Jazz In Film

Play Misty For Me: This 1971 film directed by Clint Eastwood tells the story of a brief fling between a male disc jockey and an obsessed female fan takes a frightening, and perhaps even deadly turn when another woman enters the picture.

Stars: Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills, John Larch, James McEachin, Irene Hervey

Music: Misty – 
Composed and performed by Erroll Garner; The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face -
Written by Ewan MacColl and performed by Roberta Flack; and
 Country Preacher – composed by Joseph Zawinul and performed by Cannonball Adderley

The song, The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face was popularized by Roberta Flack in 1972 in a version that became a breakout hit for the singer. The song first appeared on Flack’s 1969 album First Take. Flack’s rendition was much slower than the original as an early solo recording by Seeger ran two and a half minutes long whereas Flack’s is more than twice that length.

This slower, more sensual version was used by Clint Eastwood in his 1971 directorial debut Play Misty for Me during a lovemaking scene. With the new exposure, Atlantic Records cut the song down to four minutes and released it to radio. It became an extremely successful single in the United States where it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts in April 1972 for six week runs on each.[3] It reached #14 on the UK Singles Chart.

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