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Nina Simone: Baltimore

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: CTI Records
Released: 1978.01.15
Time:
 36:49
Category: Vocal, Soul, Jazz
Producer(s): Creed Taylor
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.ninasimone.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Baltimore (Randy Newman) - 4:39
[2] Everything Must Change (Benard Ighner) - 3:58
[3] The Family (John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins) - 4:58
[4] My Father (Judy Collins) - 4:54
[5] Music For Lovers (Bart Howard) - 3:41
[6] Rich Girl (Daryl Hall) - 3:11
[7] That's All I Want From You (Fritz Rotter) - 2:52
[8] Forget (Rocky "Cole" Coluccio, David Matthews) - 2:54
[9] Balm In Gilead (Traditional) - 2:24
[10] If You Pray Right (Traditional) - 3:18

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Nina Simone - Arranger, Keyboards, Vocals

Al Schackman - Director, Music Direction, Piano, Tambourine
David Matthews - Arranger, Piano
Jerry Friedman - Guitar
Eric Gale - Guitar
Gary King - Bass
Will Lee - Bass
Andy Newmark - Drums
James Madison - Drums
Nicky Marrero - Percussion

Babi Floyd - Backing Vocals
Frank Floyd - Backing Vocals
Ray Simpson - Backing Vocals
Maeretha Stewart - Backing Vocals
Maretha Stewart - Backing Vocals
Deborah McDuffie - Backing Vocals
Milt Grayson - Backing Vocals
Joshie Armstead - Backing Vocals
Albertine Robinson - Backing Vocals

Jonathan Abramowitz - Cello
Lamar Alsop - Viola
John Beal - Bass, String Bass
Alfred Brown - Viola
Max Ellen - Violin
Barry Finclair - Violin
Harry Glickman - Violin
Chuck Israels - Upright Bass
Charles Libove - Violin
Harry Lookofsky - Violin
Charles McCracken - Cello
Homer Mensch - Upright & String Bass
Marvin Morgenstern - Violin
David Nadien - Violin
Alan Schulman - Cello
Alan Shulman - Cello
Herbert Sorkin - Violin
Richard Sortomme - Violin
Emanuel Vardi - Viola

Creed Taylor - Liner Notes, Producer
Didier C. Deutsch - Liner Notes, Reissue Producer
David Palmer - Audio Engineer, Engineer
Rudy Van Gelder - Engineer
Joe Cohn - Assistant Engineer
Mark Wilder - Mastering
Chris Herles - Digital Mastering
Stacey Boyle - Tape Research
Matt Kelly - Tape Research
Sibbi Chalawick - Design
Steven Berkowitz - A&R
Betsy Palumbo - Coordination
David Nathan - Liner Notes

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Recorded in Brussels, January 1978, Van Gelder Studios.

Baltimore is an album by Nina Simone. After completing the album, Nina expressed her dissatisfaction with it on numerous occasions, mainly because she had no say in the arrangements, selection of songs and the cover picture. Despite this, critics were positive about the album and it gave a resurgence to Nina's then fading career. "Baltimore" was composed by Randy Newman and originally appeared on his 1977 album Little Criminals. "If You Pray Right" is also called "Heaven Belongs To You".



After an uncharacteristic (for her) four-year hiatus from recording, Nina Simone returned to the fringes of the pop world with Baltimore, the only album she recorded for the CTI label. While it bears some of the musical stylings of the period - light reggae inflections that hint of Steely Dan's "Haitian Divorce" - the vocals are unmistakably Simone's. Like many of her albums, the content is wildly uneven; Simone simply covers too much ground and there's too little attention paid to how songs flow together. As a result, a robust torch piano ballad like "Music for Lovers" is followed immediately by one of Simone's more awkward moments, an attempt to keep up with a jaunty rhythm track on a cover of Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl." Still, one must give her credit for always being provocative in her cover song choices, as she clearly scores on the Randy Newman-penned title track and a dramatic reading of Judy Collins' "My Father." Her voice throughout is in fine form, even when she phones it in on the album-closing traditional gospel tunes, but arranger David Matthews is a mismatch for her: He blows the arrangements with excessive string overlays and needlessly blaring background vocals. Simone herself all but disavowed the album shortly after its release, testament to her eternally contrarian, iconic nature. Despite her misgivings, though, Baltimore is an occasionally spellbinding if erratic album, a challenging and worthwhile listen for people ready to dip into the lesser-known entries in Nina Simone's vast catalog.

Joseph McCombs - All Music Guide



Four years earlier, at the height of disco fever, Simone released Baltimore. Recently reissued as part of the label's Master Series, the album conjures images of steamy city nights, rebellious, independent kids, and Paris.

Tempering deep nostalgia with flirty, low-key funk, Simone's band maintains a bell-bottom beat with Eric Gale and Jerry Friedman's wah-wah guitar effects on "The Family and "Rich Girl, while an eighteen-piece string section creates a gushingly sentimental foundation for Simone's poignant vocals on "My Father. Every word Simone sings sounds autobiographical, though many of the tracks were written by hit-makers of the day like Randy Newman, Judy Collins, and Daryl Hall. Her voice sounds exceptionally seasoned, throbbing with wisdom, resounding with smooth luster, as if she really had been through it all.

Celeste Sunderland - July 1, 2005
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