NINA SIMONE
(b. February 21, 1933--d. April 21, 2003)
Nina Simone: "That Blackness"
(From 1968 interview)
Released by the Estate of Nina Simone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3ClwX7oyXk
"There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were."
--Nina Simone
"MISSISSIPPI GODDAM!" (Composition and lyrics by Nina Simone, 1964):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVQjGGJVSXc
Mississippi Goddam is a song written and performed by American singer and pianist Nina Simone. It was first released on her album Nina Simone in Concert which was based on recordings of three concerts she gave at Carnegie Hall in 1964. The album was her first release for the Dutch label Philips Records and is indicative of the more political turn her recorded music took during this period. The song was released as a single and became a civil rights activist anthem.[1] It was banned [1] in several Southern states, ostensibly because of the word 'goddam' in the title.
Together with "Four Women" and "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" it is one of her most famous protest songs and self-written compositions.
Interpretation
The song is her response to the murder of Medgar Evers in Mississippi; and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four black children. On the recording she cynically announces the song as "a show tune, but the show hasn't been written for it yet". The song begins jauntily, with a show tune feel, but demonstrates its political focus early on with its refrain "Alabama's got me so upset, Tennessee's made me lose my rest, and everybody knows about Mississippi goddam". In the song she says: "Keep on sayin' 'go slow'...to do things gradually would bring more tragedy. Why don't you see it? Why don't you feel it? I don't know, I don't know. You don't have to live next to me, just give me my equality!"
She performed the song in front of 40,000 people at the end of one of the Selma to Montgomery marches when she and other black activists, including Sammy Davis Jr., James Baldwin and Harry Belafonte crossed police lines.
References
Jump up ^ Nina Simone Reveals 'Mississippi Goddam' Song 'Hurt My Career'. Jet. March 24, 1986. p. 54.
External links[edit]
Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVQjGGJVSXc
Mississippi Goddam is a song written and performed by American singer and pianist Nina Simone. It was first released on her album Nina Simone in Concert which was based on recordings of three concerts she gave at Carnegie Hall in 1964. The album was her first release for the Dutch label Philips Records and is indicative of the more political turn her recorded music took during this period. The song was released as a single and became a civil rights activist anthem.[1] It was banned [1] in several Southern states, ostensibly because of the word 'goddam' in the title.
Together with "Four Women" and "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" it is one of her most famous protest songs and self-written compositions.
Interpretation
The song is her response to the murder of Medgar Evers in Mississippi; and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four black children. On the recording she cynically announces the song as "a show tune, but the show hasn't been written for it yet". The song begins jauntily, with a show tune feel, but demonstrates its political focus early on with its refrain "Alabama's got me so upset, Tennessee's made me lose my rest, and everybody knows about Mississippi goddam". In the song she says: "Keep on sayin' 'go slow'...to do things gradually would bring more tragedy. Why don't you see it? Why don't you feel it? I don't know, I don't know. You don't have to live next to me, just give me my equality!"
She performed the song in front of 40,000 people at the end of one of the Selma to Montgomery marches when she and other black activists, including Sammy Davis Jr., James Baldwin and Harry Belafonte crossed police lines.
References
Jump up ^ Nina Simone Reveals 'Mississippi Goddam' Song 'Hurt My Career'. Jet. March 24, 1986. p. 54.
External links[edit]
Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
http://panopticonreview.blogspot.com/2011/02/legendary-nina-simone-1933-2003.html
FROM THE PANOPTICON REVIEW ARCHIVES
(Originally posted on February 23, 2011):
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Magnificent Nina Simone (1933-2003)
NINA SIMONE
FROM THE PANOPTICON REVIEW ARCHIVES
(Originally posted on February 23, 2011):
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Magnificent Nina Simone (1933-2003)
NINA SIMONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAtMEsIVLVo&feature=player_embedded#at=102
"There's no other purpose, so far as I'm concerned, for us except to reflect the times, the situations around us and the things we're able to say through our art, the things that millions of people can't say. I think that's the function of an artist and, of course, those of us who are lucky leave a legacy so that when we're dead, we also live on. That's people like Billie Holiday and I hope that I will be that lucky, but meanwhile, the function, so far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times, whatever that might be."
"I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important."
"Slavery has never been abolished from America's way of thinking."
--Nina Simone
All,
The late, GREAT Nina Simone (1933-2003) in a typically incendiary and riveting performance on German television in Berlin in 1967. This is posted in celebration of Nina's 78th birthday on Monday, February 21, 2011. I'm very happy to report that I was fortunate enough to see and hear Nina perform LIVE many times in Detroit, Chicago, New York, and Boston from 1968 on. NEEDLESS TO SAY SHE WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING EVERY SINGLE TIME. Check out still many more video performances below from this bona fide GIANT and Genius of the last truly 'Golden Age' of African American artists and culture (1920-1980)...ENJOY...
Kofi
The Backlash Blues
by Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
(Sung and recorded by Nina Simone, 1968)
Mister Backlash, Mister Backlash,
Just who do you think I am?
You raise my taxes, freeze my wages,
Send my son to Vietnam
You give me second class houses,
Second class schools.
Do you think that colored folks
Are just second class fools?
When I try to find a job
To earn a little cash,
All you got to offer
Is your mean ole white backlash.
But the world is big,
Big and bright and round--
And it's full of folks like me who are
Black, Yellow, Beige, and Brown.
Mister Backlash, Mister Backlash
What do you think I got to lose?
I'm gonna leave you, Mister Backlash,
Singing your mean old backlash blues.
You're the one
Will have the blues.
Not me--
Wait and see!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAtMEsIVLVo&feature=player_embedded#at=102
src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qUm8lqfTb4w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>
The family of Dr. Nina Simone is coordinating an unprecedented project
to celebrate and pay tribute to the artistry, legacy and spirit of Nina.
Throughout the years and up to today the music and social contentiousness of Nina Simone have influenced artists from all walks of life – generations of musicians from every genre, poets, painters, writers, dancers, actors, activists and even fashionistas and politicians.
Despite Nina’s prolific, influential reach she is largely unknown to the masses. Our goal with this project is mainly twofold: grow and nourish an entirely new world of art with its roots in Nina’s genius and continue educating the world about Nina’s artistic and social contributions.
