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Nina Simone: High Priestess of Soul

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Philips Records
Released: 1967
Time:
 35:47
Category: Vocal, Soul, Jazz
Producer(s): Hal Mooney
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.ninasimone.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 1,00





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[1] Don't You Pay Them No Mind (Richard Ahlert, Robert Scott) - 3:05
[2] I'm Gonna Leave You (Rudy Stevenson) - 2:15
[3] Brown Eyed Handsome Man (Chuck Berry) - 2:02
[4] Keeper of the Flame (Charles Derringer) - 3:21
[5] The Gal from Joe's (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills) - 2:43
[6] Take Me to the Water (Nina Simone) - 2:49
[7] I'm Going Back Home (Rudy Stevenson) - 2:47
[8] I Hold No Grudge (Andy Badale, John Clifford) - 2:17
[9] Come Ye (Nina Simone) - 3:34
[10] He Ain't Comin' Home No More (Andy Badale, John Clifford) - 3:06
[11] Work Song (Nat Adderley, Oscar Brown, Jr.) - 3:03
[12] I Love My Baby (Andy Stroud) - 4:00

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Nina Simone - Vocals, Piano

Hal Mooney Orchestra - Orchestra
Hal Mooney - Audio Production, Conductor, Arrangements

Jack McMahon - Tape Editor
Del Shields - Liner Notes

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Perhaps a bit more conscious of contemporary soul trends than her previous Philips albums, this is still very characteristic of her mid-'60s work in its eclectic mix of jazz, pop, soul, and some blues and gospel. Hal Mooney directs some large band arrangements for the material on this LP without submerging Simone's essential strengths. The more serious and introspective material is more memorable than the good-natured pop selections here. The highlights are her energetic vocal rendition of the Oscar Brown/Nat Adderley composition "Work Song" and her spiritual composition "Come Ye," on which Simone's inspirational vocals are backed by nothing other than minimal percussion.

Richie Unterberger - All Music Guide



Nina Simone"I insist on being not one of your clowns, but one of you," she commands of her French audience early on in her performance. When Nina Simone walks out onto the stage, the first word that comes to mind is: regal. "I am a queen," she proudly announces. Her black wrap dress is simple and minimalist. Her silver necklace, a gift from a man who lives in Greece, is modest and beautiful—she pulls attention towards it on more than one occasion during her performance. But for me, it is Simone herself that stands out; she is the radiant gem and her garb serves merely as a backdrop.

The way she looks out into the crowd—with or without her Cheshire-cat like smile—and her unflinching stare make you feel like you are the only person that matters in the room. The intensity and power she gives off while singing is felt in the exaggerated rises and falls in her pitch and the crisp high notes that she holds onto forever. Simone has the ability to make every word count and resonate. I think what surprised me the most about her presence was how seemingly aware she was of her gifts, of her ability to captivate and mesmerize her audience.

Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina in 1933. In her autobiography I Put a Spell on You (Pantheon Books, 1991), she recalls that most of her childhood memories were tied up in music. "Everything that happened to me as a child involved music," she said. "It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing."

As an infant during Sunday services at church, her family and parishioners remember how her tiny infant hands were able to clap in time with the choir. At just two-and-a-half, Simone climbed up to the piano bench and tried very hard to play the keys on the family organ. She was able to strike each key with more force in just a few months. Mary Kate, her mother, was astonished when she heard her barely three year old daughter play "God Be with You 'Til We Meet Again," in the key of F. "To Momma's mind there was only one explanation: I had received a gift from God," wrote Simone of the event.

At six and a half, Simone was introduced to an Englishwoman named Mrs. Massinovitch, whom she affectionately called "Miz Mazzy." She would become Simone's first and perhaps most significant introduction to classical training. Miz Mazzy introduced Simone to the world of classical music: Beethoven, Liszt, Czerny, and her favorite, Bach. Her time with Miz Mazzy taught her valuable lessons in technique: how to properly hold her hands at the piano, how to improve the spread of her fingers, and how to play from the shoulders and not from the wrists. But her lessons went beyond technique. Simone also learned how to carry herself on stage, things like bowing and walking on and off a stage with grace, and she even learned how to sit up straight and exude elegance while she played.

Both her training with Miz Mazzy and her eventual studies at Juilliard amply prepared Simone to share her talents with the rest of the world. Sid Nathan, the owner of Bethlehem Records, arrived at her home one evening. He brought with him a ton of songs for her to play and a list of musicians that he had chosen to become Simone's studio band. She told him straight away she didn't want to play his songs and if she was going to make an album, she would choose the material. Simone also told Nathan that she would pick the musicians she wanted to back her. What Nathan didn't know was that fame was never a huge ambition for her. When Nathan returned later that afternoon, he agreed to all of her conditions and offered her a contract to record Little Girl Blue in 1957.

Aside from the hectic touring schedules that come with being a professional musician, her success did have other drawbacks. Simone had to find a way to deal with being labeled. She began to notice that many of the critics would often compare her to Billie Holiday because of "Porgy (I Loves You Porgy)." She hated that because it was just one of many songs that she had performed and all of them were quite distinct.

"What made me mad was that it meant people couldn't get past the fact we were both black," she said. "If I had happened to be white, nobody would have made the connection." She further added that it was wrong to put her into a box. "Calling me a jazz singer was a way of ignoring my musical background because I didn't fit into white ideas of what a black performer should be. It was a racist thing; 'If she's black she must be a jazz singer.'"

