Nina Simone
Encyclopedia
Eunice Kathleen Waymon better known by her stage name
Nina Simone (ˈniːnə sɨˈmoʊn), was an American
singer, songwriter, pianist
, arranger, and civil rights
activist widely associated with jazz
music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist
while working in a broad range of styles including classical
, jazz
, blues, folk
, R&B
, gospel
, and pop
.
Born the sixth child of a preacher's family in North Carolina
, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist as a child. Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music
in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black. She then began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education to become a classical pianist and was required to sing as well. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendition of "I Loves You Porgy
" became a smash hit in the United States in 1958. Over the length of her career, Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958 — when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue — and 1974.
Her musical style arose from a fusion of gospel
and pop
songs with classical music
, in particular with influences from her first inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach
, and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic low tenor. She injected as much of her classical background into her music as possible to give it more depth and quality, as she felt that pop music was inferior to classical. Her intuitive grasp on the audience-performer relationship was gained from a unique background of playing piano accompaniment for church revivals and sermons regularly from the early age of six years.
After 20 years of performing, she became involved in the civil rights movement
and the direction of her life shifted once again. Simone's music was highly influential in the fight for equal rights in the US.
. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at age three; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the instrument, she performed at her local church, but her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was twelve. Simone later claimed that during this performance her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. Simone said she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.
Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon, was a strict Methodist minister and a housemaid. Simone's father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman who at one time owned a dry cleaning business, but who also suffered bouts of ill health. Mary Kate's employer, hearing of her daughter's talent, provided funds for piano lessons. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist in Simone's continued education. With the assistance of this scholarship money she attended high school.
After finishing high school, she had studied for an interview with the help of a private tutor to study piano further at the Curtis Institute, but she was rejected. Simone believed that this rejection was related directly to her race. Simone then moved to New York City
, where she studied at the Juilliard School of Music.
, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano. In 1954 she adopted the stage name Nina Simone. "Nina" (from niña, meaning 'little girl' in Spanish
) was a nickname
a boyfriend had given to her, and "Simone" was taken from the French
actress Simone Signoret
, whom she had seen in the movie Casque d'or
. Simone's mixture of jazz, blues
, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small, but loyal, fan base.
In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik
who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage. After playing in small clubs, in 1958 she recorded a rendition of George Gershwin
's "I Loves You Porgy
" (from Porgy and Bess
), which she learned from a Billie Holiday
album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 40 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue
soon followed on Bethlehem Records
. Simone missed out on more than $1 million in royalties (mainly because of the successful re-release of My Baby Just Cares for Me
during the 1980s) and never benefited financially from the album, because she had sold her rights to it for $3,000.
, and recorded a string of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. At this point, Simone only performed pop music
to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.
Simone married a New York police detective, Andrew Stroud, in 1961; Stroud later became her manager.
to the Dutch
Philips
, which also meant a change in the contents of her recordings. Simone had always included songs in her repertoire that drew upon her African-American origins (such as "Brown Baby" and "Zungo" on Nina at the Village Gate
in 1962). On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone In Concert
(live recording, 1964), however, Simone for the first time openly addressed the racial inequality that was prevalent in the United States with the song "Mississippi Goddam
", her response to the murder of Medgar Evers
and the bombing of a church
in Birmingham, Alabama
that killed four black children. The song was released as a single, and it was boycott
ed in certain southern states. "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow Laws
.
From then on, a civil rights
message was standard in Simone's recording repertoire, becoming a part of her live performances. Simone performed and spoke at many civil rights
meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches
. Simone advocated violent revolution during the civil rights period, rather than Martin Luther King's non-violent approach, and she hoped that African Americans could, by armed combat, form a separate state. Nevertheless, she wrote in her autobiography
that she and her family regarded all races as equal.
She covered Billie Holiday
's "Strange Fruit
", a song about the lynching
of black men in the South, on Pastel Blues
(1965). She also sang the W. Cuney poem "Images" on Let It All Out
(1966), about the absence of pride she saw among African-American women. Simone wrote "Four Women
", a song about four different stereotypes of African-American women, and included the recording on her 1966 album Wild Is the Wind
.
Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor
during 1967. She sang "Backlash Blues", written by her friend Langston Hughes
on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings The Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul
(1967), she recorded Billy Taylor
's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album Nuff Said (1968) contains live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair
, April 7, 1968, three days after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. She dedicated the whole performance to him and sang "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player
, Gene Taylor
, directly after the news of King's death had reached them. In the summer of 1969 she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park.
Together with Weldon Irvine
, Simone turned the late Lorraine Hansberry
's unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted, and Black into a civil rights song. Hansberry had been a personal friend whom Simone credited with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold
(1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin
(on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black
) and by Donny Hathaway
.
and expecting Stroud to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of a desire for a divorce
. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.
When Simone returned to the United States she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War
), causing her to return to Barbados again to evade the authorities and prosecution. Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time and she had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow
. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba
, then persuaded her to go to Liberia
. After that she lived in Switzerland
and the Netherlands
, before settling in France
during 1992.
She recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, during 1974. Simone did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records
owner Creed Taylor
. The result was the album Baltimore
, which, while not a commercial success, did get good reviews and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output. Her choice of material retained its eclecticism
, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates'
"Rich Girl
". Four years later Simone recorded Fodder On My Wings
on a French label. During the 1980s Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott
's jazz club in London
, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her audiences sometimes by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. In 1987, the original 1958 recording of "My Baby Just Cares For Me
" was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5
perfume in the United Kingdom
. This led to a re-release of the recording, which stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving her a brief surge in popularity in the UK. Her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You
, was published in 1992. She recorded her last album, A Single Woman
, in 1993.
In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence
in Southern France
. She had suffered from breast cancer
for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet
, Bouches-du-Rhône
on April 21, 2003. (In addition, Simone received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder
in the late 1980s.) Her funeral service was attended by singers Miriam Makeba
and Patti Labelle
, poet Sonia Sanchez
, actor Ossie Davis
, and hundreds of others. Elton John
sent a floral tribute with the message "You were the greatest and I love you". Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. She left behind a daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud
, an actress and singer, who took the stage name Simone
, and has appeared on Broadway
in Aida
.
