Ewan MacColl wrote the words and music of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" in 1957 as a folk song for Peggy Seeger, who later became his third wife. He composed it quickly after Seeger asked for a piece for a show she was performing, and taught it to her over the telephone. In 1958 a Los Angeles radio producer wanted a hopeful love song, as Seeger's folk material was mostly sad, and MacColl sang it to her during a call from England. MacColl never recorded it himself. The earliest recording was by Bonnie Dobson in 1961, as "The First Time" on her debut album She's Like a Swallow and Other Folk Songs. Roberta Flack recorded it in February 1969 for her debut album First Take at a much slower tempo, and her version was used in Clint Eastwood's 1971 film Play Misty for Me. As a single in February 1972 it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks, won Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and was ranked the number-one Hot 100 single of 1972. Later hits came from Celine Dion (UK, 2000) and Leona Lewis (2007). Apollo 17's crew was woken with it in December 1972.
