>I have two tables linked by an id# (and a few other fields)
>
>I want to keep the first table exactly as it is (that is to say, with out adding records) but add the fields from the second table to the end of the first table.
>
>If there is no match, blank fields are fine. If there are multiple matches, I just want the first one. NO ADDING RECORDS ALLOWED! How do I do that? I tried a left join, but got back too many records.
>
>I want all the parent records, no more, no less.
>
>Thanks!

Use the groupby for the linking id.

HTH