Roberta Flack - First Take UK orig LP Vinyl rip @ 24/96

Roberta Flack's debut album is also probably her very best. At the time of the album she was riding a wave of critical acclaim based on her exceptional talents as a live performer. She was to be swept up and carried away by fame and misfortune later on but here we see her raw, naive and beautiful. The liner notes by Les McCann are so right when he says 'it's a good thing I found a seat before (she sang), as my knees would never have made it standing'. Oh yeah. For those of you with an ounce of sentimentality about you, be prepared to get really moved. This album is so laced with emotional power that it leaves you shaking... but you need to get right into it. Not for the easily embarrassed becaue this is guaranteed to get into you! When she sings a song, she takes it and embellishes it with genuine pathos - has 'The First time Ever I Saw Your Face' ever been sung again with such depth of feeling? Yeah but she can also get pretty funky too, check out 'Compared To What' and the genuinely soulful 'Trying Times'. She might not have written any of these songs but boy she owned them when she was done with them. The recording is, shall we say, rather noisy and if you don't like hiss you'll be in trouble but I've fixed an alarming azimuth error that pervades the recording and all of a sudden the voice is dead central and the feelings generated by her incredible singing all the more clear, the sharp yet laid back backing by Ron Carter and Ray Lucas all the funkier. In my all time top ten albums.Tracklisting:
A1 Compared To What (5:16)
A2 Angelitos Negros (6:56)
A3 Our Ages Or Our Hearts (6:10)
A4 I Told Jesus (6:09)
B1 Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye (4:08)
B2 The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face (5:22)
B3 Tryin' Times (5:09)
B4 Ballad Of The Sad Young Men (7:03)

Personnel:
Horns, Strings arranged by William Fischer
Baritone Saxophone: Seldon Powell (tracks: A1, B3)
Bass: Ron Carter
Cello: Charles McCracken (tracks: A2 to B2, B4), George Ricci (tracks: A2 to B2, B4)
Conductor (Strings): William Fischer (tracks: A2 to B2, B4)
Drums: Ray Lucas
Guitar: John Pizzarelli
Piano, Vocals: Roberta Flack
Tenor Saxophone: Frank Wess (tracks: A1, B3)
Trombone: Bennie Powell (tracks: A1, B3)
Trumpet: Jimmy Nottingham (tracks: A1, B3), Joe Newman (tracks: A1, B3)
Viola: Alfred Brown (tracks: A2 to B2, B4), Selwart Clarke (tracks: A2 to B2, B4), Theodore Israel (tracks: A2 to B2, B4)
Violin: Emanuel Green (tracks: A2 to B2, B4), Gene Orloff (tracks: A2 to B2, B4)
Design [Cover Design]: Stanislaw Zagorski
Photography: Ken Heinen

Recording details:
Recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York
Producer: Joel Dorn
Engineer (Re-mix): Bob Liftin
Engineer (Recording): William Arlt