First cut…

I can’t remember where or when I heard ‘The First Cut Is the Deepest’ but it was the version sung by P.P.Arnold which was released in 1967 at the age of twenty-one and reached number 18 in the charts. P.P. Arnold is an American singer who was one of the Ikettes, backing Ike and Tina Turner; she came to Britain and remained here for many years.

What I didn’t realise at the time was that ‘The First Cut Is the Deepest’ was written by Cat Stephens who was only nineteen… what talent! Stephens released the song himself on his own LP, ‘New Masters’ later that year. This was his second album, but his first single ‘I love my dog’ was released the previous year.

‘The First Cut…’ has been recorded by many other artists, both men and women, including Rod Stewart (number 1 in Britain, also in the charts in the USA and Canada), Keith Hampshire (number 1 in Canada), Sheryl Crow (charted in the USA) and Bad Manners and there are many different versions including a reggae one. it must have been played in countless films and TV programmes, including ‘Entourage’,’Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Must Love Dogs’ and ‘Seven Psychopaths’, ‘The Sopranos’, ‘One Tree Hill’ and ‘Showtime’.

BBC Radio 4 have a programme called ‘Soul Music’ which examines the impact of songs and music has on listeners; other pieces explored in the programme include ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen, ‘La Boheme’, ‘Plaisir d’Amour’ and ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ by the Smiths.

Here is a link to ‘The First Cut…’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05s2x2k