's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart. During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me
", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, when it was featured in a Chanel No. 5
perfume commercial. A music video
was created by Aardman Studios for the commercial.
!!DON'T put detailed cover/sample/soundtrack use of songs here, only the very basics. Put that sort of information on the ARTICLE ABOUT THE SONG OR ALBUM!!
Well known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads
(1964), "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne Me Quitte Pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel
song) and "Feeling Good
" on I Put A Spell On You
(1965), "Lilac Wine
" and "Wild Is the Wind
" on Wild is the Wind
(1966).
Especially the songs "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Feeling Good", and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues
, 1965) have great popularity today in terms of cover version
s (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals
), sample usage, and its use on soundtracks for various movies, TV-series, and video games. "Sinnerman", in particular, has been featured in the TV series Scrubs
and Person of Interest
, on movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair
, Miami Vice, and Inland Empire
, and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli
and Timbaland
. The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen
on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne
's 2008 album Tha Carter III
. The song "See-Line Woman
" was sampled by Kanye West
for "Bad News" on his album 808s and Heartbreak.
Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned a number of singles and album songs that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life
", a medley from the musical Hair
from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 4 on the UK pop charts and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder. The following single, the Bee Gees'
rendition of "To Love Somebody
" also reached the UK top 10 in 1969. "House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings The Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina At The Village Gate
(1962), predating the versions by Dave Van Ronk
and Bob Dylan
. It was later covered by The Animals, for whom it became a signature hit.
On stage, Simone moved from gospel
to blues, jazz, and folk
, to numbers with European classical styling, and Bach
-style fugal counterpoint
. She incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element. Simone compared it to "mass hypnosis. I use it all the time".
Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist
and musical director Al Schackman.
Simone had a reputation in the music industry for her volatility. In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with a pneumatic pistol after his laughter disturbed her concentration. She also fired a gun at a record company executive whom she accused of stealing royalties. According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down And Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004 after her death.
, Christina Aguilera
, Elkie Brooks
, Talib Kweli
, Mos Def
, Kanye West
, Lena Horne
, John Legend
, Elizabeth Fraser
, Cat Stevens
, Peter Gabriel
, Cedric Bixler-Zavala
, Mary J. Blige
, Michael Gira
, Angela McCluskey
, Lauryn Hill
, Patrice Babatunde
, Alicia Keys
, Ian MacKaye
, Kerry Brothers, Jr. "Krucial", Amanda Palmer
, and Jeff Buckley
.
John Lennon
cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles
song "Michelle
".
Musicians who have covered her work (or her specific renditions of songs) include Black Rock Coalition Orchestra
, J.Viewz
, Carola, Aretha Franklin
, Janis Joplin
, Marilyn Manson
, Donny Hathaway
, David Bowie
, Elkie Brooks, Roberta Flack
, Jeff Buckley
, The Animals
, Shivaree (band)
, Ambrosia Parsley
, Muse
, Cat Power
, Katie Melua
, Timbaland
, Feist, Shara Worden
, Common
, Lil Wayne
, and Michael Bublé
. Simone's music has been featured in soundtrack
s of various motion pictures and video games, including but not limited to, The Big Lebowski
(1998), Point of No Return
(AKA The Assassin, 1993), Notting Hill
(1999), Any Given Sunday
(1999), The Thomas Crown Affair
(1999), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (film)
(2002), Before Sunset
(2004), Cellular
(2004), Inland Empire
(2006), Sex and the City
(2008), The World Unseen
(2008), Revolutionary Road
(2008), Watchmen
(2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010). Frequently her music is used in remix
es, commercials, and TV series.
, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply, Nina.
Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and it is screened annually in New York City at an event called, "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976,", which is curated by Tom Blunt.
Plans for a Nina Simone biographical film
were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put A Spell On You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006. TV writer Cynthia Mort (Will & Grace
, Roseanne
) is working on the script
, and singer Mary J. Blige
will play the lead role. Release of the movie is scheduled for 2012.
Her music was used in the S4C show, "Alys", in 2010.
A song sung by Nina Simone on her 1970 live album, Black Gold, is used in the film The Dancer Upstairs.
In the film Point of No Return
, the protagonist choses "Nina" as her codename in honor of Simone, her mother's favorite musical artist as well as her own. Simone's music features prominently in the film.
, more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Nina Simone.
Simone received two honorary degree
s in music and humanities, from the University of Massachusetts
and Malcolm X College
. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. Only two days before her death, Simone was awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.
In 2010, Tryon, NC erected a statue in her honor along Trade street.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Nina Simone (ˈniːnə sɨˈmoʊn), was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer, songwriter, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, arranger, and civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activist widely associated with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
while working in a broad range of styles including classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, blues, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
.
Born the sixth child of a preacher's family in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist as a child. Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black. She then began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education to become a classical pianist and was required to sing as well. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendition of "I Loves You Porgy
I Loves You Porgy
"I Loves You, Porgy" is a duet from the opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was published in 1935....
" became a smash hit in the United States in 1958. Over the length of her career, Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958 — when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue — and 1974.
Her musical style arose from a fusion of gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
songs with classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, in particular with influences from her first inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic low tenor. She injected as much of her classical background into her music as possible to give it more depth and quality, as she felt that pop music was inferior to classical. Her intuitive grasp on the audience-performer relationship was gained from a unique background of playing piano accompaniment for church revivals and sermons regularly from the early age of six years.
After 20 years of performing, she became involved in the civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
and the direction of her life shifted once again. Simone's music was highly influential in the fight for equal rights in the US.
Youth (1933–1954)
Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North CarolinaTryon, North Carolina
Tryon is a town in Polk County, North Carolina, United States. According to the 2000 Census the population of Tryon was 1,760. The area is a center for equestrian activity and fine arts....
. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at age three; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the instrument, she performed at her local church, but her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was twelve. Simone later claimed that during this performance her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. Simone said she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.
Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon, was a strict Methodist minister and a housemaid. Simone's father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman who at one time owned a dry cleaning business, but who also suffered bouts of ill health. Mary Kate's employer, hearing of her daughter's talent, provided funds for piano lessons. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist in Simone's continued education. With the assistance of this scholarship money she attended high school.
After finishing high school, she had studied for an interview with the help of a private tutor to study piano further at the Curtis Institute, but she was rejected. Simone believed that this rejection was related directly to her race. Simone then moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where she studied at the Juilliard School of Music.
