latorius Wrote:I love Nina with a passion, she was the one artist that made the blues accessible to me as a white twelve year old, in a declining british industrial city in the late 50's. I saw her on an old Black and White TV, she had a 30 minute show (how I would like to get a copy of that) she was the first performer that made me realise there was more to life than the top twenty. She essentially played what was to be reeased as Nina at Newport, she was spellbinding, but agressive with incredible piano chops (I was studying piano at this point), but a beaudiful warm voice that seemed to envelop you. If you listen to the Animals, you can hear her influence, many of their repertoire were straight lifts from one or other of her albums. Alan Price, made a career of being the best Nina hommage.
The big problem with Nina's recorded work, is that she appeared on a bewildering series of labels in the 50's, 60's and even today. She has some stella studio work and some stella live work, but it is scattered across some 40+ studio and 20+ live albums. She is one of many artists who would benefit from a proper retrospective, the problem is that the rights to her work are held by a multiplicity of companies, and agreement is unlikely, so every small record company who has some claim to some of her work puts out a Best of or Nina's Greatest hits.
So we are left to delve amongst the output and unearth the pearls(they are there). May I suggest "Forbiden Fruit/Nina at Newport which was released together in 96. On Forbidden Fruit is a track "Just say I love him", some 6 minutes of pleading raw emotion, backed by Al Shackmans astounding guitar playing delicate fills and harmonics over and arround Nina's vocals. It is something that I have heard done once more with Judy Collins "The first boy I loved" backed by Stephen Stills from the "Who knows where the time goes". Then listen to her version of "Trouble in Mind" from the Newport album, it displays a female John Lee Hooker, very different but on the same emotional territory.
I read an interview with Nina in the 80's in which she said that she was not happy with any of her albums, but proud of individual tracks. So please explore her recorded works there are some true nuggets as I am finding
I think latorius gave up the chase for a superior Nina Simone anthology too easily. AMG shows excellent career-spanning anthologies in 2003, 2 in 2007 and one in 2011. Couldn't find that UK TV thing but Nina at Newport: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtukbfynF...aqKpHYyY22
A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind--Dr. Johnson
What he said. Amen, Bro--JazzboCR
What he said. Amen, Bro--JazzboCR