Song #277 - "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" - Roberta Flack

Recorded - February 25, 1969

Originally Released - June 20, 1969

Re-released as a single - March 7, 1972

#1 for weeks of April 15, 22 and 29 & May 6, 13 and 20, 1972. 

     The 1970's saw jazz music fuse with several more mainstream musical genres. Out of the jazz/rock merge, we got the self-explanatory "Fusion". When jazz and pop met face to face, we got a nice blend of smooth accessible soulful vocals with jazzy musical undertones. One of the finest examples of this latter style is Roberta Flack. 

     Even if you don't know her by name, you most likely are familiar with her later #1 hit, "Killing Me Softly With His Song". Well, that song is going to be put on the back burner for another day. Instead, here's Roberta's first #1 hit, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". 

     Written by Ewan MaColl, "The First Time..." was originally recorded by several prominent folk singers such as The Kingston Trio. Roberta's more soulful version dates from 1969, and it was included on her first album, appropriately titled First Take. 

     So how did a song from 1969 become a hit in 1972? Turns out "The First Time..." was featured in a scene from Clint Eastwood's 1971 film Play Misty For Me. Naturally, this led to a new found popularity of the song. In fact, its re-release was so successful that Billboard named it the top pop song of the year. I personally don't consider "The First Time..." to be the finest pop tune of '72, (Not taking into account that the song was then-three years old!) I can, however, rate this song highly as a love ballad. 

     The song is quite subdued for the first two minutes. The only instrumentation is a gentle guitar, double bass, and light cymbal part. Around the middle of the song, an understated string section creeps in, although these strings never get too loud, and they gradually putter out as the song winds down. Finally, Roberta's vocals are soft, quite relaxing as well. Although I'm reviewing this song quite late at night so I wonder if I'd view the vocals differently had it been the middle of the day. 

Final Verdict - "The First Time..." works as a late night romantic tune, or as a song to play before you go to sleep. However, it lacks the memorability or vocal hooks that some of Roberta's later hits have. It's certainly not among the greatest pop songs of the year, but as a gentle and unpretentious ballad, it certainly has a distinct charm. 

Coming Up Next - "Oh Girl" by The Chi-Lites. 

Until Next Time, I'm Dr. Rock and the only Flack I put up with is Roberta -