Early success (1954–1959)
To fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic CityAtlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano. In 1954 she adopted the stage name Nina Simone. "Nina" (from niña, meaning 'little girl' in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
) was a nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
a boyfriend had given to her, and "Simone" was taken from the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
actress Simone Signoret
Simone Signoret
Simone Signoret was a French cinema actress often hailed as one of France's greatest movie stars. She became the first French person to win an Academy Award, for her role in Room at the Top...
, whom she had seen in the movie Casque d'or
Casque d'or
Casque d'or is a 1952 French film directed by Jacques Becker. It is a Belle Époque tragedy, the story of an ill-fated love affair between characters played by Simone Signoret and Serge Reggiani.-Plot:...
. Simone's mixture of jazz, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small, but loyal, fan base.
In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik
Beatnik
Beatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage. After playing in small clubs, in 1958 she recorded a rendition of George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's "I Loves You Porgy
I Loves You Porgy
"I Loves You, Porgy" is a duet from the opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was published in 1935....
" (from Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
), which she learned from a Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 40 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue
Little Girl Blue (Nina Simone album)
Little Girl Blue is the debut album by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone for Bethlehem Records. It was also released as Jazz As Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club. Nina was in her mid-20s at the time of this album, and still aspiring to be a classical concert pianist...
soon followed on Bethlehem Records
Bethlehem Records
Bethlehem Records was a record label based in New York and Hollywood founded by Gus Wildi in 1953. It was bought by King Records in the early 1960s....
. Simone missed out on more than $1 million in royalties (mainly because of the successful re-release of My Baby Just Cares for Me
My Baby Just Cares for Me
"My Baby Just Cares for Me" is a jazz standard written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It was written for the 1930 film version of the 1928 Ziegfeld musical comedy Whoopee!, starring Eddie Cantor. It is known as the signature tune of singer and pianist Nina Simone.-Nina Simone...
during the 1980s) and never benefited financially from the album, because she had sold her rights to it for $3,000.
Becoming popular (1959–1964)
After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix RecordsColpix Records
Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia and Pictures . It was founded by Jonie Taps and Harry Cohn in 1958, and was based in New York City. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R...
, and recorded a string of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. At this point, Simone only performed pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.
Simone married a New York police detective, Andrew Stroud, in 1961; Stroud later became her manager.
Civil rights era (1964–1974)
In 1964, she changed record distributors, from the American ColpixColpix Records
Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia and Pictures . It was founded by Jonie Taps and Harry Cohn in 1958, and was based in New York City. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R...
to the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Philips
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
, which also meant a change in the contents of her recordings. Simone had always included songs in her repertoire that drew upon her African-American origins (such as "Brown Baby" and "Zungo" on Nina at the Village Gate
Nina At The Village Gate
Nina Simone at the Village Gate is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was her third live album for Colpix recorded at The Village Gate. It is particularly notable for the amount of folk songs and African related songs on the album early in Simone's career. Richard Pryor had one...
in 1962). On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone In Concert
Nina Simone in Concert
Nina Simone in Concert is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It was her first album for the record label Philips and was made up of three live recordings in Carnegie Hall, New York City in March and April 1964...
(live recording, 1964), however, Simone for the first time openly addressed the racial inequality that was prevalent in the United States with the song "Mississippi Goddam
Mississippi Goddam
Mississippi Goddam is a song written and performed by United States singer and pianist Nina Simone. It was first released on her album Nina Simone in Concert which was based on recordings of three concerts she gave at Carnegie Hall in 1964...
", her response to the murder of Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi...
and the bombing of a church
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed on Sunday, September 15, 1963. The explosion at the African-American church, which killed four girls, marked a turning point in the U.S...
in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
that killed four black children. The song was released as a single, and it was boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
ed in certain southern states. "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
.
From then on, a civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
message was standard in Simone's recording repertoire, becoming a part of her live performances. Simone performed and spoke at many civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches
Selma to Montgomery marches
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. They grew out of the voting rights movement in Selma, Alabama, launched by local African-Americans who formed the Dallas County Voters League...
. Simone advocated violent revolution during the civil rights period, rather than Martin Luther King's non-violent approach, and she hoped that African Americans could, by armed combat, form a separate state. Nevertheless, she wrote in her autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
that she and her family regarded all races as equal.
She covered Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
's "Strange Fruit
Strange Fruit
"Strange Fruit" is a song performed most famously by Billie Holiday, who released her first recording of it in 1939, the year she first sang it. Written by the teacher Abel Meeropol as a poem, it exposed American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans. Such lynchings had occurred...
", a song about the lynching
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
of black men in the South, on Pastel Blues
Pastel Blues
Pastel Blues is a studio album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was recorded in 1964 and 1965 in New York City and released in 1965 by Philips Records...
(1965). She also sang the W. Cuney poem "Images" on Let It All Out
Let It All Out
Let It All Out is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . Released in 1966, it was her fifth album with Philips Records. Some of the tracks are live recordings, yet it is unclear which.-Information about songs on this album:...
(1966), about the absence of pride she saw among African-American women. Simone wrote "Four Women
Four Women (song)
"Four Women" is a song written by singer, composer, pianist and arranger Nina Simone, released on the 1966 album Wild is the Wind. It tells the story of four different African American women...
", a song about four different stereotypes of African-American women, and included the recording on her 1966 album Wild Is the Wind
Wild Is the Wind (album)
Wild Is the Wind is singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone's sixth album under record company Philips. The album was made up of several recordings that were left over of recording sessions for previous Philips albums...
.
Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
during 1967. She sang "Backlash Blues", written by her friend Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings The Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul
Silk & Soul
Silk & Soul is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone.-Information about songs on this album:*"It Be's That Way Sometime", a song written by Nina's brother Sam Waymon....
(1967), she recorded Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album Nuff Said (1968) contains live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair
Westbury Music Fair
The NYCB Theater at Westbury is an entertainment venue located in Westbury, New York constructed in theater in the round style with seating for 3,000 that was originally developed as a means to present top performers and productions of popular theatrical musicals at a series of venues located in...
