First Take
by Roberta Flack
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Roberta Flack bestography
First Take is ranked as the best album by Roberta Flack.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to First Take on YouTube
First Take track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
First Take rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Weepingguitarman | Top 48 Music Albums of 1969 | 13/48 | 4 |
| 2026 | jlsfourth | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 17/100 | 80 |
| 2026 | Juneof44 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s | 85/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | Rm12398 | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 79/100 | 22 |
| 2026 |  Liedzeit | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s | 100/100 | 0 |
| 2026 |  Squonk007 | Top 17 Music Albums of 1969 | 16/17 | 1 |
| 2026 | jlsfourth | Top 60 Music Albums of the 1960s | 3/60 | 19 |
| 2026 |  baystateoftheart | Top 80 Music Albums of 1969 | 49/80 | 2 |
| 2026 | Johnnyo | Albums of the year 1969 by Ultimate Record Collector | 28/100 | - |
| 2026 |  ExTeaSea | Top 57 Music Albums of 1969 | 45/57 | 1 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 103 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 386 | |||
First Take collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 42 members
First Take ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 92 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10/07/2026 09:06 | Squonk007 | 773 | 24/100 |
| ! | 05/06/2026 17:34 | Jakor | 5,550 | 70/100 |
| ! | 04/28/2026 12:31 | classicjoe | 507 | 78/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.6/100, a mean average of 76.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.9.
First Take favourites
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First Take forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 07/23/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5382): By jlsfourthView latest topic →
imacgill 05/01/2026 23:00 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)View all forum mentions
First Take comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Tamthebam TOP 100 COMMENTER 03/20/2020 04:33 | #248890 | TOP COMMENT
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A haunting debut album, just mostly Roberta & her piano singing songs she'd performed for the past 18 months at Mr Henry's in Washington DC. It does almost feel like a live album hence the title "First Take"the songs are long memorable affairs the standout being The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face which became a huge hit in 1972 after featuring in the Clint Eastwood film "Play Misty For Me". My personal favourites from this album are That's No Way To Say Goodbye, Ballad Of The Sad Young Men & Our Ages or Our Hearts. (Edited)
A perfect voice Mrs. Roberta Flack, "First Take" is her debut and best album. Ron Carter is on the bass. My favourite track is "Tryin' Times" (Edited)
Jboy56 03/01/2023 15:51 | #294608 | TOP COMMENT
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A stunning album with a very profoundly influential late-night balladry style. A very thought-provoking and beautiful album from Roberta. The songs are long, but that is part of the charm. (Edited)
RoundTheBend TOP 100 COMMENTER 03/05/2016 21:20 | #161381 | TOP COMMENT
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While not my favorite... this is a really high quality album. 1,4,5,6 are my favorites.
planetneutral 02/15/2021 03:22 | #266330 | TOP COMMENT
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A number of slower songs with long run times. If it was all as groovy as Compared to What, this might be a top-tier album.
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