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Before ‘Father and Son’, Cat Stevens wrote a soul classic for one of the greats, who never picked it up
Cat Stevens wrote ‘The First Cut Is the Deepest’ hoping Otis Redding would record it, but his producer, Mike Hurst, instead gave it to P. P. Arnold. The song became a hit and a lasting standard, illustrating how a writer’s early work can take on a life beyond its original intention.
Stevens sold the song to Arnold for £30 in 1967, equivalent to about £700 today, according to the article. Inspired partly by a breakup and by his love of R&B, he described it as a soulful tune; Arnold later said its lyrics resonated with her experience of an abusive teenage marriage. Stevens received a significant accolade for the song in 2005, though the supplied article text cuts off before explaining which one.
In short
- Stevens wrote the song with Otis Redding in mind.
- P. P. Arnold recorded it after producer Mike Hurst passed it to her.
- Arnold connected its lyrics to her own past.
Explained simply
Cat Stevens is a British singer-songwriter who wrote songs for himself and other performers. In the 1960s, he was influenced by rhythm and blues, or R&B, a style rooted in Black American music.
P. P. Arnold was an American singer who moved to Britain and became known for her soul recordings. Producer Mike Hurst helped bring Stevens’s song to her; she recorded it in 1967, and it became an early success for her.
The song was later recorded by several other artists, giving it a long life beyond Arnold’s version. Its journey shows how a song can reach a wide audience through a performer other than the person its writer first had in mind.