, April 7, 1968, three days after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. She dedicated the whole performance to him and sang "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
, Gene Taylor
Gene Taylor (bassist)
Calvin Eugene Taylor, professionally known as Gene Taylor , was an American jazz double bassist. He was born in Toledo, Ohio and began his career in Detroit, Michigan. Taylor worked with Horace Silver from 1958 until 1963. He then joined Blue Mitchell's quintet, with whom he recorded and performed...
, directly after the news of King's death had reached them. In the summer of 1969 she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park.
Together with Weldon Irvine
Weldon Irvine
Weldon Jonathan Irvine, Jr. , also known Master Wel, was an American composer, playwright, poet, pianist and organist.-Biography:...
, Simone turned the late Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry was an African American playwright and author of political speeches, letters, and essays...
's unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted, and Black into a civil rights song. Hansberry had been a personal friend whom Simone credited with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold
Black Gold (album)
Black Gold is a live album by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone recorded in 1969 at the Philharmonic Hall, New York.The album is especially notable because it features the civil rights anthem song "To Be Young Gifted And Black"...
(1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
(on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black
Young, Gifted and Black
Young, Gifted and Black is a Top 10 Gold-certified album by Aretha Franklin, released in 1972. It takes its title from the Nina Simone song "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", which is the record's title track....
) and by Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer-songwriter and musician. Hathaway contracted with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto, Part I" in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."His collaborations...
.
Later life (1974–2003)
Simone left the United States in September 1970, flying to BarbadosBarbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
and expecting Stroud to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of a desire for a divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.
When Simone returned to the United States she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
), causing her to return to Barbados again to evade the authorities and prosecution. Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time and she had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow
Errol Barrow
Errol Walton Barrow, PC, QC was a Caribbean statesman and the first Prime Minister of Barbados. Born into a family of political and civic activists in the parish of Saint Lucy and educated at Harrison College, his sister Dame Nita Barrow also became a social activist, humanitarian leader and later...
. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
, then persuaded her to go to Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
. After that she lived in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, before settling in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
during 1992.
She recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, during 1974. Simone did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records
CTI Records
CTI Records was a jazz record label founded in 1967 by producer/A&R manager Creed Taylor. Initially, CTI was a subsidiary of A&M Records, but the label went independent in 1970...
owner Creed Taylor
Creed Taylor
Creed Taylor is an American record producer, best known for his work with CTI Records, which he founded in 1968. Taylor’s career also included work at Bethlehem Records, ABC-Paramount, Verve, and A&M Records...
. The result was the album Baltimore
Baltimore (album)
Baltimore is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It is part of her later works and can be regarded alongside Fodder On My Wings as one of her better achievements of that period...
, which, while not a commercial success, did get good reviews and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output. Her choice of material retained its eclecticism
Eclecticism
Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...
, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates'
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
"Rich Girl
Rich Girl (Hall & Oates song)
"Rich Girl" is a song by Daryl Hall and John Oates. On March 26, 1977, it became their first number one single on Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single originally appeared on the 1976 album Bigger Than Both of Us.-Content:...
". Four years later Simone recorded Fodder On My Wings
Fodder On My Wings
Fodder on My Wings is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It is part of her later works, and can be regarded alongside Baltimore as one of her better achievements of that period . It is however a rather obscure album and not widely distributed. The album is one of Dr...
on a French label. During the 1980s Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott was an English jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner.-Life and career:Ronnie Scott was born in Aldgate, east London, into a family of Russian Jewish descent on his father's side, and Portuguese antecedents on his mother's. Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of...
's jazz club in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her audiences sometimes by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. In 1987, the original 1958 recording of "My Baby Just Cares For Me
My Baby Just Cares for Me
"My Baby Just Cares for Me" is a jazz standard written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It was written for the 1930 film version of the 1928 Ziegfeld musical comedy Whoopee!, starring Eddie Cantor. It is known as the signature tune of singer and pianist Nina Simone.-Nina Simone...
" was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5 is the first perfume launched by Parisian couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. The French government reports that a bottle of Chanel No. 5 is sold every thirty seconds and generates sales of $100 million a year. It was developed by Russian-French chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux...
perfume in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. This led to a re-release of the recording, which stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving her a brief surge in popularity in the UK. Her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You
I Put A Spell On You (book)
I Put A Spell On You is the autobiography by Nina Simone . She wrote it together with Stephen Cleary in 1992.- Summary :* Introduction, "I Know How it Feels To Be Free: Nina Simone 1933–2003", written by Dave Marsh...
, was published in 1992. She recorded her last album, A Single Woman
A Single Woman
A Single Woman is an album from 1993 by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It was her last album.- Information about songs on this album :...
, in 1993.
In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
in Southern France
Southern France
Southern France , colloquially known as le Midi is defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Gironde, Spain, the Mediterranean, and Italy...
. She had suffered from breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet
Carry-le-Rouet
Carry-le-Rouet is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.Carry-le-Rouet is a seaside resort located 30 kilometres west of Marseille by highway A55, then route D5, set at the foot of pine-covered hills....
, Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
on April 21, 2003. (In addition, Simone received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
in the late 1980s.) Her funeral service was attended by singers Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
and Patti Labelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
, poet Sonia Sanchez
Sonia Sanchez
Sonia Sanchez is an African American poet most often associated with the Black Arts Movement. She has authored over a dozen books of poetry, as well as plays and children's books...
, actor Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis was an American film actor, director, poet, playwright, writer, and social activist.-Early years:...
, and hundreds of others. Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
sent a floral tribute with the message "You were the greatest and I love you". Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. She left behind a daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud
Simone (actress)
Simone is a Broadway actress/singer and the daughter of Nina Simone.Prior to her acting career, Simone served in the United States Air Force as an engineering assistant...
, an actress and singer, who took the stage name Simone
Simone (actress)
Simone is a Broadway actress/singer and the daughter of Nina Simone.Prior to her acting career, Simone served in the United States Air Force as an engineering assistant...
, and has appeared on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
.
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that would become standards in her repertoire. These songs were self-written tunes, tributes to works by others with a new arrangement by Simone, or songs written especially for Simone. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George GershwinGeorge Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart. During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me
My Baby Just Cares for Me
"My Baby Just Cares for Me" is a jazz standard written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It was written for the 1930 film version of the 1928 Ziegfeld musical comedy Whoopee!, starring Eddie Cantor. It is known as the signature tune of singer and pianist Nina Simone.-Nina Simone...
", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, when it was featured in a Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5 is the first perfume launched by Parisian couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. The French government reports that a bottle of Chanel No. 5 is sold every thirty seconds and generates sales of $100 million a year. It was developed by Russian-French chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux...
perfume commercial. A music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was created by Aardman Studios for the commercial.
Well known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is a song written by Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell and Sol Marcus for the singer/pianist Nina Simone, who first recorded it in 1964. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" has been recorded or performed by many artists, and is widely known by the 1965 blues rock hit...
" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads
Broadway-Blues-Ballads
Broadway-Blues-Ballads is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was her second album for Philips. In contrast to her first Philips album, the live In Concert, which was politically laden with civil rights motifs, this studio album is more playful...
(1964), "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne Me Quitte Pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...
song) and "Feeling Good
Feeling Good
"Feeling Good" is a song written by English singer-songwriters Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd starring Cy Grant, who sang the original version of the song...
" on I Put A Spell On You
I Put a Spell on You (album)
I Put a Spell on You is a 1965 album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone for Philips Records. It features some of Simone's best known songs.- Information about songs on this album :...
(1965), "Lilac Wine
Lilac Wine
"Lilac Wine" is a song written by James Shelton in 1950. It was introduced by Hope Foye in the short-lived theater musical revue, "Dance Me a Song." It was covered by Eartha Kitt , by Judy Henske on her first, self-named album , by Nina Simone on her album Wild Is The Wind , was a solo hit by...
" and "Wild Is the Wind
Wild Is the Wind (song)
"Wild Is the Wind" is a song written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington. The track was originally recorded by Johnny Mathis for the 1957 film Wild Is the Wind...
" on Wild is the Wind
Wild Is the Wind (album)
Wild Is the Wind is singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone's sixth album under record company Philips. The album was made up of several recordings that were left over of recording sessions for previous Philips albums...
(1966).
Especially the songs "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Feeling Good", and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues
Pastel Blues
Pastel Blues is a studio album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was recorded in 1964 and 1965 in New York City and released in 1965 by Philips Records...
, 1965) have great popularity today in terms of cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
), sample usage, and its use on soundtracks for various movies, TV-series, and video games. "Sinnerman", in particular, has been featured in the TV series Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
and Person of Interest
Person of Interest (TV series)
Person of Interest is an American crime drama television series broadcasting on CBS. It is based on a screenplay developed by J. J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan. The series was officially picked up by CBS on May 13, 2011, and debuted on September 22, 2011. On October 25, 2011 the show was picked up...
, on movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999 film)
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1999 American heist film directed by John McTiernan. The film, starring Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo and Denis Leary, is a remake of the 1968 film of the same name....
, Miami Vice, and Inland Empire
Inland Empire (film)
Inland Empire, sometimes styled as INLAND EMPIRE, is a 2006 mystery film written and directed by David Lynch. It was his first feature-length film since 2001's Mulholland Drive, and shares many similarities with that film. It premiered in Italy at the Venice Film Festival on September 6, 2006...
, and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...
and Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
. The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen
Devo Springsteen
Devon Harris , better known as Devo Springsteen, is a Grammy Award winning producer and songwriter. Springsteen launched the career of multi-platinum selling recording artist John Legend by signing him to Kanye West’s GOOD Music in 2003...
on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
's 2008 album Tha Carter III
Tha Carter III
Tha Carter III is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released June 10, 2008 on Cash Money Records. It follows a long string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip hop and R&B artists records, helping to increase his exposure in the mainstream...
. The song "See-Line Woman
Sea Lion Woman
"Sea Lion Woman" is a traditional American folk song originally used as a children's playground song....
" was sampled by Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
for "Bad News" on his album 808s and Heartbreak.
Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned a number of singles and album songs that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life
Ain't Got No, I Got Life
"Ain't Got No/I Got Life" is a 2:17 single by the American songwriter Nina Simone. The song also featured on Nuff Said . It is a medley of two songs from the musical Hair, with lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot...
", a medley from the musical Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 4 on the UK pop charts and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder. The following single, the Bee Gees'
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
rendition of "To Love Somebody
To Love Somebody (song)
"To Love Somebody" is the second single released by the Bee Gees from their third LP, Bee Gees 1st.The band's manager Robert Stigwood wanted Barry Gibb to write a soul song for Otis Redding. Barry, along with Robin wrote "To Love Somebody," a soulful ballad in the style of Sam & Dave or The Rascals...
" also reached the UK top 10 in 1969. "House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings The Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina At The Village Gate
Nina At The Village Gate
Nina Simone at the Village Gate is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was her third live album for Colpix recorded at The Village Gate. It is particularly notable for the amount of folk songs and African related songs on the album early in Simone's career. Richard Pryor had one...
(1962), predating the versions by Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....
and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. It was later covered by The Animals, for whom it became a signature hit.
Performing style
Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "High Priestess of Soul". She was a piano player, singer, and performer, "separately and simultaneously".On stage, Simone moved from gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
to blues, jazz, and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, to numbers with European classical styling, and Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
-style fugal counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
. She incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element. Simone compared it to "mass hypnosis. I use it all the time".
Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and musical director Al Schackman.
Simone had a reputation in the music industry for her volatility. In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with a pneumatic pistol after his laughter disturbed her concentration. She also fired a gun at a record company executive whom she accused of stealing royalties. According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down And Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004 after her death.
Music
Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Van MorrisonVan Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
, Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks is an English singer, formerly a vocalist with Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. Elkie has been nominated twice for Brit Awards' top female singer. She is known for her powerful husky voice...
, Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...
, Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
, Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, John Legend
John Legend
John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...
, Elizabeth Fraser
Elizabeth Fraser
Elizabeth Davidson Fraser is a Scottish singer best known as the vocalist for the pioneer alternative rock group Cocteau Twins...
, Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
, Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American musician known for his work as frontman and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta, and previously as frontman and occasional guitarist of the post-hardcore punk group At the Drive-In...
, Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
, Michael Gira
Michael Gira
Michael Rolfe Gira is an American musician, author, and artist. He is the main force behind the recently reformed New York City musical group Swans and fronts the Angels of Light...
