Nina Simone Sings The Blues
Encyclopedia
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Sings the Blues (1967) is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone
(1933-2003). This was Simone's first album for RCA Records
after previously recording for Colpix Records
and Philips Records
. The album was also reissued in 2006 with bonus tracks, and re-packaged in 1991 by RCA
/Novus
as a 17-track compilation under the title The Blues.
Bonus tracks for 2006 reissue:
Additional tracks appended to the 1991 The Blues:
Track 13
All About Jazz
All About Jazz is a leading jazz music website for enthusiasts and industry professionals based in Philadelphia in the United States.Founded by Michael Ricci in 1995, the Web-Site is maintained by a volunteer staff of writers, editors, and musicians, and provides coverage of all genres of jazz from...
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Sings the Blues (1967) is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
(1933-2003). This was Simone's first album for RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
after previously recording for Colpix Records
Colpix Records
Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia and Pictures . It was founded by Jonie Taps and Harry Cohn in 1958, and was based in New York City. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R...
and Philips Records
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
. The album was also reissued in 2006 with bonus tracks, and re-packaged in 1991 by RCA
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
/Novus
Novus Records
Novus Records Novus Records Novus Records (later Arista Novus and RCA Novus was a United States jazz and contemporary jazz record label. It was an Arista Records imprint focused on then-contemporary jazz artists...
as a 17-track compilation under the title The Blues.
Song information
- "My Man's Gone Now", from the opera Porgy & Bess by George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
. - "Backlash Blues", one of Nina's civil rightsCivil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
songs. The lyrics were written by her friend and poet Langston HughesLangston HughesJames Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
. - "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl", based on a song by Nina's great example, Bessie SmithBessie SmithBessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
, but with somewhat different lyrics. - "The House of the Rising SunThe House of the Rising Sun"The House of the Rising Sun" is a folk song from the United States. Also called "House of the Rising Sun" or occasionally "Rising Sun Blues", it tells of a life gone wrong in New Orleans...
", previously recorded by Simone in 1962 on Nina At The Village GateNina At The Village GateNina Simone at the Village Gate is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was her third live album for Colpix recorded at The Village Gate. It is particularly notable for the amount of folk songs and African related songs on the album early in Simone's career. Richard Pryor had one...
. After its cover by The AnimalsThe AnimalsThe Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
became a hit she re-recorded it. The fast-paced version on this album is completely different from the slow, intimate version Nina did earlier on Nina at the Village GateNina At The Village GateNina Simone at the Village Gate is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was her third live album for Colpix recorded at The Village Gate. It is particularly notable for the amount of folk songs and African related songs on the album early in Simone's career. Richard Pryor had one...
(1962).
Track listing
- "Do I Move You" (Simone) - 2:46
- "Day and Night" (Stevenson) - 2:35
- "(Romance) In the Dark" (GreenLil GreenLil Green was an American blues singer and songwriter.-Life and career:Originally named Lillian Green, she was born in Mississippi; after the early deaths of her parents, she went to Chicago, Illinois, where she began performing in her teens and where she would make all of her recordings.Green was...
) - 2:57 - "Real Real" (Simone) - 2:21
- "My Man's Gone NowMy Man's Gone NowMy Man's Gone Now is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by DuBose Heyward, written for the folk opera Porgy and Bess . Sung in the original production by Ruby Elzy, it has been covered by many female singers notably Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, and Shirley Horn, among...
" (GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, HeywardDuBose HeywardEdwin DuBose Heyward was a white American author best known for his 1925 novel Porgy. This novel was the basis for the play by the same name and, in turn, the opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin.-Life and career:Heyward was born in 1885 in Charleston, South Carolina and was a...
) - 4:16 - "Backlash Blues" (HughesLangston HughesJames Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
, Simone) - 2:31 - "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl" (Simone) - 2:32
- "Buck" (Stroud) - 1:52
- "Since I Fell for YouSince I Fell for You"Since I Fell for You" is a jazz and pop standard. The blues ballad was composed by Buddy Johnson in 1945 and was first popularized by his sister, Ella Johnson, with Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra. The biggest hit version was recorded by Lenny Welch in 1963, reaching number four on the U.S...
" (JohnsonBuddy JohnsonNot to be confused with Budd Johnson.Buddy Johnson was an American jazz and New York blues pianist and bandleader, active from the 1930s through the 1960s...
