Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Nina Simone was not a rock singer per se, and indeed, not readily classified within any popular music style. But she did record quite a few covers of rock, folk-rock, and pop/rock songs during her stint with RCA in the late '60s and early '70s. This thematic compilation has 14 of them (though one stray track, "My Father," was actually recorded for CTI in 1978), including versions of songs by several of the era's most successful rock composers (Bob Dylan, George Harrison, the Bee Gees) and noteworthy emerging singer/songwriters (Randy Newman, Judy Collins, Sandy Denny, Hoyt Axton, and Jerry Jeff Walker). "House of the Rising Sun" (which Simone had first recorded in the early '60s, about half-a-dozen years before she cut the 1967 version featured on this disc) and Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!" were folk songs in their original incarnations, but they qualify too, having been made into chart-topping rock smashes by the Animals and the Byrds. It would be a mistake to regard this anthology as wholly representative of Simone's RCA recordings, or as a sampling of her best work from this or any other era; she recorded a wide swathe of material, including some of her own songs, from numerous genres. Still, these do testify to her abilities as an interpreter in this particular arena, though there are just a few songs (Axton's "The Pusher," Collins' "My Father," Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes") that are relatively off the beaten track. Varying from solo-piano-and-vocal numbers to orchestrated arrangements, the production and performance are usually on the straightforward and restrained side, even if overall the results are somewhat more subdued, jazzy, adult pop-oriented, and tamer than the originals (or the most famous covers of the songs). Here's guessing that Judy Collins' late-'60s albums were a substantial influence on the approach Simone took to this sort of material, since Collins had covered a few of the tunes (Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes," Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today") not long before Simone did. Don't by any means restrict yourself to this disc if you like what you hear here, since Simone made a lot of other fine recordings with different mindsets for RCA and other labels, though this does offer a reasonably original and consistent slant on well-known songs of the '60s.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From kr133.33/month
C.F.N.S., Producer - Harold Wheeler, Arranger - Harold Wheeler, Conductor - Ed Begley, Recording Engineer - Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Nina Simone, Arranger - Nina Simone, Vocal
Originally released 1971. All rights reserved by RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Nat Shapiro, Producer - A.C.F.N.S. Productions, Producer - Harold Wheeler, Producer - Harold Wheeler, Arranger - Harold Wheeler, Conductor - Ed Begley, Recording Engineer - George Harrison, Composer - George Harrison, Lyricist - Nina Simone, Performer - Nina Simone, Arranger
(P) Reorded Prior to 1972. All Rights Reserved by BMG Music
Ray Hall, Recording Engineer - Randy Newman, Composer - Randy Newman, Lyricist - Stroud Productions, Inc., Producer - Nina Simone, Vocal - Nina Simone, Arranger
(P) Recorded prior to 1972. All rights reserved by BMG Music
Leonard Cohen, Composer - Leonard Cohen, Lyricist - Stroud Productions & Enterprises, Producer - Nina Simone, Performer - Nina Simone, Arranger - Nina Simone, Conductor
Originally Recorded 1969. All rights reserved by BMG Music
Emile Latimer, Guitar - Don Alias, Drums - Don Alias, Bongos - Weldon Irvine, Organ - Andrew Stroud, Producer - Sandy Denny, Composer - Sandy Denny, Lyricist - Tom Smith, Guitar - Jumma Santos, Congas - Nina Simone, Performer - Nina Simone, Arranger - Nina Simone, Piano - The Swordsmen, Background Vocal - Ed Begley, Engineer
Originally Recorded 1969 and released 1970. All rights reserved by RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Joe Rene, Producer - Barry Gibb, Lyricist - Barry Gibb, Composer - Rudy Stevenson, Guitar - Calvin Taylor, Bass - Samuel Waymon, Organ - Ed Begley, Recording Engineer - Nina Simone, Piano - Nina Simone, Performer
Originally released 1968. All rights reserved by RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Weldon Irvine, Jr., Arranger - Weldon Irvine, Jr., Conductor - Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Stroud Productions & Enterprises, Producer - Nina Simone, Performer
(P) Recorded prior to 1972. All rights reserved by BMG Music
Weldon Irvine, Organ - Al Shackman, Guitar - Gene Perla, Acoustic Bass - Gina Rothchild, Background Vocal - Nina Simone, Performer - Nina Simone, Arranger - Nina Simone, Piano - Nina Simone, Vocal - Pete Seeger, Composer - Pete Seeger, Adaptor - Traditional, Lyricist - Doris Willingham, Background Vocal - Unknown, Producer - Emedin Rivera, Percussion - Emedin Rivera, Congas
Originally Recorded 1969. All rights reserved by BMG Music.
Weldon Irvine, Organ - Al Shackman, Guitar - Gene Perla, Acoustic Bass - Gina Rothchild, Background Vocal - Nina Simone, Performer - Nina Simone, Arranger - Nina Simone, Piano - Nina Simone, Vocal - Barry Gibb, Lyricist - Barry Gibb, Composer - Unknown, Producer - Doris Willingham, Background Vocal - Emedin Rivera, Percussion - Emedin Rivera, Congas - Robin Gibb, Composer - Robin Gibb, Lyricist
(P) Originally recorded in 1969. All rights reserved by BMG Music.
