Nina Simone recorded seven albums for the Philips label between 1964 and 1966. It was the period in her career in which her reputation was cemented as a world-class artist, and one in which she gained fame for her contributions to the civil rights movement as well. Despite the fact that she recorded great albums both before and after her years with Philips (most notably with RCA), her Philips period is easily her most enigmatic. Among her Philips recordings are her live label debut and six studio recordings featuring wildly varying instrumentation, arrangements, and contents. The box contains all seven LPs on four CDs, and includes one bonus track.
Famed for her hard-rocking, dance-inducing new-wave sound, ferocious vocals, cult-film acting and scandalous talk-show appearances, Nina saw her name spread westward from her native East Berlin as the '70s gave way to the '80s. Here's her 1979 debut LP Nina Hagen Band, 1982 English-language debut Nunsexmonkrock and relentlessly grooving 1983 LP Fearless. What it is (unmistakably featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers) joins New York New York; My Sensation; Superboy; Der Spinner; Antiworld; Smack Jack; UFO; Dr. Art; her German-language version of White Punks on Dope, and more!
Nina Simone Sings Ellington is an album by American singer and pianist Nina Simone. The album contains songs that were originally composed and recorded by Duke Ellington. Simone is complemented by the Malcolm Dodds Singers.
The cover photo features just Nina Simone's head in full colour. Nina says about this picture in her autobiography I Put A Spell On You (1992) that the picture was originally a full size picture of Simone's body. However, because Nina was pregnant with her daughter Lisa at that time, the photographer tried various positions to hide Nina's stomach. He failed in this most probably, and that is why just Simone's head was used out of the full picture.
A leftover shot of Nina from this session, featuring a pose from her chest up, was later used on her 1966 album, Nina Simone with Strings.
This compilation gathers 21 songs from a small period in the career of Nina Simone, the 1967-1968 era of the British hit "Ain't Got No (I Got Life)" and LPs like 1967's Silk & Soul. Those looking for a tight collection of Simone's crossover period will find much to love here, from "It Be's That Way Sometimes" and "The Backlash Blues" to covers of "I Shall Be Released," "Just Like a Woman," and "The Look of Love." The big caveat, however, is the presence of "Ain't Got No (I Got Life)" only in a live version, which makes this collection much more difficult to justify. It's worth picking up on a whim, but definitely not a careful search.