Nina Simone Rca

Nina Simone was one of the most moving, inspirational performers in the history of popular music. Here we present all the tracks from her debut album along with some incendiary live performances that give a glimpse of the force of nature that typified this remarkable artist. From love songs and ballads, through Jazz and Blues, to classics and roots, this set features some of her finest songs, with an introduction and detailed notes on the tracks featured.

In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement where spirits may not have been high, Nina Simone walked onto the stage and used her raspy voice to send a message. That message is there's always tomorrow and the future is bright. It's a live album that features Simone singing some of her biggest songs as well as other songs that she was fond of at the time. It also features a lot of dialogue from Simone on issues facing black Americans at the time.

Forever Young, Gifted & Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit is a textbook case for preparing a compilation by a single artist, thematically. These 11 tracks were recorded between 1967 and 1969, at the split seam in cultural and political history, where the African-American civil rights movement ceded its popularity - among young people - to the more visceral and visual Black Power movement. As an artist, Nina Simone was a presence and participant in both. Her influence continues to be an anchor and an inspiration to songwriters and singers from Alicia Keys (who wrote a short liner essay here) to Tracy Chapman, Robinella, Me'Shell NdegéOcello, and Lauryn Hill, to name a few. The compilation contains a smattering of her many songs that deal with struggle, equality, and perseverance…