Nina Simone Philips

Nina Simone recorded the title track, originally popularized by Johnny Mathis, twice: it appears on her 1959 live album and again on this 1966 release. David Bowie's mid-1970s cover version was inspired by the rendition on this album and was recorded after Bowie met Simone. Also includes one of Simone's signature tunes, the stereotype-fighting Four Women, her only original number on this album. An anthem for the Civil Rights movement, the single was banned upon release by a New York jazz radio station due to what was considered controversial lyrical content at the time.

Nina Simone is accompanied on this classic 1967 release by a large orchestra, arranged and led by Hal Mooney. Neither strictly jazz nor soul, the material here is eclectic as Simone interprets these covers in her inimitable style. The album also includes two original songs, the sparse and intimate "Come Ye" featuring Simone accompanied by nothing but percussion and the centerpiece track, "Take Me To The Water".

One of Nina Simone's classics from her days at Philips, this 1965 album includes three songs that have come to be closely identified with her: Ne me quitte pas by Jacques Brel, Feeling Good and the title track, a cover of the Screamin' Jay Hawkins song, which became a successful R&B single for her. In fact Simone was so closely associated with the song she chose to use the same title for her 1990 autobiography.

Let It All Out is one of Nina Simone's more adult pop-oriented mid-'60s albums, with renditions of tunes by Duke Ellington ('Mood Indigo'), Billie Holiday ('Don't Explain'), Irving Berlin ('This Year's Kisses'), and Rodgers & Hart ('Little Girl Blue'). As ever, Simone ranges wide in her selection: Bob Dylan's 'The Ballad of Hollis Brown,' a swaggering adaptation of 'Chauffeur Blues' (credited to her husband of the time, Andy Stroud), the gospel hymn 'Nearer Blessed Lord,' and Van McCoy's 'For Myself.' 'Images' is an a cappella adaptation of a poem about the beauty of blackness by Waring Cuney. All of Simone's Philips albums are solid, and this is no exception, while it isn't the best of them.

This is probably the most personal album that Simone issued during her stay on Philips in the mid-'60s. On most of her studio sessions, she worked with orchestration that either enhanced her vocals tastefully or smothered her, and she tackled an astonishingly wide range of material that, while admirably eclectic, made for uneven listening.

Jazz Divas album for sale was released 08 December 2014 on the My Favorite Things label. CD music contains a single disc with 30 songs. Artists: Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Esther Philips, Etta Jones, Marilyn Monroe, Peggy Lee, The Andrews Sisters.

Dean Rudland compiles a selection of 70s Funk for Back Beats. Nina Simone, Jimmy Castor, Shuggie Otis, Sly & The Family Stone and many more feature. Amazon Review by Donald E. Gilliland: If you can get past the stupid album title and the tacky cover photo, you will find the music on this compilation to be very good, over 65 minutes of fine funky soul tunes from 1968 to 1974. The closest thing to a hit on this collection is perhaps "Sing A Simple Song" by Sly & the Family Stone, but even without a bunch of hits the material on here is very high in quality, which one would expect from a volume in this dependable "Backbeats" series of collection. Even amongst the recognizable names such as Nina Simone, Esther Phillips, M.F.S.B., Shuggie Otis, and Al Kooper we are treated to some very tasty funk-infused material. I also love "Watts Breakaway" by Johnny Otis, "It's Just Begun" by Jimmy Castor (which sounds like it could be an early Earth, Wind & Fire track!),"It's Alright" by the legendary Bobby Rush, and "Afro Strut" by the Nite-Liters. Even more obscure artists such as Shay Holiday, Casey Jones, Jesse Gresham, and Kim Melvin turn out some cool songs. And I can't forget the drum work-out by Bernard Purdie on "Soul Drums". Feel the beat indeed! I have enjoyed almost all of the volumes in the "Breakbeats" series, and this is one of the better ones. Too bad about that horrible cover and the album title! But ignore all that and just listen to the music; there's plenty of truly great songs on here, ones that will surely please fans of early 1970s soul and funk.