A number of tragedies of the 1960s inspired some of Simone's greatest work. Her life as a mother and a wife had always taken a back seat to her music, but perhaps even more so now; the Civil Rights movement had consumed her. Though her touring and practice continued to keep her isolated, Simone would listen to the radio more often to keep up with any changes in the struggle. It was her idealism that made her believe that things were going to change for the better for black people.

Shannon J. Effinger - September 4, 2008
© 2015 All About Jazz



Nina Simone, dubbed the ‘High Priestess of Soul’, was renowned for her ability to captivate the imaginations of listeners through her hypnotic voice.

Nina Simone is an iconic American musician who is particularly known for emotionally honest songs, that left a legacy of ‘liberation, empowerment, passion and love’ in a time of unrest and upheaval. A hugely prolific artist, she recorded over forty original albums that revealed her ability to interweave the conventions from various genres of music, including classical, jazz, blues, R&B, gospel, and pop traditions.

Born as Eunice Kathleen Wamon in Tyron, North Carolina in 1933, the musical storyteller who later changed her name to Nina Simone carved out an epic career as a singer, songwriter, pianist and a civil rights activist. To this day her music is still enjoyed by the masses and is recognized for its timelessness. Her transformational style that fused jazz, blues, gospel, folk and classical music was unique. Incorporating monologues or atmospheric silence were part of her technical approach, often shocking the audience or making them truly listen and think about the content of her lyrics.

Simone learned how to play the piano at the age of three, and by twelve she had her first debut concert, which was a defining experience, shaping the way she used her music. Her parents, who were sitting at the front, were asked to move to the back to make way for white members of the audience. At this young age, Simone, who refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, saw the beginnings of her involvement in the American civil rights movement. As she grew older and her musical experience developed she continued playing a significant role in these efforts. Playing the piano in church, her talent was quickly acknowledged, however she later applied to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and was rejected, a decision she claimed was motivated by racism. Despite this setback she received funding to finish high school and her community further raised money for her scholarship to study at the famous Juilliard Institute in New York City. It was in New York that Simone’s music began to directly represent the struggles of the black community and resemble her connection with Black Pride.

In the 1950’s Simone started to record with the Bethlehem label, and in 1959 she first started to gain public attention, with her version of ‘I Love You Porgy’. In the early sixties, she recorded albums with Candix, and from the mid-sixties she started to record with Phillips who openly allowed her to express her passionate views against racism. During this time Simone recorded many political songs that revealed her strong voice in the fight for equal rights, such as 'Mississippi Goddam','To Be Young, Gifted and Black', 'Backlash Blues', 'I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free'. Other, more traditional songs she is well known for are 'House of the Rising Sun', 'I Put a Spell on You, To Love Somebody' and 'Aint Got No (I Got Life)'. Throughout most of this, percussionist Leopoldo Flemming and guitarist and musical director Al Shackman accompanied her.

Fighting and falling out with her agent and husband Andy Stroud, record labels, and the tax authorities, all contributed to Simone’s decision to move away from the United States in 1971. When she returned in 1978 she was arrested for refusing to pay her taxes; an act that was done as a protest against the United States in the Vietnam War. After this she moved around and settled for periods of time in Barbados, Liberia, Switzerland, Britain and France. In the 1980’s she performed regularly at the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London. In 1993 she settled in France, where she passed away from cancer in 2003. Artists from around the world, such as Miriam Makeba, Patti Labelle, Ossie Davis, Sonia Sanchez and Elton John, attended her funeral.

In the context of the changes that were happening during her time, such as the CD revolution, increased use of the Internet and the raised exposure through television and movies, Nina also received much publicity on those levels. Alongside her large repertoire of treasured tunes that have featured in films such as The Thomas Crown Affair, Point of No Return and The Big Lebowski, she wrote an autobiography called I Put a Spell On You, of which French filmmakers based their documentary Nina Simone: La Legende. Many of her performances were filmed and made available on video, for example her 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival show. After her death, in 2003, her biography, Let It All Out, was published.

The Culture Trip Ltd © 2015



High Priestess of Soul is a studio album by jazz singer, pianist and songwriter Nina Simone (1933–2003). The songs are accompanied by a large band directed by Hal Mooney. The album contains popular songs (such as "Don't You Pay Them No Mind") and African American gospel and folk related songs written by Simone herself (such as "Take Me to the Water" and "Come Ye"). After this album title –an attempt to broaden her appeal by management execs– Nina Simone was sometimes titled “the high priestess of soul”, although she completely rejected the title herself, because it placed a label on her as an artist. However, according to her daughter, Simone, she never hated that moniker.

The songs "I Hold No Grudge" and "He Ain't Comin' Home No More" were co-written by Andy Badale, the pseudonym of Angelo Badalamenti, who later became known as composer of the soundtracks for the films of David Lynch. Simone recorded also "Another Spring" by Badalamenti and Clifford for her album Nina Simone and Piano released 1969. An earlier recording of the soul jazz hit "Work Song" by Nat Adderley and Oscar Brown, Jr. had been featured on Forbidden Fruit (1961, also featured on the compilation Nina’s Choice from 1963). In 1966 Simone recorded the song once again With Strings. The last track "I Love My Baby" is a composition by Andy Stroud to whom Simone was married from 1960 until 1970. His company Stroud Productions also produced many of her albums.

Wikipedia.org
 

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