PART  449


           ROBERTA FLACK  -  First Time Ever I Saw Your Face  (1972)
           ROBERTA FLACK  -  First Time Ever I Saw Your Face  (1975)
           CELINE DION  -  The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face   (1999)
           LEONA LEWIS  -  The First Time I Saw Your Face  (2007)




     "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British singer/songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who was later to become his wife.  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. 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. 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. It reached #14 on the UK Singles Chart.