First Take
View on Discogs
View on Wikipedia
Album Summary
Roberta Flack walked into Atlantic Records and laid her soul bare on what would become one of the most quietly devastating debut albums the world had ever heard. Recorded in 1969 and released on Atlantic Records, 'First Take' was produced by Joel Dorn, a man who knew better than to get in the way of something this powerful. Flack had been discovered by jazz legend Les McCann performing in a Washington D.C. club, and Atlantic wasted little time getting her into the studio. What came out of those sessions was something that defied easy categorization — a record that moved between gospel, soul, jazz, and folk with the ease of a woman who had been living inside music her whole life. The album was not an overnight sensation, but it was the kind of record that found its people and held on tight.
Reception
- Upon its initial release in 1969, 'First Take' made little commercial noise, finding only a modest audience — but critics who encountered it recognized immediately that something rare and significant had arrived.
- The album's profile grew steadily over the following years as word spread through music circles, and it eventually reached a wide mainstream audience after one of its tracks was featured in a major motion picture in the early 1970s.
- Roberta Flack's vocal performances on the album drew reverent praise from jazz and soul critics alike, who marveled at her ability to deliver emotionally complex material with the precision of a classically trained musician and the fire of a true believer.
Significance
- 'First Take' stands as a landmark document of the late 1960s singer-songwriter and soul movement, proof that a Black woman with classical training and bottomless emotional depth could reshape what popular music looked and sounded like.
- The inclusion of tracks like 'Compared To What' — Eugene McDaniels' scorching anti-war, anti-establishment anthem — placed Flack squarely in the tradition of politically conscious Black artistry at a moment when America desperately needed that voice.
- 'The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face,' a tender and aching Ewan MacColl composition, became one of the most celebrated vocal performances of its era, cementing 'First Take' as an album that transcended its time and spoke directly to the human condition.
Samples
- "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" — one of the most recognizable and beloved tracks from this album, it has been sampled and interpolated across multiple genres over the decades, with its haunting melodic and vocal quality making it a touchstone for soul and R&B producers.
- "Compared To What" — the politically charged opener has been sampled by hip-hop and soul artists drawn to its raw energy and its defiant, jazz-inflected groove.
Tracklist
-
A1 Compared To What 108
5:15
-
A2 Angelitos Negros 141
6:55
-
A3 Our Ages Or Our Hearts —
6:09
-
A4 I Told Jesus 75
6:08
-
B1 Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye 155
4:07
-
B2 The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face —
5:21
-
B3 Tryin' Times 108
5:07
-
B4 Ballad Of The Sad Young Men 77
7:03
Artist Details
Roberta Flack, born in Black Mountain, North Carolina in 1937 and raised in Arlington, Virginia, was a classically trained pianist and vocalist who emerged from the Washington D.C. jazz club scene in the late 1960s to become one of the most soulful, tender voices of her generation — her silky blend of soul, R&B, jazz, and pop touching hearts in ways that few artists ever could. She burst into the national consciousness with her breathtaking 1972 smash "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," a song that moved so slow and so deep it felt like time itself stopped, followed by the unforgettable "Killing Me Softly With His Song" in 1973, earning her back-to-back Grammy Awards for Record of the Year — a feat that had never been accomplished before. Roberta Flack wasn't just making music; she was creating intimate, cinematic experiences that spoke to the beauty and pain of love, and her artistry helped pave the way for sophisticated Black female artists who refused to be put in any one box.
