In the late '50s, Simone began recording for the small Bethlehem label (a subsidiary of the vastly important early R&B/rock & roll King label). Almost by accident, she began to carve a reputation as a singer of secular material, though her skills at the piano would serve her well throughout her career. Auditioning for a job as a pianist in an Atlantic City nightclub, she was told she had the spot if she would sing as well as play. Needing to support herself while she studied, she generated income by working as an accompanist and giving piano lessons. Raised in a family of eight children, she originally harbored hopes of becoming a classical pianist, studying at New York's prestigious Juilliard School of Music - a rare position for an African-American woman in the 1950s.
If Simone had a chip on her shoulder, it probably arose from the formidable obstacles she had to overcome to establish herself as a popular singer. The same could be said of her stage persona admired for her forthright honesty and individualism, she was also known for feisty feuding with audiences and promoters alike. These qualities were among her strongest virtues paradoxically, they also may have kept her from attaining a truly mass audience. Like, say, Aretha Franklin, or Dusty Springfield, Simone was an eclectic who brought soulful qualities to whatever material she interpreted. It's perhaps most accurate to label her as a "soul" singer in terms of emotion, rather than form. She recorded extensively in the soul, jazz, and pop idioms, often over the course of the same album she was also comfortable with blues, gospel, and Broadway. Of all the major singers of the late 20th century, Nina Simone was one of the hardest to classify. Wild Is The Wind - If I Should Lose You Ģ2.Eunice Kathleen Waymon, better known by her stage name Nina Simone (Febru– April 21, 2003), was a Grammy Award-nominated American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist. Wild Is The Wind - Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair Ģ1. Wild Is The Wind - Why Keep On Breaking My Heart ġ9. Wild Is The Wind - Break Down And Let It All Out ġ8. Wild Is The Wind - What More Can I Say ġ5. Wild Is The Wind - I Love Your Lovin' Ways ġ3. Let It All Out - The Ballad Of Hollis Brown Ġ9. Pastel Blues - Chilly Winds Don't Blow ġ9. Pastel Blues - Tell Me More And More And Then Some ġ8. Pastel Blues - Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out ġ5. I Put A Spell On You - Take Care Of Business ġ3. I Put A Spell On You - You've Got To Learn ġ2. I Put A Spell On You - Beautiful Land ġ1. I Put A Spell On You - Blues On Purpose ġ0. I Put A Spell On You - One September Day Ġ9. I Put A Spell On You - Marriage Is For Old Folks Ġ5.
I Put A Spell On You - Ne Me Quitte Pas Ġ4. I Put A Spell On You - Tomorrow Is My Turn Ġ3. I Put A Spell On You - I Put A Spell On You Ġ2. Broadway-Blues-Ballads - The Last Rose Of Summer Ġ1. Broadway-Blues-Ballads - Our Love (Will See Us Through) ġ8. Broadway-Blues-Ballads - See-Line Woman ġ7. Broadway-Blues-Ballads - Of This I'm Sure ġ6. Broadway-Blues-Ballads - Don't Take All Night ġ3. Broadway-Blues-Ballads - Something Wonderful ġ2. Broadway-Blues-Ballads - The Laziest Gal In Town ġ1. Broadway-Blues-Ballads - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood Ġ9. Nina Simone In Concert - Mississippi Goddam Ġ8. Nina Simone In Concert - Don't Smoke In Bed Ġ6. Nina Simone In Concert - Old Jim Crow Ġ5. Nina Simone In Concert - Pirate Jenny Ġ4. Nina Simone In Concert - Plain Gold Ring Ġ3. Nina Simone In Concert - I Loves You, Porgy Ġ2. The box contains all seven LPs on four CDs,Ġ1. Studio recordings featuring wildly varying instrumentation,Īrrangements, and contents. Among her Philips recordings are her live label debut and six Philips (most notably with RCA), her Philips period is easily her mostĮnigmatic. That she recorded great albums both before and after her years with Her contributions to the civil rights movement as well. It was the period in her career in which her reputation wasĬemented as a world-class artist, and one in which she gained fame for Nina Simone recorded seven albums for the Philips label between 1964 andġ966.