) - 2:52 - "The House of the Rising SunThe House of the Rising Sun"The House of the Rising Sun" is a folk song from the United States. Also called "House of the Rising Sun" or occasionally "Rising Sun Blues", it tells of a life gone wrong in New Orleans...
" (Traditional) - 3:53 - "Blues for Mama" (LincolnAbbey LincolnAnna Marie Wooldridge , better known by her stage name Abbey Lincoln, was a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. Lincoln was unusual in that she wrote and performed her own compositions, expanding the expectations of jazz audiences.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was one of many...
, Simone) - 4:00
Bonus tracks for 2006 reissue:
- "Do I Move You" [alternate version] (Simone) - 2:19
- "Whatever I Am" (DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) - 3:02
Additional tracks appended to the 1991 The Blues:
- "The PusherThe Pusher"The Pusher" is a rock song written by Hoyt Axton, made popular by the 1969 movie Easy Rider which used Steppenwolf's version to accompany the opening scenes of drug trafficking....
" (Axton) – 4:50 - "Turn Me On" (Loudermilk) – 2:24
- "Nobody's Fault But Mine" (Blind Willie Johnson ) – 2:59
- "Go to Hell" (Bailey) – 2:46
- "I Shall Be ReleasedI Shall Be Released"I Shall Be Released" is a 1967 song written by Bob Dylan.The Band played it on their debut album, Music from Big Pink , with Richard Manuel singing lead vocals, and Rick Danko and Levon Helm harmonizing in the chorus...
" (Dylan) – 3:51 - "Gin House Blues" (Henderson, Troy) – 3:08
Personnel
Tracks 1-12- Nina Simone: vocal, piano
- Eric GaleEric GaleEric J. Gale was a leading American jazz and session guitarist.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Gale began playing guitar at the age of 12. Although he majored in chemistry at Niagara University, Gale was determined to pursue a musical career, and began contributing to accompaniments for such stars as...
: guitar - Rudy Stevenson: guitar
- Ernie Hayes: organ
- Bob Bushnell: bass
- Bernard PurdieBernard PurdieBernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American session drummer, and is considered an influential and innovative exponent of funk...
: drums, timpani - Buddy Lucas: harmonica, tenor sax
Track 13
- Nina Simone: vocal, piano
- Eric Gale: guitar
- Everett Barksdale: guitar
- Weldon Irvine: organ
- Richard TeeRichard TeeRichard Tee was a pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger.Tee graduated from the High School of Music and Art and attended the Manhattan School of Music. Though better known as a studio and session musician, Tee led a jazz ensemble, the Richard Tee Committee, and was a founding member of the...
: organ - Jerry JemmottJerry JemmottGerald Joseph Stenhouse "Jerry" Jemmott is an American bass guitarist. Also known as Gerald "Fingers" Jemmott, Rasan Mfalme or "the Groovemaster", Jemmott was one of the chief session bassists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, working with many of the period's well known soul, blues, and jazz...
: bass - probably Bernard Purdie: drums
- Gordon Powell: vibes, percussion
- Montego Joe: percussion
- George Devens: percussion
- Joe Shepley, Jimmy Nottingham, Harold Johnson, Wilbur Bascomb: trumpets
- Jimmy ClevelandJimmy ClevelandJimmy Cleveland was an American jazz trombone born in Wartrace, Tennessee.Cleveland worked with many well-known jazz musicians, including Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Quincy Jones, Lucky Thompson, Gigi Gryce, Oscar Peterson, Oscar Pettiford and James Brown...
, Richard Harris: trombones - Seldon PowellSeldon PowellSeldon Powell was an American soul jazz, swing and R&B tenor saxophonist and flautist born in Lawrenceville, Virginia, probably best remembered for his early work with musicians like Tab Smith , Lucky Millinder 1949-51), Neal Hefti or Louis Bellson...
, George Coleman, Norris Turney, Haywood Henry: saxophones - Ralph H. Fields, Eileen Gilbert, Jerome Graff, Milt Grayson, Hilda Harris, Noah Hopkins, Maeretha Stewart, Barbara Webb: vocals
- Arranged and conducted by Weldon IrvineWeldon IrvineWeldon Jonathan Irvine, Jr. , also known Master Wel, was an American composer, playwright, poet, pianist and organist.-Biography:...