There was only one Nina Simone, an original and highly imaginative artist w… Read Full Bio ↴There was only one Nina Simone, an original and highly imaginative artist whose style embodied a wide range of influences from musical Americana and beyond. To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story (three CDs and a DVD) is a fine boxed set overview of her career, emphasizing the live performances where she was most in her element. Culling material from her Bethlehem, Colpix, Philips, RCA, PM, CTI and Elektra recordings, To Be Free is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging of many available collections; it includes all the Billboard and UK national chart singles plus previously unreleased jewels.
Although Simone's stylistic epicenter might be categorized as soulful folk music (or better, 'folkful soul music'), the cuts are aggressively eclectic: "Mood Indigo"'s medium-swinging jazz; the Billie Holiday-esque crooning of "I Loves You Porgy"; the R&B saunter of "My Baby Just Cares For Me"; the country-blues stylings of "Trouble in Mind"; classic Bessie Smith belting over "Nobody Knows You When Your Down and Out" and "I Want To Put a Little Sugar in My Bowl"; the sophisticated Broadway delivery of "The Other Woman" and "Pirate Jenny" (reinterpreted here with a distinctly Afrocentric theme); folk-rocking covers of Bob Dylan, The Animals and Leonard Cohen; the sanctified sounds of "Let It Be Me," "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" (Simone's self-penned Civil Rights anthem) and George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord"; the boogaloo dance beats of "Turn! Turn! Turn!," "Save Me," "Tanywey" (an offbeat unreleased original); the heavily orchestrated pop arrangements of the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun," "Poppies" (an anti-drug message song), "A Single Woman" and "Just Like a Woman" and the world-beat fusions of "Westwind," "Nina," "Baltimore" (which would have made an excellent theme song for HBO's The Wire) and "Zungo" (a Babatunde Olatunji cover).
Simone was a formidable and expressive pianist, as evidenced on songs like "Mood Indigo" (one of the few cuts demonstrating her improvisational prowess in the jazz idiom), "I Put a Spell On You," "Seems I'm Never Tired of Loving You," "I Think It's Going to Rain Today," "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," "Who Knows Where the Time Goes," "Just Like a Woman" and "Sugar." Her voice, instantly recognizable for its signature fast vibrato, was an instrument of astounding pliability, capable of hoarse shouts and rough growls or gentle murmurs and intimate whispers.
On record and especially in concert her creative flow was unstoppable, her ideas pouring forth with a natural ease and restless fecundity, seldom repeating themselves. Her ability to establish a close rapport with audiences is audible on the box' live tracks and is especially obvious on the DVD cut titled "Percussion/Drums/Clapping/Dancing" that shows Simone expressing her soul with distinctive body language, milking the moment to ever greater peaks of ecstasy. The brief video documentary also gives insight into Simone's personal philosophies about music and life, showing her in casual conversation, in rehearsal and on stage.
Although Simone's stylistic epicenter might be categorized as soulful folk music (or better, 'folkful soul music'), the cuts are aggressively eclectic: "Mood Indigo"'s medium-swinging jazz; the Billie Holiday-esque crooning of "I Loves You Porgy"; the R&B saunter of "My Baby Just Cares For Me"; the country-blues stylings of "Trouble in Mind"; classic Bessie Smith belting over "Nobody Knows You When Your Down and Out" and "I Want To Put a Little Sugar in My Bowl"; the sophisticated Broadway delivery of "The Other Woman" and "Pirate Jenny" (reinterpreted here with a distinctly Afrocentric theme); folk-rocking covers of Bob Dylan, The Animals and Leonard Cohen; the sanctified sounds of "Let It Be Me," "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" (Simone's self-penned Civil Rights anthem) and George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord"; the boogaloo dance beats of "Turn! Turn! Turn!," "Save Me," "Tanywey" (an offbeat unreleased original); the heavily orchestrated pop arrangements of the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun," "Poppies" (an anti-drug message song), "A Single Woman" and "Just Like a Woman" and the world-beat fusions of "Westwind," "Nina," "Baltimore" (which would have made an excellent theme song for HBO's The Wire) and "Zungo" (a Babatunde Olatunji cover).
