"The First Cut Is the Deepest" is a 1967 song written by British singer-songwriterCat Stevens, originally released byP. P. Arnold for her albumThe First Lady of Immediate in April 1967. Stevens' own version originally appeared on his albumNew Masters in December 1967.
The song has been widely recorded and has become a hit single for six different artists: Arnold, Stevens,Keith Hampshire (1973),Rod Stewart (1977),Papa Dee (1995), andSheryl Crow (2003).
The lyrics of "The First Cut is the Deepest" describe a person wondering if and how it is possible to love again after their first love was lost. "The first cut" of the title refers to one's first love disappointment.[4]
Cat Stevens made ademo recording of "The First Cut Is the Deepest" in 1965, while hoping to become a songwriter.[5] He wrote the song to promote his songs to other artists, but did not record his own performance until early October 1967 with guitaristBig Jim Sullivan, and it did not appear until his second album,New Masters, was released in December 1967. The year he wrote the song, he sold it for£30 (equivalent to £730 in 2023) toP. P. Arnold, who recorded it a year later for her albumThe First Lady of Immediate, becoming a huge hit for her in early 1967.[6] Over decades, it also became an international hit forKeith Hampshire,Rod Stewart, andSheryl Crow. The song has won Stevens songwriting awards, including two consecutiveASCAP songwriting awards for Songwriter of the Year in 2005 and 2006.[7] Stevens's version was not released as a single until 1972 when it was released as anAustralia-only single in promotion of Stevens' 1970 compilation albumThe World of Cat Stevens.[1]
American expatriate singer P. P. Arnold had the first hit with the song, reaching No. 18 on theUK Singles Chart[8] with her version in May 1967, well ahead of it appearing on Stevens' albumNew Masters. The Arnold hit, included on her albumThe First Lady of Immediate, featured an up-tempo, soulful vocal set againstharpsichord,horns, andstrings. It also appeared in the 2012 feature filmSeven Psychopaths.
Record World said that "this gal shouts it out and then caresses it on a big beatrocker."[9]
Keith Hampshire had the first chart-topping hit of the song when his recording of it from his albumThe First Cut became anumber-one hit in Canada in 1973, reaching the top of theRPM 100 national singles chart on 12 May of that year.[10] It also topped the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart and charted in the United States, albeit outside the top 40.[11][12]
Stewart recorded the song atMuscle Shoals Sound Studio inSheffield, Alabama, United States, and it appeared on his 1976 albumA Night on the Town. Originally released as a single in the US and in some European territories, it was released as a double A-side single with "I Don't Want to Talk About It" in the UK in April. It was a huge success, and spent four weeks at No. 1 on theUK Singles Chart in May 1977,[18] No. 11 in April in Canada, and also reached No. 21 on theBillboard Hot 100 in the U.S. In a departure from the original, Stewart excludes the concluding "But when it comes to being loved, she's first" from the refrain. In 1993, he recorded a live version during a session ofMTV Unplugged. This was included on the 1993 live albumUnplugged...and Seated.
Record World called it a "love ballad, this time penned by Cat Stevens back in the sixties. Watch for another rapid chart ascent."[19]
Swedish musicianPapa Dee released areggae cover of "The First Cut Is the Deepest" in 1995. It was released as the first single from his fourth album,The Journey (1996), and remains his most commercially successful track. Scoring chart success in Europe, it peaked at No. 5 in Sweden, No. 9 in Denmark and Norway, No. 20 in Austria, and No. 38 in Iceland.
Pan-European magazineMusic & Media wrote, "Dee-lightfully our Swedish Papa tackles the old Cat Stevens hit in apop dance-infused reggae style with a snappyragga interlude. Radio, club and dub edits are available too."[31]
Sheryl Crow's version of "The First Cut Is the Deepest", inspired by Rod Stewart's version, is the first single released from her 2003 compilation albumThe Very Best of Sheryl Crow. It became one of Crow's biggest radio hits, peaking at No. 14 on the USBillboard Hot 100 and becoming her first solo top-40 country hit following the success of her duet withKid Rock, "Picture".[39] The song stayed on the Hot 100 for 36 weeks and became a gold seller, also reaching No. 1 on theBillboardAdult Contemporary,Adult Top 40, andTriple-A charts. Internationally, it was a top-20 success in Hungary, Ireland and New Zealand.
^Kent, David (1993).Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 132.ISBN0-646-11917-6.
