IT'S ALIVE: Roberta Flack "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, 1975)

Louisville Public Media | By Otis Junior

Published March 3, 2023 at 9:19 AM EST

It's Alive briefly devotes the airwaves to live music everyday at 1pm. Tune in today hear this performance and more live tracks!

50 years ago today, Roberta Flack won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year with her rendition of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” Originally written by Ewan MacColl for his lover Peggy Seeger, the song became a worldwide success for Flack. She would make history the following year as the first artist to win Record of the Year for two consecutive years when she took home the award again for “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”

This performance of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” captures Flack with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in 1975. It is a truly breathtaking piece of musical history.

Music

Otis Junior

Otis is the late morning host on WFPK. Email Otis at ojunior@lpm.org

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