Soul Music

Original version

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Documentaries

Factual: Life Stories

Music

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 LW

Soul Music: Series 23: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Series 23

BBC Radio 4 - Soul Music, Series 23, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Stories of the timeless love song written by Ewan MacColl and made famous by Roberta Flack

Personal stories about the timeless love song penned by Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, made famous by Roberta Flack. From 2016.

Memories of first love, first borns and loss are stirred by 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'.

This timeless love song was written by Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, and made famous by Roberta Flack. 

Activist and folk musician Peggy Seeger recalls her first meeting with the  Scottish folk musician, which would inspire him to write the song, and talks about what the song means to her today. Ewan MacColl's biographer Ben Harker explains why this song is so different from much of his other work. 

Julie Young talks about singing the song to her son Reagan, who had severe complex needs following a cardiac arrest as a baby.

Writer Louise Janson speaks about what the song came to mean to her as she set out on the path to becoming a mother on her own. 

Writer and academic Jason King tells the story of how Roberta Flack came to cover this ballad, and how it catapulted her to fame. 

And Kandace Springs, a singer and pianist from Nashville, Tennessee, records her version of the song and talks about why the song is one of the greatest love songs of all time. 

Producer: Mair Bosworth

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2016.

Soul Music: Series 23

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Soul Music

Series 23

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 4 Extra

About BBC Radio 4 Extra