemorating the album's 50th 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.

Personnel

• Performers and musicians
• Technical