Alan Price, Composer - Alan Price, Lyricist - Ray Hall, Engineer - Danny Davis, Producer - Nina Simone, Performer
Originally released 1967. All rights reserved by RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
James P. Nichols, Re-Mixer - Bob Dylan, Composer - Bob Dylan, Lyricist - Stroud Productions & Enterprises, Producer - Nina Simone, Performer - Nina Simone, Arranger - Nina Simone, Conductor
Originally Recorded 1969. All rights reserved by BMG Music
Bruce Somerfeld, Executive Producer - Harold Wheeler, Arranger - Ed Begley, Engineer - Hoyt Axton, Composer - Hoyt Axton, Lyricist - Nina Simone, Producer - Nina Simone, Arranger - Nina Simone, Vocal - Nina Simone, Piano
(P) Recorded prior to 1972. All rights reserved by BMG Music
Bruce Somerfeld, Executive Producer - Avram Schackman, Guitar - Jerry Jeff Walker, Composer - Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyricist - Ed Begley, Engineer - Nadi Qamar, Percussion - Nina Simone, Arranger - Nina Simone, Producer - Nina Simone, Vocal - Nina Simone, Piano
(P) 1974 RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Max Ellen, Violin - Maeretha Stewart, Background Vocal - Jonathan Abramowitz, Acoustic Cello - Milt Grayson, Background Vocal - Barry Finclair, Violin - Harry Lookofsky, Violin - Emanuel Vardi, Viola - Didier Deutsch, Re-Issue Producer - Albertine Robinson, Background Vocal - Babi Floyd, Background Vocal - Marvin Morgenstern, Violin - Debbie McDuffie, Background Vocal - Creed Taylor, Producer - Jim Madison, Drums - Charles McCracken, Acoustic Cello - Nina Simone, Vocal - Nina Simone, Keyboards - Nina Simone, Performer - David Palmer, Mixing Engineer - David Palmer, Recording Engineer - Alan Shulman, Acoustic Cello - Gary King, Bass - Alfred Brown, Viola - Eric Gale, Guitar - Nicky Marrero, Percussion - Chris Herles, Mastering Engineer - David Nadien, Violin - Charles Libove, Violin - Jerry Friedman, Guitar - Al Schackman, Director - Herbert Sorkin, Violin - Joshie Armstead, Background Vocal - Richard Sortomme, Violin - Judy Collins, Composer - Judy Collins, Lyricist - David Matthews, Arranger - Ray Simpson, Background Vocal - Harry Glickman, Violin - frank floyd, Background Vocal - Joel Cohn, 2nd Engineer - Lamar Alsop, Viola
(P) 1978 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Album review
Nina Simone was not a rock singer per se, and indeed, not readily classified within any popular music style. But she did record quite a few covers of rock, folk-rock, and pop/rock songs during her stint with RCA in the late '60s and early '70s. This thematic compilation has 14 of them (though one stray track, "My Father," was actually recorded for CTI in 1978), including versions of songs by several of the era's most successful rock composers (Bob Dylan, George Harrison, the Bee Gees) and noteworthy emerging singer/songwriters (Randy Newman, Judy Collins, Sandy Denny, Hoyt Axton, and Jerry Jeff Walker). "House of the Rising Sun" (which Simone had first recorded in the early '60s, about half-a-dozen years before she cut the 1967 version featured on this disc) and Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!" were folk songs in their original incarnations, but they qualify too, having been made into chart-topping rock smashes by the Animals and the Byrds. It would be a mistake to regard this anthology as wholly representative of Simone's RCA recordings, or as a sampling of her best work from this or any other era; she recorded a wide swathe of material, including some of her own songs, from numerous genres. Still, these do testify to her abilities as an interpreter in this particular arena, though there are just a few songs (Axton's "The Pusher," Collins' "My Father," Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes") that are relatively off the beaten track. Varying from solo-piano-and-vocal numbers to orchestrated arrangements, the production and performance are usually on the straightforward and restrained side, even if overall the results are somewhat more subdued, jazzy, adult pop-oriented, and tamer than the originals (or the most famous covers of the songs). Here's guessing that Judy Collins' late-'60s albums were a substantial influence on the approach Simone took to this sort of material, since Collins had covered a few of the tunes (Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes," Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today") not long before Simone did. Don't by any means restrict yourself to this disc if you like what you hear here, since Simone made a lot of other fine recordings with different mindsets for RCA and other labels, though this does offer a reasonably original and consistent slant on well-known songs of the '60s.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 14 track(s)
- Total length: 00:58:09
- Main artists: Nina Simone
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: RCA - Legacy
- Genre: Jazz Vocal Jazz
Compilation (P) 2007 Sony Music Entertainment
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.