, Angela McCluskey
Angela McCluskey
Angela McCluskey is a Scottish singer-songwriter based in California. She performs as a solo artist and as a member of the folk rock group, Wild Colonials. McCluskey has also provided vocals for Curio and recorded the European dance hit and US Mitsubishi commercial hit "Breathe" among other songs...
, Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
, Patrice Babatunde
Patrice Bart-Williams
Patrice Babatunde Bart-Williams , better known as Patrice, is an Afro-German reggae artist. He also often uses his second name: Babatunde , which his parents gave him since Patrice was born on the same day that his grandfather died. His music is influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley...
, Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
, Ian MacKaye
Ian MacKaye
Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, label owner, and producer. Active since 1979, MacKaye is best known for being the frontman of the influential hardcore punk bands Minor Threat and The Teen Idles, the post-hardcore bands Embrace and Fugazi, as well...
, Kerry Brothers, Jr. "Krucial", Amanda Palmer
Amanda Palmer
Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer , sometimes known as Amanda Fucking Palmer, is an American performer who first rose to prominence as the lead singer, pianist, and lyricist/composer of the duo The Dresden Dolls...
, and Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
.
John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
song "Michelle
Michelle (song)
"Michelle" is a love ballad by The Beatles, mainly written by Paul McCartney, with the middle eight co-written with John Lennon. It is featured on their Rubber Soul album. The song departs from most of The Beatles' other recordings in that some of the lyrics are in French...
".
Musicians who have covered her work (or her specific renditions of songs) include Black Rock Coalition Orchestra
Black Rock Coalition
The Black Rock Coalition is a New York-based artists' collective and non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the creative freedom and works of black musicians....
, J.Viewz
J.Viewz
J.Viewz is the multi-genre electronica project of the Brooklyn-based Producer & Remixer Jonathan Dagan. Jonathan often collaborates with various musicians & vocalists under this alias.-Early Releases:...
, Carola, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
, Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer-songwriter and musician. Hathaway contracted with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto, Part I" in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."His collaborations...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Elkie Brooks, Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
, Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
, The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
, Shivaree (band)
Shivaree (band)
Shivaree is an American alternative pop/rock band formed in 1997 consisting of Ambrosia Parsley , Danny McGough , and Duke McVinnie . Shivaree is best known for the song "Goodnight Moon", released in 1999 and appearing in Dawson's Creek and Kill Bill: Volume 2...
, Ambrosia Parsley
Ambrosia Parsley
Ambrosia Parsley is an American alternative pop/rock singer-songwriter. She began her career in 1999 as the lead singer of Shivaree accompanied by Danny McGough , and Duke McVinnie...
, Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
, Cat Power
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
, Katie Melua
Katie Melua
Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003...
, Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
, Feist, Shara Worden
Shara Worden
Shara Worden is the lead singer and songwriter for My Brightest Diamond. She was previously a backup vocalist for Sufjan Stevens and the frontwoman of Awry.-Life:...
, Common
Common
Common may refer to:* COMMON, the largest association of users of mid-range IBM computers* Common , a British Thoroughbred racehorse* Common , a part of certain Christian liturgy* Commoner, someone does not hold a title of peerage...
, Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
, and Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
. Simone's music has been featured in soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s of various motion pictures and video games, including but not limited to, The Big Lebowski
The Big Lebowski
The Big Lebowski is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski, an unemployed Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler, who is referred to as "The Dude". After a case of mistaken identity, The Dude is introduced to a millionaire also named...
(1998), Point of No Return
Point of No Return (film)
Point of No Return is a 1993 American action film directed by John Badham and starring Bridget Fonda. It is a remake of Luc Besson's 1990 film Nikita.-Plot:...
(AKA The Assassin, 1993), Notting Hill
Notting Hill (film)
Notting Hill is a 1999 British romantic comedy film set in Notting Hill, London, released on 21 May 1999. The screenplay was by Richard Curtis, who had written Four Weddings and a Funeral. It was produced by Duncan Kenworthy and directed by Roger Michell...
(1999), Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday is a 1999 American drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, consisting of Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, John C...
(1999), The Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999 film)
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1999 American heist film directed by John McTiernan. The film, starring Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo and Denis Leary, is a remake of the 1968 film of the same name....
(1999), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (film)
The Dancer Upstairs (film)
The Dancer Upstairs is a 2002 film starring Javier Bardem, and the directorial debut of John Malkovich. The film is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Nicholas Shakespeare.- Plot :...
(2002), Before Sunset
Before Sunset
Before Sunset is a 2004 American romantic drama film and the sequel to Before Sunrise . Like its predecessor, the film was directed by Richard Linklater. However, this time Linklater shares screenplay credit with both actors from the movies, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy...
(2004), Cellular
Cellular (film)
Cellular is a 2004 thriller film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, Jason Statham and William H. Macy. The screenplay was written by Chris Morgan, Larry Cohen and J...
(2004), Inland Empire
Inland Empire (film)
Inland Empire, sometimes styled as INLAND EMPIRE, is a 2006 mystery film written and directed by David Lynch. It was his first feature-length film since 2001's Mulholland Drive, and shares many similarities with that film. It premiered in Italy at the Venice Film Festival on September 6, 2006...
(2006), Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
(2008), The World Unseen
The World Unseen
The World Unseen is a 2008 historical drama film written and directed by Shamim Sarif, adapted from her own novel. The film is set in 1950s Cape Town, South Africa during the beginning of apartheid...
(2008), Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road (film)
Revolutionary Road is a 2008 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes, from screenplay by Justin Haythe, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. It is based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates....
(2008), Watchmen
Watchmen (film)
Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
(2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010). Frequently her music is used in remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es, commercials, and TV series.
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La Legende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers, based on her autobiography I Put A Spell On You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with friends and family, various interviews with Simone then living in the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply, Nina.
Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and it is screened annually in New York City at an event called, "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976,", which is curated by Tom Blunt.
Plans for a Nina Simone biographical film
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put A Spell On You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006. TV writer Cynthia Mort (Will & Grace
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
, Roseanne
Roseanne (TV series)
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...
) is working on the script
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
, and singer Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
will play the lead role. Release of the movie is scheduled for 2012.
Her music was used in the S4C show, "Alys", in 2010.
A song sung by Nina Simone on her 1970 live album, Black Gold, is used in the film The Dancer Upstairs.
