Roberta Flack First Take

The breakthrough debut by the iconic mistress of pop, jazz, soul, R&B, blues is unparalleled in the years since in its genre blending, emotional power, and raw impact. Recorded over 10 hours in 1969 during the turmoil of the late 60s in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, and before the general realization of the cultural shift that would become embodied in Woodstock, First Take is the work of a woman who was known as a child prodigy and would later earn the title of genius. The album opens with “Compared To What,” a politically charged track that pre-dated Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” (an incredible cover of which was released digitally by Flack in 2021), an emotional cover of “Angelitos Negros,” a definitive interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye” and the generation-defining interpretation of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” First Take is a tour-de-force record that encapsulates the emotional rollercoaster of living in what a Confucian Curse might identify as “interesting times.”