"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer/songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who was later to become his wife. At the time the couple were lovers, although MacColl was married to someone else. MacColl and Seeger included the song in their repertoire when performing in folk clubs around Britain. During the 1960s, it was recorded by various folk singers and became a major international hit for Roberta Flack in 1972.[citation needed]
History [edit]
There are two conflicting accounts of the origin of the song. MacColl claimed he wrote the song for Seeger after she asked him to pen a song for a play she was in. He wrote the song and taught it to Seeger over the telephone.[1] Peggy Seeger claimed that MacColl, with whom she'd begun an affair in 1957, used to send her tapes to listen to whilst they were apart and that the song was on one of them.[2]
The song entered the pop mainstream when it was released by The Kingston Trio on its 1962 hit album New Frontier and in subsequent years by other pop folk groups such as Peter, Paul and Mary, The Brothers Four, The Chad Mitchell Trio, and others.[citation needed]
Ewan MacColl himself made no secret of the fact that he disliked all of the cover versions of the song. His daughter-in-law wrote: "He hated all of them. He had a special section in his record collection for them, entitled 'The Chamber of Horrors.' He said that the Elvis version was like Romeo at the bottom of the Post Office Tower singing up to Juliet. And the other versions, he thought, were travesties: bludgeoning, histrionic, and lacking in grace."[3]
Roberta Flack version [edit]
The song was popularized by Roberta Flack in 1972 in a version that became a breakout hit for the singer. The song first appeared on Flack's 1969 album First Take. Flack's rendition was much slower than the original as an early solo recording by Seeger ran two and a half minutes long whereas Flack's is more than twice that length.[citation needed]
This slower, more sensual version was used by Clint Eastwood in his 1971 directorial debut Play Misty for Me during a lovemaking scene. With the new exposure, Atlantic Records cut the song down to four minutes and released it to radio. It became an extremely successful single in the United States where it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts in April 1972 for six week runs on each.[4] It reached #14 on the UK Singles Chart.[citation needed] In Canada, it was #1 for 3 weeks in the RPM Magazine charts.
Other recorded versions [edit]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Quarrington, Paul; Doyle, Roddy (2010). Cigar Box Banjo. Greystone Books. p. 89. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
- ^ Picardie, Justine (1995). "The first time ever I saw your face". In De Lisle, Tim. Lives of the great songs. London: Penguin. pp. 122–26. ISBN 978‐0‐14024957‐6.
- ^ Brocken, Michael (2003), The British Folk Revival, 1944–2002, Ashgate, p. 38, ISBN 978-0-7546-3282-5 : quoting MacColl's daughter-in-law, Justine Picardie.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 93.
External links [edit]
|
|
|
| Studio albums |
|
|
| Live albums |
|
|
| Soundtrack albums |
|
|
| Compilation albums |
|
|
| Singles |
|
|
| Related articles |
|
|
|
|
|
"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" performed by The 5th Dimension (Billy Davis, Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamont McLemore, Ron Townson)
produced by Bones Howe (1970) |
"Bridge over Troubled Water" performed by Simon & Garfunkel (Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon)
produced by Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon & Roy Halee (1971) |
"It's Too Late" performed by Carole King
produced by Lou Adler (1972) |
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" performed by Roberta Flack
produced by Joel Dorn (1973) |
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" performed by Roberta Flack
produced by Joel Dorn (1974) |
"I Honestly Love You" performed by Olivia Newton-John
produced by John Farrar (1975) |
"Love Will Keep Us Together" performed by Captain & Tennille (Daryl Dragon, Toni Tennille)
produced by Daryl Dragon (1976) |
"This Masquerade" performed by George Benson
produced by Tommy LiPuma (1977) |
"Hotel California" performed by The Eagles (Don Felder, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Joe Walsh),
produced by Bill Szymczyk (1978) |
"Just the Way You Are" performed by Billy Joel
produced by Phil Ramone (1979) |
|
|
|
|
|
