The First Cut Is the Deepest
| "The First Cut Is the Deepest" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Cat Stevens from the album New Masters | |
| Published | 1967 |
| Released | December 1967 |
| Recorded | October 1967 |
| Genre | Rock |
| Length | 3:03 |
| Label | Deram Records/Decca Records |
| Writer(s) | Cat Stevens |
| Producer(s) | Mike Hurst |
| New Masters track listing | |
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| "The First Cut Is the Deepest" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by P. P. Arnold | ||||
| B-side | "Speak to Me" | |||
| Released | May 1967 | |||
| Label | Immediate Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Cat Stevens | |||
| P. P. Arnold singles chronology | ||||
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| "The First Cut Is the Deepest" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Keith Hampshire | ||||
| B-side | You Can't Hear the Song I Sing | |||
| Released | 1973 | |||
| Writer(s) | Cat Stevens | |||
| Keith Hampshire singles chronology | ||||
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| "The First Cut Is the Deepest" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Rod Stewart | ||||
| from the album A Night on the Town | ||||
| B-side | "I Don't Want to Talk About It" "The Balltrap" (US) |
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| Released | February 1977 | |||
| Format | 7-inch | |||
| Recorded | 1976 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:21 (single version) | |||
| Label | Riva/Warner Bros. | |||
| Writer(s) | Cat Stevens | |||
| Producer(s) | Tom Dowd | |||
| Rod Stewart singles chronology | ||||
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| "The First Cut Is the Deepest" | |||||||||
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| Single by Sheryl Crow | |||||||||
| from the album The Very Best of Sheryl Crow | |||||||||
| Released | 20 October 2003 | ||||||||
| Recorded | 2003 | ||||||||
| Genre | Pop, pop rock, country | ||||||||
| Length | 3:44 | ||||||||
| Label | A&M | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | Cat Stevens | ||||||||
| Producer(s) | John Shanks | ||||||||
| Sheryl Crow singles chronology | |||||||||
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"The First Cut Is the Deepest" is a 1967 song written by Cat Stevens, originally released by P. P. Arnold in May 1967. Stevens' own version originally appeared on his album New Masters in December 1967.
The song has been widely covered and has become a hit single for four different artists: P. P. Arnold (1967), Keith Hampshire (1973), Rod Stewart (1977) and Sheryl Crow (2003).
Stevens made a demo recording of "The First Cut Is the Deepest" in 1965, but originally hoped to become a songwriter. He wrote the song earlier to promote his songs to other artists, but did not record it as his own performance until early October 1967 with guitarist Big Jim Sullivan, and it did not appear until his second album, New Masters, was released in December 1967. He sold the song for £30 to P.P. Arnold, and it became a huge hit for her, as well as an international hit for Keith Hampshire, Rod Stewart, and Sheryl Crow. The song has won Stevens songwriting awards, including two consecutive ASCAP songwriting awards for "Songwriter of the Year" in 2005 and 2006.
American expatriate singer P. P. Arnold had the first hit with the song, reaching number 18 on the UK Singles Chart with her version in May 1967, well ahead of the song appearing on Stevens' album. The Arnold hit featured an up-tempo, soulful vocal set against harpsichord, horns, and strings.
Keith Hampshire had the first chart-topping hit of the song when his recording of it became a number one hit in Canada in 1973, reaching the top of the RPM 100 national singles chart on 12 May of that year. It also topped the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. This recording also charted in the US, albeit outside the top 40.
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