First Night is Jane Olivor's debut album.[3] It was released in 1976 via Columbia Records.[4]
Critical reception
William Ruhlmann stated in his AllMusic review that "Olivor seemed at the start of her career to be creating a new form of light pop music that plumbed the complex emotional depths first investigated by confessional singer/songwriters, yet employed a sophistication associated with an earlier generation of singers."[1]
Jonathan Frank of Talkin Broadway wrote, First Night was named Album of the Year by Stereo Review. Her early reviews compared her to Barbra Streisand and Edith Piaf.[5]Coast to Coast Tickets[6] and Corporate Artists[7] verified this as well.
The New York Times wrote that "within the stylistic context in which [Olivor] works, First Night is a fine record."[3]
Robert Christgau was critical of the album, writing that "her LP is marginally adventurous, but if she becomes a star it will be by embodying the half of Barbra Streisand that Bette Midler put in the garbage."[2]