In the film Point of No Return
Point of No Return (film)
Point of No Return is a 1993 American action film directed by John Badham and starring Bridget Fonda. It is a remake of Luc Besson's 1990 film Nikita.-Plot:...
, the protagonist choses "Nina" as her codename in honor of Simone, her mother's favorite musical artist as well as her own. Simone's music features prominently in the film.
Honors
On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Nina Simone.
Simone received two honorary degree
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
s in music and humanities, from the University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts
This article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...
and Malcolm X College
Malcolm X College
Malcolm X College is a two-year college of the City Colleges of Chicago located on the west side of Chicago, Illinois, USA, at 1900 W Van Buren St. It was founded as Crane Junior College in 1911 to serve graduates of the nearby Crane High School, and was the first of the City Colleges to be...
. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. Only two days before her death, Simone was awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.
In 2010, Tryon, NC erected a statue in her honor along Trade street.
Discography
| Year | Album | Type | Label | Billboard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Little Girl Blue Little Girl Blue (Nina Simone album) Little Girl Blue is the debut album by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone for Bethlehem Records. It was also released as Jazz As Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club. Nina was in her mid-20s at the time of this album, and still aspiring to be a classical concert pianist... |
Studio | Bethlehem Records Bethlehem Records Bethlehem Records was a record label based in New York and Hollywood founded by Gus Wildi in 1953. It was bought by King Records in the early 1960s.... |
|
| 1959 | Nina Simone and Her Friends Nina Simone And Her Friends Nina Simone and Her Friends is an album that contains songs by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . The album was, however, released after Nina Simone left Bethlehem Records and without her knowing... |
Studio | ||
| The Amazing Nina Simone The Amazing Nina Simone The Amazing Nina Simone is an album by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It was her first album for the label Colpix Records, which would quickly be followed by 8 albums on the same label, before signing with Philips Records in 1964... |
Studio | Colpix Records Colpix Records Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia and Pictures . It was founded by Jonie Taps and Harry Cohn in 1958, and was based in New York City. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R... |
||
| Nina Simone at Town Hall Nina Simone At Town Hall Nina Simone at Town Hall is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was recorded live at The Town Hall on 15 September 1959 and released as her second album for Colpix Records that same year... |
Live and studio | |||
| 1960 | Nina Simone at Newport Nina Simone At Newport Nina Simone at Newport is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was her second live album for Colpix, recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival on June 30, 1960. All arrangements were made by Nina Simone, and it was produced by Stu Phillips... |
Live | 23 (pop) | |
| Forbidden Fruit | Studio | |||
| 1962 | Nina at the Village Gate Nina At The Village Gate Nina Simone at the Village Gate is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was her third live album for Colpix recorded at The Village Gate. It is particularly notable for the amount of folk songs and African related songs on the album early in Simone's career. Richard Pryor had one... |
Live | ||
| Nina Simone Sings Ellington Nina Simone Sings Ellington 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.- About the cover :... |
Live | |||
| 1963 | Nina's Choice | Compilation | ||
| Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall Nina Simone At Carnegie Hall Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It is a live album recorded in 1963, at Carnegie Hall in New York and was released on Colpix Records.-Track listing:# "Black Swan"... |
Live | |||
| 1964 | Folksy Nina Folksy Nina Folksy Nina is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It includes live tracks recorded on the 12th of May, 1963 at Carnegie Hall. The previous album, Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall uses songs from the same concert... |
Live | ||
| Nina Simone in Concert Nina Simone in Concert Nina Simone in Concert is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It was her first album for the record label Philips and was made up of three live recordings in Carnegie Hall, New York City in March and April 1964... |
Live | Philips Records Philips Records Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also... |
102 (pop) | |
| Broadway-Blues-Ballads Broadway-Blues-Ballads Broadway-Blues-Ballads is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was her second album for Philips. In contrast to her first Philips album, the live In Concert, which was politically laden with civil rights motifs, this studio album is more playful... |
Studio | |||
| 1965 | I Put a Spell on You I Put a Spell on You (album) I Put a Spell on You is a 1965 album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone for Philips Records. It features some of Simone's best known songs.- Information about songs on this album :... |
Studio | 99 (pop) | |
| Pastel Blues Pastel Blues Pastel Blues is a studio album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was recorded in 1964 and 1965 in New York City and released in 1965 by Philips Records... |
Studio | 8 (black) | ||
| 1966 | Nina Simone with Strings Nina Simone With Strings Nina Simone with Strings is an album by Nina Simone. The album was released without her knowing after she had left Colpix Records, and had already made albums for Philips Records... |
Studio (strings added) | Colpix | |
| Let It All Out Let It All Out Let It All Out is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . Released in 1966, it was her fifth album with Philips Records. Some of the tracks are live recordings, yet it is unclear which.-Information about songs on this album:... |
Live and studio | Philips | 19 (black) | |
| Wild Is the Wind Wild Is the Wind (album) Wild Is the Wind is singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone's sixth album under record company Philips. The album was made up of several recordings that were left over of recording sessions for previous Philips albums... |
Studio | 12 (black) | ||
| 1967 | High Priestess of Soul High Priestess Of Soul High Priestess of Soul is a studio album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . The songs are accompanied by a large band directed by Hal Mooney. The album contains popular songs and Church-African-Folk-related songs... |
Studio | 29 (black) | |
| Nina Simone Sings the Blues | Studio | RCA Records RCA Records RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label... |
29 (black) | |
| Silk & Soul Silk & Soul Silk & Soul is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone.-Information about songs on this album:*"It Be's That Way Sometime", a song written by Nina's brother Sam Waymon.... |
Studio | 24 (black) | ||
| 1968 | Nuff Said | Live and studio | 44 (black) | |
