The First Cut Is the Deepest
Encyclopedia
"The First Cut Is the Deepest" is a 1967 song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 written by Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....

, originally released by P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold is an American-born soul singer who enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and beyond.-Early life:...

 in the spring of 1967. Stevens' own version of the song is technically a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

, and originally appeared on his album New Masters
New Masters
New Masters is an album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. The album was released in December 1967 by Deram Records, a new subsidiary of Decca Recordsas a follow up to the highly successful "Matthew and Son". The label was disappointed by the album's poor sales, after the success of Matthew and Son,...

in December 1967.

The song has been widely covered and has become a hit single for four different artists: P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold is an American-born soul singer who enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and beyond.-Early life:...

 (1967), Keith Hampshire
Keith Hampshire
Keith Hampshire is an English-born Canadian popular singer of the 1970s, famous in Canada for three top ten hits , and the successful television show Music Machine...

 (1973), Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

 (1977) and Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...

 (2003).

Cat Stevens original version

The song concerns someone apprehensive about entering a new romantic relationship because he is still suffering from being hurt by his first love:

The first cut is the deepest, Baby I know —
The first cut is the deepest
'Cause when it comes to being lucky, she's cursed
When it comes to lovin' me, she's worst


However, the song continues:
But when it comes to being loved, she's first
That's how I know
The first cut is the deepest.


While the Stevens, Arnold and Hampshire recordings sang this chorus intact, the Stewart and Crow renderings omitted the last three lines, an omission which might give the listener a different sense of the song.

Stevens made a demo recording of "The First Cut Is the Deepest" in 1965, but originally hoped to become a songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

. Stevens wrote the song earlier to promote his songs to other artists, but did not record it as his own performance until early October 1967, and it did not appear until his second album, New Masters
New Masters
New Masters is an album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. The album was released in December 1967 by Deram Records, a new subsidiary of Decca Recordsas a follow up to the highly successful "Matthew and Son". The label was disappointed by the album's poor sales, after the success of Matthew and Son,...

, was released in December 1967. He sold the song for £30 to P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold is an American-born soul singer who enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and beyond.-Early life:...

 becoming a huge hit for her, and an international hit, for Keith Hampshire
Keith Hampshire
Keith Hampshire is an English-born Canadian popular singer of the 1970s, famous in Canada for three top ten hits , and the successful television show Music Machine...

, Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

, and Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...

. The song has won Stevens songwriting awards, including two consecutive ASCAP songwriting awards for "Songwriter of the Year" in 2005 and 2006.

P. P. Arnold version

American expatriate singer P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold is an American-born soul singer who enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and beyond.-Early life:...

 had the first hit with the song, reaching #18 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 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
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...

, horns, and strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...

. The band that was backing her at that time would later become The Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...

, and featured Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...

 on organ and piano, David O'List
David O'List
David 'Davy' O'List is a rock guitarist, vocalist and trumpeter.Most notably, he played with The Attack, The Nice and Jet.- Career :...

 on guitar, Lee Jackson
Lee Jackson (bassist)
Lee Jackson is a British bass player and singer, best known for his work in The Nice.-Biography:...

 on bass and Ian Hague on drums. British psych group The Koobas
The Koobas
The Koobas were an English beat group from Liverpool. Their music, and their early history, is similar in some ways to that of fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles, though they never achieved widespread popularity.-History:...

 also covered the song at this time, but Arnold's version overshadowed theirs.

Noted 1960s British filmmaker Peter Lorrimer Whitehead
Peter Lorrimer Whitehead
Peter Lorrimer Whitehead is an English filmmaker who documented the counterculture in London and New York in the late 1960s...

 made a primordial music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 clip for the song, featuring a non-singing Arnold cavorting on a British beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

 alongside The Small Faces
The Small Faces
The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's...

. Stevens never released his original recording as a single, because he felt Arnold's version was definitive.

Keith Hampshire version

Canadian singer Keith Hampshire
Keith Hampshire
Keith Hampshire is an English-born Canadian popular singer of the 1970s, famous in Canada for three top ten hits , and the successful television show Music Machine...

 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
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

 national singles chart on May 12 of that year. This recording also charted in the US, albeit outside the top 40.

Rod Stewart version

Stewart recorded the song at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was formed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,in 1969 when musicians Barry Beckett , Roger Hawkins , Jimmy Johnson and David Hood left FAME Studios to create their own studio...

 in Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...

, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, USA and, and it appeared on his 1976 album A Night on the Town. It was released as a double A-side single with "I Don't Want to Talk About It
I Don't Want to Talk About It
"I Don't Want to Talk About It" is the name of a song written by Danny Whitten. Whitten's band, Crazy Horse released it as a track on their 1971 eponymous album....

