In the grand hierarchy of the greatest African-American female vocalists of the 20th century – Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and Aretha Franklin, among them – Nina Simone (1933-2003) holds a special position of honor for the fearless role she played as an uncompromising ambas sador of cultural pride at the height of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements from the late 1950s to the 1970s.
Under pinning her status as one of the outspoken voices of that tumultuous period in history was Nina Simone's fascinating and wide-ranging musical taste. Her palette ranged from the 1920s blues and jazz of Duke Ellington and Miles Davis, to the standard songbook of Irving Berlin and the Gershwins, from traditional American balladry and the poetry of Langston Hughes, to the folk and folk rock of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman, Richie Havens, Sandy Denny, Jimmy Webb (and many others). Her song choices further spanned the repertoire of the Beatles, the Byrds, the Bee Gees, and Hair, to Olatunji and the exciting new strains of Afro-pop and World Music before the genre even had a name – and much more.
All these musical roots and branches of Nina Simone's life are explored in depth on
TO BE FREE: THE NINA SIMONE STORY, a deluxe new four-disc (three CDs + DVD) box set that is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging collection of Nina Simone's music ever compiled. Containing 51 audio tracks – eight of them previously unreleased – covering her recording years from 1957 to 1993 for the Bethlehem, Colpix, Philips, RCA (for whom she cut nine LPs that are considered the pinnacle of her output), CTI, and Elektra record labels, plus another nine performances on the 23-minute documentary DVD – the box set will be available at all physical and digital retail outlets starting September 30th through RCA/Legacy, a division of SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAIN MENT.
The Sony BMG archives are the source for all eight previously unreleased tracks, all from Nina's recordings for the Colpix and RCA labels, spanning 1963-73: "When Malindy Sings/Swing Low Sweet Chariot" (live at the Newport Jazz Festival, 1963); "Ain't Got No-I Got Life" (alternate version of her cover hit of the Hair song, from the 1968 'Nuff Said! sessions); Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and Richie Havens' "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" (both live at New York's Philharmonic Hall, October 1969); "Tanywey" (a newly discovered original, from the 1971 Here Comes The Sun LP sessions); Gilbert Becaud's (via the Everly Brothers) "Let It Be Me" (live at the Fort Dix military base, 1971); and "Nina" (a free-form jam) and Olatunji's "Zungo" (both live at New York's Philharmonic Hall, July 1973).
As Seidel points out, "elements of jazz, classical, blues, R&B, gospel/spirituals, folk, folk rock, rock, pop, Broadway, movie songs, Great American Songbook standards, French songs, African songs, reggae and protest songs may all be heard in this collection." In 2006 and 2007, Seidel, who has produced nearly a dozen Simone projects for various labels, added four of her titles to the Legacy catalog: reissues of the 1967 albums Silk And Soul and Nina Simone Sings The Blues, as well as two compilations, Just Like A Woman: Nina Simone Sings Classic Songs Of The '60s and Young, Gifted And Black: Songs Of Freedom And Spirit.
In the wake of those releases, and five years after Simone's death in France in 2003, TO BE FREE is the ultimate tribute, carefully compiled and annotated, exploring a career that reflects the historical upheavals of the time, as played out in her music. The box set booklet, which contains never-before-seen photography from her family archives, photos from the personal collection of Nina Simone historian Sylvia Hampton, and from various recording sessions and performances, opens with introductory essays by Ed Ward, National Public Radio's 'rock & roll historian' and Fresh Air correspondent.
The box set booklet then segues to the meticulously researched track-by-track annotations written by David Nathan (aka "The British Ambassador of Soul"). Nathan is the co-author with his sister Sylvia Hampton and Nina's daughter Lisa Kelly Simone of Break Down & Let It All Out (Sanctuary, 2003), the definitive bio graphy of the artist. Nathan has annotated hundreds of soul and R&B reissues, including nearly 20 Nina Simone titles in the U.S. alone. He and Sylvia had the distinction of founding the Nina Simone 'appreciation society' (aka fan club) in England circa 1964, running it for many years, and becoming her lifelong friend. During that time they were often consulted by RCA Records UK on Nina's record releases, for example, her cover of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody," which became a Top 5 UK hit in 1969.
Among the 51 tracks on TO BE FREE are, for the first time, every song ever to make the U.S. and UK national charts under Nina Simone's name (though some not in their original single version) – virtually every one with a story behind it:
"I Loves You, Porgy" (recorded for Bethlehem, 1957, from Porgy & Bess; Nina's first single and first chart record, inspired by Billie Holiday's version);
"My Baby Just Cares For Me" (Bethlehem, 1957; Nina's version of the Tin Pan Alley chestnut was revived in 1985 for a Chanel perfume tv spot, jumped onto the UK chart as a 5 smash, and inspired George Michael's 1999 version);
"Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out" (Colpix, 1959; the Bessie Smith Depression-era classic of 1929, issued as a rare non-LP single by Nina three decades later);
"Trouble In Mind" (Colpix, June 1960; live at the Newport Jazz Festival, also a classic 1920s blues, associated with Chippie Hill and Louis Armstrong);
"I Put A Spell On You" (Philips, 1965; the Screamin' Jay Hawkins rock staple, Nina's first UK chart single, which enabled her to tour there and in Europe, the market that eventually eclipsed her commercial popularity in the U.S.);
"Feeling Good" (Philips, 1965; from the Anthony Newley-Leslie Bricusse musical The Roar Of The Greasepaint, The Smell Of The Crowd, with a message of freedom that resonated with Nina; revived for a Volkswagen commercial in 1994 that spurred it onto the UK chart, then the six-minute Verve Remixed version in 2002, and on Sony Music TV's Sex & The City double-CD of 2004);
"Ain't Got No-I Got Life" (1968, from Hair; previously unreleased alternate version, with improvised, altered lyrics, different than her studio version with over dubbed 'live' applause, which exploded her career in the UK as a 2 hit);
"Do What You Gotta Do" (RCA, 1968; chosen as the B-side of "Ain't Got No" in the UK, where it hit 7, a lesser-known Jimmy Webb song that inspired a rare non-Jobete cover by the Four Tops the following year);
"To Love Somebody" (RCA, 1968; one of several Bee Gees songs recorded by Nina, did not chart as a U.S. single, but was chosen as the follow-up to "Ain't Got No" in the UK, where it hit 5);
"Revolution" (PM, April 1969; live in Germany, full-length concert recording of the song whose "Part 1" RCA studio version was an R&B chart hit the same month, Nina's first original compo si tion to chart, with lyrics by her organist and music director Weldon Irvine); and finally,
"To Be Young, Gifted And Black" (RCA, 1969).