Simone was a formidable and expressive pianist, as evidenced on songs like "Mood Indigo" (one of the few cuts demonstrating her improvisational prowess in the jazz idiom), "I Put a Spell On You," "Seems I'm Never Tired of Loving You," "I Think It's Going to Rain Today," "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," "Who Knows Where the Time Goes," "Just Like a Woman" and "Sugar." Her voice, instantly recognizable for its signature fast vibrato, was an instrument of astounding pliability, capable of hoarse shouts and rough growls or gentle murmurs and intimate whispers.
On record and especially in concert her creative flow was unstoppable, her ideas pouring forth with a natural ease and restless fecundity, seldom repeating themselves. Her ability to establish a close rapport with audiences is audible on the box' live tracks and is especially obvious on the DVD cut titled "Percussion/Drums/Clapping/Dancing" that shows Simone expressing her soul with distinctive body language, milking the moment to ever greater peaks of ecstasy. The brief video documentary also gives insight into Simone's personal philosophies about music and life, showing her in casual conversation, in rehearsal and on stage.
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To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story
Nina Simone Lyrics
A Single Woman Artist: Nina Simone Album: Single Woman Song Title: Single W…
Baltimore Beat up little seagull On a marble stair Tryin' to find the…
Do What You Gotta Do Do what you gotta do Come on back, see me when…
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood Baby, you understand me now? If sometimes you see that I'm…
Feeling Good Birds flying high, you know how I feel Sun in the…
Four Women My skin is black My arms are long My hair is woolly My…
Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter You're nothing but a dirty, dirty old man You do your…
Here Comes the Sun Here comes the sun, little darlin' Here comes the sun, I…
I Loves You Porgy I loves you, Porgy Don't let him take me Don't let him…
I Put a Spell on You I put a spell on you because you're mine Do-do-do-do-do-do-d…
I Think It's Going to Rain Today Broken windows and empty hallways A pale dead moon in the…
I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl I want a little sugar in my bowl I want a…
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free I wish I knew how It would feel to be free I…
In The Morning In the morning when the moon is at it's rest, You…
Just Like a Woman She takes Just like a woman Yes she does And she makes love …
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues When you're lost in Juarez And it's Easter time too And your…
Mood Indigo You ain't never been blue; no, no, no, You ain't…
My Baby Just Cares For Me My baby don't care for shows My baby don't care for…
My Man's Gone Now My man's gone now Ain't no use a listenin' For his tired…
Ne Me Quitte Pas Jacques brel Ne me quitte pas Il faut oublier Tout peut s'o…
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out Once I lived the life of a millionaire Spending my money,…
Pirate Jenny You people can watch while I'm scrubbing these floors And I'…
Poppies A child ran through the meadow on a sun drenched…
Revolution And now we got a revolution Cause I see the face…
Save Me Save me, somebody save me Save me, somebody save me, yeah P…
See Line Woman Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah yeah Alright yeah, alright Sea lion w…
Seems I'm Never Tired Lovin' You Darling, you always needed And your tenderness is needed to…
Sunday in Savannah One more Sunday in Savannah Hear the whole creation shoutin'…
Suzanne Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river…
Tanywey I need love all the time or I'll lose my…
The Other Woman The other woman finds time to manicure her nails The other…
The Times They Are A-Changin' Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that t…
To Be Young, Gifted and Black To be young, gifted and black, Oh what a lovely precious…
To Love Somebody There' a light A certain kind of light It's never shown on…
Trouble In Mind Trouble in mind, i'm blue But i won't be blue always, 'cause…
Westwind "Hello, oh yeah, I'm glad to see you, glad to…
Who Knows Where The Time Goes Across the morning sky, all the birds are leaving How can…
Wild Is the Wind Love me, love me, love me, say you do Let me…
You Can Have Him I don't want him you can have him He's not worth…
Harry strings
on Blackbird
This is one of the inspired song have ever heard, it's touches my soul..
Daniel
on Feeling Good
Just unbelievable, I dig it. Great music & artists.
Nikolaos Souroufis
on Sinnerman
amazing !!!!!!!!