| 1969 | Nina Simone and Piano Nina Simone and Piano Nina Simone And Piano is an album by American jazz singer-songwriter and pianist Nina Simone.On this concept album we only hear Simone's voice accompanied by her own piano playing. The album was critically acclaimed, but sold badly... |
Studio | ||
| To Love Somebody To Love Somebody (Nina Simone album) To Love Somebody is an album by singer-songwriter/pianist Nina Simone. It was released as quickly as possible to prolong the unexpected success of Nuff Said! The title is taken from the Bee Gees song "To Love Somebody", her cover of the song became her second British hit single after "Ain't Got... |
Studio | |||
| A Very Rare Evening | Live | PM Records | ||
| 1970 | Black Gold Black Gold (album) Black Gold is a live album by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone recorded in 1969 at the Philharmonic Hall, New York.The album is especially notable because it features the civil rights anthem song "To Be Young Gifted And Black"... |
Live | RCA Records RCA Records RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label... |
29 (black) |
| 1971 | Here Comes the Sun Here Comes the Sun (album) Here Comes the Sun is a cover album by singer-pianist Nina Simone. It features songs recorded in the RCA studios with a full orchestra and backing vocals. Although Simone covers songs by among others Bob Dylan and George Harrison, most of the versions feature alternative arrangements... |
Studio | RCA Records RCA Records RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label... |
190 (pop) |
| Gifted & Black | Studio | Canyon Records | ||
| 1972 | Emergency Ward | Live and studio | RCA Records RCA Records RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label... |
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| 1973 | Live at Berkeley | Live | Stroud | |
| Gospel According to Nina Simone | Live | Stroud | ||
| 1974 | It Is Finished It Is Finished It Is Finished is the title of an album by Nina Simone, originally released in 1974 and her last work for RCA Records.-Track Listing:# "The Pusher" - 5:10# "Com' by H'Yere" - 5:50... |
Live | RCA Records RCA Records RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label... |
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| Sings Billie Holiday | Live | Stroud | ||
| 1978 | Baltimore Baltimore (album) Baltimore is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It is part of her later works and can be regarded alongside Fodder On My Wings as one of her better achievements of that period... |
Studio | CTI Records CTI Records CTI Records was a jazz record label founded in 1967 by producer/A&R manager Creed Taylor. Initially, CTI was a subsidiary of A&M Records, but the label went independent in 1970... |
12 (jazz) |
| 1980 | The Rising Sun Collection | Live | Enja | |
| 1982 | Fodder on My Wings Fodder On My Wings Fodder on My Wings is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It is part of her later works, and can be regarded alongside Baltimore as one of her better achievements of that period . It is however a rather obscure album and not widely distributed. The album is one of Dr... |
Studio | Carrere Carrere Carrere was a French record label which specialized in euro disco and pop. Claude Carrere was the founder. He started working with Annie Chancel in 1962 and renamed her Sheila, who remained his sole artist for a while. He set up Carrere Productions and the records were distributed by Philips... |
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| 1984 | Backlash | Live | StarJazz | |
| 1985 | Nina's Back | Studio | VPI | |
| 1985 | Live & Kickin | Live | ||
| 1987 | Let It Be Me | Live | Verve Verve Records Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve... |
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| Live at Ronnie Scott's | Live | Hendring-Wadham | ||
| The Nina Simone Collection | Compilation | Deja Vu | ||
| 1993 | A Single Woman A Single Woman A Single Woman is an album from 1993 by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It was her last album.- Information about songs on this album :... |
Studio | Elektra Records Elektra Records Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.... |
3 (top jazz) |
| Additional releases | ||||
| 1975 | The Great Show Live in Paris The Great Show Live In Paris The Great Show Live In Paris is a live album by American singer-songwriter and pianist Nina Simone recorded in 1968. The album was first released in 1975.-Track listing:#"Intro & Devil's Workshop"#"Just in Time"#"When I Was a Young Girl"... |
Live | RCA? | |
| 1997 | Released | Compilation | RCA Victor Europe | |
| 2003 | Gold | Studio remastered | Universal/UCJ | |
| Anthology | Compilation (from many labels) | RCA/BMG Heritage | ||
| 2004 | Nina Simone's Finest Hour | Compilation | Verve/Universal | |
| 2005 | The Soul of Nina Simone The Soul of Nina Simone The Soul of Nina Simone is a DualDisc, which contains a CD on one side of the disc and a DVD on the other.-Track listing:#Feeling Good#In the Dark#Since I Fell For You#Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood#To Love Somebody#My Man's Gone Now... |
Compilation + DVD | RCA DualDisc DualDisc DualDisc was a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group and later under the aegis of the Recording Industry Association of America... |
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| Nina Simone Live at Montreux 1976 | DVD only | Eagle Eye Media | ||
| 2006 | The Very Best of Nina Simone The Very Best of Nina Simone The Very Best of Nina Simone is a compilation album of songs by Nina Simone, released in 2006.-Track listing:#"Ain't Got No, I Got Life" – 2:17#"My Baby Just Cares for Me" – 3:37#"Feeling Good" – 2:52#"I Put a Spell on You" – 2:34... |
Compilation | Sony BMG | |
| Remixed and Reimagined Remixed and Reimagined (Nina Simone album) Remixed and Reimagined is the first album in the Legacy Remixed series released by Sony BMG. This is a collection of songs by Nina Simone, remixed by several club DJ's. All original songs come from her albums released by RCA records. It was released in 2006 on Legacy/RCA/SBMG Records.-Track... |
Remix | Legacy/SBMG | 5 (contemp.jazz) | |
| Songs to Sing: the Best of Nina Simone | Compilation/Live Compilation | Deluxe | ||
| Forever Young, Gifted, & Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit | Remix | RCA | ||
| 2008 | To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story | Compilation | Sony Legacy | |
| 2009 | The Definitive Rarities Collection - 50 Classic Cuts The Definitive Rarities Collection - 50 Classic Cuts The Definitive Rarities Collection – 50 Classic Cuts is a compilation album of songs by Nina Simone, released in 2009.-Track listing:#"Compensation" – 4:48#"Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" - 3:52#"Stick Together" – 1:48#"Strange Fruit" – 4:18... |
Compilation | Artwork Media | |
| ? | Nina Simone Live | DVD only: Studio 1961 & '62 | Kultur/Creative Arts Television | |
External links
- Nina Simone discography – at iMusic.am
- Article on Nina Simone in the Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians
- The Nina Simone Database – A comprehensive Nina Simone website
- Nina Simone – Legacy Recordings Page
- L'hommage: Nina Simone – Tribute and archival site
- Nina Simone at The Music Box – A collection of reviews
- Eunice Waymon-Nina Simone Memorial Project North Carolina-based scholarship, statue & music festival
- Nina Simone Biography at About.com
- Obituary from The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
- Nina Simone: The "Princess Noire" - audio report by NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...