(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Roberta Flack - "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"
Hit Number 1: April 15, 1972
Stay at Number 1: 6 Weeks
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" started out as a folk song all the way back in 1957. It was written by Scottish folk singer Ewan MacColl, and he had written it for Peggy Seeger, a fellow folk singer. Seeger would eventually become his wife, but at the time MacColl wrote "The First Time", the two were in an affair. It's never been confirmed where exactly MacColl came up with the inspiration to write the song, but one of the stories is that MacColl wrote it after Seeger asked him to write a song for a play she was in. MacColl knocked out the song and taught it to Seeger over the phone. The other story is that while the two were in their affair, MacColl would send tapes to Seeger for her to listen to while they were apart, and "The First Time" was one of the songs sent to her.
Whatever the accurate story is behind the song's origin, it became a folk staple, having been covered by many artists. However, the most notable version of the song is the one that hit #1 for 6 weeks in 1972, the Roberta Flack version. Just like other #1 hits, Roberta Flack's "The First Time" could have very easily never happened. She recorded the song in 1969, and at that time wasn't a well-known celebrity. She had spent much of the 1960s working as a music teacher for the girls in the glee club at Banneker High School in Washington D.C., and was hired as a resident singer for a night club in the city in 1968. She first heard "The First Time" when she heard a Joe & Eddie version from 1963, and immediately took a liking to it. She taught the same song to her students in the glee club, as well as singing it while performing at the night club.
Even though Flack was still unknown to the music-listening public, she still recorded a few songs with the Atlantic label. She had finally begun to work on a first album, which was called First Take. She decided to include "The First Time" on First Take, since it had been one of her favorites for almost 10 years, but she recorded it much slower than any other version that was released prior to hers'. Flack attested that part of the reason why her version was so slow was because she was feeling the loss of her pet cat, who was run over by a car two days before and died. How could something so slow and unexciting become a #1 hit? That's because of none other than Clint Eastwood. Eastwood just so happened to hear Flack's song on the car radio one day, and upon hearing the song decided to call Flack at her home. He wanted to ask Flack if he could use her song in his new movie Play Misty for Me, which also so happened to be his directorial film debut. Of course, just like anyone would, Flack accepted his offer.
Initially, Flack was unsure about the song's pace. She had been advised by her producer, Joel Dorn, that maybe the song was too slow, and that it might be a good idea to speed it up. Flack decided the song would be fine though, even after Dorn asked her "Okay you don't care if its a hit or not?" It didn't matter what either one of them thought, though, because Eastwood reassured Flack that the song was not too slow. It was featured in his film during a love scene between him and actress Donna Mills. The song is perfect for a scene like that, I guess. It's slow, approachable, and a showcase for Flack's strong voice. She's the strong point of the song, reaching for big notes and coming away with an impressive vocal performance. It's too bad I can't get over how boring the song is though.
This shouldn't be much of a surprise at this point. I'm not into the slow songs, for the most part. Flack plays some gentle piano notes, albeit nothing too memorable, and brings her strong voice to the forefront. It's not enough for me though. The song is a breezy snooze fest, filling up airy space without a second thought. For me personally, I would've liked to see the song sped up a little bit more. It would've been less of something that I could fall asleep too, and be more of something I'd actually listen to. It's lethargic, boring and stale by the time its over. It's unfortunately a song I just can't excited about, in case you couldn't already figure that out.
Regardless of what I think, this song became a massive hit for Flack. It was the top song of 1972, and it sparked her career. She's even said before how this still remained as one of her favorites, even after her other hits. She'll appear in this blog twice more, and that probably wouldn't have happened without "The First Time".
GRADE: 3/10
JUST MISSED:
Michael Jackson's always fun, always amazing "Rockin' Robin" peaked at #2 behind "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". It's an 8.
ANOTHER JUST MISSED:
Joe Tex's loose, funk-driven "I Gotcha" also peaked at #2 behind "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". It's a 7.
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