". It was a huge success, and spent four weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 in May 1977, #11 in April in Canada, and also reached #21 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in the U.S. In a notable departure from the original, Stewart excludes the concluding "But when it comes to being loved, she's first" from the refrain.

Sheryl Crow version

Sheryl Crow's version was the first of two singles released to promote her 2003 The Very Best of Sheryl Crow
The Very Best of Sheryl Crow
-International release:Internationally some tracks were changed:*"The Difficult Kind" was replaced by "Run Baby Run".*"Steve McQueen" was replaced by "C'mon C'mon "....

compilation album. It became one of Crow's biggest radio hits, remaining 36 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, and was also Crow's first Top 40 solo country hit, following the success of her hit duet with Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...

, "Picture". The song topped the Airplay charts in the U.S. and became a platinum seller, also reaching #14 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 singles chart and went to number one on Adult Contemporary chart on two non consecutive weeks. It was also featured during an episode of the CW's "One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...

, in which she also guest starred.

Music video

The Sheryl Crow music video for "The First Cut Is the Deepest", directed by Wayne Isham
Wayne Isham
Wayne Isham is an American music video director who has directed music videos of many popular artists; such as Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Roxette, Mötley Crüe, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Whitesnake, David Cook, Simple Plan, Avenged Sevenfold, Pantera, *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys,...

. Filmed in southern Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, the video features Crow in a rocky desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...

 singing with her guitar, riding horses and interacting in a cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...

 environment. Crow's single was nominated for a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards, losing to "Sunrise" by Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...

.

Chart performance

Chart (2003–2004) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Charts 50
Austrian Singles Chart 31
Irish Singles Chart 13
New Zealand RIANZ Charts 19
UK Singles Chart 37
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 14
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs 35

Year-end charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Billboard Hot 100 28

Other versions

The song has been recorded or performed by many other artists, including:
  • HIM
  • Bonfire
    Bonfire (band)
    Bonfire is a German heavy metal band, founded in Ingolstadt, Germany in 1972. Bonfire has a unique history. Currently there are two bands who have held the name. The original group started out as Cacumen, became Bonfire and ended in 2011 as Charade...

     on the album Rebel Soul
    Rebel Soul (Bonfire album)
    Rebel Soul is the sixth album by the German hard rock band Bonfire. It is the first to feature a complete band membership since the reunion in 1996...

  • Papa Dee
    Papa Dee
    David Christopher Daniel Wahlgren , better known by the stage name Papa Dee, is a Swedish rap, ragga and dancehall musician...

  • Hortense Ellis
    Hortense Ellis
    Hortense Ellis was a reggae musician, and the younger sister of fellow artist, Alton Ellis.-Biography:Her father worked on the railways while her mother ran a fruit stall. She was 18 years old when she appeared on the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, then Jamaica's foremost outlet for young...

  • Norma Fraser
  • Marcia Griffiths
    Marcia Griffiths
    Marcia Llyneth Griffiths is a successful female singer, also called the "Queen of Reggae". One reviewer described her noting "she is known primarily for her strong, smooth-as-mousse love songs and captivating live performances".Griffiths started her career in 1964...

  • I Roy
  • Barbara Jones
    Barbara Jones
    Barbara Pearl Jones is a retired American athlete, who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1960 Summer Olympics.She lives in the Atlanta, Georgia area....

  • Stein Ingebrigtsen
    Stein Ingebrigtsen
    Stein Ingebrigtsen is a Norwegian singer. He was enormously popular in Norway in the 1970s, nicknamed "Mr. Norsktoppen" for his countless hits topping Norsktoppen, an official chart for music in Norwegian....

  • The Instrumental Orchestra
  • The Koobas
    The Koobas
    The Koobas were an English beat group from Liverpool. Their music, and their early history, is similar in some ways to that of fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles, though they never achieved widespread popularity.-History:...

  • Scott Laurent
  • Everything but the Girl
    Everything but the Girl
    Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...

  • Love Affair
    Love Affair (band)
    Love Affair were a London based pop, soul, R&B group formed in 1966. They had several UK Singles Chart Top 10 hits, including the number one success "Everlasting Love".-Personnel:The band primarily featured the following —...

  • Bad Manners
    Bad Manners
    Bad Manners are an English 2 Tone ska band. They quickly became the novelty favourites of the UK pop scene through their bald outsized frontman's on-stage antics, earning early exposure through their Top of The Pops exploits and an appearance in the live film documentary, Dance Craze.They were at...

     on the album Fat Sound
    Fat Sound
    Fat Sound is the seventh studio album by Bad Manners, released in 1992 on Pork Pie Records.-Track listing:All songs by Bad Manners unless noted.# "Mambo/Ska No...