Confirmed musicians:
Skye Edwards (of Morcheeba) (@skyewards, @realmorcheeba)
Kimbra (@kimbramusic) – Plain Gold Ring
Sinead O’Connor (@connor_sinead)
King Britt (@kingbritt)
David Harness (@djdavidharness)
Osunlade (@osunladeyoruba)
Sandra Bernhard (@sandrabernhard) – Baltimore
Crystal Waters (@crystalwaters1)
Monifah (@themonifah)
Dajae (@divadajae)
Chantal Claret (@chantalclaret)
Karyn Paige (@karynpaige)
Szjerdene (@szjerdene)
David Hays (@davidhaysmusic)
Mocean Worker (@moceanworker)
Jay-J (@shiftedmusic)
Tommie Sunshine (@tommiesunshine)
DJ Onionz (@djonionz)
Coby Koehl (@cobykoehl)
Honey Dijon (@honeydijon)
DJ Lady D (@djladyd)
DJ Sneak (@dj_sneak)
Throughout the years and up to today the music and social contentiousness of Nina Simone have influenced artists from all walks of life – generations of musicians from every genre, poets, painters, writers, dancers, actors, activists and even fashionistas and politicians.
Despite Nina’s prolific, influential reach she is largely unknown to the masses. Our goal with this project is mainly twofold: grow and nourish an entirely new world of art with its roots in Nina’s genius and continue educating the world about Nina’s artistic and social contributions.
Confirmed musicians:
Skye Edwards (of Morcheeba) (@skyewards, @realmorcheeba)
Kimbra (@kimbramusic) – Plain Gold Ring
Sinead O’Connor (@connor_sinead)
King Britt (@kingbritt)
David Harness (@djdavidharness)
Osunlade (@osunladeyoruba)
Sandra Bernhard (@sandrabernhard) – Baltimore
Crystal Waters (@crystalwaters1)
Monifah (@themonifah)
Dajae (@divadajae)
Chantal Claret (@chantalclaret)
Karyn Paige (@karynpaige)
Szjerdene (@szjerdene)
David Hays (@davidhaysmusic)
Mocean Worker (@moceanworker)
Jay-J (@shiftedmusic)
Tommie Sunshine (@tommiesunshine)
DJ Onionz (@djonionz)
Coby Koehl (@cobykoehl)
Honey Dijon (@honeydijon)
DJ Lady D (@djladyd)
DJ Sneak (@dj_sneak)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Simone
Nina Simone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Background information:
Birth name Eunice Kathleen Waymon
Born February 21, 1933
Tryon, North Carolina, U.S.
Died April 21, 2003 (aged 70)
Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
Genres Jazz, blues, R&B, folk, gospel
Occupations Singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, activist
Years active 1954–2003
Labels Bethlehem, Colpix, Philips, RCA Victor, CTI, Legacy Recordings
Website www.NinaSimone.com
Nina Simone /ˈniːnə sɨˈmoʊn/ (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.
Born the sixth child of a preacher's family in North Carolina, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist.[1] Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black.[2] When she began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education and become a classical pianist she was required to sing as well. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendering of "I Loves You, Porgy" was a hit in the United States in 1958.[1] Over the length of her career Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958—when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue—and 1974.
Her musical style arose from a fusion of gospel and pop songs with classical music, in particular with influences from her first inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach,[3] and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic contralto. She injected as much of her classical background into her music as possible to give it more depth and quality, as she felt that pop music was inferior to classical.[4] Her intuitive grasp on the audience–performer relationship was gained from a unique background of playing piano accompaniment for church revivals and sermons regularly from the early age of six years old.[5]
In the early 1960s, she became involved in the civil rights movement and the direction of her life shifted once again.[4] Simone's music was highly influential in the fight for equal rights in the United States.[6] In later years, she lived abroad, finally settling in France in 1992. She received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 and was a fifteen-time Grammy Award nominee over the course of her career.
Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Youth (1933–1954)
1.2 Early success (1954–1959)
1.3 Becoming popular (1959–1964)
1.4 Civil rights era (1964–1974)
1.5 Later life (1974–2003)
1.6 Reputation
2 Musical style
2.1 Simone standards
2.2 Performing style
3 Legacy and influence
3.1 Music
3.2 Film
3.3 Honors
4 Discography
4.1 Albums
4.2 Chart singles
5 References
6 Bibliography
7 External links
Biography
Youth (1933–1954)
Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at age three; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the instrument, she performed at her local church, but her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was twelve. Simone later said that during this performance her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. Simone said she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front,[7][8] and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.
Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon, was a Methodist minister and a housemaid. Simone's father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman who at one time owned a dry cleaning business, but also suffered bouts of ill health. Mary Kate's employer, hearing of her daughter's talent, provided funds for piano lessons.[9] Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist in Simone's continued education. With the assistance of this scholarship money she attended high school at Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina.
After finishing high school, she studied for an interview with the help of a private tutor to study piano further at the Curtis Institute, but was rejected. Simone believed that this rejection was related directly to her race, although Curtis began accepting black applicants in the 1940s and the first black graduate was George Walker in 1945 who went on to win a Pulitzer.[10] Simone then moved to New York City, where she studied at the Juilliard School of Music.
Early success (1954–1959)
To fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano. In 1954 she adopted the stage name Nina Simone. "Nina" (from niña, meaning 'little girl' in Spanish) was a nickname a boyfriend had given to her, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the movie Casque d'or.[11] Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small, but loyal, fan base.[12]
In 1958 she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage.[13] Playing in small clubs in the same year she recorded George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue soon followed on Bethlehem Records. Simone lost more than $1 million in royalties (notably for the 1980s re-release of My Baby Just Cares for Me) and never benefited financially from the album's sales because she had sold her rights outright for $3,000.[14]
Becoming popular (1959–1964)
After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records, and recorded a multitude of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. By this point, Simone only performed pop music to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.[15]
Simone married a New York police detective, Andrew Stroud, in 1961; Stroud later became her manager.[16]
Civil rights era (1964–1974)
In 1964, she changed record distributors, from the American Colpix to the Dutch Philips, which also meant a change in the contents of her recordings. Simone had always included songs in her repertoire that drew upon her African-American origins (such as "Brown Baby" and "Zungo" on Nina at the Village Gate in 1962). On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone in Concert (live recording, 1964), however, Simone for the first time openly addressed the racial inequality that was prevalent in the United States with the song "Mississippi Goddam", her response to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four black children. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in certain southern states.[17][18] "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow laws.
From then on, a civil rights message was standard in Simone's recording repertoire, becoming a part of her live performances. Simone performed and spoke at many civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches.[19] Simone advocated violent revolution during the civil rights period, rather than Martin Luther King's non-violent approach,[20] and she hoped that African Americans could, by armed combat, form a separate state. Nevertheless, she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.[21]
She covered Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit", a song about the lynching of black men in the South, on Pastel Blues (1965). She also sang the William Waring Cuney poem "Images" on Let It All Out (1966), about the absence of pride she saw among African-American women. Simone wrote "Four Women", a song about four different stereotypes of African-American women,[17] and included the recording on her 1966 album Wild Is the Wind.
Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor during 1967. She sang "Backlash Blues", written by her friend Langston Hughes on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album 'Nuff Said! (1968) contains live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair, April 7, 1968, three days after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.. She dedicated the whole performance to him and sang "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor, directly after the news of King's death had reached them.[22] In the summer of 1969 she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park.
Together with Weldon Irvine, Simone turned the late Lorraine Hansberry's unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black into a civil rights song. Hansberry had been a personal friend whom Simone credited with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and by Donny Hathaway.[17][21]
Later life (1974–2003)
Simone left the United States in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting Stroud to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of a desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.
When Simone returned to the United States she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), causing her to return to Barbados again to evade the authorities and prosecution.[23] Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time and she had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow.[24][25] A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. Later, she lived in Switzerland and the Netherlands, before settling in France in 1992.
She recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, during 1974. Simone did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, did get good reviews and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output.[26] Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later Simone recorded Fodder on My Wings on a French label. During the 1980s Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her audiences sometimes by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. In 1987, the original 1958 recording of "My Baby Just Cares for Me" was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in the United Kingdom. This led to a re-release of the recording, which stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving her a brief surge in popularity in the UK. Her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You, was published in 1992. She recorded her last album, A Single Woman, in 1993.
In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in Southern France. She had suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, on April 21, 2003. (In addition, Simone received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in the late 1980s).[27] Her funeral service was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti LaBelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actor Ossie Davis, and hundreds of others. Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. She left behind a daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud, an actress and singer, who took the stage name Simone, and has appeared on Broadway in Aida.[28]
Reputation
Simone had a reputation for volatility. In 1985, she fired a gun at a record company executive whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed".[29] In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with a pneumatic pistol after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration.[30] According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on.[31] All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down and Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004 after her death.
Musical style
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that would become standards in her repertoire. These songs were self-written tunes, tributes to works by others with a new arrangement by Simone, or songs written especially for Simone. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart.[32] During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, after it was featured in a 1986 Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial.[33] A music video was also created by Aardman Studios.[34]
Well known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964), "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne me quitte pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song) and "Feeling Good" on I Put a Spell On You (1965), "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).[35] Especially the songs "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Feeling Good", and "Sinner Man" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have great popularity today in terms of cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and its use on soundtracks for various movies, TV-series, and video games. "Sinnerman", in particular, has been featured in the TV series Scrubs, Person of Interest, and Sherlock, and on movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair, Miami Vice, and Inland Empire, and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli and Timbaland. The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. The song "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s & Heartbreak. The 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit" originally by Billie Holiday was sampled by Kanye West for "Blood on the Leaves" on his album "Yeezus".
Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned a number of singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and introducing her to a younger audience.[36] In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder. The following single, the Bee Gees' rendition of "To Love Somebody" also reached the UK Top 10 in 1969. "The House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings the Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina at the Village Gate (1962), predating the versions by Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan.[37][38] It was later covered by The Animals, for whom it became a signature hit.
Performing style
Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "High Priestess of Soul".[39] She was a piano player, singer, and performer, "separately and simultaneously".[16] On stage, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, to numbers with European classical styling, and Bach-style fugal counterpoint. She incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element.[40] Simone compared it to "mass hypnosis. I use it all the time".[21] Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman.[41]
Legacy and influence
Music[
Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Emeli Sandé, Antony and the Johnsons, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, Bono, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Peter Gabriel, Maynard James Keenan, Rood Adeo, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr. "Krucial", Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley.[17][42][43][44][45] John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles song "Michelle".[45] Musicians who have covered her work (or her specific renditions of songs) include Black Rock Coalition Orchestra, J.viewz, Carola, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Marilyn Manson, Donny Hathaway, David Bowie, Elkie Brooks, Roberta Flack, Kimbra, The Animals, Shivaree (band), Ambrosia Parsley, Muse, Cat Power, Katie Melua, Timbaland, Feist, Shara Worden, Common, Lil Wayne, Michael Bublé, and Meshell Ndegeocello. Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including but not limited to, The Big Lebowski (1998), Point of No Return (AKA The Assassin, 1993),"La Femme Nikita" (film) Notting Hill (1999), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (film) (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Sex and the City (2008), The World Unseen (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including "Feeling Good" featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under, 2004. Singer-songwriter Tom Russell's homage to Nina Simone appears on his 2009 album, "Blood and Candle Smoke."
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La Legende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers,[21] based on her autobiography I Put A Spell On You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with friends and family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply, Nina.[46]
Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment and is screened annually in New York City at an event called "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976" which is curated by Tom Blunt.[47]
Plans for a Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put A Spell On You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006; Simone's daughter, Simone Kelly, has since refuted the existence of a romantic relationship between Simone and Henderson on account of his sexuality.[48] Screenwriter Cynthia Mort (Will & Grace, Roseanne and The Brave One) is working on the screenplay, and Zoe Saldana has been chosen to star in the lead role. The casting unleashed international controversy on account of Saldana's "dissimilar" appearance to Simone and the implication that Henderson was more than just her assistant, and in fact, her romantic partner.[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57] Release of the movie is scheduled for 2013.[58]
Honors
Simone was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for her song "I Loves You Porgy." She has also received fifteen Grammy Award nominations. On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone.[59][60] Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Malcolm X College.[61] She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her.[62] Only two days before her death, Simone was awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.[63]
In 2002, the city of Nijmegen (The Netherlands) named a street after her, the Nina Simonestraat. Simone lived in Nijmegen between 1988 and 1990.
Simone was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.[64]
In 2010 a statue in her honor was erected in Trade Street, Tryon, North Carolina, her place of birth.[65]
Discography
Albums[edit]
Year Album Type Label Billboard
1958 Little Girl Blue Studio Bethlehem Records
1959 Nina Simone and Her Friends Studio
The Amazing Nina Simone Studio Colpix Records
Nina Simone at Town Hall Live and studio
1960 Nina Simone at Newport Live 23 (pop)
Forbidden Fruit Studio
1962 Nina at the Village Gate Live
Nina Simone Sings Ellington Live
1963 Nina's Choice Compilation
Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall Live
1964 Folksy Nina Live
Nina Simone in Concert Live Philips Records 102 (pop)
Broadway-Blues-Ballads Studio
1965 I Put a Spell on You Studio 99 (pop)
Sincerely Nina Live and studio
Pastel Blues Studio 8 (black)
1966 Nina Simone with Strings Studio (strings added) Colpix
Let It All Out Live and studio Philips 19 (black)
Wild Is the Wind Studio 12 (black)
1967 High Priestess of Soul Studio 29 (black)
Nina Simone Sings the Blues Studio RCA Records 29 (black)
Silk & Soul Studio 24 (black)
1968 'Nuff Said! Live and studio 44 (black)
1969 Nina Simone and Piano Studio
To Love Somebody Studio
A Very Rare Evening Live PM Records
1970 Black Gold Live RCA Records 29 (black)
1971 Here Comes the Sun Studio RCA Records 190 (pop)
Gifted & Black Studio Canyon Records
1972 Emergency Ward Live and studio RCA Records
1973 Live at Berkeley Live Stroud
Gospel According to Nina Simone Live Stroud
1974 It Is Finished Live RCA Records
Sings Billie Holiday Live Stroud
1978 Baltimore Studio CTI Records 12 (jazz)
1980 The Rising Sun Collection Live Enja
1982 Fodder on My Wings Studio Carrere
1984 Backlash Live StarJazz
1985 Nina's Back Studio VPI
1985 Live & Kickin Live
1987 Let It Be Me Live Verve
Live at Ronnie Scott's Live Hendring-Wadham
The Nina Simone Collection Compilation Deja Vu
1993 A Single Woman Studio Elektra Records 3 (top jazz)
Additional releases
1975 The Great Show Live in Paris Live RCA?
1997 Released Compilation RCA Victor Europe
2003 Four Women: the Nina Simone Philips Recordings Compilation Verve
Gold Studio remastered Universal/UCJ
Anthology Compilation (from many labels) RCA/BMG Heritage
2004 Nina Simone's Finest Hour Compilation Verve/Universal
2005 The Soul of Nina Simone Compilation + DVD RCA DualDisc
Nina Simone Live at Montreux 1976 DVD only Eagle Eye Media
Nina Simone Live DVD only: Studio 1961 & '62 Kultur/Creative Arts Television
2006 The Very Best of Nina Simone Compilation Sony BMG
Remixed and Reimagined Remix Legacy/SBMG 5 (contemp.jazz)
Songs to Sing: the Best of Nina Simone Compilation/Live Compilation Deluxe
Forever Young, Gifted, & Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit Remix RCA
2008 To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story Compilation Sony Legacy
2009 The Definitive Rarities Collection – 50 Classic Cuts Compilation Artwork Media
2013 To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story Compilation Sony Music CMG
Chart singles[edit]
Year Single Chart Positions
US Pop[66] US
R&B[67] UK[68]
1959 "I Loves You, Porgy" 18 2 -
1960 "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" 93 23 -
1961 "Trouble In Mind" 92 11 -
1965 "I Put a Spell on You" - 23 49
1968 "Ain't Got No - I Got Life" 94 (1969) - 2
"Do What You Gotta Do" 83 43 2
1969 "To Love Somebody" - - 5
"I Put A Spell On You" (reissue) - - 28
"Revolution (Part 1)" - 41 -
"To Be Young, Gifted and Black" 76 8 -
1987 "My Baby Just Cares for Me" (1959 recording) - - 5
1994 "Feeling Good" (1965 recording) - - 40
References
^ Jump up to: a b Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 1–62
Jump up ^ Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians. Jazz.com. Retrieved on October 28, 2013.
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 23
^ Jump up to: a b Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 91
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 17–19
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 95
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 26
Jump up ^ Hampton 2004, p. 15
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 21
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 41–43
Jump up ^ Brun-Lambert 2006, p. 56
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 48–52
Jump up ^ "Nina Simone". The Independent (London). April 23, 2003. Archived from the original on 2009-02-23.
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 60
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 65
^ Jump up to: a b "L'hommage: Nina Simone Biography". Archived from the original on July 23, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Neal, Mark Anthony (June 4, 2003). "Nina Simone: She Cast a Spell — and Made a Choice". Retrieved August 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 90–91
Jump up ^ "The Nina Simone Database: Timeline". 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003
^ Jump up to: a b c d Lords, Frank (1992). Nina Simone, La Legende (documentary) (DVD). France, United Kingdom: Quantum Leap.
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 114–115
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 120–122
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 129–134
Jump up ^ Brun-Lambert 2006, p. 231
Jump up ^ Sunderland, Celeste (July 1, 2005). "All about Jazz: review "Fodder on My Wings" & "Baltimore"". Retrieved August 5, 2007.
Jump up ^ Higgins, Ria (June 24, 2007). "Best of Times Worst of Times Simone". The Times (London). Retrieved May 8, 2010.(subscription required)
Jump up ^ Frank, Jonathan. "Talking Broadway Seattle: Aida". Retrieved August 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ Sebastian, Tim (March 25, 1999). "BBC Hard Talk: Putting Music First". BBC News. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ "BBC Obituary: Nina Simone". BBC News. April 21, 2003. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ Hampton 2004, pp. 9–13
Jump up ^ "Allmusic Guide: "I Love You Porgy" Billboard chart position". Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ advertising. Inside Chanel. Retrieved on October 28, 2013.
Jump up ^ Boscarol, Mauro. "Nina Simone Web: My Baby Just Cares for Me". Archived from the original on November 16, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ Hampton 2004, pp. 196–202
Jump up ^ Hampton 2004, p. 47
Jump up ^ Boscarol, Mauro. "Nina Simone Web: House of the Rising Sun". Archived from the original on November 13, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ Hampton 2004, pp. 202–214
Jump up ^ Henley, Jon; Campbell, Duncan (April 22, 2003). "Nina Simone, high priestess of soul, dies aged 70". The Guardian (Guardian News and Media).
Jump up ^ Nupie, Roger. "Dr. Nina Simone: Biography". Retrieved February 21, 2013.
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 58–59
Jump up ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (February 12, 2011). "Anna Calvi: 'Without performing I'd be a nervous wreck'". The Guardian (London).
Jump up ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (2005). "Mary J. Wants To Bring Nina Simone Back To Life". Retrieved August 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ Fiore, Raymond. "Entertainment Weekly: Seven who influenced Alicia Keys' Life". Retrieved August 14, 2007.
^ Jump up to: a b "The Nina Simone Web: Influenced by Nina". Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ Peter Rodis documentary, "Nina"[dead link]
Jump up ^ Stein, Joshua David (March 24, 2010). "Pressed for time: The Rise And Fall Of Nina Simone". New York Press.
Jump up ^ Obenson, Tambay A. (August 16, 2012). "Nina Simone's Daughter Finally Speaks: 'Project Is Unauthorized; Simone Estate Not Consulted'". Indiewire Blogs: Shadow and Act: On Cinema of the African Diaspora. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Vega, Tanzina (September 2, 2012). "Stir Builds Over Actress to Portray Nina Simone". New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Casting the Role of Nina Simone". New York Times. September 2, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Garcia, Marion (September 17, 2012). "Zoe Saldana, jugée trop claire pour interpréter Nina Simone". L'Express (French). Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Sieczkowski, Cavan (November 20, 2012). "Zoe Saldana Nina Simone Biopic Casting Controversy Heats Up". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Zoe Saldana Urged Not to Play Nina Simone in Biopic, Report Says". Fox News Latino. September 14, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Fisher, Luchina (October 26, 2012). "Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone Darkens Controversy". ABC News. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ J, Tiff (August 17, 2012). "(Mis)Casting Call: The Erasure of Nina Simone's Image". Coffee Rhetoric. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Overfield, Aaron (October 29, 2012). "An Open Letter To Anyone Who Cares About Nina Simone". ninasimone.com (The Official Website of Nina Simone). Retrieved August 30, 2013.
Jump up ^ India.Arie (November 5, 2012). "India.Arie Speaks Out About Unauthorized Nina Simone Movie". ninasimone.com (The Official Website of Nina Simone). Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Untitled Nina Simone Project at IMDB.com
Jump up ^ Hampton 2004, p. 85
Jump up ^ Kelly, John (April 25, 2005). "Answer Man: Kindness Turned Brutality". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 5, 2007.
Jump up ^ Kolodzey, Jody. "Remembering Nina Simone". Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ Hanson, Eric (2004). "A Diva's Spell" (PDF). Williams Alumni Review. Archived from the original on September 10, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ "The Nina Simone Foundation". Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ "2009 Inductees". North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Welcome Home, Nina Simone: Bronze Sculpture Dedicated in Downtown Tryon, N.C.". Polk County Travel & Tourism.[dead link]
Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 (1st ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 643. ISBN 0-89820-155-1.
Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995. Record Research. p. 402.
Jump up ^ Betts, Graham (2004). Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2004 (1st ed.). London: Collins. p. 703. ISBN 0-00-717931-6.
Bibliography
Brun-Lambert, David (October 2006) [2006]. Nina Simone, het tragische lot van een uitzonderlijke zangeres (in Dutch, translated from French original). Introduction by Lisa Celeste Stroud, afterword by Gerrit de Bruin. Zwolle: Sirene. ISBN 90-5831-425-1.
Feldstein, Ruth (March 2005). ""I Don't Trust You Anymore": Nina Simone, Culture, and Black Activism in the 1960s". Journal of American History 91 (4): 1349. doi:10.2307/3660176.
Hampton, Sylvia (2004) [2004]. Break Down and Let It All Out. David Nathan, introduction by Lisa Celeste Stroud. London: Sanctuary. ISBN 1-86074-552-0.
Simone, Nina; Stephen Cleary (2003) [1992]. I Put a Spell on You. introduction by Dave Marsh (2nd ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80525-1.
External links
The Amazing Nina Simone: A Documentary Film
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nina Simone.
Find more about Nina Simone at Wikipedia's sister projects
Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
Database entry Q174957 on Wikidata
Nina Simone on the Open Directory Project
Official website
Nina Simone in the Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians
Nina Simone at Legacy Recordings
Nina Simone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Background information:
Birth name Eunice Kathleen Waymon
Born February 21, 1933
Tryon, North Carolina, U.S.
Died April 21, 2003 (aged 70)
Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
Genres Jazz, blues, R&B, folk, gospel
Occupations Singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, activist
Years active 1954–2003
Labels Bethlehem, Colpix, Philips, RCA Victor, CTI, Legacy Recordings
Website www.NinaSimone.com
Nina Simone /ˈniːnə sɨˈmoʊn/ (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.
Born the sixth child of a preacher's family in North Carolina, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist.[1] Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black.[2] When she began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education and become a classical pianist she was required to sing as well. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendering of "I Loves You, Porgy" was a hit in the United States in 1958.[1] Over the length of her career Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958—when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue—and 1974.
Her musical style arose from a fusion of gospel and pop songs with classical music, in particular with influences from her first inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach,[3] and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic contralto. She injected as much of her classical background into her music as possible to give it more depth and quality, as she felt that pop music was inferior to classical.[4] Her intuitive grasp on the audience–performer relationship was gained from a unique background of playing piano accompaniment for church revivals and sermons regularly from the early age of six years old.[5]
In the early 1960s, she became involved in the civil rights movement and the direction of her life shifted once again.[4] Simone's music was highly influential in the fight for equal rights in the United States.[6] In later years, she lived abroad, finally settling in France in 1992. She received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 and was a fifteen-time Grammy Award nominee over the course of her career.
Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Youth (1933–1954)
1.2 Early success (1954–1959)
1.3 Becoming popular (1959–1964)
1.4 Civil rights era (1964–1974)
1.5 Later life (1974–2003)
1.6 Reputation
2 Musical style
2.1 Simone standards
2.2 Performing style
3 Legacy and influence
3.1 Music
3.2 Film
3.3 Honors
4 Discography
4.1 Albums
4.2 Chart singles
5 References
6 Bibliography
7 External links
Biography
Youth (1933–1954)
Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at age three; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the instrument, she performed at her local church, but her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was twelve. Simone later said that during this performance her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. Simone said she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front,[7][8] and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.
Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon, was a Methodist minister and a housemaid. Simone's father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman who at one time owned a dry cleaning business, but also suffered bouts of ill health. Mary Kate's employer, hearing of her daughter's talent, provided funds for piano lessons.[9] Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist in Simone's continued education. With the assistance of this scholarship money she attended high school at Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina.
After finishing high school, she studied for an interview with the help of a private tutor to study piano further at the Curtis Institute, but was rejected. Simone believed that this rejection was related directly to her race, although Curtis began accepting black applicants in the 1940s and the first black graduate was George Walker in 1945 who went on to win a Pulitzer.[10] Simone then moved to New York City, where she studied at the Juilliard School of Music.
Early success (1954–1959)
To fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano. In 1954 she adopted the stage name Nina Simone. "Nina" (from niña, meaning 'little girl' in Spanish) was a nickname a boyfriend had given to her, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the movie Casque d'or.[11] Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small, but loyal, fan base.[12]
In 1958 she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage.[13] Playing in small clubs in the same year she recorded George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue soon followed on Bethlehem Records. Simone lost more than $1 million in royalties (notably for the 1980s re-release of My Baby Just Cares for Me) and never benefited financially from the album's sales because she had sold her rights outright for $3,000.[14]
Becoming popular (1959–1964)
After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records, and recorded a multitude of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. By this point, Simone only performed pop music to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.[15]
Simone married a New York police detective, Andrew Stroud, in 1961; Stroud later became her manager.[16]
Civil rights era (1964–1974)
In 1964, she changed record distributors, from the American Colpix to the Dutch Philips, which also meant a change in the contents of her recordings. Simone had always included songs in her repertoire that drew upon her African-American origins (such as "Brown Baby" and "Zungo" on Nina at the Village Gate in 1962). On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone in Concert (live recording, 1964), however, Simone for the first time openly addressed the racial inequality that was prevalent in the United States with the song "Mississippi Goddam", her response to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four black children. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in certain southern states.[17][18] "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow laws.
From then on, a civil rights message was standard in Simone's recording repertoire, becoming a part of her live performances. Simone performed and spoke at many civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches.[19] Simone advocated violent revolution during the civil rights period, rather than Martin Luther King's non-violent approach,[20] and she hoped that African Americans could, by armed combat, form a separate state. Nevertheless, she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.[21]
She covered Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit", a song about the lynching of black men in the South, on Pastel Blues (1965). She also sang the William Waring Cuney poem "Images" on Let It All Out (1966), about the absence of pride she saw among African-American women. Simone wrote "Four Women", a song about four different stereotypes of African-American women,[17] and included the recording on her 1966 album Wild Is the Wind.
Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor during 1967. She sang "Backlash Blues", written by her friend Langston Hughes on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album 'Nuff Said! (1968) contains live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair, April 7, 1968, three days after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.. She dedicated the whole performance to him and sang "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor, directly after the news of King's death had reached them.[22] In the summer of 1969 she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park.
Together with Weldon Irvine, Simone turned the late Lorraine Hansberry's unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black into a civil rights song. Hansberry had been a personal friend whom Simone credited with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and by Donny Hathaway.[17][21]
Later life (1974–2003)
Simone left the United States in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting Stroud to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of a desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.
When Simone returned to the United States she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), causing her to return to Barbados again to evade the authorities and prosecution.[23] Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time and she had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow.[24][25] A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. Later, she lived in Switzerland and the Netherlands, before settling in France in 1992.
She recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, during 1974. Simone did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, did get good reviews and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output.[26] Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later Simone recorded Fodder on My Wings on a French label. During the 1980s Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her audiences sometimes by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. In 1987, the original 1958 recording of "My Baby Just Cares for Me" was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in the United Kingdom. This led to a re-release of the recording, which stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving her a brief surge in popularity in the UK. Her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You, was published in 1992. She recorded her last album, A Single Woman, in 1993.
In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in Southern France. She had suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, on April 21, 2003. (In addition, Simone received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in the late 1980s).[27] Her funeral service was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti LaBelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actor Ossie Davis, and hundreds of others. Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. She left behind a daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud, an actress and singer, who took the stage name Simone, and has appeared on Broadway in Aida.[28]
Reputation
Simone had a reputation for volatility. In 1985, she fired a gun at a record company executive whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed".[29] In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with a pneumatic pistol after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration.[30] According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on.[31] All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down and Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004 after her death.
Musical style
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that would become standards in her repertoire. These songs were self-written tunes, tributes to works by others with a new arrangement by Simone, or songs written especially for Simone. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart.[32] During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, after it was featured in a 1986 Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial.[33] A music video was also created by Aardman Studios.[34]
Well known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964), "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne me quitte pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song) and "Feeling Good" on I Put a Spell On You (1965), "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).[35] Especially the songs "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Feeling Good", and "Sinner Man" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have great popularity today in terms of cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and its use on soundtracks for various movies, TV-series, and video games. "Sinnerman", in particular, has been featured in the TV series Scrubs, Person of Interest, and Sherlock, and on movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair, Miami Vice, and Inland Empire, and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli and Timbaland. The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. The song "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s & Heartbreak. The 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit" originally by Billie Holiday was sampled by Kanye West for "Blood on the Leaves" on his album "Yeezus".
Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned a number of singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and introducing her to a younger audience.[36] In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder. The following single, the Bee Gees' rendition of "To Love Somebody" also reached the UK Top 10 in 1969. "The House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings the Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina at the Village Gate (1962), predating the versions by Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan.[37][38] It was later covered by The Animals, for whom it became a signature hit.
Performing style
Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "High Priestess of Soul".[39] She was a piano player, singer, and performer, "separately and simultaneously".[16] On stage, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, to numbers with European classical styling, and Bach-style fugal counterpoint. She incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element.[40] Simone compared it to "mass hypnosis. I use it all the time".[21] Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman.[41]
Legacy and influence
Music[
Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Emeli Sandé, Antony and the Johnsons, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, Bono, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Peter Gabriel, Maynard James Keenan, Rood Adeo, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr. "Krucial", Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley.[17][42][43][44][45] John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles song "Michelle".[45] Musicians who have covered her work (or her specific renditions of songs) include Black Rock Coalition Orchestra, J.viewz, Carola, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Marilyn Manson, Donny Hathaway, David Bowie, Elkie Brooks, Roberta Flack, Kimbra, The Animals, Shivaree (band), Ambrosia Parsley, Muse, Cat Power, Katie Melua, Timbaland, Feist, Shara Worden, Common, Lil Wayne, Michael Bublé, and Meshell Ndegeocello. Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including but not limited to, The Big Lebowski (1998), Point of No Return (AKA The Assassin, 1993),"La Femme Nikita" (film) Notting Hill (1999), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (film) (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Sex and the City (2008), The World Unseen (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including "Feeling Good" featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under, 2004. Singer-songwriter Tom Russell's homage to Nina Simone appears on his 2009 album, "Blood and Candle Smoke."
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La Legende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers,[21] based on her autobiography I Put A Spell On You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with friends and family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply, Nina.[46]
Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment and is screened annually in New York City at an event called "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976" which is curated by Tom Blunt.[47]
Plans for a Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put A Spell On You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006; Simone's daughter, Simone Kelly, has since refuted the existence of a romantic relationship between Simone and Henderson on account of his sexuality.[48] Screenwriter Cynthia Mort (Will & Grace, Roseanne and The Brave One) is working on the screenplay, and Zoe Saldana has been chosen to star in the lead role. The casting unleashed international controversy on account of Saldana's "dissimilar" appearance to Simone and the implication that Henderson was more than just her assistant, and in fact, her romantic partner.[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57] Release of the movie is scheduled for 2013.[58]
Honors
Simone was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for her song "I Loves You Porgy." She has also received fifteen Grammy Award nominations. On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone.[59][60] Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Malcolm X College.[61] She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her.[62] Only two days before her death, Simone was awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.[63]
In 2002, the city of Nijmegen (The Netherlands) named a street after her, the Nina Simonestraat. Simone lived in Nijmegen between 1988 and 1990.
Simone was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.[64]
In 2010 a statue in her honor was erected in Trade Street, Tryon, North Carolina, her place of birth.[65]
Discography
Albums[edit]
Year Album Type Label Billboard
1958 Little Girl Blue Studio Bethlehem Records
1959 Nina Simone and Her Friends Studio
The Amazing Nina Simone Studio Colpix Records
Nina Simone at Town Hall Live and studio
1960 Nina Simone at Newport Live 23 (pop)
Forbidden Fruit Studio
1962 Nina at the Village Gate Live
Nina Simone Sings Ellington Live
1963 Nina's Choice Compilation
Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall Live
1964 Folksy Nina Live
Nina Simone in Concert Live Philips Records 102 (pop)
Broadway-Blues-Ballads Studio
1965 I Put a Spell on You Studio 99 (pop)
Sincerely Nina Live and studio
Pastel Blues Studio 8 (black)
1966 Nina Simone with Strings Studio (strings added) Colpix
Let It All Out Live and studio Philips 19 (black)
Wild Is the Wind Studio 12 (black)
1967 High Priestess of Soul Studio 29 (black)
Nina Simone Sings the Blues Studio RCA Records 29 (black)
Silk & Soul Studio 24 (black)
1968 'Nuff Said! Live and studio 44 (black)
1969 Nina Simone and Piano Studio
To Love Somebody Studio
A Very Rare Evening Live PM Records
1970 Black Gold Live RCA Records 29 (black)
1971 Here Comes the Sun Studio RCA Records 190 (pop)
Gifted & Black Studio Canyon Records
1972 Emergency Ward Live and studio RCA Records
1973 Live at Berkeley Live Stroud
Gospel According to Nina Simone Live Stroud
1974 It Is Finished Live RCA Records
Sings Billie Holiday Live Stroud
1978 Baltimore Studio CTI Records 12 (jazz)
1980 The Rising Sun Collection Live Enja
1982 Fodder on My Wings Studio Carrere
1984 Backlash Live StarJazz
1985 Nina's Back Studio VPI
1985 Live & Kickin Live
1987 Let It Be Me Live Verve
Live at Ronnie Scott's Live Hendring-Wadham
The Nina Simone Collection Compilation Deja Vu
1993 A Single Woman Studio Elektra Records 3 (top jazz)
Additional releases
1975 The Great Show Live in Paris Live RCA?
1997 Released Compilation RCA Victor Europe
2003 Four Women: the Nina Simone Philips Recordings Compilation Verve
Gold Studio remastered Universal/UCJ
Anthology Compilation (from many labels) RCA/BMG Heritage
2004 Nina Simone's Finest Hour Compilation Verve/Universal
2005 The Soul of Nina Simone Compilation + DVD RCA DualDisc
Nina Simone Live at Montreux 1976 DVD only Eagle Eye Media
Nina Simone Live DVD only: Studio 1961 & '62 Kultur/Creative Arts Television
2006 The Very Best of Nina Simone Compilation Sony BMG
Remixed and Reimagined Remix Legacy/SBMG 5 (contemp.jazz)
Songs to Sing: the Best of Nina Simone Compilation/Live Compilation Deluxe
Forever Young, Gifted, & Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit Remix RCA
2008 To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story Compilation Sony Legacy
2009 The Definitive Rarities Collection – 50 Classic Cuts Compilation Artwork Media
2013 To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story Compilation Sony Music CMG
Chart singles[edit]
Year Single Chart Positions
US Pop[66] US
R&B[67] UK[68]
1959 "I Loves You, Porgy" 18 2 -
1960 "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" 93 23 -
1961 "Trouble In Mind" 92 11 -
1965 "I Put a Spell on You" - 23 49
1968 "Ain't Got No - I Got Life" 94 (1969) - 2
"Do What You Gotta Do" 83 43 2
1969 "To Love Somebody" - - 5
"I Put A Spell On You" (reissue) - - 28
"Revolution (Part 1)" - 41 -
"To Be Young, Gifted and Black" 76 8 -
1987 "My Baby Just Cares for Me" (1959 recording) - - 5
1994 "Feeling Good" (1965 recording) - - 40
References
^ Jump up to: a b Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 1–62
Jump up ^ Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians. Jazz.com. Retrieved on October 28, 2013.
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^ Jump up to: a b Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 91
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 17–19
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 95
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 26
Jump up ^ Hampton 2004, p. 15
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 21
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 41–43
Jump up ^ Brun-Lambert 2006, p. 56
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 48–52
Jump up ^ "Nina Simone". The Independent (London). April 23, 2003. Archived from the original on 2009-02-23.
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 60
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, p. 65
^ Jump up to: a b "L'hommage: Nina Simone Biography". Archived from the original on July 23, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Neal, Mark Anthony (June 4, 2003). "Nina Simone: She Cast a Spell — and Made a Choice". Retrieved August 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 90–91
Jump up ^ "The Nina Simone Database: Timeline". 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
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^ Jump up to: a b c d Lords, Frank (1992). Nina Simone, La Legende (documentary) (DVD). France, United Kingdom: Quantum Leap.
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 114–115
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Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 129–134
Jump up ^ Brun-Lambert 2006, p. 231
Jump up ^ Sunderland, Celeste (July 1, 2005). "All about Jazz: review "Fodder on My Wings" & "Baltimore"". Retrieved August 5, 2007.
Jump up ^ Higgins, Ria (June 24, 2007). "Best of Times Worst of Times Simone". The Times (London). Retrieved May 8, 2010.(subscription required)
Jump up ^ Frank, Jonathan. "Talking Broadway Seattle: Aida". Retrieved August 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ Sebastian, Tim (March 25, 1999). "BBC Hard Talk: Putting Music First". BBC News. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ "BBC Obituary: Nina Simone". BBC News. April 21, 2003. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ Hampton 2004, pp. 9–13
Jump up ^ "Allmusic Guide: "I Love You Porgy" Billboard chart position". Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ advertising. Inside Chanel. Retrieved on October 28, 2013.
Jump up ^ Boscarol, Mauro. "Nina Simone Web: My Baby Just Cares for Me". Archived from the original on November 16, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
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Jump up ^ Boscarol, Mauro. "Nina Simone Web: House of the Rising Sun". Archived from the original on November 13, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ Hampton 2004, pp. 202–214
Jump up ^ Henley, Jon; Campbell, Duncan (April 22, 2003). "Nina Simone, high priestess of soul, dies aged 70". The Guardian (Guardian News and Media).
Jump up ^ Nupie, Roger. "Dr. Nina Simone: Biography". Retrieved February 21, 2013.
Jump up ^ Simone & Cleary 2003, pp. 58–59
Jump up ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (February 12, 2011). "Anna Calvi: 'Without performing I'd be a nervous wreck'". The Guardian (London).
Jump up ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (2005). "Mary J. Wants To Bring Nina Simone Back To Life". Retrieved August 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ Fiore, Raymond. "Entertainment Weekly: Seven who influenced Alicia Keys' Life". Retrieved August 14, 2007.
^ Jump up to: a b "The Nina Simone Web: Influenced by Nina". Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
Jump up ^ Peter Rodis documentary, "Nina"[dead link]
Jump up ^ Stein, Joshua David (March 24, 2010). "Pressed for time: The Rise And Fall Of Nina Simone". New York Press.
Jump up ^ Obenson, Tambay A. (August 16, 2012). "Nina Simone's Daughter Finally Speaks: 'Project Is Unauthorized; Simone Estate Not Consulted'". Indiewire Blogs: Shadow and Act: On Cinema of the African Diaspora. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Vega, Tanzina (September 2, 2012). "Stir Builds Over Actress to Portray Nina Simone". New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Casting the Role of Nina Simone". New York Times. September 2, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Garcia, Marion (September 17, 2012). "Zoe Saldana, jugée trop claire pour interpréter Nina Simone". L'Express (French). Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Sieczkowski, Cavan (November 20, 2012). "Zoe Saldana Nina Simone Biopic Casting Controversy Heats Up". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Zoe Saldana Urged Not to Play Nina Simone in Biopic, Report Says". Fox News Latino. September 14, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Fisher, Luchina (October 26, 2012). "Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone Darkens Controversy". ABC News. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ J, Tiff (August 17, 2012). "(Mis)Casting Call: The Erasure of Nina Simone's Image". Coffee Rhetoric. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Overfield, Aaron (October 29, 2012). "An Open Letter To Anyone Who Cares About Nina Simone". ninasimone.com (The Official Website of Nina Simone). Retrieved August 30, 2013.
Jump up ^ India.Arie (November 5, 2012). "India.Arie Speaks Out About Unauthorized Nina Simone Movie". ninasimone.com (The Official Website of Nina Simone). Retrieved January 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Untitled Nina Simone Project at IMDB.com
Jump up ^ Hampton 2004, p. 85
Jump up ^ Kelly, John (April 25, 2005). "Answer Man: Kindness Turned Brutality". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 5, 2007.
Jump up ^ Kolodzey, Jody. "Remembering Nina Simone". Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ Hanson, Eric (2004). "A Diva's Spell" (PDF). Williams Alumni Review. Archived from the original on September 10, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ "The Nina Simone Foundation". Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
Jump up ^ "2009 Inductees". North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Welcome Home, Nina Simone: Bronze Sculpture Dedicated in Downtown Tryon, N.C.". Polk County Travel & Tourism.[dead link]
Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 (1st ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 643. ISBN 0-89820-155-1.
Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995. Record Research. p. 402.
Jump up ^ Betts, Graham (2004). Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2004 (1st ed.). London: Collins. p. 703. ISBN 0-00-717931-6.
Bibliography
Brun-Lambert, David (October 2006) [2006]. Nina Simone, het tragische lot van een uitzonderlijke zangeres (in Dutch, translated from French original). Introduction by Lisa Celeste Stroud, afterword by Gerrit de Bruin. Zwolle: Sirene. ISBN 90-5831-425-1.
Feldstein, Ruth (March 2005). ""I Don't Trust You Anymore": Nina Simone, Culture, and Black Activism in the 1960s". Journal of American History 91 (4): 1349. doi:10.2307/3660176.
Hampton, Sylvia (2004) [2004]. Break Down and Let It All Out. David Nathan, introduction by Lisa Celeste Stroud. London: Sanctuary. ISBN 1-86074-552-0.
Simone, Nina; Stephen Cleary (2003) [1992]. I Put a Spell on You. introduction by Dave Marsh (2nd ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80525-1.
External links
The Amazing Nina Simone: A Documentary Film
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nina Simone.
Find more about Nina Simone at Wikipedia's sister projects
Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
Database entry Q174957 on Wikidata
Nina Simone on the Open Directory Project
Official website
Nina Simone in the Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians
Nina Simone at Legacy Recordings