The latter, "To Be Young, Gifted And Black," occupies a special place in the Nina Simone oeuvre, a part of American history that continues to resonate. Playwright Lorraine Hansberry (A Raisin In The Sun) coined the phrase "to be young, gifted and black" during a speech in 1964, the year before her untimely death at age 35, and the phrase immediately took on a life of its own. Within a few years, "To Be Young, Gifted And Black" became the title of a play based on Hansberry's unfinished works, the longest-running off-Broadway play of the 1968-69 season – the same year that Nina Simone (with Weldon Irvine) composed "To Be Young, Gifted And Black."
Although "To Be Young, Gifted And Black" rose to the Top 10 on the Billboard R&B chart and was christened the Black National Anthem for decades to come, it was destined to become Nina's final chart record here. She left the U.S. for good in 1970, rather than face prosecution for income tax evasion. She spent most of the rest of her life outside the country, living in Barbados, Liberia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, before finally settling in France. Without a long-term major label record deal for three decades (though she released one-off albums for Creed Taylor's CTI in 1978, and Elektra in 1993), Nina Simone comfortably lived out her life as a world-class concert artist, who regally toured around the world as a major star.
It was onstage that her special magic shined – in fact, it was a live performance demo that led to her first record deal at age 24, with Syd Nathan's jazz label Bethlehem. Even her 1957 debut LP, a studio date with bassist Jimmy Bond and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath, was given the live-sounding title Jazz As Played In An Exclusive Side Street Club (though it was also known as Little Girl Blue). Three standards from that album, Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo," "I Loves You, Porgy," and "My Baby Just Cares For Me," provide the opening trifecta of TO BE FREE.
Twenty-four live performances comprise nearly half of TO BE FREE's 51 tracks, includ ing a couple that were studio tracks with overdubbed applause, an all-too common practice back in the day: 1959's "Wild Is the Wind," and a '70s cover of Tina Turner's "Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter." Nina Simone's discography of "live" albums (i.e. albums comprised in whole or in part of true live performances) exceeded most artists of her era – nine of those LPs are represented on this collection, both with released and previously unreleased tracks from their concert dates:
Nina At Town Hall (Colpix, 1959: Irving Berlin's "You Can Have Him" and the movie theme "Wild Is The Wind," a studio track with overdubbed applause);
Nina Simone At Newport (Colpix, 1960: "Trouble In Mind");
Broadway-Blues-Ballads (Philips, 1964: her first LP for her new label, with "See-Line Woman," believed to have been recorded at Carnegie Hall);
Nina Simone In Concert (Philips, 1964: Kurt Weill's "Pirate Jenny," also believed to have been recorded at Carnegie Hall);
'Nuff Said! (RCA, 1968: "Sunday In Savannah," "Backlash Blues," and "Mississippi Goddam," live at Westbury Music Fair on April 7th, a national day of mourning declared by President Johnson – three days after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.);
A Very Rare Evening (PM, 1969: "The Other Woman," Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going To Rain Today," the Aretha Franklin-Carolyn Franklin-King Curtis "Save Me," and the full-length "Revolution," live in Germany);
Black Gold (RCA, 1969: "Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair," the South African-flavored "Westwind," Sandy Denny/Fairport Convention's "Who Knows Where The Time Goes," and the previously unreleased "Suzanne" and "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed," live at New York's Philharmonic Hall);
Emergency Ward (RCA, 1971: the 18-minute LP side-long medley of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" with Nina's "Today Is A Killer," the anti-drug "Poppies," and the previously unreleased "Let It Be Me," live at Fort Dix); and finally
It Is Finished (RCA, 1973: Nina's final RCA LP, with "Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter," Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles," "I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl," and the previously unreleased "Nina" and "Zungo," live at New York's Philharmonic Hall).
"Nina Simone was one of those controversial figures American pop music puts forward from time to time," writes Ed Ward. "To see this African-American woman get angry about the racial situation in her country, right there on stage, was a shock to people who'd come to hear her sing 'I Loves You, Porgy.' Not that she cared; she figured that it was the artist's job to deliver the truth, and if the truth hurt, so be it. Of course, events wound up proving her right, but she never stopped being prickly about one thing or another. It was just part of who she was, and part of why her music has endured while that of some of her contemporaries has faded: she's still contemporary."
To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story is available for preorder now from
Amazon!