  • Michie Mee
    Michie Mee
    Michelle McCullock , better known by her stage name Michie Mee, is a Canadian rapper and actor. As Canada's first notable female MC, she is considered a national hip-hop pioneer.-Early life and career:...

  • Dawn Penn
    Dawn Penn
    Dawn Penn is a Jamaican reggae singer.-Career:Dawn Penn's earliest recordings were for Prince Buster around 1966. In 1967 she recorded and released the rocksteady single, "You Don't Love Me" produced by Coxsone Dodd at Studio One...

  • Sattalites
    Sattalites
    The is a Canadian reggae group. They came together over twenty years ago in Toronto, Ontario as a music school; from then they have flourished across Canada as a very influential reggae group. They signed with the Canadian record label Solid Gold Records early in their career and have been with...

  • Martin Simpson
    Martin Simpson
    Martin Simpson is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in the British Isles, America and beyond.-Biography:...

  • Sweet
    Sweet (band)
    Sweet was a British rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s as one of the most prominent glam rock acts, with the classic line-up of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker.Sweet was formed in 1968 and achieved their first...

  • ViVO!
  • Joy White
  • James Morrison
    James Morrison (singer)
    James Morrison is a BRIT Award-winning English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Rugby, Warwickshire. In 2006, his debut single "You Give Me Something" became a hit in Europe, Australia, and Japan, peaking in the top five in the UK and New Zealand. His debut album, Undiscovered, debuted at the...

  • Haddaway
    Haddaway
    Nestor Alexander Haddaway , better known by his stage name Haddaway, is a Trinidadian-German singer. He is most famous for his worldwide 1993 hit, "What Is Love".- Early life :...

  • Carpathian Forest
    Carpathian Forest
    Carpathian Forest is a Norwegian black metal band formed by Nattefrost and Nordavind in 1990.-Biography:Carpathian Forest emerged with the demo tape "Bloodlust and Perversion" in 1992. In 1993 the band released a second demo: Journey Through the Cold Moors of Svarttjern...

  • Ace Young
    Ace Young
    Brett Asa "Ace" Young is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He came to national recognition upon appearing on the fifth season of the reality television talent show, American Idol, although he was eliminated from the competition on April 19, 2006, finishing in seventh place.-Early...

     and Chris Daughtry
    Chris Daughtry
    Christopher Adam "Chris" Daughtry is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Daughtry and as the fourth-place finalist on the fifth season of American Idol, from which he was eliminated on May 10, 2006...

     both performed the song on American Idol
    American Idol
    American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

  • Little Angels
    Little Angels
    Little Angels were a hard rock band of the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s.-History and members:Little Angels formed in Scarborough, England in 1984, under the name Mr Thrud. The founding members were Toby Jepson , Mark Plunkett , Dave Hopper and the brothers Bruce John and Jimmy Dickinson...

  • Leona Lewis
    Leona Lewis
    Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer and songwriter. Lewis first came to prominence in 2006 when she won the third series of the British television series The X Factor....

     performed the song on the third series of the UK show The X Factor
    The X Factor (TV series)
    The X Factor is a television talent show franchise originating in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for Pop Idol. It is a singing competition, now held in various countries, which pits contestants against each other. These contestants are aspiring pop singers drawn from...

  • Juliana Hansen performed the song on episode 4 of the reality show Grease: You're The One That I Want
  • Duffy
    Duffy (singer)
    Aimée Ann Duffy , known as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her 2008 debut album Rockferry entered the UK Album Chart at number one. It was the best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008 with 1.68 million copies sold...

     performed the song on the UK show Hootenanny
  • Niamh Perry
    Niamh Perry
    Niamh Perry is an Irish singer and actress who competed as one of the finalists in the BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything in 2008 and is currently portraying Fleck in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Love Never Dies.-Background:Born in Bangor, County Down, Perry attended Our...

     performed the song on the first live episode of the UK show I'd Do Anything
    I'd Do Anything (BBC TV series)
    I'd Do Anything is a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom and broadcast on BBC One. It premièred on 15 March 2008...

  • Linda Ronstadt
    Linda Ronstadt
    Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...

     performed the song live on ABC
    American Broadcasting Company
    The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

    's In Concert in a show starring Cat Stevens
    Cat Stevens
    Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....

    . Held on November 9, 1973, with network naming the event "The Moon And Stars Concert". The clip is widely available on YouTube
    YouTube
    YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

    . Her version changes the lyrics slightly, to "'Cause when it comes to being lucky, I'm worst, When it comes to lovin' me, he's worst".
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK