P P Arnold - The First Cut Is The Deepest - 1967 45rpm

[NorthernExposure1966]

Love live PP! Great voice. First to release Cat Stevens awesome song, even before Cat.

[666dekadance666]

GOT it 7" :) good quality.. unused..

[mazdaishpahan]

has anyone heard the version of this song on "One Kiss Leads To Another: Girl Group Sounds, Lost & Found"? it has an alternate vocal track by PP, but the same instrumental

[weedgrip]

a beautiful rare sound,worthy of the vinyl it is on.Great post :-) and the voice is amazing

[spegangles]

Fuck off professor Pat Pending. PP is/was beautiful and talented and an outstandingly talented singer!

[musicbuff55]

Classic song!

[hlyme14]

The best version.

[440jasmine]

Anybody else watching this because they saw PP on the Ab Fab movie from 1996?

[PureScottishFool]

@440jasmine Yes thats exactly why I'm listening to it haha

[halasboy1]

we all have one special summer,and this song and groovin' by the young rascals were the songs of my special summer

[ITCHYCOOMARC1]

i belive the small faces were the backing band on this one all being on the same label[Immediate records] and P P recipricated by taking backing vocals on the SF hit Tin Soldier..

[afterglow2020]

@ITCHYCOOMARC1 The backing band is actually The Nice, featuring Keith Emerson (later of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer). A British filmmaker made a video of this song with P.P. and the Small Faces, but they were not on the recording.

[thecaproni100]

jUST , sTUNNING, sTUNNING, sTUNNING ,,sTUNNING ..!!!!

[lizzietish14]

This is beautiful. There have been a lot of versions of this song, and I have to say, I like them all.

[SMURFJES1234]

FINALLY THE REAL SONG THANKJ YOU SO MUCH

[sattski]

much better than anything you'll hear on the xfactor or it's ilk.

[TheRickynow]

This really is the version!!!

[straff13]

An amazing and wonderful interpretation,the definitive version and without doubt the best !!!!

[5000AV]

Simply and dramaticly the VERY BEST version, P.P. Arnold's singing was very underated, coming over here with The Ikettes, Ike & tina's backing singers.....a classic song, sung by a classic singer!!!

[scarletzzebra]

best version ever

[TheSweetwaterJones]

Crowe's effort was a nice little homage, but it lacked the sort of resonance and evocative feeling PP pours into hers.

To each their own though. Taste is subjective, but not quality. PP pwns this :D

[PHAEDRIDER]

@TheSweetwaterJones

cheryl crow is a hack .. just a pop wannabe cool chick . she could never do anything this bitchen . she is just a mainstream puppet i get pissed off when i hear her version of this , it means i have to share such a bitchen song with boring 40 something housewives that think the jimmy buffet concert they got to go to was the highlight of their lives..

[electrodinobot]

this one sounds so somber :(

[Kiwicat]

Written by Cat Stevens

I love this and P P Arnold Greatest Diva we never had What a voice

[linlund]

I was 13 when this came out. For me it's still the greatest pop record ever and it still makes me cry!

[delpotman]

Stop crying, life is beautiful! But can you explain what it means the first cut is the deepest (i am from holland)? Greatings!

[linlund]

@delpotman I cry because it is a simple, perfectly arranged song and Pat Arnold makes it sound like no-one else can! I also cry because it is about first love and the pain of breaking up, hence "the first cut is the deepest".

[delpotman]

Okay i understand! Further i like the song very much, greatings!

[eirbiz]

@delpotman As George Bernard Shaw said: "Like all young men, you greatly exaggerate the difference between one young woman and another".

In other words, when you're young, you make the mistake of thinking that is opposite sex is scarce.

[delpotman]

@eirbiz thank you for the explenation! But i saw you come from ireland. Why is ireland not playing football in southafrica? Did you see holland? Two games 6 points! Or don"'t you like football? Greatings!

[Cretia6]

Was she the first to sing this song???

[LUSHISSSS]

nope...Cat Stevens. Both versions are great though.

[cmulwee001]

@Cretia6

Actually Cat Stevens himself was the first to record it, her also wrote it. But his version was never released as a single.

So in a sense, you're right. P.P Arnold was the first to have a single release of the song.

[afterglow2020]

@cmulwee001 P.P. recorded this in May of 67, Cat recorded it in October of 67, according to wikipedia

[ridethelapras]

@afterglow2020

This is correct. Cat Stevens' covered his own song.

Stevens himself considered the P.P. Arnold version to be the definitive one.

[Slievedubh]

This is the business. She gets the right intonation in her voice and sings it with soul.

[mookindahouse]

This was covered by Rod Stewart in '71 and Sheryl Crow in '03, btw.

[rhkarma]

You mean it was destroyed by Sheryl Crow in 03, right?

[edscerbo]

@rhkarma I've heard I think almost all the versions of this song now and I think Sheryl's is amongst the best if not the best. Ironically I think Cat's original is the worst, but it's not too bad. I think it's mostly dated. I liked PPs two versions, though. Look for the live version from 2004. This song is so good it's almost impossible to ruin it really.

[BlueSmurf10]

@edscerbo - Sheryl Crow's version the best?! Really? Each to their own but I thought it was an insult to a great song. PP Arnold expresses genuine pain in her recording of this; Sheryl Crow doesn't even manage 'mildly pissed off'. I've heard more emotion from someone who's tea has just gone cold.

[edscerbo]

@BlueSmurf10 I've reconsidered after reading your comment and listening to P.P.'s version again. While I can't bring myself to hate the Sheryl Crow version as much as you and rhkarma do, I do agree that P.P. gives the best emotional reading of the song of the versions I've heard including Sheryl's. Knowing Sheryl has a very 'C'est la vie' attitude towards life, even when it came to her break up with Lance Armstrong, I guess her reading makes sense in that context.